German towns can be hard to decipher in handwritten records – especially since there is no dictionary to tell you if your transcription guess is right or wrong. But luckily, we live in the age of the Internet. Be sure to take advantage of these seven genealogy hacks below to verify your ancestor’s hometown and be confident in your future research.
1. Meyer’s Gazetteer Wild Card Feature
If you trying to decipher your town name, but can’t figure out all of the letters, take advantage of Meyer’s Gazetteer’s wild card feature. Simply type in the letters you know, and place an asterisk in the spots where you are unsure. Meyers Gazetteer will then provide you with a list of possible towns with that letter combination.
Too many results? Narrow down your list by choosing the correct state in “filter results by region” above the list.
2. Meyer’s Gazetteer’s “Sounds Like” Feature
If you are working with documents in the US, England, Australia, etc., trying to find your ancestor’s town of origin, take advantage of Meyer’s Gazetteer’s “sounds like” feature. It could very well be the case that your ancestor said the name of their town to the English-speaking official, who then wrote it down as he pictured it in his head. This may not have been the proper German spelling. By using the “sounds like” feature, you will get a list of towns that sound similar to the town written on your document. Definitely worth checking out!
3. Meyer’s Gazetteer’s Historical Map
The historical map feature on MG is wonderful if you need to find additional towns in the area from which your document was issued. For example, if you are working with a marriage document, you may have retrieved it from a certain town in Germany – let’s say Rosenheim. When looking at the bride’s hometown, however, you realize that it is not Rosenheim but something else, and you aren’t able to decipher the letters exactly. But all hope is not lost! Go to the historical map on MG (To do so, go to the entry for Rosenheim and click on the map on the left – it will then switch to the historical map of the area). Drag the map around to explore the surrounding towns – does one of those towns match your bride’s hometown location? Looking at possibilities of what the handwritten word could be is often extremely helpful in transcribing.
Of course, you can also do this trick with Google Maps – but the historical map will often provide you with more town names.
4. GenTeam Austrian Gazetteer
We can’t forget about Austria! If your ancestor comes from Austria, South Tyrol, or the Czech, Slovak, or Slovenian republics, check out https://genteam.at/ for a searchable gazetteer. If you are unsure of all the letters in your ancestor’s town, select the option “contains” or “starts with” under “Search Term Place”.
5. Swiss Gazetteer
And we also can’t forget Switzerland! If your ancestor comes from Switzerland, check out the website ortsnamen.ch. You can type your town in the search box (Suche) or click on the various letters below to towns sorted by data origin.
6. Google Town Name + Region
Google’s search suggestion tools are a life-saver in genealogy. If you are not exactly sure of your transcription guess for your handwritten town, try typing it into Google with the region (German state, for example). If you are right, hits for the town will likely appear. If you are slightly off in your transcription guess, however, Google may correct you, saying “showing results for [town]” or “did you mean [town]?” Check these suggestions against your hand written word to see if Google is correct.
7. Google Lists of Towns in English and German
If you aren’t having any luck with the above steps, try a simple Google search of “towns in [region]” and see what comes up. Comparing this list to your handwritten word may help you to narrow it down.
If you don’t have any luck with English results, it may help to google in German. The phrases to do so are:
– “Städte in [region]” (Städte = cities)
– “Dörfer in [region]” (Dörfer – villages)
I have often found some great sites by using these simple google searches.
For additional info on towns, see The Top German Words to Find Your Ancestor’s Hometown. Happy hunting!