The Computer Corner

Number 21, August, 2003. Republication of this article requires prior approval from the author. This and previous Computer Corner Articles can be found at www.northstarchaper.org as part of the Articles portion of the website.

Just a note to let you all know there will be a convention entitled Festival for Germans from Russia held in Medicine Hat, Alberta on September 5, 6, 7, 2003. The address that links you to the site is: http://www..geocities.com/germansfromrussia/index.html

As we head into the fall season, some of us will be dusting off that computer in the corner. Others of us have only turned it off if a big thunderstorm rolls by. I fit that second category more than the first. In the process of doing many other things with a computer, I always tend to keep my “antenna” up for some interesting websites that might help me in doing some research or just learning more about our heritage. It tends to be a mix of information as I find it and check it out. As always, some sites come and go so from time to time, some sites drop off. I hope you enjoy my latest collection of websites.

Search Engines are a terrific way to do some searching of the web through various phrases. I use www.google.com and have even added it as a tool bar across the top of my web browser. That can be done by going to http://toolbar.google.com and following the directions. Yet another search engine that has been recommended is http://www.alltheweb.com/.

http://www.s-line.de/homepages/ebener/Karte_1.htm is site is a map site that looks to be of much interest if you are tracking ancestors in Württemberg and Baden. The following link has some wonderful maps throughout time

At http://www.genealogyunlimited.com/daveobee/ewzmain.html Dave Obee writes “There is one thing that all genealogists have in common, no matter what area of the world they are working on, no matter how much work was done by others in the family, no matter when they started their research. They should have started sooner.
So imagine being able to go back, and make up for lost time, by collecting information from people who have already died. Imagine discovering that your relatives had been extensively interviewed about family history, and the papers they filled out half a century ago are available to you today. That is the beauty of the Berlin Document Center records.

We all know that Tom and Jan Stangl have done much in the way of research in this area. This site might be of some help or at least make us appreciate the effort and work that Tom and Jan have done.

I’ve reviewed this website more for it’s style than content but think those who have Catholic GERMANS from RUSSIA & ROMANIA should take a look at http://www.cgrr.com/

http://www.schwaebisch-englisch.de/ is a website that focuses on the Schwaebisch dialect. While http://www.rootsweb.com/~romban/misc/germanjobs.html provides information about German professions in English.

German Script is at best difficult to read. Here is a site that helps understand it http://www.tranquility.net/~pwrigh01/ but I have to say I still think it’s tough! And yet another site to assist with translating is http://dictionary.reference.com/translate/text.html You might try to cut information from your email or other source, and paste it in. I’ve done it with a few simple phrases and it’s done a nice job.

Here are some links that contain useful information to consider in deciphering Gothic script.

The LDS Family History Library has an excellent guide on their website: http://makeashorterlink.com/?D46A52155

This website also has a very useful resource page for learning old German script. http://www.genealogienetz.de/misc/scripts.html

In the 20th century, Gothic script has also been known as the Sütterlin script and this website gives much information:

http://www.peter-doerling.de/Englisch/Sutterlin.htm

Finally, this site has a helpful tutorial with actual examples: http://www.mun.ca/rels/morav/script.html

http://www.germanlife.com is an online magazine with various articles that might be of interest.

For anyone with ancestors who settled in the western prairies of Canada at the turn of the 20th century, you may wish to know that ArchiviaNet at http://www.archives.ca/02/0201_e.html has just added digital images of the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906 (Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Alberta) to their site. However, as these images are not indexed, you will need to know which districts they lived in. Census map images and district descriptions are included to help you out.

Do you have issues with your computer operating system called Windows XP? Then maybe you’ll like the online magazine called WINXPNEWS at http://www.winxpnews.com/?id=85 it has some good suggestions and might just help you understand that computer a little better.

This is a site with tons of information about the Donauschwabens including history and the various different areas of that migration. http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dschwaben.html

Here is the web location of another interesting site for those researching German ancestors. Although this web site is for "18th Century Pennsylvania German Naming Customs," it offers an interesting look at old customs regarding how German families named their children based on European custom so it can be of interest to us, too. We often run across families with sons Johann Michael, Johann Peter, Johann Georg, Johann Friedrich, Johann Jakob, and daughters Maria Katherina, Maria Elisabetha, Maria Karolina, and so on…….it can be most difficult to keep it all straight! Not that this site solves that problem but this site offers some insights into old naming customs and patterns. www.kerchner.com/germname.htm

3,536 German Colonies - From the website of the Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland, Stuttgart, Germany: www.deutscheausrussland.de/zdk/deukolon.htm Note: The following information is located at this website page: http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/info/introduction/3536.html - You may need to go to the website page to more easily read the listings. Thanks Michael for putting it into English for us.

Glueckstal Colonies Memorial Monument Dedication May 24, 2002 can be viewed at; www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/media/magazines/articles/glueckstalcol.html for the Volk auf dem Weg story of July 2003 with translation from German to English by Alex Herzog, Boulder, Colorado

Go to the following website pages including color photos for filming done by Prairie Public Television staff:

"Prairie Public TV at Wishek" Wishek Star, Wishek, North Dakota, May, 2003 www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/media/newspapers/news/old_news/prairietv.html [includes photographs of the St. Andrew's Lutheran Church German Choir, near Zeeland, ND]

St. Andrew's Lutheran Church German Choir, near Zeeland, ND Sunday, May 4, 2003 www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/media/documentaries/standrew.html

The Schwab Sod house near Strasburg, North Dakota, May 3, 2003 www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/media/documentaries/schwab.html