Family genealogy

Would you like to know more about your roots or who your ancestors were?
Genealogy offers methods with which family history can be traced back over several generations. Helpful traces may be entries in church registers or archived files on legal transactions. Commonly, however, the first clues are found in your own immediate surroundings, closely related to your personal sphere: old photographs, documents, letters or the so called "Ariernachweis" (Aryan-proof). Perhaps some of your ancestors had also shown an interest in their roots and had already started with their research.

On the basis of the different ways of access described above I draw up for you:

• your family genealogy,
• your family tree,
• biographies of selected family members,
• data on your family's regional descent or on individual ancestors,
• the history of important events concerning your family, such as the founding of a company or the setting up of a foundation.

Moreover, the history of each family member will be placed in an adequate historical and social context. What was grandfathers life like as a shoemaker? Why did some of your forefathers leave for the New World? What happened to your family members in the times of war, at the front and at home?
Answering these questions, one may not only gain an insight in the past, but also an insight into the actual living conditions of one's forefathers and by doing so, dry facts will become alive.

A concise recapitulation of one's own family history may also be considered a legacy to future generations. In our times of all times everyone is on the move; mobility and flexibility increase steadily. Therefore, the quest for one's origin and identity plays an ever greater role. In this respect, knowing about your family history may give you a hold, orientation and self-awareness.

The Ulbert family, 1917