Haven’t we always wanted to know something about our ancestors? What is the history of our families? Where do we come from? What is our ancestry? Very helpful for ancestry, family or genealogy researches are old certificates and other documents in the family property. They can help you to trace your origin. In many families, you can find family books or genealogical records. Birth and death certificates, baptism or marriage certificates are archived in them. If you are lucky, you will also find an ancestor passport or a pedigree. Often these provide a comprehensive overview of the ancestors and reach far back into history.
Example documents of my own ancestors
However, these old documents and records are mostly written by hand in old German script. Who can still decipher this today? Deeds and official old German documents were mostly written cleanly and accurately, but still, hardly anyone can read and translate them today. In addition, the writers in the offices of our ancestors were just as lazy as they are today: they abbreviated, smeared and misspelled! Often it takes a criminalistic instinct to find out the truth in the manuscripts of our contemporaries.
Below are some examples from my own family: