Genealogy Chat

A married couple is an Ehepaar - (an ''honourable pair'', I think that means - my dictionary not to hand). Christine

Hi Helen and Ann Thanks again for your help. I just wanted to make sure that that is right - before assuming and getting it wrong. Now I have a lot typing in to do (although I am not complaining as I an really happy - yesterday I had only very sketchy details about the family without any real detail and now I know their places of births, siblings and everything! To be honest, I was getting rather overwhelmed with trying to get the information and now, assuming I can learn enough German quickly enough!, I might just have some help with my mother's father side) Thanks again!

I think the 'geschlossen' bit means to formalise the marriage- ie the civil registration bit. I know from my relatives in Austria that if you have a church wedding, you have to also have a civil marriage, most people have this ceremony before the church service, but sometimes the two may be some time apart. I would say that the dateyou have refers to the when the marriage was formally recognised, ie the civil registration bit. But anyone with more in-depth knowledge of the German marriage system please feel free to contradict!!!

My tree is full of people who had either had a baby before they married, or managed to produce one within a few weeks of the wedding ceremony. I don't think this is specifically a German or a Catholic thing, just human beings doing what comes naturally!

Hi Helen I tried that too! Looking at it, quite a lot of my ancestor's had their first child less than 9 months after their wedding. And I thought they would be shocked by me 'living in sin' for 9 years! Looks like my mum was the first in 4 generations to get married first. If your dictionary helps, I would be very grateful! I mean I am guessing that's what it is ... but I am giving my family a chance to redeem themselves in my eyes lol! Jo

Ehe geschlossen is the marriage. You are lucky, half of my Austrian relatives did not get married until well after the birth of their children!!! It has to do with ownership of farms, apparently, the woman had to prove she could have children before they married, so that there was always an heir to hand the farm onto. Still like that today, although most of my rellies don't have farms anymore!!!

According to Cassell's German dictionary (v. old as I had it when I did my O-level way back in the last millennium!) geschlossen is the past participle of schliessen. It means 'whole, complete, unbroken, closed, continuous, unanimous, consistent'. Not sure that makes things any clearer!

According to Google's translation, 'ehe geschlossen' means “before closed” . No idea what this means, unless it is referring to a ceremony before closing a coffin! Off to find son's German school dictionary.

geboren is born, gestorben is dead.

Hi Today I have hit the jackpot! My mother's family was from Germany and, with the exception of a few names, we have no further information. I decided to bite the bullet and send some speculative letters to people with the same name as her cousns and found them both. Even better, one of them has traced his family tree (including one side of mine back to my gt, gt, gt grandparents!) I'm glad to say that all of the information I have matches perfectly. Anyway, before I put it in to my family tree I just wanted to check something. The dates are: 'geboren' (born), 'gestorben' (dead), 'Religion' (self-explanatory) and 'ehe geschlossen'. I am assuming that this is the date of marriage - but just want to reconfirm as it appears my family (some of them catholic!) had a propensity to get married only a few months before the birth of their first child. Of course, perhaps this was how it was done in Germany...! As always, any advice offered is very gratefully recieved! Jo

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