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Der Kurier

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Our newsletter - Der Kurier - is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December. It is indexed in the Periodical Source Index by the Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, Indiana .This publication was honored by the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) as one of the winners in the society’s 2014 Excellence-in-Writing Competition. Der Kurier was awarded 2nd place in Category 3 – Genealogy Newsletters.
 
Members can access a digital version of the current issue and issues from the past five years on the Members page of the website. Older issues beginning in 1982 are available for everyone on the Public Documents tab.
 
Synopsis of articles in current issue
  • Civil War Pension File and Church Records Reveal Hidden Identities, Bob Greiner
Bob Greiner walks us through his research into the history of Fred Sohlinger, alias Fred Cluskey, and the Sohlinger family. He shares images of pension records, letters written to the War Department and Commissioner of Pensions, and a baptism record to better understand the story of his life. Greiner also shares how this research tied together nearly twenty years of research on the Hartenstein family and their neighbors in Herschberg, Germany and Stark County, Ohio.
  • Processing Valuable New Records for Family Historians: The Weser River Project, Ken Heger and Debra Hoffman
Millions of Americans can connect their family to the northwest corner of Germany.  Unbeknownst to many researchers, there is a treasure trove of rarely used records waiting for people to explore and mine for information on their families. With the goal of helping researchers incorporate the data these information-rich records hold into their research plans, Kenneth W. Heger and Debra A. Hoffman (the principal investigators) envisioned and are leading a project designed to do just that, a project they named the Weser River Project. This article introduces you to the project, describes the project’s geographic and chronological scope, identifies subjects the records document, lists products the Project will produce, and tells you where you can find more information on the Project and its products.
  • German Trade Cards, Dan Soller
In this new section titled Deutsch Sprache Und Kulture, Dan Soller provides color images and translations of German trade cards from Ken Heger’s personal collection to help the reader improve language skills and knowledge of Germanic culture. These cards are the first in a six-card series depicting rulers of the Electorate of Saxony that Der Kurier will publish in upcoming editions. The Stollwerck chocolate company designated this series Gruppe 163 and published the collector’s album No. 4 for it in 1900.
  • Another Updated MAGS Dataset: The Consular Instructions Dataset Increases by Half, Ken Heger
MAGS President Ken Heger provides updates on the Consular Instructions database. When it was originally shared with readers in the December 2023 issue of Der Kurier, the index offered a quick, easy way to search for names among thousands of records and helped many people with their research. Since that time, MAGS has worked to expand that instructions database to index records from other consulates in central Europe. This article announces the results of those years of work, alerting you that the database has expanded in size, and it now contains indexes to more consulates in Germany and all the American consulates located in Austria-Hungary. With this achievement, it is appropriate to remind you of the dataset, the information you might be able to find, list the consulates indexed, and provide guidance on how to access the records.
 
Synopsis of articles in recent issues
For a list of article titles and authors in recent issues of Der Kurier, see this page
 
Submissions to Der Kurier
Articles concerning Germanic genealogy and heritage in the Mid-Atlantic region are welcome, as are "Letters to the Editor." Research articles should document conclusions with appropriate citation of primary sources.
 
MAGS reserves the right to edit submissions for length and style. Any material published becomes the property of MAGS. Please observe the following deadlines for submission to the newsletter.
 
Issue Deadline
March 1 January
June 1 April
September 1 July
December 1 October
 
Send articles to:
Morgan Adle
11813 Wandering Oak Way
Beltsville, MD 20705
or

To order back issues of Der Kurier visit the MAGS Store page on our website.