GENEALOGY

The association runs the Beueler Zentralstelle für Familienforschung in the Bürgermeister-Stroof-Haus.

Beueler Central Office for Family Research

A professional service for anyone looking for traces of their ancestors. Free of charge. Whether in our region or in other areas of Germany. Whether beginner or advanced. Regardless of club membership. Enquiries by e-mail.

The traces of the ancestors can essentially be found in two places: in the records of the parishes (so-called church registers, in our area from about 1650 onwards) and in the registrations of the towns and municipalities (so-called civil status registers, since 1800/1810).

Until about 1900, these documents were handwritten, which is why they are often difficult to access. The Central Office has almost all the historical church records of the old parishes of the Beuel district (Vilich, Küdinghoven, Oberkassel) as well as collective lists of the civil status records of the former Vilich/Beuel parish. All are copies of the original documents, which in turn are bound into books.

This is the very basic material of family research in Bonn on the right bank of the Rhine.

In the meantime, such original documents have already been transferred in large numbers into our standard script (transcripts) and have also already been systematically combined into family groups (so-called mapping). Traditionally, the results were presented in typewritten form in folders. These mappings (file folders) of the old parishes of the city district of Beuel (see above) are almost complete.

In the meantime, the analyses of historical documents are preferably published in book form - as so-called local family books or parish family books. These are local, alphabetically and chronologically arranged lists of family groups, supplemented by various textual search aids. Such publications, often in large format and of considerable size, are now available almost everywhere in Germany.

The Central Office has all the printed family books of the entire region, from Bad Honnef via Siegburg and Bonn to as far as Cologne.

These publications can be used like reference books, comparatively conveniently.

Of course, family research has now also adopted modern digital practice. Many church registers and civil registers as well as the corresponding local and parish family registers have already been digitised as scans.

They are available, for example, as DVDs or for immediate download. - As a result, "family research" now largely takes place on a digital level.

The Beueler Zentralstelle is orientated towards all relevant sources and materials and constantly endeavours to complete them. In addition to general specialised genealogical literature, all conceivable documents, including the church registers themselves, are available, if necessary also for loan for private study at home.

Interested parties are invited to receive individual advice from recognised specialist genealogists, honorary members of the association: Waltraud Boß and Franz W. Richarz. Enquiries by email to denkmalverein-bonn@t-online.de. Consultation hours can also be arranged on site.

The entire programme is free of charge. Donations for the upkeep of the Bürgermeister-Stroof-Haus are welcome.