Dear Baden-Wuerttemberg List Friends, I hear from many list members all the time of their frustrations in trying to locate emigration records (or emigration index entries) for their ancestors who are known or believed to have emigrated from Baden, Wuerttemberg, Hohenzollern, and elsewhere. They often are baffled as to why such records seem so hard to find, or even non-existent. For those who are seeking emigration records or indexes for German ancestors and those who might be coming up empty-handed in the process, here are a few observations that might at least be helpful to know. Before we proceed, please note that I am talking here about EMIGRATION records originating in the ancestor's European general hometown area---NOT ship's PASSENGER departure records created at the point of departure in a port city such as Bremen, Hamburg, Le Havre, Antwerp, or elsewhere (or passenger ARRIVAL records created once the emigrant reached his or her point of debarkation in the new country.) These are different types of records, created in different places at separate times, and pertain in different ways to the act of a person's emigration from his or her country of origin to settle somewhere else. ===================================================== It is important to keep in mind that emigration (the leaving of one's country to settle in another) was not always motivated by positive circumstances. *While it was the usual procedure* to seek official permission from the local authorities before leaving, many, many emigrants did NOT. For many of them, emigration was the only means to avoid obligatory military service, economic hardship, serious diseases, the ravages of war, revolution, and other compelling situations. Under certain kinds of circumstances, people may have decided not to *publicize* their intention to leave by applying for formal permission beforehand, and left without it. A considerable number of people NEVER obtained this permission, but eventually emigrated nonetheless. One of our primary concerns as family researchers is to understand that some of the records or other documents we may look for might *not have ever been created.* Regardless of one's specific reasons for leaving, if an emigrant did NOT formally apply for *permission* to leave, no official record would have been created concerning their emigration, and therefore their names and other information would NOT likely be found in the emigration indexes. This does not necessarily mean you won't find information about their travel in a ships' *passenger departure or arrival lists,* which is sometimes a good alternative if you can't locate emigration permits for them. Again--EMIGRATION records and PASSENGER LISTS are NOT the same things. They were created for different reasons, in separate places, and at different times in the course of a person's emigration and travel. (See the end of this message for some links to information about passenger list research.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As to the reasons for European emigration, they were many, and in effect over a long period in the 19th century. As has been mentioned on this list in the past, one factor that led to German emigration was the the unstable political situation in the German states in 1848, following the failed revolutions. Many individuals indeed fled Europe during this time, but their departure in considerable numbers was not limited to that immediate period, nor to that cause. Don't forget that there were various notable wars in the German states over time, and many people emigrated to avoid military service, or the hardships imposed by war. Increases in taxation created economic hardship for many people, and affordable land became scarce with the ever-growing population. Increasing industrialization negatively affected a number of trades, and drove many to the overcrowded cities in search of employment. As available employment progressively declined, many people chose to emigrate to avoid economic problems. Others were attracted to emigrate to the US or other countries because they already had someone there who was benefitting from better employment opportunities or plentiful land to encourage them. Added to unstable European political climates or the threat or reality of war, these and other factors no doubt made the prospect of life in the USA and elsewhere quite promising at the time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- For detailed practical help on researching *ships' passenger lists* (and also US Naturalization documents), see Arnie Lang's Immigration, Ships' Passenger Lists & Naturalization Research Guide [excellent step-by-step advice]: http://home.att.net/~arnielang/shipgide.html For more general info on what you might expect to find in *emigration records* (if you can secure them), you might like to visit my Web page on the subject, Research Access/Background for the Baden Emigration Index: http://www.geocities.com/wingedpig.geo/ Hope this helps! :-) Warmest wishes, Carla HELLER, Los Angeles, California USA mscarlah@earthlink.net List Co-Administrator, ROOTSWEB'S Baden-Wuerttemberg Mailing List ====================================================