In regard to writing Germany, I also used the-- http://members.cox.net/hessen/telephones.htm (the only one with instructions). I was looking for 2 particular families and did a 20-50 mile search on both families. I wrote 48 letters in English to them and received many replies and the joyous part was I also received the family tree in detail back to the 1600's on both families. It was like hitting the jackpot. I had to translate them slowly in order to put them in my program, but gosh this was very valuable information and very worthwhile working for. I also had a letter from here that was received by a relative of theirs and we found out that another member of the family had come to the US and they didn't have that information. So I guess what I want to say is....spend $50 and write those letters...you never know what kind of surprise you will get. Gayla ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred H Held" <fhheld@netzero.net> To: <rhein-pfalz@rootsweb.com>; <baden-wurttemberg@rootsweb.com>; "Don Watson" <dwats@cox.net> Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 8:11 AM Subject: Re: [BW] Contacting German by letter or other means is routine > Don, > > Your posting of 12/9/2008 smacks of being a solicitation, which is > forbidden on most genealogy mail lists. In any case, many of us have > experiences which contradict your statements. > > To start with Al Gore did not invent the internet. The internet was > around long before Al Gore came on the scene. > > I have been told by my German cousins that a well written letter in > English is preferred to one badly written in German. > > The experiences of many of us is that letters to churches will not be > answered. The reason given by churches is that their responsibility > is to their "flock" and not to genealogy. One researcher visited > a village church office and was shown the "dead letter" box where > genealogy requests were "filed." > > I would like one of our German researchers to confirm the statement > "Government sets the fee schedule." This is the first I have heard of > this. > > > At 02:01 AM 12/9/2008, you wrote: >>From: "Don Watson" <dwats@cox.net> >>Subject: Contacting German by letter or other means is routine >> >>Hi, >> >>I'm sure everyone has had experiences with research in Germany. I've been >>writing letters and making telephone calls since 1956. When Al Gore >>invented >>the internet, I jumped in with both feet. I confided with Germans in >>Germany >>about the proper approach. I met with several in Germany. I met in Dallas, >>Texas, with a gentleman from Germany. That's how I developed my website >>procedures, >> >>http://members.cox.net/hessen/hsstory.htm >> >>which leads to lots of other links. I've been to Germany many times. I >>lived there. >> >>Since 1956 I have had one entity fail to respond and one respond by >>sending >>the response to my incorrect snail-mail mailing address. We worked around >>that, of course. I include address instructions at my website. I use >>E-Mail >>and the telephone to determine the appropriate entities in Germany to >>contact, whether church or civil archives. Sometimes it takes more than >>one >>E-Mail, more than one telephone call to nail it down. I rely heavily upon >>the German telephone directory, >> >>http://members.cox.net/hessen/telephones.htm (the only one with >>instructions) >> >>for addresses and telephone numbers of churches and municipal government. >>I >>use GOOGLE in an effort to acquire E-Mail addresses. >> >>All of my experiences have been incorporated into my website. If you have >>questions about contacting Germany, it is all there. While Germans are >>formal and direct in government, church staff are most cordial. I have the >>advantage of being able to speak, read, and write German. I offer my >>expertise to everyone through my website. Remember that the Germans don't >>conduct research for free. Government sets the fee schedule, and some >>churches follow it. Many churches accept simple donations. Read about it >>at >>the website. >> >>I'm older now and unable to devote full time and attention to German >>research. However, if you have a question that CANNOT BE ANSWERED at the >>website, contact me, dwats@cox.net for assistance, and the other E-Mail >>addy, dons-translations@cox.net for translations. >> >>Between 1956 and 2005 ALL of my services were free. Hundreds of letters, >>telephone calls, E-Mail messages, accurate translations. By 2005 the >>demand >>had become so great that I was spending more time at the computer than >>elsewhere. I began to charge for translations at that point. That resulted >>in a big drop in the number of inquiries, freeing up time for me to be >>with >>my wife, our children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren. >> >>Contact with German archives is possible and productive via letter, >>telephone, and E-Mail. Just don't do it in the English language with lots >>of >>extraneous information in your inquiry. Need a letter in German? They are >>free at my website. You can adjust the info as indicated there. Read >>carefully. Give the Germans the option to respond to you in English. An >>exception to that is the archives for the Evangelical Church in >>Hessen-Kassel, >>at Kassel, where English-language inquiries are accepted, but that's not >>Rhein-Pfalz. Don't send a Rhein-Pfalz inquiry to Kassel! >> >>Thanks for reading this........... >> >>:-) >>Don > > ____________________________________________________________ > Click for online loan, fast & no lender fee, approval today > http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2241/fc/PnY6rx9LUCSE2Libgff5gy9pyZ3pAy6GKvbQaSIGgRqNipUwY45Ha/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BADEN-WURTTEMBERG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message