questions: many of my ancestors have the same name or similar names (elisabetha, catherina, johannes, david, hienrich, etc. keep coming up), and i'm having trouble putting together who is whom and who is related to whom. I have traced most to some part of Pfalz, Bayern, (as well as Preussen), and am wondering what exactly Pfalz is (county? province, etc.), and are all the other names before it towns? also, i have done the IGI searches, and I have 53 records, and now its time to go farther, but where do i start? Parish records? is there a way to get them in english? I live in Paris, France, so its possible for me to get to Germany, but is it the best idea, or do i wait till i know more? i've also discovered a lot of my relatives out of Sweden and Finland (as well as the States). Was there some historical thing that would bring them to these places, because my friend who has been in Germany said they (at least Finland and Germany) are quite far from each other (I have many strengths but geography, even with a map in front of me, is not one of them, which doesn't make genealogy easy!!) also, there is a famous writer of I believe either the 4th century AD or the 13th century AD named AVENIUS (I think it was the 4th). since my last name is not a usual one, what is the likelihood that this ancient writer (who wrote about GALIZA, and the MiLENISIANS, and much more) is a relative of mine? is there a way to find this out? now the rest: I'm looking for more information on the AVENIUS family, mostly out of Pfalz, Bayern and Rheinland, Preussen. The earliest I have is the christening of JOHANN DAVID AVENIUS on 3 Jul 1770 in Hochspeyer, Pfalz, Bayern, to SEBASTIAN AVENIUS and MARIA ELISABETHA. My main interest is in AVENIUS but some of the relative names (marriages) are (not in order) I have are: *FREDE (Anna Maria), *MACK (barbara elisabetha who married Heinrich AVENIUS 29 Mar 1832 in Hochspeyer, Pfalz, Bayern), UNK?, Barbara (could this be Barbara Mack?) *MILLERN (Luise), *HERING, JOHANNES (married CATHERINA MAGDALENE AVENIUS 28 Apr 1811 in Evangelisch, Sippersfeld, Pfalz, Bayern), *BRETZ, FRANZ (married ELISABETHA AVENIUS 13 Oct 1864 in Evangelische, Albisheim, Pfalz, Bayern) *MEULLER (Louise) *PACK, JOHANNES HENRICUS, who married MARIA ELISABETHA AVENIUS on 23 Nov 1798 in Evangelisch, Odenspiel, Rheinland, Preussen. *SCHEUER, Marie *BENDER(IN), Elisabethe, who married (JOHANNES) DAVID AVENIUS 20 FEb 1798 in Hochspeyer, Pfalz, Bayern *ENGLESKIRCHER, Gertruada who married Theobald AVENIUS 31 Dec 1828 in Hochspeyer, Pfalz, Bayern. *KOLBIN, Anna Gertraud, (married to ADAM AVENIUS) *WEBER, Catherina (also known as Marie Catherine), married to Peter AVENIUS (Pierre Henry) 21 Sep 1805 in Civil, Alsenborn, Pfalz, Bayern *PIROT (also shown as PIROIN) , Sussanna Margaretha, married to Lorenz AVENIUS *SCHAEFER, Joannem Friedericum, married to Elizabetham Margaretham AVENIUS 30 Mar 1837 in Katholisch, Enkenbach, Pfalz, Bayern Thanks, DARA AVENIUS