Another of those back-logged side messages mentioned the question of writing to a German Church asking for ancestral information. I would not deny that source as a possibility but there are negative potentials here and perhaps the wanted information could be and would be found in a different manner. I admit I have written to German Churches hoping for information. However, that was many years ago before the growth in searching our genealogical needs. Back then a letter to a Church was a rare act but today there may be many such letters. There are tales of such letters, unopened, gathering dust in a Minister or Priest's office. Such a letter may work today but the percentages are not large. Few churches today have sufficient personnel to handle such research. Few Ministers and Priests today have the ability to read the old German script. Few Ministers, Priests and church employees have the time to do such work. Some Churches no longer have those old records at their location. Possible alternatives include: Find a German local professional or semi-professional genealogist to help you. A cost would exist for the hiring of the individual with the costs varying depending on the extent of the search. Often the less prominent professional may be a better choice. Contact the city Town Hall by snail-mail or e-mail to determine if there might be a specific individual in town who handles such questions, has the right to search in the old Church Records and can read German script. A cost here may exist but it might be a lower rate as often the individual does this type of work as a hobby. If the surname involved is an uncommon surname, contacting by letter current individuals with that surname in the specific town might and has caused Minister/Priest action. In one case several individuals who received such letters carried those letters to the Minister and because of their position within the Church were able to have a church assistant supply the desired information with the only cost being the request for a donation to the Church....after the assistant had mailed the hoped for information. Keep in mind also that none of these thoughts may work as stated above the old Church Records may no longer be maintained at the specific church but have been forwarded to a central location. A professional, a semi-professional and the town officials might know this but an unanswered letter to the Church, itself, will never tell us that some other location in some other town might be the location for our wanted answer. I am not saying that a letter should never be sent to a Church, to a Minister or to a Priest but the chances of the request ever being answered is not high. Any money sent in advance may be a loss to the writer and never seen by the Priest or Minister. When such a letter is mailed it may be better to send minimum funds to cover return mail with some additional bonus funds and to promise payment upon your receipt. Other items to remember is that the Euro is now valued higher than the U.S. Dollar. This means that U. S. Dollars are of less value and more are needed to cover the German cost. Also, the German Post Office has specific rules for International Reply Coupons which allow only one Coupon to be used at a time when an international piece of mail is processed. This suggests that International Reply Coupons are not a sufficient choice for any sort of payment. However, never allow me to suggest something which is not proper in your mind. Writing to a Church, to a Minister or to a Priest may be the only way of obtaining your desired information. I merely want to identify that there are other methods which might work. djweber [email protected]