The German word for emigrant is Auswanderer. Ancestor is Vorfahrer; Ancestors is Vorfahren Research is Forschung. Any word that includes that word is associated with research. Anyone who is going to look at German links for genealogy research should have his German-English dictionary handy. There are genealogy links associated with German immigrants listed at the new website for the emigration museum at Hamburg-Ballinstadt that is under construction. See: http://www.ballinstadt.de/de/meine_vorfahren/forschungsportale.htm ALL German websites have a link for Kontack or Informationen somewhere. If you can't handle the German, Email them in English. If you write in English, make your letter as short as possible. Use simple sentences or ask questions in a list of one-liners. Do not have long sentences with lots of commas in them. End with a request to refer you to someone who can help if they cannot. If you can read German but cannot write it (like me) you should tell them it is OK o reply in German. Karen