For all list members who are hitting a wall when a search of the phone book brings up too many names, here are some suggestions. I wrote this for a list member looking for relatives from Haid. Just substitute your place name or county name if you are not interested in Haid or Tachau I include a series of steps and Internet searches that provided information and contacts that would be useful for finding cousins in Germany and for other family research. Karen ------------------ Jean Try the surname search at: http://www.ahnenforschung-genealogie.de/suchen1.htm The page is in German but just type in your surname and click FIND. You may get lucky. ------------------------- Addresses for contacts for people associated with the Heimat group Tachau (Haid) are at: http://www.tachau.de/heimatkreisverein/namen.html Write to the Heimatkreisbetreuer and ask if he can give you any information about people with your family surnames. It would be best to write to him in German so he does not think he must answer in English. Sometimes if they cannot find someone to read an English Email and write and answer they simply ignore it. Tell him in German that you would appreciate it if he could reply in English but it is not necessary. If you must write in English write very short, very simple sentences. One thought per sentence. Make the overall letter very short and easy to answer. ------------------ Or write to the Heimat library in Stuttgart first and see if they can find a list of residents from Haid area in 1945 in their collection. You can Email them at: Bibliothek@hdhbw.BWL.de Bibliothek im haus der Heimat Schloßsstrasse 92 D-70176 Stuttgart TELl (0711) 6 69 51 30 FAX (0711) 6 69 51 49 It is OK to write in English. Be sure to offer to pay whatever it costs to send you copies of what they find. Ask them if they can tell you how to get a book for yourself that would give you the names of everyone in the county (Tachau - Pframberg) That would at least tell you if your surname was in Haid. It would not tell you if it was found in other communities near Haid. ------------ In Rudolf Hemerle's "Heimat im Buch" I found there is a book about Haid that was published in Weiden. The GBHS library in New Ulm has a copy of that book. "Haid und das Haider Land by Arbeitskreis Haider Buch, vorsitzende Hildegard Preiss, Weiden: Selstverlag deer Heerousgeber (Hildegard Preiss). (I would look for a family Priess in Weiden and ask them if there are any copies of the book that Hildegard edited that you can still buy.) The first part came out in 1985 -- 720 pages and includes 1u places, on city. It was reprinted in 1989 and there may be one or two around somewhere. The sencond part is "Vergangenheit in Bildern" -- a picture book published in 1988 and it has 752 pages, with 17 places, 1 city. Hildehgard Preiss also published: Der Bezirk Tachau in Zahlen (various census of Tachau county). It is the results of the census in 1869, 1890, 1900, 1910,. 1921, 1930, 1939 for every community of the districts of pfraumberg and Tachau and also fot the county of Tachau. it was published in 1992, is 75 pages. Ortsbetreuers - Froetschl brothers -- named below may have copies of this book. That would give you all of the places your surnames were found in those years. There is another possibility: Heimatatlas des ehem. politishen Bezirkes Tachau-Pfraumberg (Atlas of the former political county of Tachau-Pfraumberg from a collection of old maps, plans of places with residents of the former communities by Roland Brich, Weiden... Arbeitskreis der Tachauer Geretsried Verlag G. Lewke 1973 1700 place and field plans / maps. (Look for Family Brich in Weiden to ask if they have any copies if you can't find one elsewhere.) There is also an address in Geretsreid for another "Heimatstube" and contact: : Tachauer Stube in Geretsried": Karl Kugler, Egerlandstr. 42, 82538 Geretsried, Tel. 08171/61269 That book may give you a chance to find your surnames in other places near to Haid. ---------------------- With some internet searches using Haid and Tachau (the county) I got hits that gave me the websites for the Heimat groups above. The addresses in Weiden and Geretsreid indicate that a lot of Haid folks may have resettled in or near Weiden. Look for your surnames in the phonebook there and in surrounding communities. I also found this reference: Egerländer Familienforschung. Sie war lange Jahre Mitarbeiterin der Forschungsgruppe Tachau (unter der Leitung von Herrn Oswald Frötschl)...snip This says that the family search group for Tachau was led by Oswalf Frötschl (etc.) Oswald Frotschl is the brother of a researcher I know -- Robert Froetschl. ... Robert Froetschl Eberhardstr. 36 D-70188 Holzgerlingen Germany ... http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GERMAN-BOHEMIAN/1997-11/0879829461 I don't know if this Edress is still current: froetschlrf@t-online.de Note that the postfach (zip code) in the address above may be replaced by a new one that is six numbers, no letters. There is a conversion from old Zip to new in English at: http://www.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/plz/plzrequest.uk.html In the phone book search page there is a place for the area code or maybe the postal zip code. If none of the resources above can help you locate people with your family surnames, do your search again and look for your family name in places like: Weiden Cham Furth im Wald Terschenreuth Munich Regensberg Regenstauf Bamberg Amberg Nurnberg That should narrow down your list to one that is manageable for selecting those to whom to send a letter. Karen ------------------- There is a book about Haid that was published in Weiden. "Haid und das Haider Land by Arbeitskreis Haider Buch, vorsitzende Hildegard Preiss, Weiden: Selstverlag deer Heerousgeber (Hildegard Preiss). The first part came out in 1985 -- 720 pages and includes 1u places, on city. It was reprinted in 1989 and there may be one or two around somewhere. The sencond part is "Vergangenheit in Bildern" -- a picture book published in 1988 and it has 752 pages, with 17 places, 1 city. There is another possibility: Heimeatatlas des ehem. plitishen Bezirkes Tachau-Pfraumberg (Atlas of the form political counties of Tachau-Pfraumber from a collection of old maps, plas of places with residens of the former communities by Roland Brich, Weiden... Arbeitskreis der Tachauer Geretsried Verlag G. Lewke 1973 1700 place and field plans. Look for family Preiss in Weiden and write asking if they have copies of any of Hidegard's books for sale. . By the way, many people from Haid refused to leave their Tracht behind when they were expelled. So they wore it to the collection points and on the trains to Germany. For that reason there may be more surviving examples of Haid Tracht in Germany than there are Tracht for any other area of the Egerland. The Haid woman's headdress was quite elaborately dedorated with beads and bangles and ribbons. There may be a Heimat museum brochure or another book or booklet that shows the Haid Tracht. Karen There is a