I really did enjoy Jon Scott's comments on German Guilds. From German church records I have the following ancestors: Carl Rabenaldt, about 1850 was a shoe maker from Wolferstadt Johann Georg Wilhelm Schmidt, Master Linen weaver d. 1883 Weimar Johann Theodor Wilhelm Bauer, stocking weaver d. 1838 Weimar Johannes Goldmann, Tailormaster d. 1871 Kullstedt I have always wondered how I might locate Guild records and if it would be worth the trouble. Patsy Hand