Hi Cindy. HADIS is purely scoped according to today's borderlines of the Land of Hessen. It is like an U. S. State such as Texas. I do not know what other Lands in Germany have available, but as far as I know I would be surprised another Land has something comparable. But feel free to browse through google or other means or ask in according forums or lists. Many germans do speak or understand english a little or fairly well. Some don't. You won't know if you don't try.  ;-)  *grin* Generally spoken Germans are very open and in contrast to some other cultures will not feel offended if you try and speak english straight away. Of course a little effort on your end to at least say hello or bye in German will make you more sympathic and may increase your chance to find help.  ;-)  There are some smart online tools as well helping you translating text into german. However, they are not perfect and may lead to misunderstandings. But they are still helpful in case the expert you want to communicate with does not have a proper command of the english language. Good luck & regards, Thierry   Dr. Thierry P. Dietrich D-61250 Usingen ________________________________ Von: Cindy Phipps <[email protected]> An: [email protected] Gesendet: Dienstag, den 3. März 2009, 16:08:26 Uhr Betreff: Re: [HESSE] What to do after having found your ancestor's emigrationrecord on HADIS Thierry and Eric, Thank you for the help with the web site.  I already know when and from where this family group emmigrated.  It would be fun to have a photocopy of the original though.  Are there similar sites for the other regions of Germany?  I have other branches in my tree containing  Zieglers, Hornbostels, and Sacriders. If I accessed a German-speaking website, can I assume, as an ugly American, that the members speak English?  thank you in advance, Cindy ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I'm not sure whether I recommend this or not.  For me it was great, for others it might not work, I guess.  But I did an Internet search on the village my great-grandfather had left - Arnshain, Hesse-Darmstadt.  And I began opening the various pages and came across a cook at a little cafe in town.  He happened to have an email link, so I wrote him, in English.  I asked about the town, the history of the town, and told him about my ancestors who lived there.  He wrote back in English, although it was difficult.  He was very enthusiastic about meeting someone in America, and about my ancestry going back to Arnshain.  He actually took it upon himself to go to the church and sent information about my great-grandfather and his children.  And he spoke to what he called the oldest man in town, who told him where to go for more information. This is how I learned the exact date in which the family left for America.  He also sent me photos of the town, some were aerial, which were especially beautiful. So for me it was a fun experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed our communications back and forth.  I also know I was lucky to have hit upon such a person on my very first, and only, letter to someone in that town.  But hey, like mentioned in the email I just read, you don't know unless you try! Susan On Mar 3, 2009, at 8:19:57 AM, "Thierry Dietrich" <[email protected]> wrote: Many germans do speak or understand english a little or fairly well. Some don't. You won't know if you don't try.  ;-)  *grin*