Hello KÖHLER Researchers-- Below is an excellent post from Don (who is the list owner of the Hessen List, Germany GenWeb) that could benefit all of us. If you have questions, his email is <dwat@mmcable.com>. Leslie: Rootsweb List Owner for ~ McMURRY, TROTTER, MOADAIR, KOEHLER and MO-ABSTRACTS - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- Here is a tip everyone can use. Go to: http://users.rootsweb.com/~deuhes/Hessen/index.htm Click on Table of Links. Select or scroll down to Table #2. In the left column, click on Telephones/E-Mail. Scroll down and click on Teleauskunft, the official German telephone directory. Choose English. Click on The Local Directory. Click on the number which represents the area (zip code) region you are interested in. The towns in bold print can be accessed further. The ones in faint print are still under construction. Don't know which area you are interested in? Check out the links to all 16 German states, and look under German Zip Codes for comparisons of zip codes with German regions, right on our home page. After you explore the information for each town you are interested in, make a note of them. Now go back to Table #2 in the Table of Links. Click on Town Locators. Choose Site #2 for the best maps. Type in the name of the town(s) you are interested in, like this: Mannheim, Germany. If you know the county, you can type it in, instead of Germany. That will reduce the number of responses you get, since so many towns in Germany have the same name. Note the region your town is in. Enlarge, and zoom in on the map. Normally, you can find any town's web site in Germany like this: http://www.townname.de/. Sometimes you have to use http://www.stadt-townname.de/. Just insert the actual town's name where I have townname. Using Site #1 in Town Locators you can also type in the coordinates of a town and then get a list of all towns within a 30 mile radius. First, type in the town name and choose Germany. When possible, choose exact spelling. If you aren't sure, choose the Daitch-Mokotov soundex option. Take a look at the list of towns by that name. Become accustomed to quick identification of distances and directions from Berlin and coordinates applicable to your area of research. Note the coordinates of the town in the area you are interested in. Go back to the page where you typed in the town name. Scroll to the bottom. Insert the coordinates and choose a 30 mile radius. Note all of the towns in the vicnity. Choose a town for further research, and zoom in on it on the map at Site #1. All sorts of towns come into view. Is one of them that long, lost town or village you have been looking for? Is it close to where you HAVE been looking and struck out? Is THAT how it is spelled? Going back to Town Locators, scroll down to Step-by-Step instructions. Look for details about your towns there. For example, what fiche and films are available in the USA? You can get a fiche or film faster than you can get a response from your letter to Germany, and since you do the research, you'll feel more confident about the results. NOW .. I have done this for years so I do it very rapidly. I have high-speed equipment, so it only takes seconds for me to find what I am looking for. In time, you'll do this faster than you can leaf through a Rand-McNally World Atlas. Think positive, and remember the cry of every serious genealogist: Never give up! :) Don Hessen List, Germany GenWeb *As much as I dislike paper, you'll want to print this out and hang it next to your monitor. I'll send some other tips as time permits.*