-----Original Message----- >From: Sharon Baldwin <medved_1970@yahoo.com> > >I am looking for some information on Michael Guderian and his father Christian Guderian. >Some of the information I have found shows that both were born in Dombrowke and others say >Schubin. I know that Michael spent some time in the military, but I don't know if his >father did as well. Both immigrated with their families to America about 1856. > Sharon, There are church records available for rental on microfilm through your nearest LDS Family History Center for Dombrowke that cover the time frame you're interested in. There are three listings in Prussia for "Dombrowke" but each has church records back far enough that you should find what you're looking for. See the following . . . http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=localityhitlist&columns=*%2C0%2C0&PLACE=Dombrowke&PARTOF=&prePLACE=Dombrowke&prePARTOF= Additionally, there are listings for Schubin but you may have to do some more digging in U.S. records to narrow it down as there are several choices, none in Prussia. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=localityhitlist&columns=*%2C0%2C0&PLACE=Schubin&PARTOF=&prePLACE=Schubin&prePARTOF= None of these records are on-line (unless as an abstract, which isn't considered "proof" of anything) and won't be for a great many years. The only other way to access them is by writing to churches and archives in Germany (not recommended, and expensive). Insofar as Prussian military service, it was required for all males once they reached a certain age (and one reason why so many left the country early in their lives <g>). Checking this mail list's archives is always a good practice. In the 10+ years that it's been around most questions have been asked and answered at least once <g>. Here's a three posting reply I made in 2002 that offers some tips and quotes on using/finding military records from how-to books and guides . . . http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/PRUSSIA-ROOTS/2002-09/1033181137 http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/PRUSSIA-ROOTS/2002-09/1033181637 http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/PRUSSIA-ROOTS/2002-09/1033181882 You can do interactive searches at the following URL for other postings to military record searches (as there have been MANY postings about this every year) . . . http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl Good luck, LGO

Hello "LGO", I think that your advice & points made to Sharon, see below, were very well made. On a personal note, however, after spending a small fortune on Roman Catholic Church records (an 1840 marriage & eleven subsequent birth records for one family in what was then West Prussia, now Poland) I am questioning what other options I might have had. In my case, there were no extant church records to be had at the local level since the R.C. Church records of my interest had apparently been removed from the local parish to the R.C. Diocese Archives, at a distant location. In order to obtain these records, far fewer in number & scope than I had hoped for by the way, it was necessary for me to hire a Polish citizen/professional researcher to interface with the R.C. Diocese Archives on my behalf. This was a costly arrangement which resulted in far fewer records in number than I might have been able to afford to buy had I been able to deal with the church at the local level. I assume that the same parallel situation may exists for some areas and church affiliations in Germany today. Given the circumstances in the future, should the occasion arise, would there be some other, more economical way, to obtain the desired vital records assuming that it could be determined that the desired records were still in existence? Thank you, Bette > > None of these records are on-line (unless as an abstract, which isn't > considered "proof" of anything) and won't be for a great many years. The > only other way to access them is by writing to churches and archives in > Germany (not recommended, and expensive). > > LGO