Southern California Genealogical Society
SCGS INTEREST GROUPS - German Resources and German Special Interest Group

German Interest Group

Meets: 3rd Saturdays, January through November (check calendar)
Hours: 1:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Virtual GIG meetings using GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/282290373
Contact: for more information.

Location: 417 Irving Drive, Burbank, CA 91504
Southern California Genealogy Society building
*Programs are subject to change without notice.

Goal: The goal of the German Interest Group is to provide a wide range of resources both inside and outside the SCGS Library to help trace German family lineage.

Meetings: The group meets at the Library the third Saturday of each month (January through November) from 1:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Meetings include presentations on a wide variety of research topics, highlights of German resources available in the library, on-line research tips, group help with brick wall problems, highlights of discoveries, and personal research time with the help of other members.

German Resources in the SCGS Library: with an extensive collection of research books held within the SCGS Library, this group has an abundance of resources at its disposal.

  • German Online Resources: Our group posts links to common German resources on this page.

2024 German Interest Group Meeting Agenda

    January 20 ~ Annette Unrau: “ “Rise of Prussia” & The Arolsen Archives”
    February 17 ~ Milan Pohontsch: “Old German Script - Writing Small Letters”
    March 16 ~ Lowell May: “War II German POW Camps in Kansas”
    April 20 ~ Milan Pohontsch: “Old German Script - Writing Capital Letters & Umlauts”
    May 18 ~ Tadeusz H. Pilat: “Military Conscription in the Kingdom of Poland”
    June 15 ~ Kathy Holland: “The Life of Otto Preminger”
    July 20 ~ Barbara Stanculescu: “Wurttenburg”
    August 17 ~ Tadeusz Pilat: “Military Records Touching on the Three Partitions of Poland”
    September 21 ~ Annette Unrau: “The Plague of Prussia”
    October 19 ~ Tadeusz Pilat: “Using Online Map Resources as well as Cadastral Maps in Poland”
    November 16 ~ TBD

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The German Research Team and German Interest Group at SCGS can help you navigate the unique challenges of researching your German ancestors.

Germans form the largest group of immigrants to the America. Germans were among the settlers of Jamestown in 1608; and the first permanent German settlement was established in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1683. Since then, some eight million German immigrants have entered the United States.

The specialized German Collection of the Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library includes over 3,000 books, CDs, maps, manuscripts, and databases. The cornerstone of SCGS's Germanic section is the 30-year personal collection of F. Walter Hilbig, formerly with Heritage Quest magazine and the Salt Lake City Family History Library. Many of our volumes are very rare and have never seen the light of a scanner or digital camera. If you have been working solely online, we may have some surprises for you. We can help you prove your findings.