This week’s #FridayFind is how to decode an Orssippenbuch!

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

Orts-what-er, you say? Go check out our last #FridayFind where we explain what an Ortsippenbuch is and why they’re so important to German genealogy research.

Okay, you’re all caught up on what an Ortssippenbuch is, you’ve traced a line back to a specific town in Germany, and you’re lucky enough that your local library has a copy of their Ortssippenbuch, now… how do you read it?

Even if you’re already fluent in German, decoding an Ortssippenbuch isn’t always obvious. Take the highlighted individual above. Roughly the section means the following:

On November 19th, 1863, Rudolf Albert Bratzler, a cobbler born on January 12th, 1837 married his first wife, Caroline Friederike Frick. Caroline was born on January 26th, 1940 and died on April 16th, 1865. They had one child together: Heinrich Albert, who was born on December 23rd, 1864. At some point, Rudolf emigrated to the US.

To learn more about Rudolf’s parents, find number 0328. To learn more about Caroline’s parents, find number 0902. To learn more about Rudolf’s second marriage, find number 0334.

How did we get all that? The infinity symbol (∞) refers to a marriage. An infinity symbol with a Roman numeral two in front of it (II.∞) refers to a second marriage. The asterisks (*) refer to a birth and the plus signs (+) refer to a death. Each individual is assigned a number (ex. 0331), so the numbers in angle brackets (<aus 0328>) refer to where you can find more information about a related individual.

Still struggling to make heads or tails of an Orssippenbuch? Email us at emma@backlog-archivists.com!

Dmitri Schmidt

Dmitri plays a pivotal role in coordinating Backlog’s outreach efforts. They curate our weekly #FridayFinds and #ArchivalTips social media posts, shedding light on items discovered in our genealogy work and providing tips and tricks to approaching problems in the archives.

Dmitri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and German Studies from Saint Louis University. During their university years, they dedicated over 1000 hours to interning and volunteering at local St. Louis institutions, including the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. As the Collections Intern at the Science Center, Dmitri assisted in developing and installing the "Into the Vault" exhibit.

Before joining Backlog, Dmitri served as a Fulbright Grantee, teaching English as a second language in former East Germany. From guiding 11th graders in analyzing pop albums as poetry to discussing the significance of the civil rights movement with 8th graders, they covered a broad spectrum of subjects. While reveling in connecting with students and injecting fun into grammar lessons, Dmitri's deep passion for all things archival eventually drew them back home.

Today, Dmitri works as a Herbarium Assistant at the Missouri Botanical Garden, helping digitize the millions of preserved plant specimens. After being scanned and transcribed, these images aid scholars around the globe in furthering botanical research. Dmitri also serves as the archivist for the Kirkwood Historical Society. They are currently overseeing the “Journeys into Kirkwood’s History” project, which aims to digitize documents related to Kirkwood’s early Black settlements.

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