“Reading German III: Practice Reading Basic German Church Records”
F. Warren Bittner, CG
8 June, 15 June, 22 June, 29 June 2015
Standard $69.99
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Reading German church records written in old Gothic script is one of the most difficult challenges facing German researchers. Germans were meticulous records keepers and the church records are filled with details, but the church books are difficult to read. This course will provide practice reading basic German church records. In first grade a child learns to read through practice. This course will provide practice reading Gothic to help students increase their reading ability. Church books vocabulary will be expanded.
In the four workshop sessions, German church books examples from various areas of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria will be examined. The focus will be learning the patterns of records. Most church records contain the same information, but in a slightly different order. The lectures and discussions will review how to identify the sections of information.
F. Warren Bittner, CG, is a genealogical researcher and lecturer. He is a trustee for the Board for Certification of Genealogists. He holds a Master of Science degree in history from Utah State University. His master’s thesis looked at the social factors affecting illegitimacy in nineteenth-century Bavaria.
Warren Bittner was a winner of the National Genealogical Society 2011 Writing Contest, with his article “Without Land, Occupation, Rights, or Marriage Privilege: The Büttner Family from Bavaria to New York.” This article was also awarded the National Genealogical Society, Award for Excellence, 2012 which is presented annually for an outstanding article published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.
He has coordinated German research tracks at the Samford University’s Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. For six years he was the German Collection Manager for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. He has done research in more than fifty German archives and in more than forty U.S. archives and record repositories.
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