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The Intermediate Data Structure (IDS) provides a standard format for storing and sharing individual-level longitudinal life-course data (Alter and Mandemakers 2014; Alter, Mandemakers and Gutmann 2009). Once the data are in the IDS format, a standard set of programs can be used to extract data for analysis, facilitating the analysis of data across multiple databases. Currently, life-course databases store information in a variety of formats, and the process of translating data into IDS can be long and tedious. The IDS Transposer is a software tool that automates this process for source data in any format, allowing database administrators to specify how their datasets are to be represented in IDS. This article describes how the IDS Transposer works, first by going through an example step-by-step, and then by discussing each part of the process and potential options and exceptions in detail.

Questo contributo si concentra sulla valle alpina del Fersina nell'Italia nord-orientale. Durante il periodo studiato, la valle era isolata da barriere linguistiche e geografiche, con la coabitazione di due gruppi linguistici separati - italiani e tedeschi. Dopo aver esplorato i principali indicatori demografici relativi all'intera valle, abbiamo considerato il regime nuziale e di fecondità della comunità di lingua tedesca, applicando la tecnica di ricostruzione delle famiglie. L'analisi ha mostrato come il livello di sopravvivenza complessivo della valle risultasse superiore al livello standard italiano nella stessa epoca. Inoltre, è stata dimostrata l'esistenza di un'età relativamente elevata al matrimonio e un basso livello di fecondità, confermando l'esistenza di un regime demografico a bassa pressione. Questi risultati preliminari possono essere inseriti nel più ampio quadro relativo ai meccanismi regolatori della crescita della popolazione, che storicamente caratterizzavano le aree montane con risorse limitate. This contribution focuses on the Alpine Valley of the Fersina River in North-eastern Italy. During the period under study, the valley was isolated by linguistic and geographical barriers, while two separated linguistic groups - Italian and German - cohabited. After exploring the main demographic indicators related to the entire valley, we considered the marriage and the fertility pattern of the German-speaking community, applying the family reconstitution technique. The analysis showed that the level of overall survival of the valley was higher than the Italian standard. Furthermore, relatively high age at marriage and low fertility level were demonstrated, confirming the existence of a low pressure demographic regime. These preliminary results can be placed into the wider context of the regulatory mechanisms of population growth, which has historically characterized the mountain's areas with limited resources.

This study broadens our understanding of baptismal sponsorship for slave infants by utilizing family reconstitution to recreate the vital statistics of godparents as well as demographic patterns of behaviour associated with godparenthood in Arecibo (Puerto Rico) from 1735 to 1772. The examination of who served as godparents and why they did so provides insights into the lived experience of enslaved populations. Frequent interaction of whites, blacks, and browns (pardos) as baptismal sponsors blurred social distinctions that possibly mitigated the harsher aspects of slavery. During the eighteenth century, there was both greater flexibility and openness of race relations, and a creolized Afro-Puerto Rican culture slowly developed.

Using family reconstitution data from the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, and Zeeland, trends and risk factors of maternal death from 1846 to 1902 are studied. Findings confirm other studies of maternal mortality trends for the Netherlands in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and show that rates were already steadily decreasing in the mid-nineteenth century. The role of biological and social risk factors including age, parity, birth interval, social class, season, and year of giving birth were also explored. Among biological factors we find an increased risk of maternal death for short birth intervals, late maternal age, high and low parity, multiple gestations, and stillbirths. Social factors associated with increased risk are belonging to the skilled working class, being a farmer, giving birth in winter or spring, and giving birth in earlier years. We also explore trends in the data which reveal directions for future research. Keywords: childbirth; family reconstitution; maternal mortality; nineteenth century

Introdução: O uso da droga tem afligido diretamente as relações familiares, interferindo nos laços criados, no amparo e na relação segura, adquirida ao longo da convivência familiar. Objetivo: Analisar a dinâmica familiar de mulheres-mães, antes, durante e após o convívio com as drogas. Material e método: Estudo qualitativo, exploratório e descritivo, utilizando entrevista semi-estruturada, com mulheres-mães internadas em um centro de recuperação de Petrolina-PE. Resultados: No período anterior às drogas as relações familiares eram referenciadas como boas, em oposição ao contexto às drogas, na qual evidenciou-se a naturalização da vida na rua, o roubo, a prostituição e a exploração sexual de menor, como meios de vida para sustentar o vício. A rejeição familiar esteve presente, modificando-se com a internação das depoentes, quando se apontou a possibilidade de reconstituição familiar. Conclusão: A participação da família no tratamento e cuidado das depoentes foi fundamental para fortalecer a aproximação das relações afetivas, o rompimento do estigma e preconceito tão prevalentes na sociedade. É necessário, também, que os profissionais de saúde, principalmente os enfermeiros estejam atentos e promovam a integração entre cuidado e cuidador, bem como conheçam a família e o contexto familiar em que vivem para traçar um cuidado mais efetivo.

The paper tries to examine the intensity and possible influencing factors of remarriages in two distant communities of historic Hungary during the 19th century. It uses longitudinal data gained from parish registers and family reconstitution method and event history models for the analysis of remarriage. Having only incomplete information on the social status of widowed persons, we used sex, age at widowhood, period, duration of widowhood and family composition as independent variables in the models. The analysis could prove that there were considerable differences within the ‘Eastern marriage pattern’: the analysed Transylvanian community showed a higher propensity to remarry than the West Hungarian one. This result fits well into the differing demographic patterns of the two communities. The most probable causes of these differences were better mortality and differing social composition in the Hungarian village. High propensity to remarry and the high proportion of widower/widow marriages stress the uni...

The results of a study of a nationally representative sample of disabled children and controls are presented. The findings suggest that although, at any one time, families containing a disabled child are not no more likely to be one-parent families, disabled children do appear to be more likely to experience a spell in a one-parent family at some time in their lives. Where these spells occur, they are of longer duration than for the general population, which suggests that family reconstitution may be more difficult where a disabled child is present.

Il n’est pas facile de mesurer ni de caractériser les mouvements migratoires, encore moins quand ils concernent les populations du passé. Le présent texte propose à cet effet une méthode inédite fondée sur les familles reconstituées à partir des registres paroissiaux saguenayens. Utilisant les biographies individuelles et familiales, cette méthode permet d’étudier séparément les mouvements d’immigration et d’émigration. Dans le cas du Saguenay, et probablement de toute autre région à fécondité et mortalité élevées, elle permet par ailleurs de fixer la date des migrations à un moment peu éloigné de la première ou de la dernière apparition dans le fichier des familles., Measuring migration is not an easy task, particularly in historical demography. This paper uses a new approach, based on families reconstituted from the Saguenay parish registers. Making use of the individual and family biographies, this method allows for a separate analysis of inmigration and outmigration. In the case of Quebec's Saguenay region, and probably in the case as well of any region experiencing high fertility and mortality rates, the method allows also to determine the date of migration at a moment which is close to the first or the last entering in the family file., No es fácil de medir ni de caracterizar los movimientos migratorios y aun menos cuando se trata de poblaciones del pasado. Este texto propone para ello un método inédito basado sobre la reconstitución de las familias, a partir de los registros parroquiales del Saguenay. Utilizando las biografías individuales y familiales, este método permite estudiar separadamente los movimientos de inmigración y de emigración. En el caso del Saguenay y posiblemente en cualquier otra región con una fecundidad y una mortalidad elevadas, éste permite además determinar la fecha de las migraciones en un momento no muy lejano de la primera o ultima inscripción en el fichero de las familias.

SummaryThis paper explores the course of infant and childhood mortality in the Greek island of Paros from the end of the nineteenth until the mid-twentieth century. For this purpose the method of family reconstitution has been applied to two towns on the island. Official population statistics have been used to derive basic mortality estimates for the Cyclades and Greece as a whole. Reference to other studies concerning island mortality is also made. Hence, there appears the chance to compare insular with mainland mortality and realise that insular mortality presented some distinct features. It is shown that island populations presented lower mortality than the national average until the first decades of the twentieth century. However, by the 1950s Greece’s infant and childhood mortality had dropped to the same or even to lower levels than those of the islands.

Les línies generals de l’evolució de la demografia catalana entre 1497 (any del primer fogatge de l’època moderna) i 1936 (any de l’únic cens encarregat per la Generalitat republicana) són prou conegudes. Les aportacions de Josep Iglésies, Jordi Nadal i Pierre Vilar, principalment, han emmarcat amb força precisió aquesta evolució. El que no és tant conegut, sobretot per la manca d’estudis de reconstruccions de famílies a Catalunya, és el comportament demogràfic de la població catalana, les característiques del que es coneix com a “sistema demogràfic antic” i les característiques del que es coneix com a “sistema demogràfic modern”. El component més important del “sistema demogràfic antic” és, en paraules de Louis Henry, una fecunditat natural; és a dir, les parelles tenien el nombre de fills que la biologia de la dona admetia, amb el permís dels trencaments matrimonials prematurs. El component més important del “sistema demogràfic modern” és una fecunditat limitada, és a dir, les parelles tenen el nombre de fills que decideixen que volen tenir. Una reconstrucció de famílies permet esbrinar en quin moment, bàsicament en quina generació (o generacions) de dones, es va fer, de manera majoritària, aquest canvi de sistema. Altres estudis demogràfics han demostrat que, en el cas de Catalunya, aquest canvi es va produir durant la segona meitat del segle XIX. Cal tenir en compte que en aquells anys no hi havia un ús sistemàtic i generalitzat dels mitjans de control de natalitat artificials, de manera que aquesta reducció del nombre de fills es va aconseguir mitjançant altres mètodes de control. La parròquia de Sant Just Desvern és un exemple de les moltes parròquies rurals que hi havia a Catalunya entre principis de l’edat moderna fins el primer terç del segle XX. Podem distingir-ne la seva proximitat a Barcelona, de manera que entra molt clarament dins de la seva àrea d’influència més directa. Això es constata en els llibres sacramentals santjustencs, amb una notable presència de nobles i ciutadans honrats barcelonins com a propietaris de terres i cases. I ja en el primer terç del segle XX va ser la burgesia barcelonina la que es va sentir atreta per la situació i les condicions de vida de Sant Just Desvern. Els aspectes demogràfics que hem analitzat són la natalitat, la nupcialitat, la mortalitat, la fecunditat i la mobilitat i ho hem complementat amb l’estudi de la composició de les famílies i de les llars. Tot plegat ens ha servit per afegir un exemple més al treball d’Àngels Torrents sobre la parròquia de Sant Pere de Riudebitlles de l’any 1993, amb el qual hi ha molts punts en comú, tant metodològics com cronològics. Finalment, les conclusions ens han servit per a una exhaustiva recollida de dades procedents de multitud de treballs anteriors, tant de reconstruccions de famílies com d’estudis demogràfics de qualsevol tipus que aportessin dades demogràfiques relacionades amb les parròquies catalanes amb les quals hem elaborat una síntesi el més completa possible. A més, hem comparat la fecunditat de les dones catalanes amb la fecunditat d’altres dones de la resta de la península ibèrica i del continent europeu, en aquest cas a partir d’una recerca selectiva., Las líneas generales de la evolución de la demografía catalana entre 1497 (año del primer “fogatge” –recuento- de la Edad Moderna) y 1936 (año del único censo encargado por la Generalitat republicana) son suficientemente conocidas. Las aportaciones de Josep Iglésies, Jordi Nadal y Pierre Vilar, principalmente, han enmarcado con mucha precisión esta evolución. Lo que no es tan conocido, sobre todo por la escasez de estudios basados en la reconstrucción de familias en Catalunya, es el comportamiento demográfico de la población catalana, las características de lo que se conoce como “sistema demográfico antiguo” y las características de lo que se conoce como “sistema demográfico moderno”. El componente más importante del “sistema demográfico antiguo” es, en palabras de Louis Henry, una fecundidad natural; es decir, las parejas tenían los hijos que la biología de la mujer admitía, con el permiso de las rupturas matrimoniales prematuras. El componente más importante del “sistema” demográfico moderno” es una fecundidad limitada, es decir, las parejas tienen el número de hijos que deciden que quieren tener. Una reconstrucción de familias permite conocer en qué momento, básicamente qué generación (o generaciones) de mujeres, se produjo, de manera mayoritaria, este cambio de sistema. Otros estudios demográficos han demostrado que, en el caso de Catalunya, este cambio se produjo durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Cabe señalar que en aquel momento no se utilizaban de forma sistemática y generalizada métodos de control de la natalidad artificiales, de manera que la reducción de hijos se consiguió mediante otros métodos de control. La parroquia de Sant Just Desvern es un ejemplo de la multitud de parroquias rurales que había en Catalunya entre principios de la Edad Moderna hasta el primer tercio del siglo XX. Podemos distinguir su proximidad a Barcelona, de manera que se ve influenciada muy directamente por la capital catalana. Ello se constata en los libros sacramentales de la parroquia, en los que aparecen nobles y “ciutadans honrats” (ciudadanos honrados) de Barcelona como propietarios de tierras y casas. I ya en el primer tercio del siglo XX fue la burguesía barcelonesa la que se sintió atraída por la situación y las condiciones de vida de Sant Just Desvern. Los aspectos demográficos que hemos analizado son la natalidad, la nupcialidad, la mortalidad, la fecundidad y la movilidad y los hemos completado con el estudio de la composición de las familias y los hogares. Todo ello ha servido para añadir un ejemplo más al trabajo de Àngels Torrents sobre la parroquia de Sant Pere de Riudebitlles del año 1993, con el cual hay muchos puntos en común, tanto metodológico como cronológico. Finalmente, las conclusiones han servido de excusa para una recogida exhaustiva de datos procedentes de muchos trabajos anteriores, tanto reconstrucciones de familias como estudios demográficos de cualquier tipo que nos aportasen datos demográficos relacionados con las parroquias catalanas; con todo ello hemos elaborado una síntesis muy completa. También hemos comparado la fecundidad de las mujeres catalanas con la fecundidad de otras mujeres del resto de la península ibérica y del continente europeo, en este caso a partir de una búsqueda selectiva., The general outlines of the evolution of the Catalan demography between 1497 (year of the first “fogatge” –counting houses– of the Modern Age) and 1936 (year of the only census commissioned by the Republican Generalitat –Catalan government–) are enough known. The contributions of Josep Iglésies, Jordi Nadal and Pierre Vilar, mainly, have framed very precisely this evolution. What is not well known, especially by the lack of studies based on reconstructions of families in Catalonia, is the demographical behaviour of the Catalan population, the characteristics of what is known as an “ancient demographic system” and the characteristics of what is known as a “modern demographic system”. The most important component of the “ancient demographic system” is, in the words of Louis Henry, a natural fertility; that is to say, couples had the children that the biology of the woman admitted, with the permission of premature marriage breakdown. The most important component of “modern demographic system” is a limited fertility, that is to say, couples have the number of children who decide they want to have. A reconstruction of families allows to know at what point, basically what generation (or generations) of women, did, in a majority, this change of system. Other demographic studies have showed that in the case of Catalonia, this change occurred during the second half of the 19th century. It is necessary to take into account that at the time were not used a systematic method and generalised of artificial birth control, so that this reduction of children was achieved by other methods of control. The parish of Sant Just Desvern is an example of the many rural parishes that there were in Catalonia between early modern age to the first third of the 20th. This is stated in the sacramental books of the parish, with a remarkable presence of noble and citizen honoured in Barcelonan as owners of lands and houses. And already in the first third of the 20th century was the Barcelonan bourgeoisie what was attracted by the situation and the living conditions of Sant Just Desvern. The demographic aspects that have been analysed are the birth, the marriage, the mortality, the fertility and the mobility and the study has been complemented with the analyse of the composition of the families and of the households. All this has served us to add another example to the work of Angels Torrents on the parish of Sant Pere de Riudebitlles of the year 1993, with which there are many points in common, both methodological and chronological. Finally, the conclusions have served us as an exhaustive collection of pertinent data of previous works, regarding the reconstructions of families and demographic studies of any kind that contribute demographic data related to the Catalan parishes with which have elaborated a synthesis the most complete as possible. Besides, we have compared the fertility of Catalan women with the fertility of other women from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula and the European continent, in that case from a selective research.

This article deals with the changing patterns of transmission of land and houses in pre-industrial rural Bohemia. By linking different sources, such as land registers, census-like lists and a family reconstitution, this study focuses on both the demographic and the economic factors that influenced peasant transmission strategies as well as on the consequences of changing transmission patterns for access to land-ownership in the local society. The results of this study show that patterns of land transmission changed profoundly after about 1720. Between 1651 and 1720 many houses with or without land were sold to non-kin as well as to kin although in both cases a customary and not a market price was paid. Imperfect market mechanisms are also indicated by the frequency of exchanges of houses between families. After around 1720 transmissions of property from father to son progressively became the dominant pattern. The chances of women (both widows and daughters and their husbands) to become property-holders diminished and it became extremely difficult for persons not born into house-owning families to acquire any houses or land.

El presente artículo –basado en una reconstitución de familias de la subpoblación francesa de Tandil del período 1850-1914– presenta las ventajas y los límites del método y de las fuentes de base; la ilegitimidad y sus factores asociados (edad de los padres, endo-exogamia, diferenciación urbano-rural; etc.); y la incidencia de los hijos prematrimoniales y de las concepciones prenupciales. Los indicadores obtenidos son analizados en clave comparada con otros contextos socio-demográficos argentinos y franceses. El texto concluye que la ilegitimidad de la subpoblación francesa responde a un patrón de conformación de la familia diferente del de la población nativa.

This chapter gives a broad overview of the literature on the cliometrics of international trade and market integration. We start by motivating this by looking at the lessons from economic theory, and in particular through the work which considers the effect of trade, openness, and trade policy on growth. Here theory, as well as empirical results, suggests no clear cut relationship and point to the richness of historical experiences. We then turn to the issue of how to quantify trade and market integration. The former usually relies on customs records, and the latter on the availability of prices in different markets. We then go one step back and look at the determinants of trade, usually tested within the framework of the gravity equation, and discuss what factors were behind periods of trade increases and declines, and of market integration and disintegration. Finally, as one of the most important determinants of trade, and perhaps the most policy relevant, we include a separate section on trade policy: we both consider the difficulties of constructing a simple quantitative measure, and look at what might explain it.

This article estimates the contribution of poor relief to the household economies of the labouring poor in the two case-study communities of Campton and Shefford, east Bedfordshire, and thereby throws further light on the standard of living of workers during industrialization in the south and east. Utilizing the technique of nominal record linkage between poor law sources and family reconstitution for the period c.1770—c.1834, the article charts the growth in social welfare and estimates the proportion of inhabitants benefiting from regular relief payments, the changing family circumstances of recipients, and the proportion of total income made up by poor relief.

The homeostatic method, which was developed to reconstruct the number of inhabitants of a city or even a country in pre-statistical periods, has yet to receive much attention from demographic historians. Applied first to Amsterdam during the years from 1586 to 1865, the method has subsequently been used to compute the population of other places, including England from 1541 to 1871. The author reviews major schools of thought in historical demography and shows that the homeostatic method, with its emphasis on fertility regulated by marriages, logically extends some schools and is both simpler and more accurate than others. He then explains the method in detail, applying it to Dutch and English cases, and compares its estimates with those obtained through the use of other techniques.

In the past a couple had the choice of a day from Monday through Sunday on which to baptise their child, or to get married, or to have their burials registered. The day chosen would reflect the parents' own preferences for days of leisure. As each date was converted by computer during the process of family reconstitution to a number of days that had elapsed since the first of January, 1 AD, all that it was necessary to do was to divide the number corresponding to the date by 7 to get the day of the week. Three graphs reveal, with some surprises, the relative popularity of the days of the days of the week chosen for baptisms, burials and marriages, from 1542 to 1847.

In demography mortality is usually reported through averages over time intervals. If average mortality is estimated from censored or truncated data, then direct methods of estimation may create biases that depend on the censoring or truncation distribution. Such discretization errors may be avoided by estimating survival curves first in continuous time, and then discretizing the estimators. We illustrate the different methods on data of the form obtained from family reconstitution.

Basque customs in the Old Regime dictated the traditional succession rules of ainesse integrale, which entitled the first-born male or female child to inherit all family assets (house and land) upon marriage. He or she was then to cohabit with the parents as a stem family, thus securing the transition and continuity of the house. With the implementation of the Civil Code in the 19th century, these ancient succession practices were abolished, forcing families to partition their assets equally among their children. Family reconstitution, succession records, and land registers of the 19th century indicate that, despite the new law, Basque families circumvented the law to transmit their property to one child, thus avoiding partitioning and securing continuity of the house. To perpetuate their ancient succession practices, families elaborated new strategies, showing flexibility toward traditional practices (especially ainesse integrale) and making concessions to the heir or heiress, spouse, and siblings. They ...

Afin de retracer l'évolution de la population montréalaise de 1840 à la fin du siècle, les auteures ont recueilli toutes les données se rapportant à douze patronymes dans les registres d'état civil (baptêmes, mariages et décès) et les recensements nominatifs. L'échantillon a été conçu de manière à permettre d'établir les mariages et filiations et de reconstituer intégralement quelques centaines de familles représentatives des trois principales cultures en présence : les Canadiens français, les anglo-protestants et les Irlandais catholiques. Chaque groupe a une structure par âge, des trajectoires de vie et des comportements démographiques spécifiques., To trace the evolution of the population of Montreal from the 1840s to the end of the century, we collected all baptisms, marriages, deaths and nominal census entries for 12 sample surnames. The sample is intended to permit matching, chaining, and a full reconstitution of several hundred families representative of each of the city's three principal cultural communities: French Canadian, protestant, and Irish catholic. The three communities functioned as distinctive subsystems, each with its own age-structure, vital rates, and behavioral patterns., Para describir la evolución de la población de Montreal desde 1840 hasta fines de sigio, las autoras recolectaron todos los datas asociados a doce apellidos en los registros del estado civil (bautismos, casamientos y defunciones), asi corno los censos nominales. Se concibió el muestrario de manera a poder asentar casamientos y filiaciones, y asi reconstituir integralmentevarios centenares de familias representativas de las très comunidades culturales principales de Montreal: Canadienses franceses, anglo-protestantes, e Irlandeses católicos. Cada una de estas comunidades tiene su propia estructura por edad, sus propias trayectorias de vida y sus propios comportamientos especificos.

Data from a family reconstitution study of five villages in Alsace, France, point to the importance of family composition as a determinant of remarriage. For widows and widowers, the likelihood of remarriage increased with the number of children fourteen years of age or younger in their household, though the result was statistically significant only for men. Moreover, having an older daughter (fifteen to twenty-one years of age) was associated with a much lower likelihood of remarriage for widowers, and, surprisingly, for widows as well.

y the turn of the century 1700/1800 less than one in five Norwegian children died before their first birthday. The average hides variations among regions and over time. Infant mortality had, at least in some areas, started its secular decline from the end of the 18th century. Neither in Norway nor in other countries have the causes of decline been definitively identified. One hypothesis has been that the decline in mortality was associated with an increase in prosperity. One would, therefore, expect that infant mortality was higher in the poorer classes, at least during the initial stage of the decline in infant mortality. Researchers have published data on infant mortality according to social groups in some Norwegian family reconstitution studies from different parishes. Usually there are two groups: one consists of farmers, whereas the other is a mixed group of cotters, crofters, laborers, workers, fishermen and sailors. Family reconstitution is very time-consuming work. The results for individual parishes often do not consist of a large number of cases, and the differences found have not been subjected to statistical testing. This makes it difficult to interpret the results, and the researchers are usually reluctant to make substantial conclusions. One exception is a study not based on study of a single parish, but rather on linkage between records from church registers from 45 randomly chosen parishes for two to five years around

Examines the frequency of slave marriage in 18th-c. Puerto Rico, through family reconstitution based on parish baptismal, marriage, and death registers. Author first sketches the development of slavery, and the work regimens and conditions of the not yet sugar-dominated slavery in Puerto Rico. Then, he describes the religious context and social implications of marriage among slaves, and discusses, through an example, spousal selection patterns, and further focuses on age and seasonality of the slave marriages. He explains that marriage brought some legal advantages for slaves, such as the prohibited separation, by sale, of married slaves. In addition, he explores how slaves pursued marital strategies in order to manipulate material conditions. He concludes from the results that in the 18th c. marriage among slaves was not uncommon, and appear to have been determined mostly by the slaves own choice, with little direct intervention by masters. Most slaves married other slaves, with the same owner.

The method of family reconstitution has many fathers. About 100 years ago, the first pioneers began to edit a unique depository of European history, namely the church registers, with their data on vital events, which had been kept since early modern times. The aim was to compile the entries in a family-centered way, making accessible a name-based (nominative) evaluation of the data. Since then, thousands of amateur researchers interested in either genealogies or local history have conducted family reconstitutions. Weiss and Munchow1 estimate that compilations of this kind have been made for about 5% to 10% of all German-speaking regions, frequently as unpublished card files or typed manuscripts. Other compilations have been printed as Ortssippenucher, or books of local genealogies, and thus are accessible to the public. The personal, political, and scientific reasons for this work are extremely diverse and have their own history, which is not quite unproblematic, especially in Germany.1 That fact makes the uninhibited handling of this material more difficult.