Birth Records for My Alsace Lorraine Relatives

by Shan Heath
(Ogden Utah USA )

Hello,

My grand father was born in Alsace Lorraine and immigrated to the United States about 1911. His name was Louis Unteriner on some documents other documents were Ludwig Untereiner. I am trying to find out who his parents are for genealogy reasons. While I know the history of this territory, finding records has proven to be somewhat difficult. Can anyone help or tell me who do I need to write to get a copy of his birth record please.

Thanks for your help,
Shan

Comments for Birth Records for My Alsace Lorraine Relatives

Average Rating

Click here to add your own comments

Rating

Finding Your Alsace Lorraine Ancestors Birth Records
by: Suzele

Hi Shan,

Perhaps there's some more information that you didn't include in your request above. Or maybe it's just info you don't have.

If you want the birth records for Ludwig Untereiner (and that is likely his name in Alsace Lorraine), you also need the name of the town or village of his birth.

Otherwise, you will have 1000s of village and town records to look through.

If he was born after 1871 (very likely), then it at least limits you to the northern part of Lorraine and all of Alsace.

At least that is my guess based on the political situation at the time.

Records are organized by place. Not name, not year or month of birth (or marriage or death).

They are sorted by year and month (and not by name at all).

Names are just to find the correct person.

As for his name change, it's likely that Ludwig's family decided to change his name and make it less Germanic (very common because of World War One and World War Two).

I've seen this happen in many cases where the family had very germanic first or last names (and Alsatians tend to have very Germanic last names even today).

Don't feel that you are an unusual case not having the village or town name.

I get requests every day from people in the exact same situation.

It can be frustrating.

And I hope that you will find some info that gets you to your family's village or town.

If you do get stuck and unable to find more info, I have a question for you.

What other things would you like to know about your relatives?

Are you interested to know more about their every day life, their customs, their beliefs (like the odd things they did to find their future husband or wife).

You know, the things that really mattered to them (and you wouldn't believe what they would do to try to guarantee getting pregnant or negotiating marriage).

I study the history of Alsace (and all that interesting other stuff related to their beliefs and traditions).

Hope your genealogy search is going well!
Suzele

Rating

Seeking Grandmother’s Alsace Lorraine Birthplace
by: Anonymous

Good morning, starting a cursory exploration of finding where my paternal grandmother was born in Alsace Lorraine. I had no idea she was French, but during time spent at the Mormon genealogy library, the gentleman I was working with online showed me a photograph of her! I have the birthdate of my father, but not the name of his biological father. Unknown to my father, his mother had had a previous marriage or paramour, who was his biological father. He grew up thinking his father was a Kennedy, when in actuality his biological father abandoned the family and he was raised by his mother’s then husband, a Kennedy.
In America, my grandmother lived for a time in Newport, Rhode Island, where I remember her. But I believe she emigrated To New York City, where my father was born and raised.
With this very thinnest of "clues," I imagine it would be impossible to find out more about her. Unfortunately, my mother was late in years when she very casually told me that my grandmother was born in France!

I Like to think though that my preternatural command of the French language as a young teenager (my French high school teacher could NOT believe that I wasn’t living in a French-speaking household!) and my serious fascination with Nazi occupied Paris And the French Resistance , which has surfaced in my fiction writing and beyond, is purely coincidental. I am a sociologist who believes that culture is, in part, genetically transmitted, and my "gut" tells me I am somehow connected to this.time and place.

Any comments greatly aopreciated.
With gratitude for the work you do.
Eileen Fanelli Kennedy (yes, I am half Italian, another story)

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to France and Genealogy.

Need More Alsace Vacation Ideas?

23 Adorable Alsace Villages
to Discover
(with Local Advice)

9 Alsace Towns and Cities
You Should Know About

Planning Your Alsace Vacation:
Get Started Right
(with Local Advice)

The Alsace Travel Guide
(Written by Locals Who Love it)