Speaker: Ute Brandenburg

Personenstand in Prussia: Locating Civil Records in the Former German Provinces Now in Poland

The Prussian states of the German Empire implemented a uniform civil registration system on October 1, 1874. The complex history of the former Prussian provinces ceded to Poland after World War II presents unique challenges for researchers. This session will explore the many websites and ongoing indexing projects – some well-hidden, others tricky to navigate – that will help you locate surviving civil records.

Professional genealogist Ute Brandenburg is a bilingual German American living in Iowa City, Iowa. Educated in Germany, she combines her lifelong immersion in German culture, history, and geography with in-depth knowledge of migration history as well as genealogical sources of both Germany and the United States.

Among Ute’s research interests are German immigration to the Midwest, research in the former Eastern Provinces of Prussia, and Jewish family history. She conducts regular on-site archival research in Germany and Poland, working directly with original records in regional and state archives.

Logistically speaking

Our 2026 convention will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15-16. Both days start at 9 a.m. PACIFIC time zone and end by 2 p.m. PACIFIC time zone. Breaks are provided!

The Annual General Meeting, the society's business meeting, is scheduled for Saturday morning and is open to members only. Members who cannot attend live on the day will be emailed a proxy statement so they can vote on the relevant questions. That likely will be available in early August.

We will have five presentations and close with the "open forum," where participants can ask questions, share information and tell stories about their research. No agenda.

When all the speakers are confirmed, we'll introduce them and their presentations in posts to this blog. So keep coming back!

And remember, no charge to attend. A real-time AI translation to a language of your choice will be available. And recordings will be available to members after the weekend.

 Questions may be sent to convention-sggee@googlegroups.com. 

 

 

Save the date!

The 2026 SGGEE convention and Annual General Meeting will be held the weekend of Aug. 15-16 via Zoom. We hope you'll mark your calendar and join us for a program that explores some of the experiences we share as Germans from Eastern Europe -- "The Ties That Bind."

This year for the first time, you can turn on the real-time AI translation of the presentations. Screen captions allow you to follow the speaker in the language of your choice. Or use the closed captions to help with hearing.

There is no cost to register and attend. Members will have access to the recordings after the convention.

Our confirmed speakers will be introduced in coming posts and include some "new faces" to the SGGEE convention program.

Revisit this blog over the coming weeks to keep up with the news on registration and speakers. Questions may be sent to convention-sggee@googlegroups.com.