Offering:

 

Documents - Digital Research

 

A wealth of information is available online like never before. Many people will find that the ancestors they are looking for have already been recorded in extensitve family trees. One problem that may crop up is a language barrier as they find sites that are only in French or German. We are able to assist with digital research and translation. 

 

1. Determine your research goals so we can create an agreement on the scope of work to be completed.

2. You will provide the information you already have so that no work is duplicated and time wasted.

3. Opening an account is priced at Euro 75.00.  Afterwards research hours are rated at Euro 30.00 per hour.

4. We will send you the requested information digitally. 

 

If you want to know more about our digital research, please go to the inquiry form 

 

Documents - Field Research

 

Records are well kept in France and maybe recorded in French, German and Latin depending on the era. Prior to 1815 we need to look for records in the churches, after that year the records will be in the city hall of the villages. We can be of service here.

In all cases it is highly important to have an appointment at the city hall to be able to do research and to find documents and certificates. It is also hightly important to be able to communicate in the local language as it is not common for local people to speak English. This is not a problem as Dr. Smits is fluent in both  laguages. 

 

The graveyards in Alsace are kept in walled areas and on church grounds. Sometimes however graves are removed. With limited space, if the families stop paying maintenance fees the body may be exhumed and relocated to a common mass grave and lost. Jewish graveyards do not suffer from this fate. 

 

Family graves may not have individuals names on the headstone. In this case the headstone will bear the family name only and several generations my be burried one on top of the other. This is why it is important to be able to speak with family members etc. if possible, who know their local family history. We will make every attempt to locate graves, and find the right people to contact to do so.

 

We offer visiting the churches, graveyards, and city halls to locate records, make photocopies of documents and photograph gravesites, churches, villages and homes if possible. In addtion we can attempt to locate living family members and put you in contact with them. 

 

1. Determine your research goals so we can agree  on the scope of works to be completed.

2. You will provide the information you already know so the no work is duplicated and time wasted.

3. We will do a bit of research on your ancestor to deciede if we will take the project. 

4. If we decide to take your  project our retainer fee will be about Euro 345.00 per day depending on the itinerary. 

5. This includes our prep-work, researching where we need to go, who we need to meet with and talk to, setting the appointments, finding the records taking the photographs, and any other documentation. It also includes 250 kilometers round trip travel and our lunch. Field research in Alsace and the Lorraine will be blocked off on our calendar in one day increments.

6. Anything over 250 kilometers will be billed at .35 cents per mile.

 

If you want to know more about our field research, please go to the inquiry form 

 

Genealogy Tours

 

• Opening an account Euro 75.00 that goes toward research hours, and preparation for the tours. 

• Location of the family home of record, documents, and possible living relatives will be part of the pre-tour preparation.

• On location guided tours to ancesteral homes, graveyards, churches, mayors offices (city halls)  for records searches and any other points of interest, including meeting living relatives would all be possible to include in the tour and will be outlined in a pre tour proposal. 

• We only do private tours and these tours are complely customized based on the clients needs. Therefore the number of days and what is included will all be part of our proposal, and pricing included on a case by case basis. 

• Basic priceing is not different from our other tours. We pick people up and it is coming to basically Euro 175.00 per day per person, or Euro 195.00 per person per day if you are are picked up from Strasbourg. Your will be responsible for your own hotel costs, but we can make suggestions to help you find the right hotel and location based on your budget and desires. 

• We can plan whatever type of tour the client desires. This can be stricktly a genealogy tour, or a combination of a luxury tour and a genealogy tour. People traveling to this area of France  may also want to spend a day wine tasting and taking the sites and may even want including dining in one of the fine Michellin start restaurants.

• We assume that those on a genealogy tour will want photocoples of records and so on as we go, and in that case fees are paid by the client as accured. 

• Interpretation of French and German language documents to English ad hock as we go.

• We are open to additional requests if you do not find what you are looking for here.

 

If you want to know more about our genealogy tours, please go to the inquiry form 

 

Transport: 

 

We pick you up and drop you off at your hotel or at an airport or train station in Alsace.

 

• Up to 4 people we use a glass roofed Peugeot 5008.

• For 5 to 8 people we take a Peugeot or Mercedes minibus and this requires additional expense for the rental of the vehicle. All based on cost, we do not mark this up.