Family History & Genealogy Tours - From MyHeritage to Your Roots in Person
You have traced names and dates online. Now walk the streets your ancestors knew, touch the stones they touched, and find stories that do not exist in databases.
When Online Research Meets Real Ground
You have traced names and dates on MyHeritage, FamilySearch, or Find My Past. But screens cannot show the house your family lived in, the church where generations were baptized, or the local historian who still remembers your family name.
We turn research into pilgrimage: visiting villages in your records, standing in ancestral churches, searching archives that were never digitized, and sometimes meeting relatives who still live where your family began.
Practical Info
A Story: When Research Becomes Reunion
Margaret's Journey Home
Margaret brought FamilySearch notes on her great-great-grandfather who left the Swabian Alb in 1903. A parish visit led to a phone call, then a cousin appeared with a box of letters her ancestor sent from America. Together we visited the family house, cemetery, and church. She left with documents, relatives, and stories she never expected.
Why Physical Research Still Matters
What Databases Cannot Capture
Many records live only in parishes, town halls, and regional archives. More importantly, people - pastors, historians, residents - hold stories no database can provide. These connections emerge through presence and conversation.
The Geography of Your Family
Standing in the village your ancestors left reveals why they emigrated and what they abandoned. Seeing fields, streets, and churches turns names into people who made hard choices and carried them across the world.
How We Help You Discover Your Roots
The Research Process
- Start with what you know: We review your trees, documents, and notes to identify gaps and leads.
- Pre-trip German research: Anselm contacts parishes, town halls, and archives; reads old German script (Kurrent/Suetterlin); narrows targets.
- On-the-ground investigation: Church archives, town halls, cemeteries, local historians, regional archives, and when possible introductions to living relatives.
- Translation and documentation: Records, conversations, and findings translated, photographed, and organized so you leave with evidence and stories.
What We Typically Explore
- Church and parish records: baptisms, marriages, deaths with occupations, house numbers, and godparents.
- Town halls and civil registries: births, marriages, deaths after 1876; property and emigration records.
- Cemeteries: family graves and burial registries that reveal relationships.
- Former family homes: visits where possible for tangible connection.
- Local museums and historical societies: photos, artifacts, and compiled family histories.
- Living relatives: facilitated introductions when leads suggest family still nearby.
Regions We Research
- Southwest Germany (Baden-Wuerttemberg): Swabian Alb, Stuttgart, Black Forest, Rhine Valley, Lake Constance.
- Bavaria: Franconia and Munich region with coordinated archive access.
- Alsace: Records in German and French; Anselm's fluency covers both.
- Switzerland: Meticulous village archives and emigration records.
- Broader Germany: Rhineland, Hesse, Lower Saxony on request.
Who This Is For
You have exhausted what online databases can tell you and want to stand where your family stood. This journey suits ancestry seekers, families documenting heritage, dual-citizenship applicants, and anyone feeling the pull of origin places.
Practical Considerations
How long?
- 2-3 days: Focused research in one region (one or two villages).
- 4-5 days: Multiple villages or regions with deeper archive work.
- Week-long: Full immersion with extended archives, overnights, and cultural context.
What to bring: Your research, names/dates/places, letters or photos, questions, and an open mind.
What to expect: Records can be incomplete and archives slow, but patience yields discoveries. Emotions are normal - standing where ancestors stood is powerful, and we guide you through it.
Why Anselm?
- Language and script: Native German, reads old script, understands dialects, engages pastors and clerks effectively.
- Connections: Built relationships with pastors, archivists, and historians across Southwest Germany and Alsace.
- Personal approach: Treats genealogy as mission, often continuing research after your trip to close open leads.
Beyond Research: Experiencing Your Heritage
We pair research with cultural context: local museums, regional cuisine, agricultural traditions, and landscapes that shaped your family's daily life.
Regional identity matters - Swabian, Baden, Alsatian, Swiss distinctions are explained so you grasp the culture your ancestors carried with them.
Ready to Walk Where Your Ancestors Walked?
From MyHeritage searches to German villages, from FamilySearch records to church archives, from Find My Past documents to living relatives - we turn genealogy into lived experience. Whether for citizenship proof or personal connection, we guide the journey.
Share what you know; we will build the route and follow the leads.
Start Your Family History Tour
Contact our team to secure your dates or customize this itinerary further.