Thought you might like to see this.

[Raven]

Hi Peeps,
I have received a pile of stuff from my sister regarding the German side of the family.. I thought you might like to have a wee gander at my Gt Grandfather's death cert or card... It is called a Sterbeurkunde. Franz Koehler was born 7 June 1856 and he died on the 20 Oct 1940 in Ragnit, East Prussia.



this is just a scan of a photocopy. My sister has the original and the Third Reich symbol is stamped in a very bright purple...lol

[Orangeblossom]

What a brilliant find!
Not only does it give his details, but also names of his parents and (I presume) wife, along with maiden names!

It doesn't give details of why he died, but I guess that's recorded elsewhere?

[Raven]

I think you are right Tracy.. I also have my Grandmother's death cert as well. She died in 1985 and her's is in the same sort of lines as the one above..

Hi John.

I hope you get lucky... :D :D

[KiteRunner]

Very interesting, Raven. I would like to get a copy of my great-grandfather's death cert, but on the other hand I'm still scared of finding out how and where he died!

[Raven]

I have a whole pile of certs that my Oma collected over the years, Kite... some of the writing is proving very difficult to read.. A large majority of them have the stamp of the Evangelist Church in Ragnit, East Prussia, where mum's family came from. These are I suppose the Parish Records. Only a guess mind... and the rest are from the Standesamt(Register Office). For my step grandfather(he was my grandfathers brother by the way. My Oma married him after the death of my mothers father) I have both the short and full copies of his birth cert.

[KiteRunner]

... some of the writing is proving very difficult to read.. .

You're not kidding there, Raven! I have a few that my Granny collected, too, so I know what you mean. If you post up the bits you're having trouble reading then maybe some of us can help - I did eventually manage to figure out what mine said with a bit of help!