Germans to America

Are you researching German immigrants to America during the 19th century? "Germans to America," compiled and edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, is a series of books which indexes passenger arrival records of ships carrying Germans to the U.S. ports of Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia. It presently covers the records of over 4 million passengers during the period January 1850 through Jun 1897. Due to its inclusion criteria, this series is considered to be an incomplete—though fairly thorough—index to German passengers arriving in America during this period. The quality of the transcription varies, but the series is still an excellent research tool for tracking down German immigrant ancestors.

If a listing is found in "Germans to America," then the original passenger lists should be consulted, as they may contain further details. 

Where to Find "Germans to America"

The individual books in the "Germans to America" series are fairly pricey, so the best research option is to either find a library with the series (most major genealogical libraries will have it), or locate a database version.

The database version created by the Center for Immigration Studies at the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies (the same group that created the published versions) was originally published on CD and is now available for free online from the National Archives and FamilySearch. It is unclear exactly how the data compiled in the Germans to America, 1850–1897 database relates directly to the published volumes. NARA staff has found that there are ship manifests included in the database that are not included in the respective published volumes, and that there is also a difference in the covered time periods. 

The "Germans to America" Series

The first 9 volumes of the "Germans to America" series indexed only passenger lists of ships that contained at least 80% German passengers. Thus, a number of Germans who came over on ships from 1850–1855 are not included. Beginning with Volume 10, all ships with German passengers were included, regardless of the percentage. However, only those identifying themselves as "German" are listed; all other passenger names were not transcribed.

Volumes 1–59 of "Germans to America" (through 1890) include arrivals to the major U.S. ports of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and New Orleans. Beginning in 1891, "Germans to America" only includes arrivals to the port of New York. Some Baltimore arrivals are known to be missing from "Germans to America"—see Why Some Baltimore Passenger Lists are Missing and How to Find Them by Joe Beine for more information.