Andrea Bentschneider

Andrea Bentschneider is one of Germany’s foremost genealogy experts, with more than 30 years of experience helping families discover and understand their German heritage.

Agenda

9:45 AM — 10:00 AM Welcome and announcements
10:00 AM — 11:00 AM Session 1: Beyond the Basics: Secrets in German Church Records
Uncover hidden clues in baptism, marriage, and burial records, including sponsors, witnesses, occupations, social status, migration hints, and family relationships. Attendees will learn how to read church records more analytically and use overlooked details to open new research paths.
11:00 AM — 12:00 PM Session 2: Beyond the Basics: Secrets in German Civil Vital Records
This lecture explores how to extract deeper clues from civil registration records, including informants, witnesses, occupations, addresses, legitimacy notes, later annotations, marginal notes, and connections to additional records. Andrea will provide practical examples showing how civil records can reveal family structure, migration, and life events.
12:00 PM — 1:00 PM Lunch break
1:00 PM — 2:00 PM Session 3: Neighbors and Networks: Using Witnesses in German Records
Witnesses, sponsors, neighbors, and informants are often the key to solving German genealogy problems. In this session, Andrea will demonstrate how to analyze these names across church and civil records to identify extended family, community ties, migration patterns, and social networks.
2:00 PM — 2:30 PM Session 4: Closing Live Q & A on German Genealogy
Bring your German genealogy questions for a lively, practical closing Q&A.