How do I correctly identify Glashutten, Germany in my genealogical records?

I have someone I need to add to my genealogy database who was born in Glashutten in September 1948. I haven't delved that far into my German ancestry yet, and I've struggled greatly with some of the other locations I've identified. So far, for Glashutten, I've put this together using Wikipedia to get me started & a German language website (not that I speak German ;) to hopefully confirm it:

Glashutten, Hochtaunuskreis, Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany

So I don't know if this is even close to correct and, even if it is, I have one division too many. I would guess that I wouldn't need both Hochtaunuskreis and Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, but I don't know what the difference is & don't know which I should exclude.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Also, are there any good resources you can recommend for when I have questions like this in the future?

Thank you!

Tags: German locations, Glashutten, genealogical standards, location formats

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mitchell Osika on February 8, 2011 at 11:14am

Kathleen,

The way that I would enter this location would be: Glashutten, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. Wikipedia Entry As you can see in the Wikipedia entry: Glashutten is the city (municipality), Darmstadt is the Admin. Region (similar to US counties), Hesse is the State and Germany is the Country. Hochtaunuskreis is a subdivion of the Darmstadt Admin Region that is similar to a township in US governmental structure. Although it's not a detailed description of the of German governmental structure, it should give you an idea of which unit corresponds to which similar unit in the US structure and thus the way most genealogy programs identify a location. I hope this helps.

Mitch Osika

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Fox Allen on February 8, 2011 at 4:55pm

Thank you, Mitch!

I suppose the reason I didn't rely on the Wikipedia entry was that I'm always mildly leery of Wikipedia - so it's wonderful to have some confirmation. Your response helps very much, since it clarifies the role that Hochtaunuskreis plays.

-Kathleen

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Fox Allen on February 10, 2011 at 1:03pm

Thank you, Michael. I used the Google translate feature for the website - it's quite interesting.

Permalink Reply by Nancy Loe on February 17, 2011 at 11:14pm

Kathleen,

You might try the new feature they're developing at FamilyLabs called "Standard Finder." It gives the standard for place names as well as alternatives over the years as borders changed. It's been really helpful to me in my Prussian research. I wrote about it at my blog:

http://sassyjanegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/11/tuesdays-tip-familys...

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Fox Allen on February 19, 2011 at 4:46pm

Thank you, Nancy! Very helpful!

Permalink Reply by Gary Smith on March 8, 2011 at 1:06pm

Administrative units in Germany

Amt (Ämter): Translate as authority (authorities). This is a grouping of Gemeinden at a lower level than a Kreis. (see Amt (country subdivision))
Bezirk: As part of a town or city, translate as borough; as an abbreviation of Regierungsbezirk, see below. In references to former East Germany, do not translate, as the term does not equate to any unit in West Germany, let alone other European countries.
Bundesland (Bundesländer): See Land, Länder below. Note however that Bundesland/länder in Austria are translated as province(s).
Gemeinde: Translate as municipality.
Gemeindeverband: Translate as municipal association.
Kreis: Translate as district.
Kreisfreie Stadt: As this is exactly the same level as a Stadtkreis, the translation urban district will generally be satisfactory. Should it be necessary to distinguish between this term and a Stadtkreis, use town constituting a district in its own right.
(Bundes-)Land, (Bundes-)Länder: Translate as federal state(s), adding "German" if necessary for clarity, or, alternatively, leave the terms in German.
Landkreis: Translate as rural district.
Regierungsbezirk/Bezirksregierung: If you translate these terms, use government region/regional government, not ~~government district/district government~~, so as not to cause confusion with Kreis.
Stadtkreis: Translate as urban district.