Why use a Reverse Sort Index
In genealogy research, it is very important to know the name of the village or town where an ancestor was from. Often the place name is partly illegible. A passport, passenger list, marriage record, or other document it may give the vital information of where the person was from. If the first part of the word is illegible, has an ink blotch, is bound into the book, or for some other reason is difficult to read, it may be possible to identify the place by narrowing down the possibilities using a reverse sort. For example, there are 17 towns in Schleswig-Holstein that end in -stein. This can be used to narrow down the possibilities. This is an amazing reference tool that should be used by every professional and serious genealogist.
Other Reverse Sort Indexes Available
GRT Publications has produced the following reverse sort indexes (fee is $10.45 per book) for the following provinces of the former German Empire with an index and reverse index to names of German provinces and geographical regions in the back:
- Baden
- Hesse (Hessen-Darmstadt)
- Hessen-Nassau
- Mecklenburg
- Palatinate (Bayern Pfalz)
- Württemberg
They also produce a book on spelling variations in German names ($16.45). You can order books from GRT by writing to: GRT Publications, 1001 S. 1020 W., Woods Cross, UT 84087-2074, or contact them by email:grtpublications@juno.com
Stephen S. Barthel has also compiled volumes which can be ordered on microfiche from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City:
- Hohenzollern (FHL book 943 E5kpol; fiche 6001311)
- East Prussia (FHL book 943 E5kpb; fiche 6053521)
- West Prussia (FHL book 943 E5kpd; fiche 6053555)
Hiltrud Wuttke and U. Petra Suess also created gazetteers for the Family History Library which includes backward indexes, however these are currently only available in book form at the library:
- Württemberg (FHL book 943.47 E5w)
- Thuringia/Thüringen (FHL book 943.22 K23gs)
- Bavaria (FHL book 943 E5w) [This one is 4 volumes, but the reverse sort is only for Catholic and Lutheran Parishes in Bavaria in an appendix in the fourth volume.]
