Germans to America

Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports 1850-1897

CD-Roms Cover 1850-1888

Edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby

this page compiled by Joe Beine, German Roots Webmaster


Germans to America book cover Germans to America is a series of books which index passenger arrival records of people from German lands for the years listed below. Each volume contains a chronological listing of the passenger lists, followed by an alphabetical index of each passenger in that volume. There are approximately 70,000 names in each volume. The following information is generally given for each passenger: name, age and sex; and when given: occupation, country or province of origin, village of residence (many say "unknown"), and destination (many say "unknown" or simply "US"). Also listed is the name of the ship, date of arrival, and ports of departure and arrival.

You will find people who listed their country of residence as Germany, Prussia, Bavaria, or numerous other German states (like Hesse, Saxony, Brandenburg, etc). Passengers from Switzerland, France and Luxembourg are also sometimes included. You will generally not find passengers from Austria, Hungary or other nearby areas. Germans from Russia should be listed in the separate Migration from the Russian Empire series.

Despite errors and some omissions, Germans to America is still a good 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. The books are listed below - they are very expensive so you might try a library. Most of Germans to America is also available on CD-Rom. See below for more information.



  Vol.  1 . . Jan 1850 - May 1851
Vol.  2 . . May 1851 - Jun 1852
Vol.  3 . . Jun 1852 - Sep 1852
Vol.  4 . . Sep 1852 - May 1853
Vol.  5 . . May 1853 - Oct 1853
Vol.  6 . . Oct 1853 - May 1854
Vol.  7 . . May 1854 - Aug 1854
Vol.  8 . . Aug 1854 - Dec 1854
Vol.  9 . . Dec 1854 - Dec 1855
Vol. 10 . . Jan 1856 - Apr 1857
Vol. 11 . . Apr 1857 - Nov 1857
Vol. 12 . . Nov 1857 - Jul 1859
Vol. 13 . . Aug 1859 - Dec 1860
Vol. 14 . . Jan 1861 - May 1863
Vol. 15 . . Jun 1863 - Oct 1864
Vol. 16 . . Nov 1864 - Nov 1865
Vol. 17 . . Nov 1865 - Jun 1866
Vol. 18 . . Jun 1866 - Dec 1866
Vol. 19 . . Jan 1867 - Aug 1867
Vol. 20 . . Aug 1867 - May 1868
Vol. 21 . . May 1868 - Sep 1868
Vol. 22 . . Oct 1868 - May 1869
Vol. 23 . . Jun 1869 - Dec 1869
Vol. 24 . . Jan 1870 - Dec 1870
Vol. 25 . . Jan 1871 - Sep 1871
Vol. 26 . . Oct 1871 - Apr 1872
Vol. 27 . . May 1872 - Jul 1872
Vol. 28 . . Aug 1872 - Dec 1872
Vol. 29 . . Jan 1873 - May 1873
Vol. 30 . . Jun 1873 - Nov 1873
Vol. 31 . . Dec 1873 - Dec 1874
Vol. 32 . . Jan 1875 - Sep 1876
Vol. 33 . . Oct 1876 - Sep 1878
Vol. 34 . . Oct 1878 - Dec 1879
  Vol. 35 . . Jan 1880 - Jun 1880
Vol. 36 . . Jul 1880 - Nov 1880
Vol. 37 . . Dec 1880 - Apr 1881
Vol. 38 . . Apr 1881 - May 1881
Vol. 39 . . Jun 1881 - Aug 1881
Vol. 40 . . Aug 1881 - Oct 1881
Vol. 41 . . Nov 1881 - Mar 1882
Vol. 42 . . Mar 1882 - May 1882
Vol. 43 . . May 1882 - Aug 1882
Vol. 44 . . Aug 1882 - Nov 1882
Vol. 45 . . Nov 1882 - Apr 1883
Vol. 46 . . Apr 1883 - Jun 1883
Vol. 47 . . Jul 1883 - Oct 1883
Vol. 48 . . Nov 1883 - Apr 1884
Vol. 49 . . Apr 1884 - Jun 1884
Vol. 50 . . Jul 1884 - Nov 1884
Vol. 51 . . Dec 1884 - Jun 1885
Vol. 52 . . Jul 1885 - Apr 1886
Vol. 53 . . May 1886 - Jan 1887
Vol. 54 . . Jan 1887 - Jun 1887
Vol. 55 . . Jul 1887 - Apr 1888
Vol. 56 . . May 1888 - Nov 1888
Vol. 57 . . Dec 1888 - Jun 1889
Vol. 58 . . Jul 1889 - Apr 1890
Vol. 59 . . May 1890 - Nov 1890
Vol. 60 . . Dec 1890 - May 1891
Vol. 61 . . Jun 1891 - Oct 1891
Vol. 62 . . Nov 1891 - May 1892
Vol. 63 . . Jun 1892 - Dec 1892
Vol. 64 . . Jan 1893 - Jul 1893
Vol. 65 . . Aug 1893 - Jun 1894
Vol. 66 . . Jul 1894 - Oct 1895
Vol. 67 . . Nov 1895 - Jun 1897

The last 11 volumes are not included in the CD-Rom version. Ordering information from Amazon.com can be obtained for these books by clicking on the volume number. They are very expensive so you might try a library.



Note 1: While the Germans to America series generally covers arrivals at all major U.S. ports, beginning with 1891 the series only covers arrivals at the port of New York. The earlier volumes (up to 1890) and the CD-Roms (up to 1888) cover German passenger arrivals to all of the major US ports (New York, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans).

Note 2: The first 9 volumes only indexed passenger lists of ships that contained at least 80% German passengers. Beginning with Volume 10 this was changed:

"In the 1850-1855 volumes, these lists contain a minimum of 80 percent German surnames and are published in their entirety. Starting in 1856 the selection criterion changes to include all ships with German passengers, regardless of the percentage. Unlike the previous volumes, only those calling themselves Germans are now listed; all other passenger names are deleted. It should be noted that after 1856 these German immigrants include those coming not only from German states or territories but also from countries such as France, Switzerland, or Luxembourg." [From the introduction to Volume 10]

The German Research Association is presently gathering the passenger lists that were not included in Volumes 1-9 of Germans to America and publishing them in their journal, the German Connection. Visit their website for more information on this project.

Note 3: Some Baltimore arrivals are missing from Germans to America. This webpage explains how to find these missing passengers: Germans to America & Baltimore.



Germans to America CD-ROMs

There are two Germans to America CD-Roms. They can be ordered online from the Ancestry Store. Click on either one for more information.
Notes: These CD-Roms do not give the port of arrival for many of the passengers. However, they are still worthwhile as a research tool as they index many volumes of Germans to America on only 2 CDs. If you find someone listed in these CDs you should then look in the printed version of Germans to America to find the arrival port. Then you can obtain the passenger list on microfilm. (Note: the majority of the passengers arrived in New York.) Also be aware that some (very few) of the ports of departure given in the CD-Roms are listed incorrectly. Sometimes you will see the port of departure listed as Marseilles when the correct port is actually Hamburg. But you can find the correct departure port by checking the books or the original passenger lists on microfilm or online.

Germans to America Online

Germans to America Passenger Data File, 1850-1897 from the U.S. National Archives



Germans to America Series Two: the 1840s

Directory of Libraries who have Germans to America
at the German Genealogy Website (may not be up-to-date)

Finding Passenger Lists 1820-1940s

Resources for Dutch, Irish, Italian, Russian & Other Passengers

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