German Roots: Germans to America | Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports 1850-1897

Germans to America is a series of books which index ship passenger arrival records of German immigrants 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 (most 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. The amount of information given may vary for each listing.

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 can still be a helpful research tool for tracking down German immigrant ancestors, and finding the ship passenger list. The books are listed below - they are very expensive so you might try a library. Information on the Germans to America CD-Roms and online database follows the book section.

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: Beginning with 1891 Germans to America only includes arrivals to the port of New York. The earlier volumes (up to 1890) and the CD-Roms (up to 1888) cover German passenger arrivals to the major US ports (New York, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans), although the listings may not be complete for every port.

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]

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 Online Database

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

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.

Germans to America 1850-1874 (CD #355)

Germans to America 1875-1888 (CD #356)

Notes: These CD-Roms do not give the port of arrival for many of the passengers. Also 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 usually find the correct ports by checking the books, or the passenger lists on microfilm or online.

Germans to America

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

Edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby

Germans to America Online Database

Germans to America CD-ROMs