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 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.

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.

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. 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

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

Edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby

Germans to America CD-ROMs

Germans to America Online