How-to - Genealogy Austria

Please complete the Contact Form or send an email with your questions.

In order to clarify whether and how we can help you, we request that you provide concrete details of your request.

You should provide all documents likely to contribute to a successful research (copies of all materials you have acquired: extracts of any census, church, vital, or other records; photos; news clippings… etc.). As well, any stories handed down across generations (e.g. the languages spoken by your ancestors or rumors about your family history).

Based on the provided information we will assess the feasibility of a successful research.

Since it is very difficult to evaluate the effort for genealogical research in advance we recommend to start with a small research package. Based on the result of this package you can decide if or how you want to proceed with the research. This keeps you in full control of the budget.

If there is sufficient data for a research to be successful, then we will send you an offer for the genealogical research and subsequently an engagement letter for signature. This agreement includes the research goal, the time frame, the maximum costs and the payment modalities.

IMPORTANT: You are in the driver’s seat as far as cost and time are concerned! No surprises! Once the cost or time ceilings have been reached we will let you know and you will decide if you want to set a higher ceiling.

In the course of our research, we gather information from sources as diverse as church, state and military archive records, newspaper articles and other. The research work includes the transcription, translation and citation of selected documents.

According to “Genealogy Standards”, after completion of the project you will receive a written final report, describing the procedure followed,  the type of records analyzed, and a digest of their contents. A research journal lists the course of the research, the sources including citation and the documents collected. You will also receive digital images (scans, photos) of all found documents including a translation which conveys the general sense.

The duration of a research project depends on the availability of required sources and on respond times of authorities, offices and archves.

After more than 30 years as an independent contractor, I have retired from active business and will be doing only a few research projects.
I will either answer new inquiries myself or pass them on to a colleague.
Thank you for your understanding!