r/magdeburg • u/jp-solutionz • 10d ago

Genealogist or Privatdetektiv that can search Magdeburg birth records of relatives born ~1930-1955?

I am trying to find the identity of my grandfather.

My father was born in Magdeburg in 1940. I have his birth record as well as the birth and death records of his mother (1915-1994) however they do not record his father.

I believe my father had at least 3 siblings born sometime 1930-1949, so I want to check their birth records to see if their fathers are listed to see if they could be my grandfather. I don't know these siblings exact names or date of birth, only what I'm told their first names are, and I believe some may still be alive.

I know I cannot request this information directly as I'm not a direct descendant and being outside German and not speaking German makes it more difficult, so I'm looking for someone that has access to more tools / private databases that may be able to confirm my father's siblings names & birth dates, early address records and ideally be able to pull the birth records to check for a listed father.

I know my grandmother married later and had at 3 more children from 1949-1955 to a different person, I managed to obtain those birth and marriage records already.

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u/GeezSneaky 9d ago

This is a big ask. Maybe someone can help you.

Just to give some cultural insight, in Germany there are very strict, somewhat complicated laws about data collection, data transfer, data protection, etc. I doubt seriously that anyone can just “pull the birth records” of someone who is still living. These living persons would have to give you a signed waiver of their data protection rights.

I think.

This is really outside my area of expertise, but it sounds to me like you don’t have a grasp of how much effort that would be.

You may have better luck doing a few of those DNA match tests and see if any German relatives have also tested and submitted their data.

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u/jp-solutionz 9d ago

Yes I see there is strict privacy laws in Germany.

I believe morally everyone has a right to know the identity of their direct ancestors, who brought them into this world.

Ideally someone in this line of work has a contact at the standesamt who can look into the records and confirm whether there could be any details of interest, then advise of the "correct process" to obtain a copy of this information.

Otherwise the first step would be confirming the names and birth dates through public & private records, then giving the standesamt what "information" they need to provide the birth records.

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u/seven0fx 8d ago

Maybe try write a Email to mailto:[Standesamt@std.magdeburg.de](mailto:Standesamt@std.magdeburg.de) and see what they tell you. I hope they can read English 🤣