The German Interest Group (GIG) is a special interest group of the Iowa Genealogical Society. It meets monthly and each summer sponsors a German Genealogical Conference with a well known German genealogist.  We are pleased to have Ernest Thode with us this year.

Mr. Ernest Thode is manager of the Local History and Genealogy Department of the Washington County Public Library in Marietta, Ohio. He is a lecturer on Germanic genealogy and taught at several Elderhostels. He is the author of several books, including German-English Genealogical Dictionary, Address Book for Germanic Genealogy, and Genealogical Gazetteer of Alsace-Lorraine, and co-author, with Chris Anderson, of A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors. His award-winning genealogy column "Family Tree"appears in The Marietta Times, Marietta, Ohio, and "Ask Ernie" appears as a regular feature in The Palatine Immigrant. His special interests include German immigration, German surnames, and German-Americana.

Friday June 29:

• There will be evening session Friday at the IGS Library starting at 7 P.M.
• This session will be free and open to the public.
• Mr. Thode will talk about "Coping with German Border Changes and the Importance of Dates".
• Did your ancestor seem to move around? Perhaps it was the border that did the moving.

1. Getting started in German Research for Newbies
2. How to Figure Out What That Name Really Was.
3. Genealogy websites in Germany
4. Responding to Research Issues