I couldn't get German dual citizenship, as they were my Great and Great-Great Grandparents....BUT my husband's one set of Grandparents were both from Switzerland. The rules for Swiss dual citizenship are (or seem to be quite strict)...When you say Euro, did you mean for the European continent, or just for the country they were from?
I would think today it would be easy/easier to find out if you have cousins in the "old country" or not....You need to know the town or village where he was from. In the early 1990's, I found the inside of the old Family Bible, printed in German language, but published in 1856 from NYC...it told the family names, dates of birth, and village, town and state in Germany where they were from. Because the family name is unusual, it was easier to find if the name existed in that village or town....Sure enough, it did, and still does. I wrote 4 letters, one each to each family of the name, and sent a $1 dollar bill in each one to get their attention. Sure enough, I heard from one young man -- all 4 families were related, and had lived in the same house for over 100 years. They had NO idea we existed.... I don't know for sure if they are related, but it is certainly more than a possibility.
I haven't gone to the Lutheran church there in Germany as yet for any information. I thought I could see if there was any info from the cemeteries...BUT most of Europe only keeps their people buried for 40 years, then disposes of any remains....unless there are still family members who way pay additional money to keep the graves intact. Because of the language barrier, I've not pursued it any farther....BUT now that internet is in full force, maybe there will be more info I can gather.
Good Luck! Until you get there in person, go visit the town on Google Earth, and other places you find on the search engines. |
