Welcome to the English section of my website and thank you for visiting.
I offer historical research and writing services in the following areas:
- Corporate history
Researching and writing the history of your company, based on sources such as historical documents and interviews. - Family History (genealogical research)
Would you like to know more about your family history? I specialize in genealogical research in archives (North Rhine Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and others), as well as in online church registers in Germany, Belgium, France and other countries. In addition to your ancestors’ names and dates, I also offer research into the context of their lives, such as living conditions and descriptions of the villages and towns they lived in. - City, town and regional history
Including towns, regions and historical features of a town or region. - Research for books and publications
Whether non-fiction or for historical fiction, for journalists and writers, historians, companies or for individuals who would like to know more about the region their ancestors come from. Ask about my research and writing services for books and other publications.
Additional services:
- Document transcription, letters, diaries (16th to 20th century)
- Inventory and organization of estates/legacies
Bring Your Family to Life in a Text
Have you ever thought it would be nice to have a colorful and interesting description of your family history? Gift it to friends and family, pass it on to future generations.
On the basis of civil and church records as well as State Archive files, I will research and write your family history, describing the circumstances of their lives, historical situation, and local history. Depending on the available material, your book might include pictures of places and ancestral homes where the family lived. Images of original documents and entries in birth, marriage and death registers can round off an interesting and exciting work. Prices cover research and writing, and any travel we agree on to gather information, photographs or other material.
Would you like to know more? Contact me to discuss.
About me
While studying history, political science, art history and Romance languages I participated in a two-year archive project on social history from the 16th to the 19th century.
For my doctoral dissertation about divorce in the 18th century I evaluated court records and church registers and researched the history of over 200 families. Numerous publications followed on the living conditions of people in the 18th and 19th centuries. During a three-year contract for one of the largest church archives in the region of southern Lower Saxony, I had the opportunity to acquire specialized knowledge about the different possibilities of family research and of historical research in general.
In the years from 2006 to 2016 I was contracted by the Versicherungsgruppe Hannover (Insurance Group of Hannover; VGH) to work on a document collection of the company’s history from 1750 to the present day. I conducted all original research for the resulting publication Versicherer im Führerstaat — Hannovers Brandkasse und Provinzial 1933-45, Göttingen 2012 (Insurer in the Fuehrer State – Hanover’s Fire Insurance and Provincial Insurance 1933-45).
For over 20 years I’ve been advising family researchers and conducting family research for the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover.
Some Examples of my Work:
- 2005-16: Working on a collection of documents for the in-house corporate history of the Versicherungsgruppe Hannover (Insurance Group of Hannover; VGH). Conducting the complete archive research for the resulting work by Eike Christian Hirsch: Versicherer im Führerstaat — Hannovers Brandkasse und Provinzial 1933-45, Göttingen 2012 (Insurer in the Fuehrer State – Hanover’s Fire Insurance and Provincial Insurance 1933-45).
- 125 Jahre Gauss-Weber-Loge Göttingen (125 Years Gauss-Weber Lodge Goettingen; Goettingen 2014).
- Von der Arbeitervorstadt zum Göttinger Ortsteil. Weende im 20. Jahrhundert, Göttingen 2009 (From Working Class Inner Suburb to a Göttingen City Quarter. Weende in the 20th Century).
- 250 Jahre Grün in Göttingen, Göttingen 2000 (250 Years of Green Space in Goettingen, History of Parkland in Goettingen).
- Contracts in the areas of corporate history, town and regional history, and family history. Research throughout Germany and in Austria and Poland.
Services & Prices
- Church register research: €55 per hour*
- Archive Research (city and state archives): €55 per hour
- Transcription & Estate Organization: €55 per hour
- Travel costs: Proportional for the duration of the contract. If it is necessary to stay overnight, an individual price quote will be provided.
Prices for researching and writing a corporate history or local history are set on an individual basis according to topic and available material.
* Prices given for contracts in Germany or the European Union do not include value added tax of 19%.
Contact
Dr. Sylvia Möhle
Pippelsburg 5
D-31137 Hildesheim
Deutschland
Tel: +49 (0)5121 – 809 3568
Email: sylvia.moehle[at]t-online.de
Tax Office Hildesheim-Alfeld
Value Added Tax Number Germany: 201/5288/6420
Value Added Tax Abroad: DE 203308034