Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche or Baltic Germans

I created this web site so that I might be able to receive messages from those who might be related to me in Latvia, Germany, Australia or the US. My family on my father's side is from Latvia, but considered themselves German. Everything that I've researched thus far confirm that. I've got records to the late 1700s to that end. The names that I have found thus far can be found throughout northern Germany. The names are: Till, Ahrens, Puls, Neumann, Wiegart, Bitte, Kerstein and Trusinski/Truschinski. In my research, Latvians would adopt German culture if they "rose" to the middle class so it can be hard to prove German heritage from Latvian heritage.

My mother's side of the family comes (mostly) from southern Germany. The names on that side include Kaiser, Meyer and...most interestingly...Deifel/Teufel -meaning "devil".

Please feel free to send me a note if you have any knowledge of these family names -especially if you know of a link to Latvia! Finally, if you know of any books or other resources that would help me further understand the Baltic Germans in Latvia, post a comment! Thanks! Danke Schon!!

Till Family Tree

Here is a incomplete example of my research. The tree starts with Karl Till, born in the 1870s. There are a number of Tills, Kersteins and Puls of whom I do have information, but that I have not added as of yet. The tree does not include a number of family names that I have been researching. I am posting this so that people who have managed to find this page, can see some what I am doing. Click on the image to get a larger, more detailed view. There is more specific information on many of the individuals listed, but it is not posted in the type of document shown here. I will not be posting a more comprehensive family tree, as this is only a limited example. Anyone who may be interested in more will have to contact me.

This last image is an example of some of the church records I am examining from Latvia.