Hamburg Emigration List Name Permutations

written by Edward Rosenbaum

The Emigration Lists of Hamburg website will allow genealogists to search for people who emigrated through the port of Hamburg, Germany.  By entering a last name, and optionally the first initial or name, and gender, you will be able to freely view some of the information from the Hamburg Emigration database.  The Hamburg site then offers you the ability to view the fully extracted information for a fee.  Eventually this database will contain data for the years 1850 and 1934.

Why use this program instead of the search page at the Hamburg Emigration List website?   

Spelling variations... Searching the Hamburg site requires you to know how your ancestor spelled their name.  The Hamburg Emigration List Name Permutations program will show you

1. Alternate spellings based upon confusing letters like "i", which could have been entered into the database as an "l", a "j", or maybe even a "y".
2. Alternate spellings based upon the American soundex system.
3. Alternate spellings based upon the Daitch-Mokotoff soundex system.

Speed...  By simply clicking on the list of possible spellings of the surname you are interested in, you can quickly search the Hamburg database.

Example...  Let us assume that you are researching the surname BELLER.  The Hamburg Emigration List Name Permutations program will determine that there are 162 possible alternate spellings based upon letters that can be confused for each other, 2 alternate spellings based upon the American soundex coding system, and 9 alternate spellings based upon the Daitch-Mokotoff soundex coding system.  You can then further refine your search by gender, age at arrival, year of arrival, and/or the first letter of the first name.  When you are done, the program will then create a customized web page for you, containing links to the Hamburg Emigration List for each alternate spelling.  

Alternate spellings based upon easily confused letters	American soundex alternatives	Daitch-Mokotoff soundex alternatives
Bcller, Bebler, Beiler, Belber, Belier, Bellcr, Bellen, Bellor, Boller, Bcbler, and 152 others...	Beler, Beller	Aueler, Beler, Fbeler, Feler, Peler, Pfeler, Ppheler, Veler, Weler

Version 1.0.2 is now available.

Upgrading from a prior version?

1. Download the upgrade to your PC.  Remember the name of the directory that you download this file to.
   
   If you have problems downloading the file, please see I am having problems downloading the program.
   
2. Select "Save this program to disk".  
3. When prompted for a "Save As" location, navigate to where you originally installed the program.  If you did not change any of the default options, this will be "C:\Program Files\Hamburg_permutations\Hamburg_Permutations.exe".
4. When prompted to replace the existing file, click on the "YES" button. 

Trying it for the first time?

If you have not yet installed the "Hamburg Emigration List Name Permutations" program, you may do so using the instructions below.  Please be aware that the program costs $19.95 to register.  For this price, you will be given a registration key that will give you full access to the programs features, and will entitle you to updates as they become available.  If you choose not to register the program, you will only have limited access to the program.

NOTE: Currently this program is only available for IBM-compatibles.

1. Download the program to your PC.  Remember the name of the directory that you download this file to.
   
   If you have problems downloading the file, please see I am having problems downloading the program.
   
2. When asked for the file name, enter "setup-hamburg.exe"
3. In Windows Explorer, click on setup-hamburg.exe in the directory that you downloaded the file into.  
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.   By default, the program will install into the directory "c:\program files\Hamburg_permutations".
5. If you did not change any of the default options, you can run the program at "c:\program files\Hamburg_permutations\Hamburg_Permutations.exe" 

Purchase the program:

FAQ:

• I am getting the error 'No CE Signature Found' when trying to install the program
• I am getting the error 'The file may not be supported by AOL.  AOL will try to open it as a test file if you choose to continue' when trying to install the program
• I am having problems downloading the program
• I cannot see the entire screen.  The right side and bottom are missing.
• I downloaded the files, but do not know what to do with them
• I want to uninstall the program.  How do I do this?
• Is there a MAC version?
• It seems that not all variants of the exact same Daitch-Mokotoff soundex code are produced.  Why not?
• I still have questions.  What do I do?

Question: I am getting the error 'No CE Signature Found' when trying to install the program

This error is caused when the file download did not complete successfully.  Please download the file again.  If you continue to have problems, look at I am having problems downloading the program.

Question: I am getting the error 'The file may not be supported by AOL.  AOL will try to open it as a test
file if you choose to continue' when trying to install the program

If America Online is your default Web browser, use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as your default Web browser.  For information about changing your default Web browser, see the online Help in Internet Explorer or Navigator, or contact AOL for instructions.

Question: I am having problems downloading the program

You may be having problems downloading the file due to its size.  I would suggest that you download and install Netscape's SmartDownload.  

"SmartDownload is a service from Netscape Netcenter designed to assist you with downloading files from the Internet. Key features of SmartDownload are its ability to pause and resume downloads, recover from a dropped Internet connection, and show informative content from Netcenter while downloading."  

Read more about SmartDownload 

Download SmartDownload

If you continue to have problems downloading the file, please contact me, and I will email you the file.

Question: I cannot see the entire screen.  The right side and bottom are missing.

One of two things can cause this problem.

1. Your computer resolution is set to 600x480.  This program requires a minimum resolution of 800x600.  To change the resolution of your monitor, please do the following

1. Minimize any programs that you have running so that you can see your computers desktop.
2. Click on MY COMPUTER
3. Click on CONTROL PANEL
4. Click on DISPLAY
5. Click on the SETTINGS tab
6. Change the resolution to 800x600
7. Click on OK

or

2. Your computer is set to LARGE fonts.  This program requires SMALL fonts.  To change the font size, please do the following

1. Minimize any programs that you have running so that you can see your computers desktop.
2. Click on MY COMPUTER
3. Click on CONTROL PANEL
4. Click on DISPLAY
5. Click on the SETTINGS tab
6. Click in the ADVANCED button
7. Change the FONT SIZE to SMALL
8. Click on OK
9. Click on OK again

Question: I downloaded the files, but do not know what to do with them

1. When you downloaded the file setup-hamburg.exe, you indicated where on your computer the file should be saved.  Let us assume the name of this directory is c:\windows\temp.   Using Windows Explorer, go to this directory and run setup-hamburg.exe (it might appear as setup-hamburg application).  setup-hamburg.exe is a self extracting zip file, and will prompt you for where the extracted files should go.  Enter the directory on your computer that the extracted files should go, and press FINISH.
   
2. Once you have run the setup-hamburg.exe program, use Windows Explorer and go to the directory that you 'unzipped' the files to.   In this directory you need to run the file setup.exe (it might appear as setup application).  Follow the on-screen instructions to install the "Hamburg Emigration List Name Permutations" program.

Question: I want to uninstall the program.  How do I do this?

1. Using Windows Explorer, delete the "c:\program files\Hamburg_Permutations" folder.

Question: Is there a MAC version?

Unfortunately, there is currently no MAC version available.  

Question: It seems that not all variants of the exact same Daitch-Mokotoff soundex code are produced.  Why not?

The Hamburg Emigration List Name Permutations program will only display up to 500 different Daitch-Mokotoff soundex alternate spellings.  If the surname you entered has more then 500 alternate spellings, then the program will only show those names with the same first letter as what you entered.