u/Apprehensive-Print92

I'm filling out the forms for Feststellung and I'm not sure how to list citizenships for my great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother. (My citizenship is through their son, my GGF. So this seems like more of a technicality, but I still want to get it right.)

My GGGF emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1906. He naturalized in 1913. Did this naturalization cause the loss of his German citizenship?

This sub seems to say no, but my internet searches say yes, so I am not sure which to believe.

Similarly, was his wife, my GGGM, considered to have lost her citizenship due to his naturalization? My internet searches say the German gov considered her status to be tied to her husband's.

I basically just need to know if I should fill out the forms to say that, at the time of their deaths, they were no longer German, or if they still were. And if I should list German as a previous citizenship my GGGF had held but subsequently lost.

(For the record, I am claiming citizenship through my great-grandfather. Original thread here.)

I have a few questions (listed at bottom) about the documents I'm gathering for my upcoming Feststellung application. Here's a list of the certified copies of documents that I either have in hand or that have been located/requested and are in the process of being sent to me:

Birth certificates:
- Mine
- My mom's
- My GF's
- My GGF's
- My GGGF's (actually a taufen record as he was born in 1864)

Marriage certificates (I'm not married & no kids):
- My mom's
- My GF's
- My GGF's
- My GGGF's

Arrival records:
- My GGF's (arrived as a child with his mother)
- My GGGF's (arrived alone 6 months earlier)

Certificates of naturalization:
- My GGGF (The only one for the whole family. My GGF was a child.)

And of course I have my passport.

Questions:

1. I believe I do not need to acquire birth certificates for my great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother even though they were also German. Is this correct?

2. For the marriage certificates I ordered for my GF and GGF, they came from a local county clerk's office. They're each stamped as a certified copy and they came with an itemized receipt showing where they're from. However, the copies they sent do not show all four corners of the document. All information is visible, but the left side of each one is slightly cut off, possibly because they printed them portrait-style on the page instead of landscape. Do I need to pressure the county clerk to print these again or will this be acceptable?

3. Am I missing anything?

Hi all, I originally posted here with my basic info and the responses were incredibly encouraging and helpful, thank you so much for sharing expertise

Judging by what was said over there and other posts here I've found, it seems like the fact that my ancestor (GGF) was naturalized as a minor derivatively through his father makes it a clear-cut case of his German citizenship being retained and passed on. But in my own various internet searches, I keep encountering something about an 1870 law that is allegedly separate from the 1913 10-year-rule repeal and that states German citizenship is lost through the acquisition of foreign citizenship. So I'm a little confused on that point

Y'all seem very knowledgeable and I trust you know the rules here, but I'm mostly curious how this affects my cover letter or other supporting documentation? Do I have to spell out why that law doesn't apply or is it obvious? And how much do cover letters matter anyway?

Also, a note on my original info: I mistakenly listed the naturalization year as 1912. It was actually Jan. 1913. But since that's still pre-1914, I assume it doesn't matter.

great-grandfather

• born in 1901 in wedlock in Germany
• emigrated in 1906 to USA
• naturalized in 1912 (while a minor)
• married in 1928

great-grandmother (married to above)

• born in 1897 in wedlock in Germany
• emigrated in 1925 to USA
• married in 1928
• naturalized in 1938

grandfather

• born in 1929 in wedlock in USA
• married in 1951

mother

• born in 1957 in wedlock in USA
• married in 1981

self

• born in 1990 in wedlock in USA