Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs / with researcher's guide and translations of the introduction, instruction for the use of the gazeteer, and abbreviations by Raymond S. Wright III.

This book is indispensible if you are doing German genealogy.

Originally published in Leipzig, Germany in 1912, this three-volume set describes the geographical and political setting for approximately 210,000 cities, towns, hamlets, and dwelling places in the German Empire prior to World War I. It assists in the identification of public services, governmental agencies, educational and religious institutions, and transportation and business facilities in each community, thus helping genealogists and other researchers to discover the agencies that created records about people who lived in Germany. The introduction is in English, but the body of the text is German, in a Gothic text font. Additional information and charts in the Appendix include statistical surveys of the German Empire, charts of electoral districts, the location of military garrisons, a summary of the constitution of the Empire, and descriptions of postal and rail systems, among others. There are several fold-out maps.