Ahnenforscher Stammtisch Unna
About:
Founded in January 2001 in Unna, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the Ahnenforscher Stammtisch Unna (AFST) began as a free, informal, and private meeting place for genealogy enthusiasts.
Since April 2020, AFST has been a global online genealogy roundtable hosted on Zoom, enabling family history researchers — from beginners to advanced — to collaborate across countries and time zones. Our community focuses on German family history worldwide, including ancestors from both present-day Germany and the former German eastern territories.
AFST is not a registered association (Verein) and has no membership or elected board. A volunteer organizational team coordinates events, while participation remains open, informal, and free of charge.
AFST is widely recognized for its practical expertise in German genealogy sources — including civil registration, church records, archival research, and historical handwriting interpretation (Fraktur/Kurrent) — as well as its warm, supportive research culture and international knowledge exchange.
Contact Information:
● Website: https://www.ahnenforscher-stammtisch-unna.de/
● Email: info@ahnenforscherstammtisch.de
● Mailing Address: AFST, c/o Myers-Palmüller family, Flözweg 9, 59174 Kamen, Germany
● Contact Language: English or German
Social Media & Video Channels:
● Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/afstunna.bsky.social
● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afstunna
● Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahnenforscherstammtischunna/
● Mastodon: https://genealysis.social/@ahnenforscher
● Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ahnenforscherstammtischunna
● YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRWo3I3Oxygck4P09Er44Cg
Type:
Online community of genealogists focused on collaborative research support and
knowledge exchange in German family history.
Purpose:
AFST’s mission is to provide a welcoming, collaborative space for researchers exploring German family history to learn, exchange knowledge, and support each other with practical help.
● Hosting regular online meetings, lectures, and workshops
● Offering open research support sessions for questions about records, documents, and deciphering historical handwriting
● Maintaining a friendly, first-name culture using the German Du, which connects researchers across borders
● Taking part in genealogy research and community activities in person throughout the year, including archive visits, conferences, exhibitions, and our annual Summer Grill-Abend
Our community supports hands-on research skills, especially in civil registration, church books, migration sources, archival navigation, and document interpretation.
Membership:
AFST is completely free to join and has no formal membership structure. There are no fees, membership requirements, or participation obligations for joining meetings or support sessions.
Benefits:
Online Events (Zoom)
● Regular meetings featuring lectures, workshops, and collaborative discussions
● Convenient participation from anywhere via PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone
Research Support
● Open Q&A and help sessions after events, where participants can ask questions, get help reading or interpreting documents, and share insights
Recordings & Video Library
● AFST lectures are recorded (with speaker consent) and published on YouTube
● A curated video archive allows researchers to revisit lectures or catch up on
missed topics
Genealogy Calendar
● AFST maintains a Genealogy Calendar listing in-person, hybrid, and online genealogy events from organizations worldwide
● Helps researchers discover learning and networking opportunities connected to German family history