Those Places Thursday – Finding that Church

[Editor's Note: Today's post was written by Richard Hanson. The story and photos were contributed by a member of the Sacramento German Genealogical Society who wished to remain anonymous.]

A member of the Sacramento German Genealogy Society recently described to me how the creative use of Google's images search search engine solved a little family history mystery. The starting point was the 1958 picture of a church somewhere in Germany that was found in that all-too-common parents' stash of unlabeled images.

Two images of the Sankt (St.) Boniface Church, Luisenplatz in Wiesbaden, Germany dated 1958 (left) and 2011 (right).  Click here for a list of names on the pictured Waterloo obelisk.

The member's account: "I found the picture among my parents' slides and remembered it was taken during a vacation in Germany in 1958. I thought the church was in Frankfurt since we flew into Rhein Main AFB when we went to Germany. I did several Google searches using keywords like Frankfurt Germany church, Frankfurt Germany kirche, Germany churches and various combinations of these. St. Boniface never came up in any of those searches. Next, I did a Google Image search by posting the picture of the church. Again, no luck. Finally, I found something in my parents' records that reminded me we had spent time in Wiesbaden. As soon as I Googled Wiesbaden Germany churches, I found images of St. Boniface."

Click here for Google's Basic Search Help

Click here for Google's Search by Image