How to record locations in Germany before unification?

[littlefacey]

Hello!

I’m preparing to have my family tree printed and want to record locations as accurately as possible, based on what they were called at the time, rather than using modern names.

For example, I record English places like this:
Town/Village, County, Country

So an ancestor might be listed as b. 1939 Hendon, Middlesex, England because that was the historical county at the time, even though today it would just be considered London.

My question relates to my German ancestors before 1871, when Germany didn’t yet exist as a unified country.

For instance, I have an ancestor born in Hattendorf in 1863, which I currently have listed as Hattendorf, Schaumburg-Lippe.

What should I use for the “country” field? Since there was no unified Germany at that point, should I leave it as Schaumburg-Lippe alone, or is there another historically accurate way to record it?

I want the printed tree to reflect the correct names for that period, without adding modern terms that didn’t yet exist.

Any thoughts on this would be massively appreciated!

[Andy J2022]

In 1863 when your ancestor was born, he/she lived in the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe within the German Confederation. However within three years the latter would become known as the Greater German Federation, and then in 1871, the German Empire under the Kaiser. Throughout this time the state was still the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and wasn't officially dissolved until 1946 when it merged with Lower Saxony to form one of the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany.

[davecapps]

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsfeld-Hattendorf

Verwaltungsgeschichte im Überblick (administrative are)
Alt-Hattendorf

from 1851 to 1867: Kurfürstentum Hessen, Provinz Oberhessen, Kreis Ziegenhain