Link: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Deutsches_Reich2.png

Get your bearings around Deutschland!

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic

Give your story some recent background history. How did the family fare during the Weimar years?

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_German_history

German history didn't start with the Schlieffen Plan and end in the Berlin Bunker!

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Germany

Get to know the names of German cities and use them in your writing.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:German_surnames

Huuuge list of hundreds of common German surnames - name the in-laws, the neighbours, your boss, your workers, kids' teachers etc etc