Dietmar's profile is another in this series that investigates who our German cousin's are. He appears, as do Peter Nocken and Jürgen Schmidt, in MyHeritage's Cousin Finder. When I trace his ancestry we see that Carl Alve's (Junior) grandfather - Wilhelm Alfer - was brother of Anna Alfer (Dietmar's 3xgreat grandmother). When we trace downline we see Brochagens and Forsters before Dietmar and his father Oswald were surnamed ​Höller.

I use the MyHeritage online genealogy platform to assist my family research. This includes using the DNA matching facilities provided. In the last few years massive advances have been made in connecting personal DNA with that of relatives. Now I regularly make significant discoveries as I use various techniques to connect with relatives, including establishing who common ancestors are on the basis of discovering DNA matches.

Recently I have posted a page on this website to more fully describe what I am doing with not only my own DNA, but with that of other close relatives. I introduce the four relatives whose DNA I am working with, I indicate the six generations of relatives in my direct ancestral line, I provide a link to a very helpful DNA research video, I briefly introduce some of the MyHeritage tools available for DNA research and, I offer a case study about how I worked with one relative to advance their family research.

Communication is an essential part of family research. Often DNA matching benefits from dialogue to check hunches raised by the research tools. I talk about the various communication channels I use.