Ahnenblatt is genealogy software for Windows that records family relationships and turns research into charts, books and other documents. It offers a commercial full version, a free demo and a separate free legacy edition.
People, relatives and events
Ahnenblatt organizes personal information around events and facts. Users enter names, births, occupations or residences, then add dates, places, notes and supporting material to individual entries. Events can recur, so one person can have several occupations or residences. Approximate dates and periods accommodate incomplete research.
The input dialog links directly to parents, siblings, partners and children. Adding a relative creates the family connection; selecting an existing relative opens that person’s information. Multiple parent pairs can represent different parental relationships, while charts normally follow the preferred pair.
Evidence behind an event
A source entry can hold descriptive text, a transcription, notes, a quality assessment and attached media. Users can select a shared source and add citation details, such as a page number, for each event. Editing the shared source’s title updates its references.
Ahnenblatt can copy a source to other events, people or partnerships. A document image can open beside the input dialog for manual transcription. Photos can illustrate charts and books, while documents and videos open through their associated Windows programs.
Research checks and follow-up
The plausibility check flags inconsistencies in family data. Users can turn its findings into person-specific tasks, then assign priorities, progress states and notes. The task manager filters the backlog by status and opens the person behind a task. Automatic task creation can also find entries without sources or with particular text.
When combining family files, Ahnenblatt offers duplicate detection and merging. Users review candidate pairs, exclude matches or add pairs manually. Automatic detection requires matching names and at least one matching event date. After merging, a review group exposes conflicting field contents for correction.
Optional MyHeritage matching searches for archive records and member-family matches. Users authorize the search, choose match types and can exclude living people. Ahnenblatt lists matches by person and opens results in a browser; detailed records may require a MyHeritage membership.
Family charts
Users choose a chart type, appearance and starting person. Ancestor charts trace earlier generations, descendant charts follow later generations, and hourglass charts combine both directions. Fan charts and complete-relationship charts offer other arrangements.
The preview supports changes to frames, fonts, person details, photos and backgrounds. Adjusting frame width or page dimensions recalculates the layout. Ahnenblatt can print a poster across adjoining sheets or export PDF and image files. Saving the chart’s people as an Ahnenblatt file instead produces a family-data subset, rather than a chart image.
Books and research lists
Ahnenblatt generates ancestor, descendant and family books from the records. Users choose the book’s scope, pictures, notes, source references and indexes. The result can include a cover, foreword, contents, small family diagrams and indexes of names, places or sources.
A preview precedes printing or PDF export; DOCX output permits further editing in a word processor. Separate lists organize ancestors, descendants, events, tasks and other research information. Person sheets gather an individual’s details, while family sheets present partners and children.
Places through time
Place management collects locations from event entries. Users enrich them with notes, sources, media and coordinates. Its coordinate search returns candidate locations and lets users choose which details to import. Maps can focus on an individual, ancestors, descendants or a family name.
Ahnenblatt also creates timelines from family history. Users choose a page-based layout or a poster and decide whether to include historical events. A relationship calculator takes two people and returns their kinship as text. The date calculator converts calendars, calculates anniversaries and measures intervals between dates. Statistics summarize family data in charts or tables, with CSV output for further analysis.
Family files and exchange
Ahnenblatt opens its own family files and GEDCOM data from other genealogy software. Adding another file combines its people with the current research. GEDCOM export offers data exclusions, while GEDZIP packages personal data and photos together. The same exclusion options apply to GEDBAS uploads.
CSV supports spreadsheet exchange, and HTML export creates web pages from family data. Ordinary family files reference media on disk, so moving the data may also require copying those files.
Demo and free legacy scope
| Mode | Research and output scope |
|---|---|
| Demo | No time limit; entry of up to fifty people; opens larger family files; watermarks printouts. |
| Full | A license key removes the demo restrictions and retains existing data. |
| Free legacy | Unlimited people and no watermarks, with basic events, one source text and one note text per person. It lacks source, task and address management. |
