Can I research my family history with no documents at all?

Yes. Names, approximate years and a place are enough to start. Almost everything you need was created by administrations rather than families — civil registers, censuses, military lists — and those are searchable without owning a single paper yourself.

Where do I find records if I do not know the exact town?

Start from the administrative level you do know — a region, a department, a county — and use indexes for the surname there. Migration was usually local: a family that moved often moved within the same district.

What if my family name is very common?

Stop searching on the name alone and search on combinations: surname plus a place, plus an approximate year, plus a parent's first name. Two constraints turn hundreds of candidates into a handful.

Are photographs useful when I have no papers?

Very. A uniform, a school class, a shop sign, a photographer's studio stamp or a car in the background date and locate a picture, and a location plus a decade is often exactly the constraint a record search was missing.

How do I get a copy of a civil record?

Many are already digitised and searchable online. For recent ones still under privacy restrictions, you request a copy from the town hall or registry office that holds the register, usually proving your descent.

What do I do with a family story I cannot verify?

Write it down as a story, with who told it and when, then test the checkable parts. Family legends are usually distorted rather than invented, and the surviving detail — a trade, a port, a regiment — is often the lead that works.

Is it worth asking relatives who "do not know anything"?

Yes, and ask about ordinary life rather than dates. People who say they know nothing genealogical will still remember which village a grandmother came from, who emigrated, and where the photographs ended up.

How long before I find my first real record?

Often the same day, if your first search is narrow. A specific surname in one town in one decade returns something usable far more often than the same surname searched across a whole country.

Vestigee — Starting Without Any Documents | Blog

How to begin your research even without family papers