4. Find the Parish name and Family History Library microfilm number in the “Parish Key”
Refer to the Parish Key at the top of the page and you will find that, for Lutheran parishes, 6 refers to the Parish of Aalen. The town of Erlau is in the Aalen parish. The number to the right is the Family History Library film number for the microfilm of the Parish Registers themselves. For Aalen the FHL film number is 1346001.
In the book look at the opposite page (page 24) and you will note that Aalen is in the Oberamt Aalen district, surrounded by the parishes of Wasseralfingen, Fachsenfeld, Essingen and Oberkochen (all in Oberamt Aalen). You will also see that Oberamt Ellwangen and Neresheim border Aalen. First - if you don’t find your family in the parish of Aalen, then these are the parishes in which you would look next. Second - it is in these parishes that you will undoubtedly find brothers, sisters, and other relatives who may have married and moved into another parish. By studying the maps, you can locate far more records pertaining to your ancestors.
For the Catholic parish go to page 78. You will see that Erlau is also in the Aalen parish. The FHL film number for the Catholic parish of Aalen, Parish Key of 22, is 920704. On the opposite page in the book (page 78) you will see that the Aalen parish is surrounded by the Catholic Parishes of Wasseralfingen, Hüttlingen, Fachsenfeld, Dewangen, Hofherrnweiler, Oberkochen, Unterkochen. Here again, these parishes are where you will find extended family members.
This sample page is from the Württemberg - Jagstkreis volume (shown smaller than actual size).