the oldest male ancestor in my family tree is called Johann Neumann and was working as a notary (since 1672, probably baptised 1626?) in Mittelhausen, Allstedt in Thuringia, Germany and Taucha closed to Leipzig, Saxony.
I did not find any entries in the church register about his parents nor other ways to get to know his parents' names. Older register have been destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, especially in that area.
Is there another possibility to overcome this gap? I was thinking the following:
Gene genealogy to find out from which part of Germany/Europe my ancestors exactly came.
To find out the oldest appearance of the surname Neumann in that area and, once found, to trace back to Johann.
What do you think about this two ideas? Are they feasible and realistic?
Is there another way to try out first?