How can I trace my Prussian-German family?

Question:

How can I trace my Prussian-German family?

I've followed it back to about 1850 and it seems like all we've ever been are Prussian farmers from Wisconsin. How can I access more records to further search and follow my tree back to Prussian Germany? I'm totally stuck on the LDS website and Ancestry.com (which my membership has expired to soooo...).

I think it would be really cool to find we were related to some Prussian Emperor and then trace that back around to the Brtish Royal Family (since they're German...*taboo*!). Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath though!!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Since most of Prussia is now Poland, the Polish Museum in Chicago is a wonderful resource (even for German Prussians)...as is the Polish Genealogical Society.

Some records are online at http://www.ancestry.de and you may be able to find them on the Hamburg records. If you're having a bad luck day, you'll find they went through Bremen. Those records were destroyed. The best you'll have would be the Castle Clinton records from the Port of New York at: http://www.castlegarden.org

If you have the names, the collective braintrust on this board may be able to help you find their hometown "back home".