u/Straight-Jaguar-8728

I'm looking for input from people knowledgeable about historical German nationality law on a complicated citizenship-by-descent case.

My great-grandfather was Alfred Julius Seitz Sr., born in 1900 in Leipzig, Saxony. The family was from the Radebeul/Dresden area.

Here is the timeline:

- Alfred was born in Germany in 1900.
- His father, Karl Adolf Seitz, emigrated to the United States in 1903.
- Alfred's mother, Wilhelmina Lina Seitz (née Tautz), and the rest of the family did not arrive in the United States until August 1904.
- Alfred was approximately four years old when he immigrated.
- Karl Adolf was naturalized in the United States on October 29, 1913.
- Alfred was a minor at the time and did not independently naturalize. His U.S. citizenship was derivative from his father's naturalization and extended to him as a minor child.
- The 1913 German Reich and Nationality Act (RuStAG) entered into force on January 1, 1914, meaning the naturalization occurred only about two months before the new law took effect.
- Alfred's parents were married.
- The descent from Alfred to me is documented through the relevant birth and marriage records.

The main question is whether Alfred remained a German citizen after his father's U.S. naturalization, and whether German citizenship was therefore successfully transmitted down my family line.

I'm particularly interested in how German authorities would analyze:

1. The pre-1914 10-year expatriation rule and whether it affected Alfred or his family.
2. The fact that Alfred left Germany as a minor in 1904.
3. The fact that his father emigrated in 1903, while the mother and children followed in August 1904.
4. The legal effect of Karl Adolf's October 29, 1913 U.S. naturalization on Alfred, who acquired U.S. citizenship derivatively as a minor.
5. Whether the fact that the naturalization occurred before January 1, 1914, when the 1913 RuStAG entered into force, changes the analysis.

I have the naturalization record documenting the 1913 proceeding, along with German birth records, U.S. immigration records, census records, and draft records.

The reason I'm trying to get the historical-law analysis right is that later U.S. records contain different descriptions of Alfred's citizenship status. I'm therefore trying to determine his actual nationality under German law at each relevant point, rather than relying on how later U.S. records characterized him.

I'm also considering establishing residence in Saxony/Germany while pursuing the case and am interested in whether anyone has experience with a similar historical descent case being handled by a German local nationality authority rather than through the BVA.

Main question: How would German nationality law in effect in 1913 treat a German-born minor who emigrated to the United States as a child, whose father had emigrated first, and who became a U.S. citizen derivatively when his father was naturalized on October 29, 1913?

I'd especially appreciate responses from anyone familiar with pre-1914 German nationality law, the 10-year rule, derivative U.S. naturalization of minors, or historical German citizenship cases.

Thanks!