Location with no databases--Kopfs of Ihlienworth and Otterndorf

[Distancer500]

Hi there!!

I am looking for the Kopf family of Otterndorf and Ihlienworth (Hadeln, Lower Saxony). I will list names below my post. I have combed the popular databases--Ancestry, Family Search, Archion, and others. What I am finding is that there simply are no available records for Ihlienworth....and for Otterndorf it seems I must go in person? Does anyone have any tips or leads where I can find information for these locations or a compilation of Kopf family. It is a very large family that still exists in the ancestral area! I just seem to be on an unpopular or unresearched branch of it.

Specifically, my great grandmother was

Johanne Dorothea Kopf. Born 25 February 1866, likely born in Ihlienworth, emigrated to USA 1884. She was born to an unwed mother.
Her mother was  Anna Elisabeth Kopf (born 1840, in Westerende Otterndorf, died having married a Brockmann in 1914 in Stickgras)
Her Uncle was Peter Matthias Kopf, born 1852 in Otterndorf, emigrated to USA in 1892.
Her grandfather was Johann Mathias Kopf, lived in Wester Ihlienworth
Her grandmother was Anna Margareta Wittpenn.
I *believe* but do not have solid evidence her great grandfather was Hinrich Kopf, born 1791 in Ihlienworth, married Catharina Rebecca Ruether.

Any leads on the specific people mentioned would be amazing. But I would also love generic tips on where to search when the databases just don't exist.

Thank you,

Renata Fromme Di Battista

[Futse]

Archion currently only contains placeholders for Ihlienworth and Otterndorf—meaning the church records will be discontinued at some point in the future.
Microfilms for Ihlienworth are available, but they are only available in the archive:
https://www.arcinsys.niedersachsen.de/arcinsys/detailAction?detailid=v7086502

You can try to inquire directly at the parish office in Ihlienworth:
https://kirche-ihlienworth.jimdofree.com/pfarramt/

[mnuetzel]

Might try searching a little wider; may pick up some connections , like this

FamilySeach
Familienbuch der Ortschaft Holßel im Landkreis Cuxhaven
https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/916544
page 216

[mnuetzel]

Might try searching a little wider; may pick up some connections , like this

FamilySeach
Familienbuch der Ortschaft Holßel im Landkreis Cuxhaven
https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/916544
page 216

[Distancer500]

Thank you! I definitely have needed tips on expanding my net and this is perfect. Not quite who I am looking for, but helpful in learning where to look.

I did find the rest of the siblings for that generation, and have been able to move back a generation on the Wittpenn line. I am also awaiting a hardcopy of 2 citizen register books I found by Richard Tiensch and got my hands on some land records. So yes, I needed to think outside the box.