Eric,
Your task is daunting indeed! I've spent most of my life studying the German language and am still constantly coming across obscure cognates. One I came across a few years ago and which still entertains me is "Zimmer" (room) and its cognate "timber", a "Zimmermann" also being a carpenter.
I am unaware of any list (comprehensive or otherwise) of cognates, either online or in the form of treeware.
There are a couple of brief lists of _loan words_ around on the Web such as:
http://www.goethe.de/gr/dub/projekt/ENIDTSP3.HTM
or a discussion on a take-it-with-a-pinch-of-salt online dictionary site at
http://dico.leo.org/cgi-bin/dict/urlexp/20020412185309
and a very interesting article under
http://www.uni-trier.de/uni/fb2/anglist ... german.htm
By far the best way of tracking down cognates between German and English is to understand the mechanics of the second German sound shift (and other related phenomena) and trying it for yourself. Reduced to its essence, it can be said that the second German sound shift happened to the High German languages (i.e. including modern German) resulting in the following shifts: p to pf, ff; t to s, ss, z, tz; k to ch. Not generally regarded as being part of the Second German sound shift, but happening at around the same time, the sound "d" often became "t". These changes did not happen in the Low German languages (including Anglo Saxon and ultimately English). Many simple cognates then become immediately clear (zehn/ten, Zimmer/timber as above, Brot/bread, Fuss/foot, Tag/day, Pfeife/pipe...). The list is endless!
One of the finest sources for confirming these cognates is only in German (and antiquated German at that), namely the "Deutsches Wörterbuch" by the Brothers Grimm (they of fairy tales fame). It can be found online at
http://www.dwb.uni-trier.de/, although the site appears to be down at the time of writing. For virtually every entry in their dictionary, they included vast lists of cognates in other languages.
Hope that helped rather than bored you.
Phil W. 31 December, 2004
Reply from ( - )