Austro-Hungarian Empire Language and Handwriting
| Austro-Hungarian Empire | |
| Record Types | |
| Austro-Hungarian Empire Background | |
Records of the Empire might be written in German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, or Russian.
Reading the Records
- It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in a language to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately. Here are some resources for learning to read records.
German
German Genealogical Word List
German Handwriting
- These video webinars will teach you to read German handwriting:
- Also online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:
- Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
- Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
- Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents. In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
- German Script Tutorial
This converter will show you how any phrase or name might look in German script:
- Kurrentschrift Converter (enter German genealogical word, click on "convert", view your word in Kurrentschrift (Gothic handwriting)
Latin Records
Records of the Catholic church will usually be written in Latin:
Hungarian
Polish
Because Silesia is now in Poland, these articles will help:
Czech
- Czech Genealogical Word List
- Czechia Handwriting
- Czechia Language and Languages
- Czechia Letter Writing Guide
Russian
- Russia Handwriting
- Russian Genealogical Word List
- Russian Letter Writing Guide
- Cyrillic Alphabet - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
- Cyrillic Script - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key