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Germany

Languages

Most materials used in German research are written in German. However, you do not need to speak or read German to do research in German records. You will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records.

Because of Germany's history, you may also find several other languages in German records. Latin was frequently used in Roman Catholic church records. French was often used in Elsaß-Lothringen/Alsace-Lorraine and during the French domination of the area west of the Rhein. Danish was used in much of Schleswig-Holstein until Preußen/Prussia annexed that area in 1864. Polish, Dutch, and Low German can also be found in some areas.

Language Aids

• FamilySearch Wiki has genealogical word lists for:
  • German Word List
  • Danish Word List Danish is used in some records of Schleswig-Holstein.
  • French Word List French is used in some records of Alsace-Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen).
  • Polish Genealogical Word List
  • Portuguese Genealogical Word List
    

• The German Word List includes symbols commonly used in German genealogical sources.
• List of Names in Old German Script A comprehensive list of German given names, written in old script, with possible variations.
• Old German Script Transcriber (alte deutsche Handschriften): See your family names in the script of the era. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. Click between the 8 different fonts. Save the image to your computer and use it as you work with old German records.
  
• Schreibübung [writing practice] Type a name or other word into one of the blank text boxes (note: if an "s" is at the end of a syllable, type # instead in order to generate the ending "s"). Fill out one to five of the boxes with text. Click on the "umwandeln" button. Scroll down to see the word(s) written in Kurrent. To see other words in Kurrent, click on "löschen" or delete the text in a box, write something new, and click on "umwandeln" again.
  
• WordMine If the website language is not in English, click on "Language" at the top right and change it to English. (To look at a word in a language other than German, from just above the search box click on "German" and select a different language.) Check the box next to "Number of letters" underneath the search box, and change the range to fit the word you are looking for. Then click on "Select search type" from above the search box and select an option, such as "Words starting with," "Words ending in," or "Words containing." Type the letter sequence you see (from the German word you're trying to decipher) into the search box and click on the search button. Then browse through the results, which may be listed on multiple pages, to potentially locate the correct full German word.

Handwriting

• These links to lessons and websites will assist in learning to read the records of Germany:
  • German Paleography Seminar (10 videos)
  • Old German Script Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (German Church and Civil Records)
  • German Church and Civil Records
  • German Script Tutorial
  • Deciphering German Script 1-12
  • Deciphering German Script 25-36
  • Deciphering German Script 13-24
  • Schleswig-Holstein: Handwriting

• For more information about reading German writing, see Germany Handwriting.

Downloadable Handouts

These printable handouts can be used for ready reference when reading German Handwriting.
Letters:

• Kurrent Letters handout
• Additional Kurrent Letters handout

Vocabulary found on Specific Records:

• Birth Records Vocabulary handout
• Marriage Records Vocabulary handout
• Overview of Marriage Laws and Customs (handout)
• Death Records Vocabulary handout

Dates, Numbers, Abbreviations:

• Days and Months handout
• Numbers Vocabulary handout
• Script Dates and Numbers handout
• Common Abbreviations handout
• Common Symbols handout

Miscellaneous Vocabulary:

• German Occupations Vocabulary handout
• Illnesses Vocabulary handout

Fraktur:

• Fraktur Font--Many forms and books are printed in this font.

Fraktur Font Used in Printed Records

Wikipedia Fraktur Script. For a printable table showing Fraktur letters, click here.

For a printable table showing Kurrent letters in a computer font, click here.

Dictionaries

• The following books and English-German dictionaries can help in your research. You can find these and similar materials at many research libraries.
  • Thode, Ernest. German-English Genealogical Dictionary. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992. (FS Library book 433.21 T352g 1992.)
  • Langenscheidts German-English, English-German Dictionary = Langenscheidts Deutsch-Englisches, Englisch-Deutches Wörterbuch. New York, NY, USA: Pocket Books, 1952, 1993. (FS Library book 433.21 L262g.)
  • Grimm's Dictionary online can be found at this link Dictionary of German historical words.

Latin Aids

Other language aids for parish Latin can be found at these links:

• Church-Book Latin
• e-Latin
• Latein Wörterbuch, search
• Latein Wörterbuch, alphabetical list

Dialects and Variations

See also:

• Low German language
• Languages in the Lower Rhine area
• Spelling variation in the northern Rhine area.

German grammar may affect the way names appear in genealogical records, so your ancestor's name in German may vary from record to record. For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section and Affect of dialects on German surnames.

See also: spelling variations in German documents.

Numbers

In some genealogical records, numbers are spelled out. This is especially true of dates. The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) versions of each number. Days of the month are written in ordinal form. Ordinal forms may have other endings, for example: erste, ersten.

Cardinal		Ordinal
null
eins	1st	erste
zwei	2nd	zweite, zweyte
drei	3rd	dritte
vier	4th	vierte
fünf	5th	fünfte
sechs	6th	sechste
sieben	7th	siebte, siebente
acht	8th	achte
neun	9th	neunte
zehn	10th	zehnte
elf	11th	elfte
zwölf	12th	zwölfte
dreizehn	13th	dreizehnte
vierzehn	14th	vierzehnte
fünfzehn	15th	fünfzehnte
sechzehn	16th	sechzehnte
siebzehn	17th	siebzehnte
achtzehn	18th	achtzehnte
neunzehn	19th	neunzehnte
zwanzig	20th	zwanzigste
einundzwanzig	21st	einundzwanzigste
zweiundzwanzig	22nd	zweiundzwanzigste
dreiundzwanzig	23rd	dreiundzwanzigste
vierundzwanzig	24th	vierundzwanzigste
fünfundzwanzig	25th	fünfundzwanzigste
sechsundzwanzig	26th	sechsundzwanzigste
siebenundzwanzig	27th	siebenundzwanzigste
achtundzwanzig	28th	achtundzwanzigste
neunundzwanzig	29th	neunundzwanzigste
dreißig	30th	dreißigste
einunddreißig	31st	einunddreißigste
vierzig	40th	vierzigste
fünfzig	50th	fünfzigste
sechzig	60th	sechzigste
siebzig	70th	siebzigste
achtzig	80th	achtzigste
neunzig	90th	neunzigste
hundert	100th	hunderste
zweihundert	200th	zwei hunderste
tausend	1000th	tausendste

Dates and Time

In German records, dates are often written out. For example:

Freitag den vierzehnten Februar achtzehnhundert sechs und dreißig [Friday, the 14th of February, eighteen hundred six and thirty (1836)].

To understand German dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding “Numbers” section.

Months

English	German
January	Januar, Jänner, Hartung, Jenner
February	Februar, Hornung
March	März, Frühlingsmonat, Lenzing
April	April, Ostermonat, Osteren,Oster
May	Mai, Wonnemonat, Blütemonat, Wonnemond
June	Juni, Brachmonat, Brachet
July	Juli, Heuert, Heumonat, Heuet
August	August, Erntemonat, Hitzmonat, Ernting
September	September, Fruchtmonat, Herbstmonat, Herpsten, 7ber, 7bris, Scheiding
October	Oktober, Weinmonat, 8ber, 8bris, Gilbhard
November	November, Wintermonat, 9ber, 9bris, Neblung
December	Dezember, Christmonat, 10ber, 10bris, Xber, Xbris, Julmond

A more extensive list of month names in German.

Days of the Week

English		German
Sunday		Sonntag
Monday		Montag
Tuesday		Dienstag
Wednesday		Mittwoch
Thursday		Donnerstag
Friday		Freitag, Freytag
Saturday		Samstag, Sonnabend

See also:

• special symbols used for week days.

Times of the Day

German birth and death records often indicated the exact time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.

German	English
ein Uhr	one (o’clock)
zwei Uhr	two (o’clock)
drei Uhr	three (o’clock)
halb eins	half one = 12:30
halb zwei	half two = 1:30
halbe Stunde	half hour
Stunde	hour
früh	early (a.m.)
spät	late (p.m.)
morgens	in the morning
vormittags	in the forenoon
mittags	at noon
nachmittags	in the afternoon
abends	in the evening
mitternachts	at midnight

Symbols

Sometimes a symbol is used in German genealogical sources rather than abbreviations. Some of these are shown at GenWiki, Genealogical Symbols and Signs.