If you have traced your ancestors into a German-speaking area, whether in Europe or even in a historically German-speaking area of America, Australia, etc., you have probably encountered some handwriting and typesetting that you don’t quite recognize. This writing is sometimes called German “Gothic” writing or German “paleography,” but we can break it down into its two key parts: the cursive handwriting called Kurrent and the most common block lettering and typesetting, Fraktur.
If those words seem odd and hard to remember, go ahead and switch the C and K in your head, and you’ll see their meanings: Kurrent is a cursive handwriting that flows like a “current,” while Fraktur is a writing style distinctive in the “fractures” that separate parts of the letters. Below, you will see a classic pan-alphabetical phrase in Kurrent (top) and Fraktur (bottom):
Peter Wiegel, CC BY 3.0, “Wiegel Kurrent Medium”
Given a bit of time, you certainly could figure out that the sentence is “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” but these are idealized versions of both lettering styles, and the sentence is in English, so you have intuition on your side.
Deciphering the handwriting in original German-language documents is much more of a challenge, especially because the Kurrent cursive style is the most common in pre-1940s documents in much of the German-speaking world. Because of this, we will concentrate on Kurrent for now.
An Overview of the Kurrent Script
Although daunting at first, a little bit of study and regular practice for a couple of weeks will get you just about fluent in Kurrent. So first, the study!
As you can see in the above example, Kurrent is much more angular than what we consider cursive. That said, there are curves in places we wouldn’t necessarily expect them. Furthermore, many letters, even though you know what they should be, have no resemblance to a standard letter shape in a modern Latin alphabet.
Concentrated study of the alphabet in Kurrent will help you identify most of the letters you read, but there are a few letters and letter combinations that are especially tricky. So, rather than going through the alphabet letter-by-letter, we’ll concentrate on a few of the more confusing letters and letter combinations.
The Round S and Long S
Kurrent has a couple of versions of “s,” as does Fraktur. Traditionally, s (“round s” or “short s”) was only used at the end of words or as the second part of a double s, while ſ (“long s”) was used within words. This was also used in English (for example “Congreſs” in the United States Bill of Rights).
The Eszett
Referred to as an “Eszett” (pronounced “ess-tsett”) or “sharp s,” this character is used after long vowels and diphthongs to represent a sharp “S” sound (like in snake, address, etc.) without shortening the preceding vowel (doubling a consonant usually shortens the preceding vowel in German). This is often mistaken for a capital B, but it only occurs in or at the end of a word, so there should be no confusion.
A straight line above an “n” or an “m” doubles the letter:
Characters and Combinations
The biggest frustration when deciphering documents in Kurrent script are the numerous characters that look almost identical to each other. Even experts who have been reading such documents for decades often have trouble distinguishing these letters, so don’t be discouraged!
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s – h – f
The loops at the top and/or bottom should help you distinguish these letters, but this can be a challenge. |
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b – l – s – k – t – d
These can be tricky, but keep an eye out for the loops and crosses, and context should get you the rest of the way |
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m – w
That loop in the “w” is generally a giveaway. |
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g – p – y – z
These are some of the trickiest to separate. Keep an eye on the loops and use context clues. |
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m – nn – u – ü – n – e – c – i
Sometimes it just comes down to counting the points, but a “u” should always have the loop above it (the U-bogen) while a doubled letter (discussed above) will have the straight line. The “e” should be squished in comparison to the other letters, and “c” usually has the little swoop at its top. |
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e – r – v
Note the sharp point and swoop in the “r” and the loop in the “v” |
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K – R – H – ß – B
The top flag of a “K” should always fly forward, while the top flag of an “R” should fly backwards. |
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L – B – C
The loops (and context) should help you here, but these can be quite tricky to decipher. |
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St – N – M – V – W
These can also be a challenge, especially distinguishing “St” from “N,” but keep an eye on the loops and crosses. |
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I – S – F – C – D – E – J – T – B
Keep an eye out for the descending lines and crosses on these. “I” and “J” are sometimes completely indistinguishable in certain handwriting, but the letters generally function the same in older German writing. |
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U – A – V – O
Keep an eye on the loops and flips. |
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ch – ck – sch
Notice that “c” loses its top swoop in these combinations—don’t mistake it for an undotted “i”! |
Put Your German Skills into Practice
At this point, you may be excited to dive into your German family records to see what you can decipher. Let’s hold on a little bit, though, and use your new-found Kurrent-deciphering skills on some sample sentences in English and using the idealized script to get your brain acclimated to piecing these letters together.
Key:
- Chicken soup does not make you immune to the common cold.
- Kory and Rusty are the names of characters in my new play.
- Natalie goes to school at Stanford.
Now, let’s look at some real examples that can help you transition into your own records. Here are some examples from our collection “Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1936” to help you get started (this is a great database for practice).
Each line below includes three real writing samples of the same common given name from Berlin civil marriages. See if you can decipher what they are and then scroll down to find the answers.
Key:
Maria
Gustav
Moses
Friedrich
Wilhelmine
Johannes
Stephanie
If these instructions sound overwhelming, don’t worry. Contact our team of experts at AncestryProGenealogists® who can teach you more about handwriting styles and much more about the lifestyle of your predecessors.