Deciphering german handwriting

[Berlin-Bob]

The most common 19th. century german handwriting style is called Kurrent


This is how it looks:



For a larger version of this image,
- click on http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Kurrentschrift
- click on this image on the right
- double click on the resulting image, or on the link below it
  Version in höherer Auflösung (1633 × 1869 Pixel, Dateigröße: 334 KB, MIME-Typ: image/jpeg)

Bob

[aghadowey]

Thanks for the handwriting guide- have bookmarked it now but unfortunately my relatives had more challenging writing!

[Roli]

I found this comparison chart between Modern, Fraktur, Sutterlin and Kurrent styles which may be useful

[aghadowey]

Fantastic chart Roli- have just printed it out and will see if I can decipher more old documents with it.

[Roli]

Thanks for that, Aghadowey. I hope you find it useful.
If you want some practice !!!!  I would like to know especially the names of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother.  So far members have kindly suggested August or Wenzel for him, and Theresa or Josefina or Josefine for her. The relevant text can be found on my post "Old German Script" in the "Immigrants Section". Ideally I would like a full translation of the Section, but I would be happy with just their names.

[Berlin-Bob]

Here is an interesting article (in english) on Sütterlin script:

Here you can learn Suetterlin - the "German handwriting"
http://www.suetterlinschrift.de/Englisch/Sutterlin.htm

on the same site, there is also a page about Fraktur:

The "blackletter typeface" Gotik, Schwabacher, and Fraktur
http://www.suetterlinschrift.de/Englisch/Fraktur1.htm

This is often found on printed documents.


Yours Sütterlin-ly,

[aghadowey]

Fantastic site there- now I'll have very little excuse for not reading old postcards, etc.

[kaydeeceee]

Is the attached a German Letter? I think my American may have been a Hessian Soldier who 'changed' his nationality after settling in America.