German Language and Handwriting Eastern European Research Workshop Salt Lake City, UT Milan Pohontsch, AG® mpohontsch@yahoo.com

Topics covered in this hour: History of German Handwriting Examples of German Handwriting Sütterlin Style Deutsche Schreibschrift Style Start Reading German Records Special Letters and Ligatures Evaluation of a Record Abbreviations Date Format Basic German Grammar Feast Days

200 BC – 200 AD In Documents In Letters Abt. 200-600 Abt. 200-400 Abt. 500-700 Abt. 400-900

In Documents In Letters Abt. 850 –1100 Abt. 1100-1300 To abt. 1450 Abt. 1300-1500

In Documents In Letters Abt. 1450s-1550s Abt. 1500s-1600s Abt. 1550s-1800s Abt. 1550s-1820s AD Abt. 1600s-1880s Abt. 1600s-1850s

In Documents In Letters From abt. 1875 Abt. 1800 From 1915 in Prussia From 1942

Deutsche Schreibschift Sütterlin-Schrift Deutsche Schreibschift ½ 1 1/2

A G H W a g h w 1 4 6 7 / 60 – 70 degree inclination 1

Deutsche Schreibschrift Old German Handscript Gothic Kurrent Current Fraktur Ausgangsschrift

Sütterlin Style

Deutsche Schreibschrift Style

Start reading with printed records

Practice booklet

Continue with mixed handwritten records Left page Right page

Continue with mixed handwritten records Left page Kuckau 14. August Catharina George Kneschk [town of birth date of birth name of child name of father] Right page Magdalena, née Pech, a.k.a. Krons [name of mother witnesses, godparents]

Try some challenging records 94 Geburtsbuch vom Jahrgang Tausend achtundert zwanzig und neun 12 u.13. Marianna u. Theresia Sattler Zwillinge Im Jahr 1829, den achten Jan. wurden abends geboren Marianna 5 1/2 Uhr und Theresia 7 1/2 Uhr, und den neunten Morgens 10 Uhr getauft, eheliche Kinder des Franz Anton Sattler Schuster und der Marianna Müller von Schliengen. Die Zeugen waren Konrad Müller und Konrad Georg von hier und Anton Scherle Sigrist. Pfarramt Schuhmacher

Ch Ck Tz Sch Ä Ö Ü St N ch ck tz ss mm nn sz ae oe ue Special letters and ligatures ä ö ü ending-s ch ck tz ss mm nn sz ae oe ue Ch Ck Tz Sch Ä Ö Ü St N

Something challenging for experts

The evaluation of a record In order to properly evaluate a record, several steps should be contemplated: a. Isolation Find dates (day, month, year) Locate names (given names, surnames, place names) Identify principle words connected to: baptisms (Taufen, getauft, taufen lassen, renatus) marriage (heiraten, geheiratet, getraut, verehelicht) death (Tod, gestorben, verstorben, verstarb, starb) b. Think phonetically. Grammar rules were not established until 1902 (Duden), accept words spelled with “P” instead of “B”, with “ph” instead of just “f”, with “d” instead of “t” (more examples later on). The name of the city Trübenbach can also appear as Dreubenbach or Triebenbach.

The evaluation of a record (cont.) c. Establish an alphabet. Isolate various letters and compare them to the rest of the script. Start by looking at familiar names. d. Use logic. If you recognize only vowels or only consonants in a given word, there most likely is a problem. There are a few exceptions. Words with 2 vowels or three consonants do exist! In order to avoid hasty conclusions, follow these steps: a. Transcribe your text (with every comma, period and abbreviation) b. Transliterate it (from Gothic to cursive script) c. Translate the text d. Lastly, write an abstract in which you will formulate your final conclusion about the document and which will direct you to your next research step.

Abbreviations geb. geb. geboren born ehel. ehel. ehelich legitimate getr. getr. getraut married (on) verh. verh. verheiratet married (with) verst. verst. verstorben deceased, died gest. gest. gestorben died konf. konf. konfirmiert confirmed gen. gen. genannt also know as unehel. unehel. unehelich illegitimate S.d. S.d. Sohn des son of T.d. T.d. Tochter des daughter of

10. September 1902 10. 7tbr 1902 day month year 10. September 1902 Date Format day month year 10. September 1902 10. September 1902 10. 7tbr 1902

Xmbr Xbri$ = December 7tbr 7bri$ = September 8tbr 8bri$ = October Months 7tbr 7bri$ = September 8tbr 8bri$ = October 9mbr 9bri$ = November 10mbr 10bri$ = December Xmbr Xbri$ = December Xmbr Xbri$ = December

No changes of names between January and August 7. ζ 8bris 15. ζ 9bris

German grammar Inflected language (terminations of words change to indicate their function in a sentence) Three grammatical genders Noun inflection Verb inflection Verb prefixes Word order Alphabetical order Spelling

Inflected language with three grammatical genders masculine feminine neuter der die das einer eine eines geborener geborene geborenes getaufter getaufte getauftes verheirateter verheiratete verheiratetes gestorbener gestorbene gestorbenes begrabener begrabene begrabenes konfimierter konfimierte konfimiertes hinterlassener hinterlassene hinterlassenes Please be aware of the ending on female family names in pre-1900 records Müllerin, Mayerin, Huberin, Schmalzelin Stuckin, Waderin, Supperin

Possessive “s” Anna, des Hubers’ Frau ist Patin. Agnes, des Georg Kneschk, Gärtners in Kuckau ehl. Tochter.

1st Am Sonntag habe ich Catharina getauft, Tochter des … Verb inflection Three persons 1st Am Sonntag habe ich Catharina getauft, Tochter des … 2nd Am Sonntag hast du Catharina getauft, Tochter des … 3rd Am Sonntag wurde Catharina getauft, Tochter des … Two numbers singular Das Kind des Johann Müller wurde getauft am … plural Die Kinder des Johann Müller wurden getauft am … 3rd person, singular

Verb prefixes usually (but not always) in combination with past tense Taufe getauft Heirat geheiratet, verheiratet, verehelicht Tod gestorben, verstorben Kauf verkaufen, gekauft Wittwe /-r verwittwet Other prefixes: zer-, ab-, er-, vor-, auf-

Word order Generally less rigid than in Modern English Am 17. Februar gegen Mittag wurde Friederika Sophia, Tochter des Andreas Schmidt aus Altenhausen und der Agata, geborene Maier aus Neuenhausen zur heiligen Taufe gebracht. Das Kind wurde Tags zuvor früh um ¼ vor 6 geboren. Die Patin war Friederika Sophia, Franz Redels’ Ehefrau, die Schwester der Mutter. Direct translation On 17th February at noon was Friederika Sophia, daughter of Andreas Schmidt of Altenhausen and of Agata, nee Maier of Neuenhausen to the holy baptism presented. The child was the day before in the morning at 5:45 born. The godmother was Friederika Sophia, Franz Redels’ wife, the sister of the mother.

Alphabetical Order in German Publications German letters with diacritic marks (Umlaut) will be alphabetized in most publications as though they were a, o, u, and ss. Some publications alphabetized the letters with diacritic marks after the regular letter. However, many dictionaries and gazetteers will alphabetize these characters as if they were ae, oe, ue, and ss (see example) Bodz…. Böbb… = Boebb…

Spelling Because spelling rules were not standardized in earlier centuries, spelling variations are common. Local dialect often affects the spelling in genealogical records. In German records, the following letters are sometimes used interchangeably: p used for b Examples: a used for e Freytag for Freitag t used for d or dt Burckhart for Burkhard s used for z Waldpurga for Waldburga ck used for k undt for und y used for i or j v used for w or f k used for g tz used for z ig used for isch or ich t used for th u used for i

Latinized surnames in German records Found in late 1700s to late 1800s ecclesiastical records Often found for surnames derived from professions or objects Examples: Agricola = Ackermann; Carbonarius = Köhler Germanized first- and surnames in German records Found in late 1600s to 1945 in ecclesiastical records Examples: Handrij Wičas = Andreas Lehmann; Herta Rak = Gertrud Krebs

Time specification in German records Before full hour e.g. ¼ vor 9 Vormittags [1/4 hour before 1 PM] Past full hour e.g. ¼ nach 1 Nachmittags [1/4 hour past 1 PM] e.g. ½ nach 1 Nachmittags [1/2 hour past 1 PM]

Feast days in German records 6th of January

Feast days in German records Often dates in church records counted beginning with the following feast days: Epiphanias = Starting with 6. January Pessach = Easter Sunday Trinitatis = Holiday of the Trinity, starting with the Sunday after Pentecost, counted this way until Advent Advent = Starting with the 4th Sunday before Christmas Eve The six Sundays after Easter are called: Quasimodogeniti, Misericordias Domini, Jubilate, Cantate, Rogate, Exaudi

Feast days in German records Only available in German for 1700 to 2199 under http://weltzeituhr.com/infos/kirchliche_feiertage.shtml

Questions I might answer? not be able to Questions I might answer? mpohontsch@yahoo.com http://www.european-roots.com/feefhs.html