Reading German Script Part I

1. Reading German Script Part I Reading German Script Part I Systematic learning and support Systematic learning and support Author Norbert Willmann www.nw-service.at TranslatedbyIris Luschin Fuchs

2. Reading German Script Under http://matricula-online.eu/the following register can be found. St. Georgen am Walde, Trauungsbuch 1649-1692, Februar 1653 page 00008.jpg It is not necessary to learn one of the old scripts beforehand, such as Kurrent, Süterlin, etc. This script has similarities with many scripts, some Latin, some letters are from the old German script, and some were invented by the scribe. Lesen

3. Reading German Script Under http://matricula-online.eu/the following register can be found. St. Georgen am Walde, Trauungsbuch 1649-1692, Februar 1653 page 00008.jpg Some pages later another scribe may have done his work, at this point it is then necessary to start over with deciphering this new script. This presentation will show how this can be done. Lesen

4. Reading German Script Under http://matricula-online.eu/the following register can be found. St. Georgen am Walde, Trauungsbuch 1649-1692, Februar 1653 page 00008.jpg This page illustrates the process of learning 300-year-old script.

5. Reading German Script Under http://matricula-online.eu/the following register can be found. St. Georgen am Walde, Trauungsbuch 1649-1692, Februar 1653 page 00008.jpg This page illustrates the process of learning 300-year-old script. Lesen First of all, the recording system of these entries must be identified. According to the entries in the register these are marriage records.

6. Reading German Script In former times, registers were kept simply in chronological order.

7. Reading German Script In former times, registers were kept simply in chronological order. In the left example you can see the date. The first legible entry is 18 February. Lesen

8. Reading German Script In former times, registers were kept simply in chronological order. In the left example you can see the date. The first legible entry is 18 February. The obvious 4 entries are framed. Lesen

9. Reading German Script In former times, registers were kept simply in chronological order. In the left example you can see the date. The first legible entry is 18 Februar. The obvious 4 entries are framed. Lesen Idem, Eodem, Eadem in registers derives from the Latin ‘idem’, meaning ‘the same’ or ‘same’. In this example ‘the same date’, thus 18 Feb. This is the fifth legible entry on this page, however with little data.

10. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on.

11. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on. 18 February Copulti (bride and groom) sunt (that are)

12. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on. 18 February Copulti(bride and groom) sunt(that are) JoannesMagenpaursoluty(abbreviation for solutus = unmarried man) et (and)

13. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on. 18 February Copulti(bride and groom) sunt(that are) JoannesMagenpaursoluty(abbreviation for solutus = unmarried man) et (and) Catharina Moserinsoluta(single woman),

14. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on. 18 February Copulti(bride and groom) sunt(that are) JoannesMagenpaursoluty(abbreviation for solutus = unmarried man) et (and) Catharina Moserinsoluta(single woman), testes (witnesses):

15. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on. 18 February Copulti(bride and groom) sunt(that are) JoannesMagenpaursoluty(abbreviation for solutus = unmarried man) et (and) Catharina Moserinsoluta(single woman), testes (witnesses): Georg Staindl

16. Reading German Script Now the structure of the entry will be examined more closely. We cannot assume that all entries will have been kept in the same manner, as we will see later on. 18 February Copulti(bride and groom) sunt(that are) JoannesMagenpaursoluty(abbreviation for solutus = unmarried man) et (and) Catharina Moserinsoluta(single woman), testes (witnesses): Georg Staindljudge at Neukirch et (and) GeorgiusMagenpaur

17. Reading German Script Here are the details of the spelling of the given name ‘Georg’. The first letter seems More like a ‘B’ than a ‘G’. Below an excerpt of a script sampler showing all ‘Gs’ of the 17th and 18th cent., many of them resemble a ‘B’ much more than a ‘G’. So concerning the initial letter let it be said that there is no ‘Beorg’ but only a ‘Georg’. For more details see the next slide. Script sampler download: http://www.nw-service.at/zip/41-Alte-schriften.pdf

18. Reading German Script Here are the details of the spelling of the given name ‘Georg’. The first letter seems More like a ‘B’ than a ‘G’. With this name it is easier to start with the spelling at the end. The ‘g’ at the end can be clearly read, as well as the ‘r’ preceding it. An ‘rg’ at the end of a name only applies to ‘Georg’ (or is variation ‘Georgius’). Another detail: in this script we can actually read ‘Geörg’. This peculiarity of Umlauts is also found with ‘a’, resp. ‘ä’, in the geographic area north of the Danube. The ‘a’ in the word ‘hard’ is pronounced with an open ‘a’ in dialect. The ‘a’ in ‘talk’ is pronounced with the mouth closed a bit more, thus the ‘ä’ in ‘Härtl’ indicates an open ‘a’.

19. Reading German Script When learning to read script, it is easier to start with the given name and to pay special attention tothe initial letter and any double letters. From the aforementioned structure the given name is easily detected. Lesen

20. Reading German Script When learning to read script, it is easier to start with the given name and to pay special attention tothe initial letter and any double letters. From the aforementioned structure the given name is easily detected. Lesen All first or given names are now framed. Everyone can now attempt to read the names. Some are more easily read, while others are quite difficult to identify.

21. Reading German Script When learning to read script, it is easier to start with the given name and to pay special attention tothe initial letter and any double letters. Matthias, Johannes, Catharina, Georg, Georgius, Paulus, Catharina, Zacharias, Martha, Philip, Martin, Urban, Maria, Georg, Jacob, Thomas, Fridrich, Magdalena, Ulrich, Carl Lesen

22. Reading German Script When learning to read script, it is easier to start with the given name and to pay special attention tothe initial letter and any double letters. The names Matthias, Martha and Martin, Maria Magdalena all help us recognize how the scribe of the register wrote the ‘M’.

23. Reading German Script When learning to read script, it is easier to start with the given name and to pay special attention tothe initial letter and any double letters. The names Matthias, Martha and Martin, Maria Magdalena all help us recognize how the scribe of the register wrote the ‘M’. Using Catharina (2x) and Carl, the ‘C’ can be identified.

24. Reading German Script First of all, the recording system of these entries must be identified. According to the entries in the register these are marriage records. So when the bride and groom went to register their marriage, they were asked their names. Whatever the priest audibly understood, he wrote down. For this reason spelling of family names can differ from one entry to the next. In the entry framed here, the priest only noted the names of the bride and groom -- no location, no witnesses.

25. Reading German Script Now some distinctive features of this script. Let’s look at the ‘h’, often used in connection with ‘t’ as in ‘th’, or with ‘c’ as in ‘ch’.

26. Reading German Script Now some distinctive features of this script. Let’s look at the ‘h’, often used in connection with ‘t’ as in ‘th’, or with ‘c’ as in ‘ch’. In this slide we see the ‘u’ with a curved line above it framed in blue.

27. Reading German Script Now some distinctive features of this script. Let’s look at the ‘h’, often used in connection with ‘t’ as in ‘th’, or with ‘c’ as in ‘ch’. In this slide we see the ‘u’ with a curved line above it framed in blue. However in the word ‘Paulus’ (red) the line above the ‘u’ is missing, as this name is written in ‘pure’ Latin script. In Latin the ‘u’ has no curved line or check above it.

28. Reading German Script Now some distinctive features of this script. Let’s look at the ‘h’, often used in connection with ‘t’ as in ‘th’, or with ‘c’ as in ‘ch’.

29. Reading German Script Now some distinctive features of this script. Let’s look at the ‘h’, often used in connection with ‘t’ as in ‘th’, or with ‘c’ as in ‘ch’. We can distinguish between two ‘h’s: the small ‘h’ as in ‘Catharina’, ‘Zacharias’, and ‘Martha’, and the long ‘h’ as in ‘Philip’, ‘Holzmül’, ‘Neuhauser’, ‘Thomas’, ‘Pichler’, ‘Richter’ and ‘allhir’.

30. Reading German Script Now some distinctive features of this script. Let’s look at the ‘h’, often used in connection with ‘t’ as in ‘th’, or with ‘c’ as in ‘ch’. We can distinguish between two ‘h’s: the small ‘h’ as in ‘Catharina’, ‘Zacharias’, and ‘Martha’, and the long ‘h’ as in ‘Philip’, ‘Holzmül’, ‘Neuhauser’, ‘Thomas’, ‘Pichler’, ‘Richter’ and ‘allhir’. As we can see in the word ‘Aschauerin’ (red), in the ‘sch’ the long ‘h’ is used as well.

31. Reading German Script In another example we try to read a given name with an ‘h’.

32. Reading German Script In another example we will try to read a given name with an ‘h’. In the blue frame we can clearly see the ‘h’ as the second letter. Again we will try to spell out the name starting with the last letter and going backward. We have not yet touched on the ‘s’, but the last letter is a round ‘s’. Before that there is an ‘o’ or an ‘a’, then a very legible ‘m’, then a very clear ‘o’ and before that an ’h’. All that sums up to ‘homos’ or ‘homas’ – the only thing that makes sense is ‘Thomas’.

33. Reading German Script In another example we will try to read a given name with an ‘h’. In the blue frame we can clearly see the ‘h’ as the second letter. Even though the initial letter can be made out from the rest of the letters, a look to the script sampler confirms the written ‘T’.

34. Reading German Script Here is another example of a name with an ‘h’ and two ‘u’ each with a curve above it.

35. Reading German Script Here is another example of a name with an ‘h’ and two ‘u’ each with a curve above it. The name occurs twice, this provides a good comparison. We start with the already known ‘h’. Then there is an ‘a’ and a ‘u’, thus a ‘au’. Then we see a long ‘s’ and the last letter is an ‘r’. The letter before the last is an ‘e’, pulled down by the long ‘s’. This results in ‘-hauser’ as the second part of the name.

36. Reading German Script Here is another example of a name with an ‘h’ and two ‘u’ each with a curve above it. The name occurs twice, this provides a good comparison. Before the ‘h’ is an ‘u’ with a curve and before that an ‘e’, which makes an’eu’. We recognize the initial letter as an ‘N’, which results in the Name ‘Neuhauser’. The current telephone directory still lists people of that name in St. Georgen am Walde.

37. Reading German Script Here is another example of a name with an ‘h’ and two ‘u’ each with a curve above it. The name occurs twice, this provides a good comparison. Before the ‘h’ is an ‘u’ with a curve and before that an ‘e’, which makes an’eu’. We recognize the initial letter as an ‘N’, which results in the Name ‘Neuhauser’. The current telephone directory still lists people of that name in St. Georgen am Walde. From the script sampler all ’s’, ‘ss’ and ‘ß’. The ‘s’ in ‘hauser’ is similar to the ‘s’ framed in red, only a bit shorter at the top.

38. Reading German Script Here is another example of a name with an ‘h’ and two ‘u’ each with a curve above it. The name occurs twice, this provides a good comparison. Before the ‘h’ is an ‘u’ with a curve and before that an ‘e’, which makes an’eu’. We recognize the initial letter as an ‘N’, which results in the Name ‘Neuhauser’. The current telephone directory still lists people of that name in St. Georgen am Walde. c From the script sampler all ’s’, ‘ss’ and ‘ß’. The ‘s’ in ‘hauser’ is similar to the ‘s’ framed in red, only a bit shorter at the top. The ‘s’ framed in green are round ‘s’ at the end of a word, as in ‘Thomas’.

39. Reading German Script A hard-to-read name as a final example.

40. Reading German Script A hard-to-read name as a final example. In the last entry, the name of the first witness is hard to read. As a second or third letter we can recognize an ‘l’. After that a relatively good ‘r’ and then an ‘i’ , whose dot is hidden in the lower loop of the ‘h’ from ‘alhir’ on the upper line. The result is ‘...lri..’. In the Genealogie-lexikon(dictionary of Genealogy) among the 20000 terms contained there are only 10 entries which match the search, among them is Ulrich and similar spellings.

41. Reading German Script A hard-to-read name as a final example. In the last entry, the name of the first witness is hard to read. As a second or third letter we can recognize an ‘l’. After that a relatively good ‘r’ and then an ‘i’ , whose dot is hidden in the lower loop of the ‘h’ from ‘alhir’ on the upper line. The result is ‘...lri..’. In the Genealogie-lexikon(dictionary of Genealogy) among the 20000 terms contained there are only 10 entries which match the search, among them is Ulrich and similar spellings. So, the last two letters are a ‘ch’. In the script sampler we find no match for the ‘h’ written very elaborately at the end. Also for the fancy initial ‘U’ there is no explanation, especially since we can find a ‘U’ in the entry above and can clearly read it. Just very creative HANDWRITING!!!

42. Reading German Script Now to decipher another letter, the ‘p’.

43. Reading German Script Now to decipher another letter, the ‘p’. The surname ‘Paur’ is a common name, also appearing often in compound surnames. Shown here ‘Magenpaur’.

44. Reading German Script Now to decipher another letter, the ‘p’. The surname ‘Paur’ is a common name, also appearing often in compound surnames. Shown here ‘Magenpaur’. In ‘Philip’ we can also see a ‘p’ as final letter.

45. Reading German Script Now to decipher another letter, the ‘p’. The surname ‘Paur’ is a common name, also appearing often in compound surnames. Shown here ‘Magenpaur’. In ‘Philip’ we can also see a ‘p’ as final letter. The capital ‘P’ ……..

46. Reading German Script Now to decipher another letter, the ‘p’. The surname ‘Paur’ is a common name, also appearing often in compound surnames. Shown here ‘Magenpaur’. In ‘Philip’ we can also see a ‘p’ as final letter. The capital ‘P’s are found in ‘Philip’, Pleimbl’, ‘Plindtenhofferin’, ‘Payrederin’, ‘Payrer’ and ‘Pöckh’. The ‘chk’ combination should be mentioned here. It occurs in ‘Pöckh’ as well in the names ‘Planckh’ and ‘Peckhenbaur’.

47. Reading German Script Here is the almost complete text: 18 febsCopulatisunt Johannes Magenpaur, soluty et CahtharinaMoserinsoluta, Testes Georg Staindl Richter zu Neukirch? et Georgi Magenpaur ---- Idem Paulus Schlager & Catharina …….…. Testes 19. Cop. sunt Zacharias Brazenlecher & Martha Aschauerin an der Loibn. Testes Philip Pleimbl und Martin Steiner an der Holzmühl 20. Urban Neuhauser und Maria Plindtenhofferin JS M (ST): Georg. Testes Jacob Neuhauser und Thomas Pichler 23. Fridrich Röltinger ?, Richter alhier und Magdalena Payrederin; Testes Ulrich Payrer und Carl Röltinger?Pöckh(= Bäcker) alhir The names with the dots have to be deciphered after comparing them with further pages of the same scribe, also those with ‘?’. ‘Röltinger’ could also be ‘Nöltinger’. ‘R’ as in ‘Richter’.

48. Reading German Script Another example from a page of a Birth Register from Vitis, Lower Austria, November 1710. First, we need to be aware of the structure of the entry. A

49. Reading German Script Another example from a page of a Birth Register from Vitis, Lower Austria, November 1710. First, we need to be aware of the structure of the entry. A 1. given names: Maria

50. Reading German Script Another example from a page of a Birth Register from Vitis, Lower Austria, November 1710. First, we need to be aware of the structure of the entry. A 1. given names: Maria, Georg