{"id":265,"date":"2016-08-12T10:20:52","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T08:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rita-dachner.com\/en\/?page_id=265"},"modified":"2025-11-07T15:55:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:55:46","slug":"translating-your-old-german-documents","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arin-dachner.com\/en\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome!<\/h2>\n\n\n
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My name is Arin Dachner. I’d like to offer to transcribe<\/a> your old, handwritten German documents into modern script and translate them for you into English. I also offer genealogical research and advisory services<\/a>. (Please don’t be confused if you are still used to my old site. I officially changed my first name in early 2025.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the first part of the 20th century, a handwriting was used in Germany that looks very different from today’s cursive. This Kurrent script<\/a>, and later the S\u00fctterlin script, was used for hundreds of years in everyday life, so we can find it on all kinds of old documents – on birth certificates, post cards, church records, love letters, last wills, official letters…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Family research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you are interested in your family’s history<\/strong> and now wonder what these hundred-year-old letters you found on your grandparent’s attic are about. Or you have some documents from archives, or want to find out more about your family tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Academical research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you are working on an academic paper in music or art history<\/strong>. During your research, you came across an artist’s interesting manuscripts in old German script. Unfortunately you can’t read them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Or you were asked to clarify the history of ownership<\/strong> of a building. But you are at a loss when looking at an age-old German land register entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In any of these cases I can help you. I made my passion for old scripts into a profession and specialized on transcribing and translating S\u00fctterlin and Kurrent script<\/strong>. Another thing I can help with is researching in archives<\/strong> and putting family trees<\/strong> together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gladly I will enable you to discover the secrets of these old German documents.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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You may ask yourself: “But can’t AI translate these texts now?”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes and no (or \u201cJein\u201d, as we say in German). There is at least one AI specialized on transcribing handwritten German documents. I tested the free version of it, and it turned out that it still makes many errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So at least for now, I can claim that my work is by far more accurate.<\/strong> Also, the AI won\u2019t provide you with any historical or cultural context, and it won\u2019t find out the modern spelling of your ancestor\u2019s village either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you decide to let an AI transcribe a handwritten document, make sure it\u2019s an AI that has been specifically trained for that purpose. Do not use a chatbot like Gemini or ChatGPT \u2013 they simply can\u2019t read Kurrent script, even though they might pretend they can<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome! My name is Arin Dachner. I’d like to offer to transcribe your old, handwritten German documents into modern script and translate them for you into English. I also offer genealogical research and advisory services. (Please don’t be confused if you are still used to my old site. I officially changed my first name in … <\/p>\n

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