Germanology Unlocked
Featured on PBS’ Finding Your Roots, The History Channel, and More!
Uncover the Stories of Your Ancestors
Choose the option to best help you on your genealogy journey:

Translations
Discover your family’s story through our high-quality German to English genealogical translations (German handwriting included).

Courses
Empower yourself on your German genealogy journey by taking our interactive German handwriting and language classes.

Webinars
Watch a free webinar to learn more about German genealogy, or book a topic-specific webinar for your own genealogy society.

Membership
Subscribe and receive extra help on your German genealogical documents during our weekly “Ask-the-Translator” Hour.
Meet Katherine Schober, Founder and CEO
With more than a decade of experience professionally translating German to English, I love helping clients like you discover the fascinating lives of their German ancestors. Deciphering the old handwriting and finding the perfect words to unlock the secrets of your family letters, diaries, and records – as well as teaching you how to do it yourself – is something I truly enjoy.
Born in St. Louis, I earned my Master’s degree in the German language through Bowling Green State University/University of Salzburg. I then spent three additional years in Austria, teaching English and translating German (with a focus on history). In 2014, I moved back to the States with my Austrian husband, and, although we are now in America, German is still the main language spoken in our home. As a German-English genealogy translator and educator, I can happily say I love what I do.

Get Started on Your Genealogy!
Explore German Genealogy Resources:
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Reading the Old German Handwriting Online Course
$359.00 — or $90.00 / month for 4 months Select options -
BUNDLE DEAL: Reading the Old German Handwriting + German for Genealogists
$796.00 — or $135.00 / month for 6 months Select options
What Clients Are Saying:
It was a pleasure working with you Katherine. I appreciated your rapid response to my requests. The German and English versions of all the documents were perfectly formatted down to the tiny letters on the bottom of the pre-printed baptismal certificate which identified the printer. Thank you.
Thank you for a great job! I am very impressed that you could read, never mind translate, her writing. Very professional and much appreciated! I will have it bound and send copies to my cousins. I should mention too that the footnotes you provided were very helpful and beyond what I expected.
Katherine transcribed several handwritten German documents dating from the Second World War for me, and it was truly a pleasure to work with her. Thanks to her skill in deciphering the texts, I’ve learned a great deal about my family history, and she was particularly thorough in researching the places and names included in the text. Katherine is professional and resourceful with a great eye for detail – exactly as a good translator should be – and I would not hesitate in recommending her.
After my parents passed away, I discovered a letter written to my grandfather in 1930 from a nephew who lived in Germany. (My grandfather had immigrated in the 1890s). Because the letter was handwritten and in German, it was impossible for me to make out many of the letters/words; therefore, I looked for a way to get it translated. When I searched for someone reputable, I came across the website for SK Translations and after debating for a long time about the expenditure, as well as, dealing …
Thank you for these amazing translations! I never dreamed so much additional information was hidden in those records, such as Wendtlandt being an organist, the ringing of the bells (I was a music major and enjoyed those bits of information), and the emergency baptism. These are examples of facts and events that make a family story real – and I know that my husband’s family will be surprised and glad to learn of them. I now realize how much I’m missing when I look at these old records. Ancestry o…
I can highly recommend the work of Katherine. I used her services to proofread my master thesis and the result greatly benefited from her thorough and detailed checking. Her feedback and comments were very constructive and extremely helpful. Moreover, the work was done timely and she responds to questions quickly. I will definitely use her services again.
I highly recommend Katherine to anyone looking for accurate, expeditious, and highly professional translations. Katherine went the extra mile to ensure an accurate translation of my German university records. She even contacted my educational institution in Germany to ensure the proper interpretation of obscure abbreviations throughout the document. Stellar work.
Thank you so much for doing my translation, I am thrilled to pieces and this afternoon I am going to send it off to all the family here in England and in Germany. How you translated that writing I just don’t know, but I suppose if you study languages it perhaps becomes a little easier! Many thanks again, I am so delighted. And isn’t it interesting!
I am stunned what Katherine was able to translate from some civil war-era family letters due to the poor letter quality. I didn’t think it could be done. Katherine dedicates herself to your project like it’s her own family. I am grateful that I found her and her work will have an impact on my family for generations to come.
Katherine was instrumental in helping me give my wife—her words—“the best gift she has ever gotten.” For forty years, she has had copies of letters to and from her beloved grandmother and her siblings handwritten in German. Katherine translated the letters beautifully, providing us with both the German and English digital files. She was always responsive in our communications and met challenging time deadlines so that I could give my wife the letters as a Christmas present. Her fees were…