Translation Services
Katherine Schober and her team at Germanology Unlocked translate your German genealogy documents for you! Experts in the old German handwriting (Kurrentschrift, Sütterlin, Fraktur, and more), Germanology Unlocked will first transcribe your document into typed German and then translate it into an English version you can’t wait to share with your family members. Get your quote today.
Services
- Letters
- Diaries
- Church Records
- Birth-Marriage-Death Vital Records
- Emigration Documents
- Passports
- Newspaper Articles
- Obituaries
- Photos
- Postcards
- Much More!
SCRIPTS WE WORK WITH:
- Kurrent (early 16th century-mid-20th century)
- Sütterlin (a form of Kurrent, early-mid-20th century)
- Fraktur (typeface from 15th century-early 20th century)
- Present-Day German
SAMPLE PAST PROJECTS:
- 17th-century letter of nobility
- 1921 diary
- 1913 marriage certificate
- 1831 emigration document
- 1883 autograph book
- 19th-century church book entry
- 1645 obituary
- 1853 German passport
- 1810 marriage certificate
- 1920’s letters from Germany to America
- 1888-1905 death and marriage certificates
- 1791 document discussing sale of land
- Baptismal, birth and death certificates from 1880s and 1890s
- Letters from World War II
- Marriage document list from World War II, written in Sütterlin
- Poem written in 1773, written in Fraktur (old German typeface)
- 1882 German marriage certificate from a church register
- 1888 letter from a German nephew to his aunt in America
- 19th-century letter from a German immigrant in America to her sister in Germany
- 1920-1922 newspaper translations from German communities in Russia; written in Fraktur
- 1868 letters from a German woman to her sister in America
- Personal letters spanning from 1943 to 1952 from Germany to America
- Employment history booklet from early 19th century
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What Clients Are Saying:
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.
JeanieGraduate School Applicant
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…
Beverly
Great job. You have unlocked a mystery. The relationship between Ignatz and Mathaus was unclear until now. Thanks.
BudFamily Historian
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.
Chuck
Katherine’s devotion to her craft shows throughout her website and in her work. She transcribed and translated some mid-1700’s handwritten documents about my ancestors, and deciphered a real puzzle of a word along the way. I feel a kind of fluidity and ease in reading her translations, and her footnotes are unusually informative with insights and explanations while still being concise. Katherine is also very professional in the ‘project management’ aspects of reaching agreement on the wo…
SteveFamily Historian
I enthusiastically recommend Katherine for your translation needs! She is professional, courteous, timely, and very pleasant to work with. She responds promptly to emails, and meets the deadlines she establishes for the translations. I had asked her to translate some 1800 era Austrian church records in handwritten script, the quality of which was not always the best. She came through with not only the English translations, but the German transcriptions as well. Her footnotes and additi…
Deb ThalnerFamily History Enthusiast
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…
Mike
I had that hardest of genealogical roadblocks- someone who changed their name illegally and died with their secret. Katherine provided very careful and scholarly transcriptions and translations of some key documents. Mystery solved. My advice: engage a professional like Katherine and don’t guess at the content of Kurrent manuscripts when the result matters to you.
Barry Dent
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.
Carol
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.
John
Take Your Research to the Next Level.
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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