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:
Just got home to find this treat in my inbox. I am thrilled to read the words my [ancestor] Christopher read; that he felt deeply enough to quote. Great job on the translation.
Susan
Her knowledge of the German language, written and oral, is very remarkable and impressive.
Sonja
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!
SusanFamily Historian
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
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
Thank you so much for the translation! Now I have the names of three of my paternal grandfather’s grandparents. This is the “brick wall” I’ve been trying to break through for a long time…many thanks for your prompt and professional work.
CarlaFamily Historian
I hired Katherine to translate German Script from the 18th & 19th centuries. I wanted to include the translations in a family history document. She responded quickly to my emails and was more than willing to answer the many questions I had both prior to and after the translation. Katherine provided both English and German translations of this very difficult to read script. She included footnotes and historical website links that added greatly to my understanding of some of the terms used in the …
D. Miller
She has ample knowledge of the German and English languages and a very good command of technical terminology and a great feel for language. She is very reliable and can also translate very large volumes of words and still meet her deadlines. Without any reservation, I am glad to highly recommend Katherine for any German into English and English into German project.
Professor Thomas ErtlUniversity of Vienna Historian and Professor
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 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