Reading old German hand writing
 

Hi All,

We have a few pages from the diary of a ground attack pilot, which we are having trouble reading (to put it mildly!) due to the old German handwriting. Can anyone assist us?

If so, please contact me off-board.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Morten & Andrew

Re: Reading old German hand writing
 

Hello Morton & Andrew,

I guess this may be the so called Sütterlin handwriting. A useful site is:

http://www.suetterlinschrift.de/

Best regards,
Hans Nauta

Re: Reading old German hand writing
 

You can also try here:

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...splay.php?f=32

There are some real experts in Süterlin there and they are usually ready and willing to help, but limit it to just a few paragraphs at a time.

Larry

Re: Reading old German hand writing
 

Hans...

Thank you... slightly off-topic, but aside from the fact that the site you mention will doubtless be helpful to those on this forum, I have long meant to look around for a similar site purely for my own personal benefit. I need look no further, this is an excellent and very worthwhile start... :D.

Regards...

Paul

Re: Reading old German hand writing
 

Hi guys,

Thanks for your quick and helpful replies .. opportunities on both web sites are now being tried out :-)

Cheers
Morten

Re: Reading old German hand writing
 

Hi Morten !

Can you publish the pages on the internet, then I will
try to transcribe them, or contact me off board.
Ciao,
FrankieS

Re: Reading old German hand writing
 

You have to be extremely cautious with WW2 Sütterlin handwriting. Apart from showing individual handwritings in any case, the Sütterlin script in the early 40s was in a status of transition. The NSDAP regime abolished the Sütterlin and "Schwabacher Fraktur" in 1941 for ideological reasons and replaced it with a more modern handwring. Not only at the schools, but also in every-day life.

Thus the "old, conservative hares" of the Luftwaffe wrote a more or less "clean" Sütterlin", whereas the younger "rookies" chose to write a Sütterlin mingled with the more modern letters of the "Normalschrift". The Nazis wanted them to do so - most people don´t know this.

Regards

Fran