> omaandopa06@att.net > Thank you for the input. Will go to LDS and hope they can help me as I do > not know either language. I do know someone who knows German but would have > to have her with me while looking at the records. Hi Marilyn, The problem is that simply knowing German is not the first difficulty in reading old German records. All handwritten records in Germany prior to 1941 were written in old German schrift/handwriting. I have found Germanic church records in the Alsace into the mid-1800s, since Alsatian is a Germanic dialect. Deciphering the handwriting is the major problem, not only because each person writes in a different manner, but also because the characters may be formed differently. An example: the old German small case h looks much like our English handwritten small case f, however - written with the bottom loop going left instead of right. There are also 3 completely different small case forms of the letter s, depending on the location in the word or sentence and whether it¹s single or a double ss! Unless your friend learned to read and write prior to 1941, the probability is that s/he will find it quite difficult to decipher/read the writing...BEFORE s/he can translate. The printed portions of old Germanic records are usually in the old Gothic font (similar to what you may have on your font-list as "Fractur" or ³Fette Fractur²) Here¹s an example....or at least it¹s leaving my computer as an example! Sometimes fonts and diacritical marks get lost in cyberspace, especially going to mailinglists...... This is an example of a Fractur type font. It¹s much easier to read than the handwriting....but also requires learning the alphabet....look, for instance at the x in example - and the similarity of the c in Fractur with either e. Hopefully your friend is a genealogist who has learned to read/decipher these old German records. In my opinion, Germanic records are WONDERFUL, especially the Civil Registration records (b/m/d) that began, depending on location, between 1793 and 1876. In the Alsace and Lorraine areas most locations began recording Civ Reg in 1793, thanks to the French Republic. Marilyn, if you¹re committed to discovering what can be learned on a Germanic record, you can teach yourself how to read the old Schrift. A wonderful beginning how-to book is Edna M Bentz¹s ³If I Can, You Can Decipher Germanic Records². That title is now my own mantra; and the book has been a bible beside my computer for the 10 years since I started researching my Germans and Alsatians. While you can locate the book in stores, Edna¹s daughter continues to make the book available since her mother¹s death. Her website: <http://pages.prodigy.net/tjbentz/GERMANIC.HTM> I also recommend as an excellent book, once you¹ve got a handle on deciphering, Roger Minert¹s ³Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents²; it¹s more detailed. Most how-to books on Germanic genealogy will have some information on the topic; but these two have been, for me, the most valuable. If you REALLY want to know everything that¹s in the record, you might wish to go to college to learn some of the German language; what a great motivation. This is what I did....taking 2 1/2 years of credit courses at my local community college (I began at age 62), and additional courses in Adult Education. Start looking for German dictionaries at garage sales, and used book sales. The best ones you¹ll find are the oldest ones. Why? Because they¹re most likely to have the definitions and spellings you want, for those old records. You will want to know, for instance, that not only is a tanner called a Gerber, but also a Lohgerber (latter word not found in my 1995 3-inch-thick Langenscheidt New College German Dictionary; but found in my 3-in-thick 1883 Thieme-Preusser Wörtebuch, which I found at a used book sale.) That¹s enough! I wish you the best and the most fun out of your Germanic records. Cari Thomas