<widener@galstar.com> wrote: Hi, I was lucky in locating the items on microfilm, which we copied. Now how do I learn to read old 1827 German script!!! Any ideas, know the translators are for print. Have Dr. Schweitzer's book on Germany and Bavaria, shows the old script, but if I just could know a few words, then it would be simplier to learn the rest. Everyone has been so helpful along the way. Mary Widener Hi Mary, You asked, so I'll recommend the books that are helping me the most since I first 'crossed the water' to my German ancestor's records this past June! 1) If I Can You Can Decipher Germanic Records, by Edna Bentz. ISBN # 0-9615420-0-4 This is a 8 X 11 orange loose-leaf paper back, copyright 1982. My copy is from the 16th printing in 1996. My gen society sells it from their sales table. The author's address (included in the book) is: 13139 Old West Ave. San Diego, CA 92129. The book includes: a.***** a fantastic old German alphabet with for instance: gothic print 'A' and 34 (!) written variations of that gothic capital A.....followed by the print 'a' and 9 variants of the written 'a', plus an umlauted written small case 'a'. This is followed by the entire alphabet, and special sets of 'ch', 'St', 'st', 'Sch', 'sch', '�'/'ss', and 'tz.' This is so valuable when you think of how many variations of handwriting you find between people today! b. a second gothic alphabet including Danish forms. Similar in form to the first gothic alphabet. c. General information page including such things as Umlauts, capitalization, interchangeable letters, surname variations. d. *****2 pages of 'relationship' terms, in handwritten script, typed German, and English translation. e. *****2 1/2 pages of Genealogical Terminology and symbols, also in script, typed German and translation. f. Common abbreviations with German and English translation. g. Church year and Feast Days: English and German equivalents. h. Months of the year in German handwriting, German, "Old Form" and English. i. Days of the Week in Script, German, English, and Symbols (!) j. *****27 blue pages of "Germanic (script), Latin, and Danish Terminology" in those languages and English, with abbreviations and additional Danish terms added. k. 6 yellow pages of "Glossary of Illnesses found in German church records" in German, Script, English, Latin, and Danish. l. *****25 violet pages of "Occupations and Titles" with equivalents in typed-German, German Script, typed English, Latin, and Danish. This is where I discovered my g-grandfather was a cabinet maker/joiner, when I finally deciphered the first three letters of his 'Standes' (or occupation) were 'Sch'. I compared the word on my record and there it was: "Schreiner", ie: "Cabinet maker/joiner" in English; "abiectarius/lignarius" in Latin; and "snedker" in Danish!!! m. 24 yellow pages pages of a timeline from 1300 to 1920 or: "What Was Going On In the World and Community of Your Ancestor When?" and.... n. the German Gothic Print alphabet with an ABC song, and written in German Script upper and lower cases with the English Phonetic Pronunciation, too! 2. Another 8 X 11 paperback called Central European Genealogical Terminology, by Jared H. Suess. I also got this at the sales table. This one, published by The Everton Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 368, Logan, UT 84321 is copyright 1978. a) *****It begins with a 140-page dictionary, A-Z, of genealogical terms, mainly in German, but also French, Hungarian, Italian, and Latin. b) Then it includes 2 Appendixes: Appendix 1: French: numbers, months, days of the week, and abbreviations of names. Same in German including Times of the Day (O'clock), centuries, ordinal numbers, and German symbols in genealogy, followed by the German Gothic Alphabet, lower/upper case, type and script. Same in Hungarian, with lists of male and female given names. Roman and Latin numerals. 2 charts: "Names of Months in several European Languages" and same for "Days of the Week....." Appendix 2: Former East European Areas and their Present Locations: Before 1919 and After 1945. Austria: 1978's States and capitals, and a list of old Austrian Crownlands . France: historic provinces prior to 1790, and 1978's French departments, incl. 4 overseas. German Empire political subdivisions: 1871-1918. Today's Germany: States and capitals (however, my book reflects these as of 1978!) An outline map of the German Empire of 1871-1918 Same for 1978 Germany. Hungary: Counties in 1978's Hungary and also list of Counties in Hungarian Empire prior to 1919. Outline map of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, and Hungary of 1978. Outline map of Poland provinces after 1945. Switzerland Cantons and capitals in 1978 and outline map List of Yugoslavia's republics and capitals in 1978. Between Ms. Bentz's book, this one, and a good German-English modern dictionary, I've been pretty well supplied for at least beginning deciphering/translating! Course, I'd also recommend taking a German language course, for better translation ability. That's what I started at a local city college in September. German genealogical records REALLY give one the motivation to learn GERMAN! Best wishes to you in tackling your German records!!! Viel Gl�ck! Carolyn "Cari" McQuaid Thomas <western37@aol.com> Researching German records in Burscheid, Nordrhein-Westfalen; Lehesten, Th�ringia; Rauschensteig, Oberfranken, Bavaria; and Niederroedern, Bas-Rhin, Alsace.