Random Acts of Living


Friday, February 22, 2008

Old German Gothic style

Thank you, Wendy, for sending me this translation key. I actually have a copy of it somewhere in my notebooks. I also have a copy of "Das A, B, C" somewhere, but I can't seem to put my hands on it. I looked for it a couple of days ago and it's not where I last recall seeing it.

For those of you that were unsure of what language some of the postcards were written in, you will be able to look at the following chart and see the straight, pointed lettering that is recognizable as German Gothic Script. I likened the spelling of my maiden name, Heinrichs, in German Gothic Script to "chicken scratches" because of all the sharp ups and downs in the writing of it. If you'd like a challenge, print out the chart and see if you can translate any of the postcard. Of course, you'll have to remember they're written in German, so it might help to have a German dictionary handy too.

More postcards to be posted shortly...

4 comments:

Alice said...

They stopped using that Old German after WWII, didn't they? My German friend who was in school in the 1960s said it was no longer being taught then. I have a couple old German language books that used it.

Moonshadow said...

I'm not real sure when they stopped using it. Seems to me that the German newspaper obits that I have are in the old German type. That would have been early 1900s. I'm sure I've heard when they changed, just don't recall.

Brigid said...

Wow. No wonder they stopped using it. As pretty as it is it's kinda hard to read.

Moonshadow said...

Hi, Brigid! Thanks for coming by my blog and leaving a comment. Did you take a look at the actual writing on the postcards? A few of the earlier postings have been translated by some kind folks in Canada. They're quite a challenge if you're not familiar with the script.