Germany Languages

Most materials used in German research are written in German. However, you do not need to speak or read German to do research in German records. You will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records.

Because of Germany's history, you may also find several other languages in German records. Latin was frequently used in Roman Catholic church records. French was often used in Elsaß-Lothringen and during the French domination of the area west of the Rhein river (1806-1815). Danish was used in much of Schleswig-Holsteinuntil Preußen annexed that area in 1864.

German grammar may affect the way names appear in genealogical records, so your ancestor's name in German may vary from record to record. For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section.

Language Aids
The Family History Library has genealogical word lists for German, Latin, French, Danish, and Polish. The German Genealogical Word List includes symbols commonly used in German genealogical sources. For more information about reading German writing, see the “Handwriting” section.

The following books and English-German dictionaries can help in your research. You can find these and similar materials at many research libraries.

Thode, Ernest. German-English Genealogical Dictionary. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992. (FHL book 433.21 T352g 1992.)

Langenscheidts German-English, English-German Dictionary = Langenscheidts Deutsch-Englisches, Englisch-Deutches Wörterbuch. New York, NY, USA: Pocket Books, 1952, 1993. (FHL book 433.21 L262g.)

Grimms Dictionary online can be found at this link Dictionary of German historical words.

Other language aids, including dictionaries of various dialects and time periods, are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:


 * GERMANY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES


 * GERMANY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES - DICTIONARIES

Also check the Subject Search of the catalog under:


 * GERMAN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES

NUMBERS
In some genealogical records, numbers are spelled out. This is especially true of dates. The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) versions of each number. Days of the month are written in ordinal form. Ordinal forms may have other endings, for example: erste, ersten.

Cardinal Ordinal 0 null 1 eins 1st erste 2 zwei 2nd zweite, zweyte 3 drei 3rd dritte 4 vier 4th vierte 5 fünf 5th fünfte 6 sechs 6th sechste 7 sieben 7th siebte, siebente 8 acht 8th achte 9 neun 9th neunte 10 zehn 10th zehnte 11 elf 11th elfte 12 zwölf 12th zwölfte 13 dreizehn 13th dreizehnte 14 vierzehn 14th vierzehnte 15 fünfzehn 15th fünfzehnte 16 sechzehn 16th sechzehnte 17 siebzehn 17th siebzehnte 18 achtzehn 18th achtzehnte 19 neunzehn 19th neunzehnte 20 zwanzig 20th zwanzigste 21 einundzwanzig 21st einundzwanzigste 22 zweiundzwanzig 22nd zweiundzwanzigste 23 dreiundzwanzig 23rd dreiundzwanzigste 24 vierundzwanzig 24th vierundzwanzigste 25 fünfundzwanzig 25th fünfundzwanzigste 26 sechsundzwanzig 26th sechsundzwanzigste 27 siebenundzwanzig 27th siebenundzwanzigste 28 achtundzwanzig 28th achtundzwanzigste 29 neunundzwanzig 29th neunundzwanzigste 30 dreißig 30th dreißigste 31 einunddreißig 31st einunddreißigste 40 vierzig 40th vierzigste 50 fünfzig 50th fünfzigste 60 sechzig 60th sechzigste 70 siebzig 70th siebzigste 80 achtzig 80th achtzigste 90 neunzig 90th neunzigste 100 hundert 100th hunderste 200 zweihundert 200th zwei hunderste 1000 tausend 1000th tausendste

Dates and Time
In German records, dates are often written out. For example:

Freitag den vierzehnten Februar achtzehnhundert sechs und dreißig [Friday, the 14th of February, eighteen hundred six and thirty (1836)].

To understand German dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding “Numbers” section.

Months

English German January Januar, Jänner, Hartung, Jenner February Februar, Hornung March März, Frühlingsmonat April April, Ostermonat, Osteren May Mai, Wonnemonat, Blütemonat June Juni, Brachmonat July Juli, Heuert, Heumonat, Heuet August August, Erntemonat, Hitzmonat September September, Fruchtmonat, Herbstmonat, Herpsten, 7ber, 7bris October Oktober, Weinmonat, 8ber, 8bris November November, Wintermonat, 9ber, 9bris December Dezember, Christmonat, 10ber, 10bris, Xber, Xbris

Days of the Week

English German Sunday Sonntag Monday Montag Tuesday Dienstag Wednesday Mittwoch Thursday Donnerstag Friday Freitag Saturday Samstag, Sonnabend

Times of the Day

German birth and death records often indicated the exact time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.

German English ein Uhr one (o’clock) zwei Uhr two (o’clock) drei Uhr three (o’clock) halb eins half one = 12:30 halb zwei half two = 1:30 halbe Stunde half hour Stunde hour früh early (a.m.) spät late (p.m.) morgens in the morning vormittags in the forenoon mittags at noon nachmittags in the afternoon abends in the evening mitternachts at midnight

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SYMBOLS

The following symbols are commonly used in German genealogical sources.

Symbol Meaning born baptized, christened married died buried born illegitimately common law marriage, illegitimate divorced killed in action died of battle wounds stillborn

Paper publication: Third edition 1997. English approval: 4/97.

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