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Does anyone have any older family members or know of someone who could translate some early 20th Century corrospondence for me? The German written language changed around the 1940's and I am led to believe that only older people can read the early writing. I don't want a freeby and am happy to pay someone, it is just that the volume of stuff makes it too expensive to use a commercial service. OS would be OK as I can scan and email docs as needed.
I'm not so sure it would be much harder than reading English from the 1800's and backwards.
We've just spent 3 months in Germany (missus is German) and quite a few times we came across some quite old written German which she was able to translate to English for me, almost on the fly so to speak.
Where the real problem may be is in the dialect. My wife comes from Schwaben and grew up with a Schwaben dialect, her parents could speak in a Schwaben dialect that was so different to her nieces and nephews German, it may as well have been a foreign language to them, which it was. These were university educated nieces and nephews, some of them with doctorates
Do you have any idea what part of Germany the originator of the letters came from?
How many letters or documents and what format do you have them in?
Mick.
Mick, thanks for the response. The author was in Mainz and I believe was born in that area. I have about 30 postcards written in about 1912 to 1914 that I need to get translated. I have had some done previously but that person has since passed away. I have about 400 family postcards dating back to the 1890's but I am at this stage only interested in a select few. I can scan them into PDF format and email them if she is agreeable to look at them.
I'll have a word when she isn't too tired. :D
Mick.
I can read the old script. My grandmother thought me.
Send me a pm.
PM on its way Joe and many thanks for offering to have a look at it.
I'll await how you go with Joe.
Missus would have a go, but as Joe's offer is underway we'll leave it at that for now.
Mick.
Thanks Mick, if need be I will get back to you.