SCHULTE as profession and surname The Schulte (also Schulze, short for Schultheiß) was originally an official who on behalf of his master "Schuld einheischt": who claimed, collected and kept track of ... read more
German Genealogy
What do Sankt Martin, Karneval and Halloween have in common?
After having to take a sabbatical (actually two of 'em) for very personal reasons, I'm back just in time to revive this blog post about three different yet similar events both in Germany and the ... read more
Using sample sheets for old German script documents
In my previous posting I explained details about and differences between the main three old German scripts: the older handwriting script Kurrent, the newer handwriting script Sütterlin and the print ... read more
Pre-printed civil register forms in old German Fraktur print
Between 1870 and 1876 the German "Standesämter" (= offices of vital records) were established throughout the German Empire. To perform their tasks to register births, marriages and deaths, they almost ... read more
Kurrent, Suetterlin and Fraktur all belong to the old German scripts
From what I've seen many people associate old German script with "Sütterlin" but that's just a part of it. Depending on time and area you'll have to deal with old German script in many forms, not to ... read more
Terms and idioms in old German documents: pregnancy and birth
Old documents in Germanic speaking European areas often contain terms and idioms in multiple languages. Clerks and priests not only used the German language for a baptismal or burial entry for ... read more