Sütterlin
The simplified Kurrent taught in German schools for one generation.
Sütterlin was the simplified upright cursive taught in German schools from 1915 until 1941. It shares letterforms with German Kurrent.
See German Kurrent lettersSütterlin is the version of Kurrent that Ludwig Sütterlin designed for schoolchildren, introduced in Prussia in 1915 and abolished with the rest of the German hands in 1941. It is upright and rounder than older Kurrent, so a document in it can usually be dated to a narrow window.
- Taught in schools 1915 — 1941 only
- Upright, where older Kurrent slants
- Same letters as Kurrent, simpler strokes
Sütterlinschrift
Why it looks like that
In 1911, the graphic artist and typographer Ludwig Sütterlin was commissioned by the Prussian Ministry of Culture to develop a modernized handwriting script for primary education, creating what became known as Sütterlinschrift. Unlike historical Kurrent, which slanted sharply and featured narrow pointed angles (Spitzschrift), Sütterlin mandated an upright posture (Steilschrift) and round curves, designed specifically to be written with a monoline steel round nib (Kugelspitzfeder) to avoid difficult variations between thick downstrokes and hair-thin upstrokes. Sütterlin was introduced into Prussian schools in 1915 and spread throughout Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.
Because it was taught exclusively from 1915 until the 1941 Bormann decree abolished all German scripts, documents written in Sütterlin can reliably be dated to a narrow historical window between the First World War and the mid-twentieth century. For family historians and genealogists examining early twentieth-century German letters, diaries, postcards, and school exercise books, identifying these regular, upright letterforms provides an immediate benchmark for dating and transcribing the text.
Start anywhere in the alphabet
All 26 letters →Have a letter you cannot read?
Upload a photograph and get the original text and an English translation, with every letter linked to an explanation of how it is written.
Upload a page →First three pages free.