Sütterlin to English
Sütterlin was taught in German schools from 1915 until 1941 as a rounded, upright form of Kurrent script. Take a photo of your document. FamilyLore transcribes the German lines, translates them into English, and marks the words it is unsure of.
Your first three pages need no account and no card.
A Sütterlin letter from our shelf, as read
A dotted underline marks a word FamilyLore was unsure of; [?] is its own note on a doubtful reading.
Leo Meter to his daughter Barbara · Easter 1943
- Im Osten, Ostern 1943[?]
- Liebe kleine Barbara,
- heute ist Ostern und auf allen Feldern und Straßen
- ist alles neu, klein und jung. Die Blümchen,
- die Schäfchen und die Kinder. Vor zwei Wochen sahen die
- Kinder[?] so aus,
- und jetzt sehen sie schon so aus.
- Vor wenigen
Also on the shelf: Käthe Kollwitz’s letter of 1914, in Kurrent · Johann Kilian’s letter of 1858, in Kurrent
How well it reads, measured
| Script | Pages | Characters read correctly | Names, dates and numbers right | Misread words it marked | Last run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kurrent and Sütterlin15 pages · 3 Nov 2026 | 15 | 83%Characters read correctly | 75%Names, dates and numbers right | 85%Misread words it marked | 3 Nov 2026 |
Measured on letters whose holders published a transcription made by hand, read the same way your page is. How well FamilyLore reads
Questions
- Can’t ChatGPT do this?
- A general chatbot can read some Sütterlin, sometimes well, but it usually hands you clean text with no sign of which words it guessed, and its makers publish no figures for this script; FamilyLore marks the words it is unsure of and publishes how often it reads correctly, in the table above.
- What if it reads a word wrong?
- Tap a word to see the other readings FamilyLore weighed, and correct it if you know better. The translation is redone from your correction. Most misread words carry a mark, but not every one, so a name or a date that matters is worth checking against the photo.
- How does FamilyLore tell Sütterlin from Kurrent?
- Sütterlin is upright with round strokes and loops, while older Kurrent leans sharply right. FamilyLore evaluates both hands under the German model, so you don’t need to specify which one is on your page.
- Who sees my pages?
- Only you. A page becomes public only if you share it, and then only to people who have the link. Deleting your account deletes the photos you uploaded.
What FamilyLore doesn’t read well yet
- Tabular records and church registers arranged in columns. These are not measured yet.
- Letters running across two pages, and faded pencil handwriting, which is measured on only a few pages so far.
- Latin entries in older German church books. FamilyLore does not process Latin text yet.
From photo to text in three steps
Take a photo of the page
Lay the sheet flat, in daylight and without flash. A phone photo of the whole page is enough.
Upload it
“German (Kurrent), 1918 to 1945” is already chosen.
Read it
You get the page as it was written, in modern spelling, and in English. Correct a word you know better yourself.
Rather read it yourself?