German War Letters (Feldpost): How to Read and Transcribe Them

In attics, basements, and family archives across America, there are letters that traveled from the battlefields of Europe to homes in Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New York. Feldpost — the German military mail system — carried millions of letters between soldiers and their families during World War I and World War II. These letters are among the most powerful primary sources in family history: raw, personal accounts written under extraordinary circumstances. The challenge? Most are in old German script that almost no one alive today can read.

What Is Feldpost?

Feldpost was the military postal system that allowed soldiers to send letters home free or at reduced cost. Each unit was assigned a Feldpostnummer (field post number) that served as the address — concealing the unit's actual location for security reasons. During WWI, approximately 28.7 billion pieces of Feldpost were delivered. In WWII, estimates range from 30 to 40 billion. A remarkable portion has survived and now sits in family collections, often unread because the script is indecipherable to modern eyes.

Which Scripts Were Used?

World War I (1914–1918): Soldiers were typically born before 1900 and wrote almost exclusively in Kurrent script — the angular, pointed traditional German handwriting that's particularly challenging to read. For more on identifying this script, see our guide on deciphering old German script.

World War II (1939–1945): Older soldiers (born before 1920) often wrote in Sütterlin. Younger soldiers, especially those schooled after the 1941 script reform, might write in Latin cursive or a mixed script. A single family collection can contain letters in several different script styles.

Adding to the difficulty: Feldpost was written under harsh conditions — with dull pencils, on thin paper, on a soldier's knee in poor light. The handwriting is often more irregular and harder to read than peacetime correspondence.

Special Features of Feldpost

Censorship and Redacted Passages

Feldpost was subject to military censorship. References to locations, troop strength, or combat operations were blacked out or cut from the letter. These redactions are historical artifacts in themselves — not damage to repair, but evidence of wartime reality.

Feldpostnummern and Genealogical Value

The field post numbers on envelopes and letterheads are invaluable for genealogy. Cross-referencing these numbers with historical databases reveals which unit the writer served in and where that unit was stationed at a given time. A single transcribed letter can place your ancestor at a specific location on a specific date.

The American Connection

For German-American families, Feldpost holds a unique significance. Letters may have been sent by relatives still in Germany to family members who had already emigrated. In some cases, German-Americans serving in the U.S. military found themselves on the opposite side from cousins still in Germany. These cross-Atlantic letters — written in old German script to addresses in Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Texas — tell stories that exist nowhere else. For more on this heritage, see our article on German-American genealogy.

Digitizing and Transcribing Feldpost

Handle these fragile documents with care. Unfold letters gently, photograph both sides, and don't forget the envelope — it contains the Feldpostnummer, stamps, and censorship marks. Use even lighting and avoid flash. For detailed preparation tips, see our article on how to digitize old letters for transcription.

GermanLetters can transcribe Feldpost in Kurrent, Sütterlin, and mixed scripts — recognizing military abbreviations, old place names, and period-specific vocabulary. Upload your first pages free and bring your family's wartime voices back to life.