German Church Records, Translated
Baptisms, marriages, and burials recorded in Kurrent and Fraktur are the heart of German family history. Upload a parish-register page and get a clear English transcription of the names, dates, and places.
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The Backbone of German Genealogy
Before civil registration through the Standesämter began in 1876, churches kept the only systematic vital records in the German lands. Lutheran, Catholic, and Reformed parishes recorded baptisms (Taufen), marriages (Trauungen), and burials (Begräbnisse) — many registers reaching back into the 1500s and 1600s. For most German family lines, the trail before the late 1800s runs entirely through these Kirchenbücher.
Written in Kurrent and Fraktur, Full of Abbreviations
Church records are among the harder documents to read: handwritten in Kurrent, often with printed Fraktur column headings, peppered with Latin terms and heavy abbreviations, and laid out differently in every parish. Centuries-old ink fades and bleeds, and clergymen's handwriting ranges from elegant to barely legible. Getting a faithful transcription is half the battle of using them.
What a Transcription Unlocks
A single decoded register entry can yield exact names and dates, the godparents (Paten — frequently relatives), occupations, and, crucially, the place of origin that lets you connect an immigrant ancestor back to a specific German town. That place name is often the key that turns decades of guesswork into a documented line.
What you'll find — and what our AI can read
- Kurrent — handwritten register entries
- Fraktur — printed headings and pre-printed forms
- Latin abbreviations and church terminology
From old script to English text
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