Read My Document
That old letter has sat unread in a drawer for years.
A photo or a scan is all we need. We transcribe the German Kurrent or Sütterlin handwriting, translate the text into English, and write you a short context note: who’s writing to whom, what it’s about, and which places and names come up.
$99.00 per document (up to 2 written pages) · results within 2 business days · full refund if it turns out to be unreadable.
Almost nobody can read Kurrent or Sütterlin anymore
Many American families of German descent still have letters, postcards, and certificates from Germany, Austria, or the former German settlement areas of Eastern Europe — written in a script that was taught in German schools until 1941 and then largely disappeared. Even fluent German speakers usually can’t get past the letterforms.
Instead of spending weeks teaching yourself an old alphabet, just send us a photo. Reading Kurrent and Fraktur is routine work for us as part of our source-based genealogy research — for a single document, it’s a matter of minutes to a few hours, not weeks.
How it works
01
Order & pay
Enter your contact details, pay securely through Stripe.
02
Reply with your document
Attach a photo or scan to the confirmation email we send you.
03
Get your result
Transcription, translation, and context note within 2 business days.
Order now
$99.00per document. Right after payment you’ll get an email — just reply to it with a photo of your document attached.
One document — a letter, a certificate, a postcard, or a single register entry — up to two written pages. For longer letters, diaries, or several documents, email kontakt@europa-roots.org first and we’ll quote you a price before you pay.
2 business days
Counted from receipt of payment and receipt of your document, you’ll have your result by email within 2 business days.
Refund guarantee
If, after expert review, no usable text remains at all, we refund you in full. A few uncertain spots or gaps on their own don’t qualify — we simply note those in the transcription.
Hand-checked against the original
Every line is checked by hand against your original document before we send you the result. An AI model produces the first draft; a person reviews and corrects it line by line against your original.
Handled discreetly
We don’t publish your document or post it anywhere. More in our privacy notice.
More than just the text
We note what the entry reveals about your family — occupation, farm name, relatives among the witnesses — and where the trail leads next.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of documents can I send?+
Letters, postcards, certificates, diary pages, family Bible entries — anything handwritten or printed in German, whether it's in Kurrent, Sütterlin, or ordinary script. A clear phone photo or a scan is enough.
Is there a length limit?+
Yes: the flat price covers one document — a letter, a certificate, a postcard, or a single register entry — up to two written pages. A register entry counts as one document even if it sits on a large-format page. Got a longer letter, a diary, or several documents? Email kontakt@europa-roots.org first and we'll quote you a price before you pay.
What exactly do I get back?+
A faithful transcription of the original text, an English translation, and a short context note — who's writing to whom, what it's about, and which places and names appear.
Is this a certified translation?+
No. This is a private, informational translation for your own understanding — not a certified translation and not a legal document. If you need a certified translation for an official purpose, let us know and we'll happily refer you to a sworn translator.
What if my document turns out to be unreadable?+
Some old documents are photographed a bit blurry, damaged, or survive only in fragments. That alone isn't grounds for a refund: a few uncertain spots or missing parts are normal for historical documents — we simply mark them as such in the transcription, and you still get the rest of the text. Only if, after expert review, there's genuinely no usable text left at all do we tell you honestly — and refund the full flat price.
How long does it take?+
Within 2 business days, counted from receipt of payment and receipt of your document — that is, from your reply to the confirmation email with the photo attached.
Why reply by email instead of uploading a file?+
We're keeping this offer deliberately simple: no upload form, no queue — you reply to our confirmation email with the photo attached, and a real person picks it up directly.
Want to know more about your ancestors than just this one document? Our family chronicle researches your German ancestry across multiple generations.