Holiday Riddle: decipher German handwriting
solution: “in Thelkow begraben, das seine Heimat war und wo er Jahrzehnte hindurch in großem Segen gewirkt hatte. Hier sollte er im Jahre 1883 seine goldene Hochzeit, im Jahre 1886 sein 50jähriges Dienstjubiläum feiern dürfen. 1887 war er pensioniert worden und hatte seinen Wohnsitz nach Senzlin verlegt.”
handwriting example from the chronicle of Tessin in Mecklenburg (Germany),
© A. Genest / Rectory of the Protestant Church in Tessin (click to maximize)
Reading older European records requires familiarity with Gothic script. The Gothic handwriting prevailed in Germany until 1941. Today we are out of practice deciphering hand written letters and documents from the 19th and the early 20th century. Our holiday-riddle therefore should be an exercise to jog your memory and reading skills. The objective is to transliterate the text between the red marks. Please, send your transliteration to buero@archivauskunft.de* until 06.01.2008. The Winners will be drawn by lot and contacted via email.
- 1. prize: calligraphy-kit with dip pen, three different nibs, ink from elder berries and a booklet with examples of alphabets
- 2. prize: Khonnor: Handwriting (Audio-CD, 2005), the debut album of the 17 year-old low-tech-E-musician Connor Kirby-Long
- 3. prize: EMSA CLIP & CLOSE freshness-box with letters pasta
*it is not necessary to specify your name and address. If you are among the winners, we will get back to you in January asking, where to send the prize.
