How can I convert a document from 'Old German' (Fraktur) to Modern German?

International German
1

Hello,

Is there an AI application known in Germany that can translate a document written by an ancestor in “Old German” (Sütterlin) into “High German”?
I can decipher some parts, but not all.

Thank you very much for any hints.

See the attached document (excerpt).

Screenshot 2026-04-18T13-54-27
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2

Hi @dbyy,

There is indeed a great AI app specialized in old manuscripts: Transkribus, https://app.transkribus.org/

With the default settings, many things are wrong at first glance, but not everything :smiley:

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Although I can read the script, I still occasionally use the app for difficult cases to get some inspiration.

If you experiment with the models and settings, you can surely achieve even better results.

3

Try Transkribus and their ‘Super Models’ like German Genius or The Text Titan I. It is an online/cloud service with a user-friendly interface.

If you prefer open-source or local solutions, here are some alternatives:

  • OCR4all (Local software): Developed by the University of Würzburg. It is a desktop application you install locally (usually via Docker) that uses the Calamari engine for historical scripts.
  • TrOCR via Hugging Face (Online or Local): Specialized models from the University of Bern. You can test them directly in your web browser on Hugging Face, or run them locally if you have a Python/AI setup.
  • eScriptorium (Self-hosted/Server): An open-source platform where you can set up your own local server to process documents using the Kraken OCR engine.
  • UB Mannheim / Tesseract (Local software): The University Library of Mannheim maintains the Windows installers for Tesseract. This is a command-line tool you install on your PC, best suited for printed Fraktur rather than handwriting.
4

I just spent some time with Transkribus to get familiar with it.

I tried several different settings on my scanner (contrast/brightness).
I have to say my results weren’t as successful as yours, which you posted here.
I also used the “German Giant engine,” but the translation wasn’t much more detailed than what I had already translated myself.
But I’ll keep trying to “tweak” it.

Thanks a lot for your information.

5

Thanks for the tips.

I’ve been using tesseract for a while now (for regular OCR tasks in English).
I’m currently testing Transkribus and will try out the other tools later, then share my experiences.
A test with Google Gemini was not very successful. Completely wrong translation.

Cheers

6

Don’t use a very high resolution, 300 - 400 dpi is optimal.

I tested your sample with the ‘German Genius’ model - I think the result is acceptable.

Screenshot 2026-04-20 at 08.50.55
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7

I think the result contains too many errors and leads the user astray… The best thing is still to familiarize yourself with the script and learn to read it yourself. Which in this case is really not difficult.

8

Hi @Woody, I agree with you.

I was able to decipher most of it already. That, along with the translation I received from Transkribus, has brought me a bit further.
The rest will reveal itself in time.

I now know that I need to continue my search in Poland (Goluchow, Schutschen (Szuc), Schutschenofen (Pidun)).

Cheers

Edit: I noticed that the quality of the scanned document (varying contrast/brightness) plays a huge role in how well it can be translated by Transkribus.

9

I’d be happy to translate it for you.

Just send it to me…

10

Do you know what the ‘Ofen’ behind the name means?

11

@Woody:
Actually not.
I found a settlement in Poland with this name (aka Pidun - 53.49989, 20.78751)

12

In your case, Schutschen and Schutschenofen.

Schutschen was the main settlement, the actual village.

Schutschenofen was, so to speak, the industrial area.

That’s where the “furnace” was located. Whatever the people were mining nearby was processed there.

Presumably some ores that were then smelted there.

In the furnace, of course.

Presumably, the mine was eventually closed, and your grandparents then migrated to the Ruhr area to continue working in the mines there.

13

Here is the village of Schutschen.

Right next to it. A few kilometers further away

14

That is very interesting.

I found a list of German/Polish place names on Wikipedia.de that was very helpful to me.
I’m posting the link here so that other interested researchers can find it too.

15

Hi, I’m currently trying to summarize church records. I have to say Gemini is great at taking something off the bit, and Claude then puts it together perfectly, as a note on that.