52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 46 Prompt - Different Language

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 46

Prompt – Different Language

Bill's maternal grandparents are Arthur John Jahnke and Ida Anna Bachmann.  They were married on June 24^th, 1917.

 Bill's mother has their wedding certificate.  I was able to photocopy the certificate.  It is a black and white photocopy which, sadly does not do it justice.  It is a beautiful keepsake.  Like many of the certificates of my family at the time they are written in German.  At least it is not written in Sutterlin German Script.   That was a special handwriting style taught to German children from 1911 and in 1941 Hitler banned it.  It is almost impossible to decipher. The example below shows its complexity.

.

I believe that one could ascertain that it is a marriage certificate despite the words “Marriage Certificate” being absent.  Besides my mother in law telling me that it was their wedding certificate, I know these two people and that they were married on that date.

Google Translate has been a godsend to deciphering the specifics of this document and others. I plug in the German word and it is instantly translated to English.

Dafs=That. 

Aus=Out

 And thus it begins:

That Arthur Jahnke out of Forres, Sask.

Und = and

and Ida Bachmann out of Killaly, Sask.

Am 24tem=on the 24^th

Juni=June

on the 24^th of June, 1917.

 In the presence of the witnesses

Randolf Muller

Lemberg, Sask

Dora Jahnke 

Forres, Sask

Were married according to the laws of the state and have been credibly attested 

Killaly the 24^th of June 1917.

Signed by: Carl Pohlmann

Evangelical Lutheran Pastor.

The scattered bible passages around the certificate are easily looked up.  To the right of the seal is:  

  

 It takes a little bit of time using the internet, but a different language shouldn't be a barrier to reading documents of our ancestors. Unless of course it is Sutterlin Script.

Wendy