How to translate a German PDF to English

German documents that usually need English

German paperwork is dense with tables, stamps and compound nouns. These are the PDFs people bring most often.

• School and university records, such as a Zeugnis, an Abiturzeugnis or a transcript of records. See transcript translation for grade tables.
• Civil records from the Standesamt, such as a Geburtsurkunde or a Heiratsurkunde, and the Meldebescheinigung from the city office.
• Work papers, such as an Arbeitszeugnis, a payslip (Lohnabrechnung) or a pension notice (Rentenbescheid).
• Contracts and letters, such as a Mietvertrag, a tax assessment (Steuerbescheid) or a letter from a health insurer.

In LoreAI's own test on October 31, 2026, a specimen German invoice was translated four times, and all 20 values the test checked came through as written in every run. The transcript in the example above kept every grade and date.

How are umlauts, ß and German grades handled?

Umlauts and ß in names

Kept as written. Müller stays Müller, not Mueller or Muller.

Other spellings

If a US visa, a passport line or an earlier form spells the name Mueller, keep one spelling across all your papers and note the other in brackets yourself.

Grades

Kept as written. A German 1,7 stays 1,7 with its comma. German school grades run from 1, the best, to 6, so a US reader may need a note or an official grade conversion.

Dates

14.10.2026 stays 14.10.2026, day first. Written dates such as 8. März 2024 become 8 March 2024.

Amounts

1.250,00 stays 1.250,00. The decimal comma is not switched to a period.

Offices and schools

Names such as Standesamt Köln or Universität Heidelberg stay as written, because German and English share the Latin script.

What about old documents in Fraktur, Kurrent or Sütterlin?

Family papers from before the 1940s often use Fraktur blackletter print or Kurrent or Sütterlin handwriting. LoreAI reads handwriting less reliably than clear print. These old scripts are the hardest to read, so expect gaps and misread names. Fraktur print has not been tested for this page.

For a church register, old Ahnenpass or handwritten letter, use LoreAI's text only as an initial guide. Ask someone who reads the script to check every name, place and date. OCR is much more reliable on modern typed and printed documents, which make up most translations.

How to translate a German PDF to English with LoreAI

1. Choose the file. A digital PDF from the office reads best. A scan or a phone photo of each page also works.
2. Log in and upload. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages and 3 MB.
3. Pick English as the target language. LoreAI detects German automatically and also handles documents that mix German and English.
4. Get the Word file. Grade tables, invoice lines and stamps appear in the order of the original.
5. Proofread it. Check umlaut names, every grade, date and amount, and the stamp text against the German PDF.

German civil records for use in the US

Before you translate a German birth or marriage certificate, check whether you need to. A Standesamt can issue a multilingual, international certificate. Berlin's registry offices print it in the languages of the states that joined the convention on multilingual civil-status extracts, English among them[1]. Ask the receiver whether that form is enough.

If it is not, USCIS asks for a full English translation, certified by the translator as complete and accurate, with a statement that the translator is competent in German and English[2]. LoreAI is not a certified translation service and does not sign translations, so a person checks its Word file and signs the certification. The birth certificate translation guide covers the details.

Questions people ask