German Tombstone Epitaph 'Help'
German.....................American/English
Hier..........................Here
Ruhet.........................Rests, (masculine)
Ruhen.........................Rests, (feminine)
Er Ruhet......................He rests
Sie Rhuet.....................She rests
Im Gott.......................In God
Er Wurde......................He became (as in born)
Sie Wurde.....................She became (as in born)
Er War........................He was
Sie War.......................She was
Geboren.......................Born
Er wurde geboren..........He was born
Sie wurde geboren.........She was born
Eine wurdt gebohren.......She was born
Und ist...................And is
Storben...................Dead or to die
Gestorben.................Died, past tense
Jahr / Jahren.............Year / Years
Monat / Monaten...........Month [names of months are similar enough to
recognize]
Tag / Tagen...............Day or Days
Kind von..................Child of
Sohn von/Sohnes von.......Son of or Sons of
Tochter/Tochtern von......Daughter of or Daughters of
Verheiratet/Verhilichte mit....Married to or married with
Frau or Frauline..........Woman/wife/young unmarried female
Ehefrau...................Wife
Seine/Seiner Ehefrau war.....His wife was
Sein Gantzes/Ganz Alter......His whole age was or he was [no. of years]
years old
Zeugen/Zeugte..............Fathered or begat [as in children]
Kind / Kinder..............Child or Children
Sohne......................Son
Tochter....................Daughter
Herr/ Herrn................Lord
Im Herr/Herrn..............In Lord or God
Im Unsers Herrn............In our Lord or God
Gott.......................God
Jahren von Herrn...........Year of our Lord
Leichen/Leichten text......Funeral Text
Denkmal...................memorial [used on stones in the 1800s].
Two phrases that crop up from time to time on the top line of German
headstones are:
"zum andenken an"....... "in memory of" or "in remembrance of."
"grab statte von" ......translates to something like "final resting place
of" or "burial place of" ["grab" means grave, "statte" means permanent
home, "von" means of]<