About me – expert in ancient scripts

“Lucas Hafner works from his home office, surrounded by shelves of historical books, transcribing old documents into modern German for both scholars and private clients. He studied art history, archaeology, and Latin, developing a fascination for old languages and scripts already during his school years, inspired in part by his grandfather, a professor of classical archaeology.

He later worked as a research associate at the University of Mainz, contributing to the Critical Complete Edition of the Works of Jacob Burckhardt. Hafner has always helped others decipher historical texts, and a few years ago he decided to become self-employed. His specialties include Sütterlin, Kurrentschrift, other historical scripts, and Latin texts. He transcribes letters, official documents, and other materials into readable German, helping clients access family letters, diaries, and archival records.

Thanks to digital archives, this work is easily done from home, and he now receives inquiries almost daily. Scholars particularly value his services because deciphering old documents is time-consuming, whereas Hafner, with his experience, works quickly and efficiently. His clients range from those with World War I postcards to archival documents and personal family diaries, all handled with discretion. Some projects have personal significance, such as recent transcriptions of medical files related to euthanasia cases from the Nazi era, while others involve love letters or historically interesting documents.

Hafner also supports genealogical research, using digital archives to trace family histories from his home office. Despite occasional limitations due to remote work, he finds this type of research very rewarding. The COVID-19 pandemic even brought some benefits, as people had time to organize their attics, leading to additional assignments.”