{{Short description|Form of German-language handwriting}} {{Infobox writing system |name = Kurrent |type = Alphabet |time = – |languages = German |fam1 = |fam2 = |fam3 = |sample = Deutsche Kurrentschrift.svg |caption = Alphabet in {{lang|de|Kurrent}} script from about 1865. The next-to-last line shows the umlauts ⟨ä⟩, ⟨ö⟩, ⟨ü⟩, and the corresponding capital letters ⟨Ae⟩, ⟨Oe⟩, and ⟨Ue⟩; and the last line shows the ligatures ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ck⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨sch⟩, ⟨sz⟩ (⟨ß⟩), and ⟨st⟩. |imagesize = 250px |iso15924 = Latf }} thumb|right|Danish {{lang|de|Kurrent}} script ({{lang|da|»gotisk skrift«}}) from about 1800 with ⟨Æ⟩ and ⟨Ø⟩ at the end of the alphabet. thumb|right|Sample font table of German handwriting by Kaushik Carlini, 2021.
'''{{lang|de|Kurrent}}''' ({{IPA|de|kʊˈʁɛnt|lang}}) is an old form of handwriting of the German language based on late medieval cursive writing, also known as '''{{lang|de|Kurrentschrift}}''' ("'''cursive script'''"), '''{{lang|de|deutsche Schrift}}''' ("'''German script'''"), and '''German cursive'''. Over the history of its use into the first part of the 20th century, many individual letters acquired variant forms.
German writers used both cursive styles, {{lang|de|Kurrent}} and Latin cursive, in parallel: Location, contents, and context of the text determined which script style to use.
{{lang|de|Sütterlin}} is a modern script based on {{lang|de|Kurrent}} that is characterized by simplified letters and vertical strokes. It was developed in 1911 and taught in all German schools as the primary script from 1915 until the beginning of January 1941, when it was replaced with {{lang|de|deutsche Normalschrift}} ("normal German handwriting"), sometimes called "Latin writing".
==Lettering examples== <gallery> File:Lessing Kleist-Brief.jpg|<small>Letter from Lessing to Kleist, 14 March 1758</small> File:Schein und Sein.jpg|<small>Manuscript by Wilhelm Busch (undated, late 19th century)</small> File:Bielsko-Biała Teatr Polski 004.JPG|<small>Example from a book published in 1905</small> File:Paul Simmel - Das Kind und der Krieg,1916.jpg|<small>{{lang|de|Kurrent}} script used for text in a 1916 children's book</small> File:Staedt.Kinderheim-01.jpg|<small>Signage on a municipal children's home ({{lang|de|Städtisches Kinderheim}}) in {{lang|de|Esslingen am Neckar}} in 2006</small> File:Kurrent Note.jpg|<small>A handwritten restaurant order in {{lang|de|Kurrent}} from the 1920s</small> File:Vos-essentials-of-german-p294-raw.png|<small>{{lang|de|Kurrent}} script from a 1903–14 primer on German, the 26 letters, ligatures, start of sample text</small> File:Vos-essentials-of-german-p295-raw.png|<small>{{lang|de|Kurrent}} script from a 1903–14 primer on German, the rest of the sample text</small> File:Jul-Greg-George-II-1750.tif|<small>Final paragraph of a German contract from 1750 signed by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover. It contains a mixture of {{lang|de|Kurrent}} and 'Latin font' scripts.</small> File:Letter to George Stier.png|<small>Handwritten letter, 1792</small>
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==See also== * Antiqua–Fraktur dispute * Blackletter * Fraktur * Grundschrift
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|German Kurrent}} * [http://www.kurrent.de/_html/schreibschrift.htm German handwriting Schrift] {{in lang|de}} Overview and examples of {{lang|de|Kurrent}} by N. A. Powell * [http://www.deutsche-schrift.beepworld.de/ German language page about {{lang|de|Kurrent|nocat=y}}, with history of German cursive handwriting and {{lang|de|Kurrent|nocat=y}}] * [http://www.bryld.dk/filer/manugot19.ttf Another version, by Lars Erik Bryld, called Manu Gothica] * [https://peter-wiegel.de/18thCentury.html Yet another version, by Peter Wiegel] * [https://archiv.archivfuehrer-kolonialzeit.de/font-tool – Old German typewriter] An online assistant for better reading Kurrent
{{European calligraphy}} {{List of writing systems}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Blackletter Category:German orthography Category:Handwriting script Category:Western calligraphy