Emigrant letters: the story of those who sailed to America

Between 1860 and 1920 more than 300,000 Danes left their homeland to seek their fortune in the USA. The letters they wrote home are among the most moving testimonies a family can own - but they are often written in Gothic script that the descendants today cannot read.

The great emigration

From Southern Jutland and western Jutland in particular, thousands of Danes sailed across the Atlantic. For most it was a farewell forever. The letter became the lifeline between two worlds: families waited weeks and months for news from Chicago, Iowa or Nebraska, and the letters were read aloud and kept like treasures.

What the letters tell us

The emigrant letters hold whole lives: the dream of land and work, homesickness, the joy of a newborn child, the grief of a death far away. They often mix Danish with the odd English word that the emigrant had picked up. For today's reader they are a direct window into a forebear's innermost thoughts.

Make the letters readable again

The letters are written in the Gothic handwriting that the emigrants learned at school before 1875. With MormorsBreve you can upload a photo and have the text made readable in minutes - and translated into English, so the American descendants can read along too. Read also our page on emigrant letters from America.

A single deciphered letter can change a family's sense of itself. Pass the story on, before the script slips into oblivion for good.