Transkribus Platform

12/05/2026

History isn’t always about grand narratives; sometimes it's about contraband rhubarb and 17th-century curiosities.

While AI is evolving fast, many general tools still struggle with anything outside of standard English, such as historical German scripts like Kurrent, Sütterlin, and Fraktur. Working with these sources requires models that have been specifically trained for archival material.

Here are three projects where researchers are using Transkribus to get historical German-language collections online:

1️⃣ Scale: The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin transcribed 250,000 handwritten specimen labels, turning millions of data points into a searchable global resource.
2️⃣ Community: The German Archives for Diaries uses a citizen science approach, allowing volunteers to transcribe 27,000 personal diaries and preserve stories from past generations.
3️⃣ Reach: At Latvijas Nacionālais arhīvs, researcher Mairita Lukianska digitised 263,000 pages of Riga’s City Council minutes, a reminder that German-language heritage isn't limited to Germany, and it’s full of surprises (like 17th-century rhubarb crackdowns).

From illegally imported rhubarb to millions of museum specimens, these projects show that with Transkribus, historical German script is no longer a barrier.

👉 Read the full breakdown of these three projects on our blog:

Discover how Transkribus is revolutionising access to historical German-language documents, transforming archives into searchable digital resources for all.

07/05/2026

When is an LLM enough for historical documents — and when isn't it?

That's the core question archivists, DH researchers, and the team behind Transkribus will be answering in Passau from 21–23 September. As AI becomes a standard tool, the real debate isn't about whether to use it, but which approach delivers the precision that messy, centuries-old manuscripts actually require.

👉 View the full programme and plan your participation:
https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0v5CCS0

Here is a look at just two of the specific topics we’re taking on at :

• Building Databases: Get hands-on with Smart Extract Models (SEM). We will look at how to design schemas and turn handwritten sources into structured, database-ready data, and discuss when SEM is (and isn’t) the right approach.
• Abandon All Consistency: Join our roundtable where our speakers will discuss navigating the "methodological hell" of transcription standards in the age of AI.

We’d love for you to be part of this exchange and join us at the University of Passau!

🎟️ Early Bird tickets are still available: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0v5tlR0

06/05/2026

How do you transcribe 2,600 handwritten letters without burning out your volunteer team?

It’s easy to get a project started, but keeping volunteers engaged is tough when the workload becomes overwhelming.

The "Trug und Schein" project centred on a massive collection of letters between Roland and Hilde Nordhoff, a couple separated by the Second World War. Their daily correspondence offers a rare look into everyday life at the time, but with thousands of pages written in tricky scripts like Kurrent and Sütterlin, manual transcription was just too slow to keep the project moving.

Instead of sticking to manual work, the team used Transkribus to train custom AI models for the two main writers. This didn't replace the volunteers; it just gave them a massive head start.

By letting Transkribus handle the first draft of the transcription, the team could focus on the actual history and get the searchable "Alltag im Krieg" database online much faster.

Read more about how Transkribus can help a small team tackle a huge amount of history:

Unlock the letters of wartime lovers Roland and Hilde Nordhoff, and explore how their story bridges generations through a unique citizen science project.

27/04/2026

Great to see Archion making history even more accessible!

We’re proud that Transkribus has been integrated to help users transcribe parish records more easily.

👇 Learn more in their post below.

Was früher mühsam entziffert werden musste, wird jetzt leichter lesbar.

Mit unserer neuen Texterkennung unterstützen wir Sie dabei, handschriftliche Kirchenbucheinträge schneller zu erfassen – direkt dort, wo Sie arbeiten: im Viewer.

Ein Klick zur Transkription, wenige Minuten warten, weiterlesen.
So entsteht ein neuer, komfortabler Zugang zu historischen Quellen.

Wichtig: Die Texterkennung ist eine KI-gestützte Hilfe und ersetzt nicht den Blick ins Original.

Jetzt entdecken unter: https://www.archion.de/de/archion-entdecken/texterkennung

24/04/2026

Church records are among the richest historical sources in many parts of the world, capturing centuries of family and community life.

While these records of baptisms, marriages and burials are incredible resources, they are notoriously difficult to navigate.

Researchers often encounter two major obstacles: illegible handwriting that varies with each new record keeper, and complex table layouts that standard software simply cannot understand.

Transkribus can help you bridge this gap by converting old handwriting into digital, searchable text, so you can actually search, analyse and organise the data and information within the records:

1️⃣ Fix the Layout: Use a Table Model so the AI knows where the rows and columns are. This keeps names and dates in the right place.
2️⃣ Try a "Super Model": Use a powerful all-rounder like the Text Titan. It can often read the text automatically, saving you weeks of work.
3️⃣ Search and Share: Once finished, you can find any name or place in seconds and even publish your results online.

Read our full guide on unlocking church records with Transkribus here:

Learn how to transcribe church records using Transkribus, turning complex handwriting into searchable digital archives for historical and genealogical research.

16/04/2026

We often think of cultural heritage monuments or physical artifacts, such as the Titanic. Much of it exists in the form of handwritten documents, such as notes, letters and records, which carry stories and knowledge from the past.

The challenge is that many of these documents are difficult to read today, mainly because writing styles and scripts have changed over time.

Even when the text is physically preserved, it can still be hard to decipher. In such cases, the knowledge is still there, but effectively out of reach.

Technology like Transkribus are changing that by converting historical handwriting into searchable text, making these sources usable again.

This is a small but important shift: from simply preserving documents to being able to read and work with them.

Read more about cultural heritage:

Read the Post What is cultural heritage? in our Blog.

10/04/2026

Some of the best things that have come out of TUC weren't planned on any programme.

A coffee-break conversation that turned into a research collaboration. A workshop where the whole room trained a model together and watched it improve in real time. The moment someone shared a challenge — and three people in the audience had the answer.

That's what happens when you bring the right community into one room.

TUC 2026. Passau. September. Get your Early Bird ticket now → https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0tmZj20

09/04/2026

The evolution of language, the details of social structures, or the breakthrough moments in science - all carefully recorded in primary sources. Not just static objects, but rich sources of knowledge.

Transkribus makes it possible to explore historical textual sources with the help of Artificial Intelligence. By reducing the challenges of manual transcription and analysis, instead improving the process of digitising and extracting information, we enable researchers and institutions to engage with historical materials on a deeper, more thorough level.

By using advanced technology, we can actively learn from the past and build a more informed understanding of our world.

But as the field of AI evolves, so do the questions we must ask about our methods.
This is exactly what we will be exploring at the Transkribus User Conference this September at the Universität Passau under the theme "Not all AI is created equal".

Find out more about the conference and buy tickets here:

Join us at the Transkribus User Conference 2026 - Connect, Learn, and Explore the Future of Unlocking Written Heritage with AI

07/04/2026

It was a pleasure to host our Transkribus workshop at the The University of Texas at Austin — a huge thank you to everyone who joined us!

We would especially like to thank Albert Palacios and Karina Sanchez for organising the workshop, and the University of Texas for being such a valuable member of the READ-COOP! It was also great to finally meet Jessica Sherrill in person, who has worked with Transkribus for many years to make Ada Lovelace documents accessible.

Collaborative efforts like these are exactly what drive the digital humanities forward, and we are proud to work with such a vibrant community of scholars in Austin!

03/04/2026

In the archives of the Natural History Museum in Vienna, more than 700 letters have quietly preserved knowledge for over a century. Today, they are helping scientists to identify previously 'unknown' plant specimens and to recover missing information.

The letters belonged to Eduard Hackel (1850–1926), a leading expert on grasses who corresponded with botanists in over 40 countries. Fluent in at least six languages, Hackel was part of a truly international research network long before the digital age.

Thanks to the TETTRIs project and Transkribus, this collection has now been digitised, transcribed and made searchable.

Take a look at the letters on the Transkribus Sites website:

30/03/2026

Early Bird tickets for are officially available! 🎟️

This year’s theme is one we’re really excited about: "Not all AI is created equal. Unlocking the written past with specialised and general-purpose AI."

We want everyone to be able to join the conversation, so we have two ways to attend:

• In-person Tickets: Join us at Universität Passau for the full experience, including hands-on workshops and networking.
• Virtual Tickets: Online access is an exclusive benefit of the Transkribus Scholar subscription. Subscribe to a Scholar Plan and access our live-streamed sessions and digital workshops.

Grab your ticket early to join a community of thought leaders and innovators shaping the future of document analysis.

Get your Early Bird ticket here:

Join us at the Transkribus User Conference 2026 - Connect, Learn, and Explore the Future of Unlocking Written Heritage with AI