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This postcard was in a package I received recently. I wonder if anyone can assist with a translation? I think it is Danish.
Thanks for any help you can give me on this.
Regards ... Tim.
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Yes, I also think it is in Danish.
The first sentence is, "We must have a new church consecrated on 18-20 July."
Danish surnames conventionally ended in "en", while the Norwegian Swedish equivalent ended in "on".
Thanks cdj, for correcting my brainfart.
Danes were relative late-comers to Minnesota, being preceded by Swedes and Norwegians. Here is an interesting history of Danish immigrants in Minnesota:
Danish Settlement in Minnesota
-Paul
PS, another clue, from wikipedia:
"Nearly all the streets in Askov have been given Danish names."
PSS, here is the church, referenced in the postcard message, built 1914-1915. Bethehem Lutheran Church:
Charming!
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I agree: Danish, but a bit weird at times. It looks as if English words are creeping in 
When it says "Vi er ved at bygge Barn for tiden" it would mean something like "we are building a child at the moment", which does not make much sense. If the writer wanted to say "we are busy building a barn", it would be more logical.
I started to learn Danish only two months ago, so I am not really an expert (yet) but from the look of it, I would say this is Danish with a strong English influence (things like word order make it look like the writer was literally translating English into Danish).
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Yes, Jan, I noticed the same thing. Here is a quote from the reference linked in my earlier reply:
"A change in the mother tongue took place in the American settlements, where several dialects were frequently represented. In addition to the usual admixture of some English words, the
immigrants tended in their daily speech to approach the national Danish more than at home. "
There you go!
-Paul
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hi Paul,
I suppose that means I am making progress in my efforts to learn Danish
Jan-Simon
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So I had a go using Google translate and here is what I got:
"Keere Marie,
We must have the new Church consecrated July 18-20. Then wait for you up here see now ag give Seriousness of it. We do not know how to build Children for the Time being. A couple of months ago we lost one of our horses, it was kicked by a frenzy and had its leg crushed so Christian had to go to Minneapolis and rent another, everything goes well and the rest passes in a row.
kind regards from all of us,
Anine"
You can get the gist of what is going on. I think the phrase about not knowing how to "build Children for the Time being" is saying that she is looking to have the structure of the Church that is being built, in order to help raise their children.
Interesting heh?
Tim.
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Or, the writer could be meaning to convey that she is pregnant or striving to be pregnant, in a typically sly Danish way!
Building a church, building a child. What a lovely, sentimental parallel. Exactly the kind of thing a postcard writer in the early 20th century would do...
-Paul
PS, It is interesting that the word for child - "Barn", is capitalized. As if to give it extra emphasis.
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I agree with Jansimon on the meaning of the sentence about Building... a barn... it is much more logical, because it is followed by some comment about the horse that was lost--probably destroyed--because of the leg injury.
However there are two words for child and children in Danish:
børn
barn
https://www.ord.dk/oversaet/dansk-engelsk/barn
Vegry Integresting...
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"PS, It is interesting that the word for child - "Barn", is capitalized. As if to give it extra emphasis."
The writer uses the old spelling (for instance "saa" instead of "så"). One of the characteristics of the old spelling of Danish is the capitalization of nouns, like German.
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Barn - child (barnet - the child)
Børn - children (børnene - the children)
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I can't help with the translation, but it reminds me of a Post Card I had several years ago. It was addressed to an officer in the German Army during World War II. I was very anxious to get it translated - went out of my way to do so. Turns out it was from a newspaper asking the Officer if he wanted to renew his subscription.
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Tim,
I was given a boxful of covers with correspondence to and from the Jens Hansen family.
I had a few of them kindly translated by a member here, which I will email you later if you like.
I am away in Nashville right now for a few more days, but when I return home I will post more here with covers, info and etc...
I kept the covers with Michigan postmarks for my own postal history/Mich. postmarks collection.
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I would not rule out this being norwegian actually. As Norway was part of Denmark before 1814, the written language was quite similar to danish, but there are some words (Venlig/Vænlig) I would expect that should be written with "Æ" in danish that are written with "E" in norwegian.
Not saying that it is, but I have seen nothing that should exclude it for being norwegian.
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Hi Everyone,
This postcard was in a package I received recently. I wonder if anyone can assist with a translation? I think it is Danish.
Thanks for any help you can give me on this.
Regards ... Tim.
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06:02:40pm
re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
Yes, I also think it is in Danish.
The first sentence is, "We must have a new church consecrated on 18-20 July."
Danish surnames conventionally ended in "en", while the Norwegian Swedish equivalent ended in "on".
Thanks cdj, for correcting my brainfart.
Danes were relative late-comers to Minnesota, being preceded by Swedes and Norwegians. Here is an interesting history of Danish immigrants in Minnesota:
Danish Settlement in Minnesota
-Paul
PS, another clue, from wikipedia:
"Nearly all the streets in Askov have been given Danish names."
PSS, here is the church, referenced in the postcard message, built 1914-1915. Bethehem Lutheran Church:
Charming!
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
I agree: Danish, but a bit weird at times. It looks as if English words are creeping in
When it says "Vi er ved at bygge Barn for tiden" it would mean something like "we are building a child at the moment", which does not make much sense. If the writer wanted to say "we are busy building a barn", it would be more logical.
I started to learn Danish only two months ago, so I am not really an expert (yet) but from the look of it, I would say this is Danish with a strong English influence (things like word order make it look like the writer was literally translating English into Danish).
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06:31:17pm
re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
Yes, Jan, I noticed the same thing. Here is a quote from the reference linked in my earlier reply:
"A change in the mother tongue took place in the American settlements, where several dialects were frequently represented. In addition to the usual admixture of some English words, the
immigrants tended in their daily speech to approach the national Danish more than at home. "
There you go!
-Paul
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
hi Paul,
I suppose that means I am making progress in my efforts to learn Danish
Jan-Simon
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
So I had a go using Google translate and here is what I got:
"Keere Marie,
We must have the new Church consecrated July 18-20. Then wait for you up here see now ag give Seriousness of it. We do not know how to build Children for the Time being. A couple of months ago we lost one of our horses, it was kicked by a frenzy and had its leg crushed so Christian had to go to Minneapolis and rent another, everything goes well and the rest passes in a row.
kind regards from all of us,
Anine"
You can get the gist of what is going on. I think the phrase about not knowing how to "build Children for the Time being" is saying that she is looking to have the structure of the Church that is being built, in order to help raise their children.
Interesting heh?
Tim.
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08:48:07pm
re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
Or, the writer could be meaning to convey that she is pregnant or striving to be pregnant, in a typically sly Danish way!
Building a church, building a child. What a lovely, sentimental parallel. Exactly the kind of thing a postcard writer in the early 20th century would do...
-Paul
PS, It is interesting that the word for child - "Barn", is capitalized. As if to give it extra emphasis.
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
I agree with Jansimon on the meaning of the sentence about Building... a barn... it is much more logical, because it is followed by some comment about the horse that was lost--probably destroyed--because of the leg injury.
However there are two words for child and children in Danish:
børn
barn
https://www.ord.dk/oversaet/dansk-engelsk/barn
Vegry Integresting...
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
"PS, It is interesting that the word for child - "Barn", is capitalized. As if to give it extra emphasis."
The writer uses the old spelling (for instance "saa" instead of "så"). One of the characteristics of the old spelling of Danish is the capitalization of nouns, like German.
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
Barn - child (barnet - the child)
Børn - children (børnene - the children)
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
I can't help with the translation, but it reminds me of a Post Card I had several years ago. It was addressed to an officer in the German Army during World War II. I was very anxious to get it translated - went out of my way to do so. Turns out it was from a newspaper asking the Officer if he wanted to renew his subscription.
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re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
Tim,
I was given a boxful of covers with correspondence to and from the Jens Hansen family.
I had a few of them kindly translated by a member here, which I will email you later if you like.
I am away in Nashville right now for a few more days, but when I return home I will post more here with covers, info and etc...
I kept the covers with Michigan postmarks for my own postal history/Mich. postmarks collection.
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03:10:28am
re: Can anyone help with a translation on this postcard?
I would not rule out this being norwegian actually. As Norway was part of Denmark before 1814, the written language was quite similar to danish, but there are some words (Venlig/Vænlig) I would expect that should be written with "Æ" in danish that are written with "E" in norwegian.
Not saying that it is, but I have seen nothing that should exclude it for being norwegian.
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