Stein Collectors International
~ Translations Illustrated ~
Compiled by Dr. Roy DeSelms (dec.) SCI Master Steinologist
The purpose of this work is to provide transcriptions and translations of verses and
salutations appearing on old German beer steins, with photos of a stein bearing the verse or phrase.
Many German steins which are now more than 100 years old do not follow modern rules of grammar or spelling. We have attempted to make each transcription grammatically correct in Hoch Deutsch (High German) and the reader can see the differences from what's on the actual stein. We will leave dialect (usually Bavarian) as it is. All nouns are capitalized.
The lettering on old German steins is often in a "Gothic" or Fraktur font. If you have trouble reading the letters, see the article
Steinologist's guide to old German print and script.
This material has been made possible by collectors who have offered their own photos as examples. Since Roy's passing in 2025 we are not currently able to accept further contributions to this article.
The primary key to navigating this material is the first letter of the verse or phrase. Translations are listed alphabeticallly below. You may scroll down to the appropriate section, or use the alphabetic navigation bar to skip to the section directly by clicking on the first letter of the first word of the verse.
Caveat: It is common for a verse to appear in slightly different forms from stein to stein, hence an alphabetic lookup may not be fruitful. In those cases, it is suggested that you use your browser's search function (ctrl-f) to search for keyword(s) appearing on the stein.
The translation for the verse on the stein at right is as follows:
Thu die schönen Mädchen lieben,
Junge Weiber nicht betrüben,
Und die Alten auch nicht hassen,
Und was lebt, leben lassen.
Do love the beautiful maidens,
don't make the young women sad,
and don't hate the old ones,
and whatever lives, let live.
