[https://imgur.com/a/bpCvYEy](https://imgur.com/a/bpCvYEy)

Hello, I’m from Belgium and I’m currently working on my family tree.

I found this picture of a soldier that has text written on the back that I can’t read. I was wondering if the three first words could be German?

I tried googling some variations of the words on Google but nothing seemed to turn up.

On the front is written:

>Gedenkenis uit Erkelenz (Memories from Erkelenz)
>
>Desire Van Houcke

On the back is written:

>\[Three words that I can’t read ( in German?)\]
>
>In plaats van (instead of )
>
>Van Houcke/Nonkel(?) Desire (Van Houcke/uncle(?) Desire)

If you’re having trouble reading the back, the text is also vague on the real picture.

The third word on the back also seems to be written on the front in blue above “Van Houcke”. I wonder if it’s meant to be a German name and that “Van Houcke” is the wrong name or something.

That’s my guess. Any ideas? Thanks!

3 comments

  1. This seems to be Dutch, not German, I’d say. Maybe people in /r/dutch might have better success deciphering the missing words than I had (I tried and failed).

    Edit: I do agree with the reading of the words you already have.

  2. No. I guess it is Nederlands. Desire Van Houcke might be a name. In plaats van is Nederlands. One of the other words might be Somerhus. This might be a name too. Nederlands is very close to German. Maybe I see a little heart, or it might be a colon, like this , or this <3

    Can you try to write down the letters?

Leave a Reply