Transliteration of German into Russian: rules, table and converter

What is transliteration and how is it different from transcription?

Transliteration of German into Russian is a way of writing German words in Cyrillic letters, matching each letter as closely as possible. In transliteration, each letter or group of letters from one alphabet is replaced with a specific equivalent in the other alphabet.

For example, the German word Berlin becomes Берлин, and Müller becomes Мюллер.

It is important to distinguish transliteration from transcription: transliteration shows how a word is written (the letters), while transcription shows how it is pronounced (the sounds).

In German, these two approaches often overlap, because many combinations of letters (such as sch, ch, ei) are written in Russian according to how they sound. So in practice, German transliteration often comes close to transcription.

Systems for writing German in Russian

For the direction German → Russian, there is no single international system for transliteration, like ISO 9 for Cyrillic. In Russian, German words, names and place names are usually written not by simply swapping letters, but by following the rules of German-Russian practical transcription.

German-Russian practical transcription

The main approach is practical transcription: writing German letters and letter combinations in Russian, taking into account pronunciation and Russian spelling traditions.

It is important to remember that many German names and place names have traditional forms in Russian. So how they are written may depend not only on the letters, but also on the established Russian version.

The main authority for German language standards is Duden, the official spelling and pronunciation guide in Germany. Duden does not give rules for writing German in Russian. However, it does provide standard pronunciation (for example, in Duden Aussprachewörterbuch), which is used as a basis when transferring German words into other languages, including Russian.

• Schmidt → Шмидт
• Müller → Мюллер
• Goethe → Гёте

Rules for writing German place names in Russian

A special reference book is used for place names (toponyms): "Instructions for Writing German Place Names in Russian" ¹. It was published by the Main Department of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1974 and sets the rules for writing German place names in Russian.

• Berlin → Берлин
• Dresden → Дрезден
• Leipzig → Лейпциг

GOST 7.79-2000

GOST 7.79-2000 ² is a Russian standard called "System of standards for information, library and publishing work. Rules for transliterating Cyrillic script into the Latin alphabet". It is based on the international standard ISO 9 and is used to write Russian and other Cyrillic texts in Latin letters.

The standard includes systems A and B, as well as tables for retransliteration – converting Latin text back into Cyrillic script. This means the document gives matches between Russian letters and most of the Latin letters and combinations used in German.

Although GOST 7.79-2000 is not a system for writing German in Russian, its tables can be used as an extra source to help create formal matches between German and Russian letters.

Approaches to writing German in Russian in Germany and other German-speaking countries

In German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), there are no official standards for writing German words in Russian. This is because such rules are mainly created by the receiving language – in this case, Russian. However, there are sources and approaches that influence how German words and names are written in other languages, including Russian.

TC-DERU01-Reversible: TranslitCenter’s experimental German-Russian transliteration system

Apart from existing practical transcription rules and formal tables, we have developed our own experimental version of German-Russian transliteration: TC-DERU01-Reversible. The main aim of this system is to provide a clear one-to-one match between German and Russian letters, as well as to allow automatic reverse conversion of text.

Unlike traditional practical transcription – where different German letters may be written the same way – this system uses extra markers: softness, hardness, length and special modifiers.

For example: k → к, c → кь, q → къ.

This approach helps avoid confusion between letters and keeps differences between German symbols even when written in Russian. The system is not an official standard and should be seen as an experimental formal model of transliteration. It is mainly designed for technical tasks, automatic text processing and research into reversible transliteration.

Online transliteration converter (German → Russian)

You can use the online converter to quickly transliterate from German into Russian. The data you enter is not saved or shared with anyone – everything happens locally on your device and is only used to show you the result.

• Russian-German transliteration converter
• Russian-German transcription converter
• German-Russian transcription converter

Tables for transliterating German into Russian

As mentioned above, there is no single universal system for writing German in Russian. In practice, different methods are used: practical transcription, rules for place names, dictionary standards and formal correspondence tables.

The tables below show: the letters of the German alphabet; matches from retransliteration tables (system A) from GOST 7.79-2000; rules for single letters from practical transcription; rules for single letters from the "Instructions for Writing German Place Names in Russian"; and our own experimental version based on these sources.

Table of matches between German and Russian letters according to different standards

For the correspondence table and rules of German practical transcription, see the page Transcription: German → Russian.

• Table: Russian-German transliteration
• Table: German-Russian transcription
• Table: Russian-German transcription

Please note that these tables mainly show letter matches only, not full pronunciation. In German, combinations of letters, their position in a word and pronunciation features are very important. For example, combinations like sch, ch, ei, eu, and many others cannot be shown correctly just by using single letters.

This is why it is best to use practical transcription rules and special tables for letter combinations, and also our German-to-Russian transcription tool.

Last updated:
30 Apr 2026