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The excerpt here is from the baptism record of Maria Magdalena Burkhardt Langenheld, an illegitimate birth in 1779. It transcribes as "(...)inn Langenheldin, durch [?] er zeugtes Töchterlein, ist den 11. Sept".

baptism record of Maria Magdalena Burkhardt Langenheld excerpt

The left side is the original scan, and the right is photoshop enhanced to remove as much of the ink smear as possible.

For [?], the best I can transcribe it is a meaningless name, either 'Hurhery' or 'Gurhery'. There are a couple dozen males who could have been possible fathers, but being 18th century Germany, there's actually not many distinct names for the possible fathers:

  • Adam
  • Andrais
  • Christian
  • Conrad
  • Georg
  • Gottfried
  • Henrich
  • Johann
  • Malcolm
  • Martin
  • Michael
  • Wilhelm

It's always possible that there was some other male I don't yet know of who was the father, but in this case, it'd be very very unlikely.

Can anyone read the [?] to figure out what name was written/intended?

Entire record: Entire record

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  • Could you add a larger snippet from the record? The context and other words might give important clues.
    – jadepx
    Sep 15, 2021 at 16:04
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    Sure, I've added the entire record. It was an illegitimate birth/baptism's entry, so the original was written sideways, hence the narrowness of the entry's text. I've reversed the rotation to make it easier to read.
    – BrianFreud
    Sep 16, 2021 at 1:29

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I deciphered the alleged father's name: it reads "Huhrerey", so harlotry or whoring (not sure what the corresponding English term in this context would be). As far as I can read the rest, there is only information about the mother and the godparents (I guess also from the mother's family).

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  • Thanks; so not a name, but a condemnation by the priest. Burkhardt is a local surname, so that's a hint towards the father, but unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it more than a couple dozen candidates.
    – BrianFreud
    Sep 16, 2021 at 13:30
  • ...and just for confirmation, I just now found another case from a couple decades earlier where the priest wrote a similar entry for another illegitimate child: "NB 22. Anna Cattharina, Eva Cattharina Burckharts Töchterl(ein) welches sie durch Huhrerey erzeugt ist d(en) 17 Juni getauft sein Taufpate ist Anna Catharina Matthesin, unverheiratete Person."
    – BrianFreud
    Sep 16, 2021 at 13:40

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