The paper examines the forms of addressing the interlocutor that existed in German in the 18th century, as well as their equivalents in Russian. Some variants of addressing are currently outdated, but their use has been recorded in fiction. The material was L. Feuchtwangerэs historical novel “The Jew Suess” and the translation of this work into Russian. The purpose of this topic is to analyze the ways of interpreting German forms of address into Russian. The tasks are to classify the addresses into groups and identify the features that take place in the translation process. The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that consideration of the issues of politeness and the study of communication makes it possible to understand the specifics of a particular language associated with the development of society, changes in its social structure. The study of lexical units in forms of address is of interest to philologists in connection with the national and historical features of this area of language functioning. The practical application of the research results lies in the possibility of their use in theoretical courses on the lexicology of the German language, as well as in practical classes and seminars on the translation of works of fiction.