diff --git a/private_includes/book/toc_include.ily b/private_includes/book/toc_include.ily
index 2ff802e..b872527 100644
--- a/private_includes/book/toc_include.ily
+++ b/private_includes/book/toc_include.ily
@@ -61,20 +61,9 @@
        ;; We insert index items sorted from the beginning on and do
        ;; not sort them later - this saves pretty much computing time
        (insert-alphabetical-sorted! (list label markup-symbol textoptions
-        ;; this crazy hack is necessary because lilypond depends on guile 1.8 atm
-        ;; and so the cool unicode conversion functions cannot be used
           (ly:string-substitute " " ""
-          (ly:string-substitute "…" ""
-          (ly:string-substitute "Č" "C"
-          (ly:string-substitute "Đ" "D"
-          (ly:string-substitute "Š" "S"
-          (ly:string-substitute "Т" "T"
-          (ly:string-substitute "Ä" "Ae"
-          (ly:string-substitute "ä" "ae"
-          (ly:string-substitute "Ö" "O"
-          (ly:string-substitute "ö" "oe"
-          (ly:string-substitute "Ü" "U"
-          (ly:string-substitute "ü" "ue" sorttext)))))))))))))
+          (ly:string-substitute "." ""
+          (transliterate-de sorttext))))
         index-item-list))
        (make-music 'EventChord
          'page-marker #t
diff --git a/private_includes/book/transliteration.ily b/private_includes/book/transliteration.ily
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3df1668
--- /dev/null
+++ b/private_includes/book/transliteration.ily
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#(define (transliterate-de str)
+   "Gesamte Transliteration: entfernt Diakritika, ersetzt Sonderzeichen, ergibt ASCII-String."
+
+   (define (remove-diacritics s)
+     (string-join
+       (map (lambda (ch)
+             (let ((code (char->integer ch)))
+               ;; Unicode-Bereich 0300–036F = Combining Diacritical Marks
+               (if (and (>= code #x0300) (<= code #x036F))
+                   ""
+                   (string ch))))
+           (string->list (string-normalize-nfkd s)))
+       ""))
+
+   (define transliteration-table
+     '(
+      ;; Deutsche Umlaute & ß
+      ("ä" . "ae") ("ö" . "oe") ("ü" . "ue")
+      ("Ä" . "Ae") ("Ö" . "Oe") ("Ü" . "Ue")
+      ("ß" . "ss")
+
+      ;; Balkan & mitteleuropäische Sonderzeichen
+      ("Č" . "C") ("č" . "c")
+      ("Š" . "S") ("š" . "s")
+      ("Ž" . "Z") ("ž" . "z")
+      ("Đ" . "D") ("đ" . "d")
+      ("Ł" . "L") ("ł" . "l")
+      ("Ø" . "O") ("ø" . "o")
+      ("Æ" . "Ae") ("æ" . "ae")
+      ("Œ" . "Oe") ("œ" . "oe")
+
+      ;; Kyrillische Buchstaben mit lateinischen Pendants
+      ("А" . "A") ("а" . "a")
+      ("Б" . "B") ("б" . "b")
+      ("В" . "V") ("в" . "v")
+      ("Г" . "G") ("г" . "g")
+      ("Д" . "D") ("д" . "d")
+      ("Е" . "E") ("е" . "e")
+      ("З" . "Z") ("з" . "z")
+      ("И" . "I") ("и" . "i")
+      ("К" . "K") ("к" . "k")
+      ("Л" . "L") ("л" . "l")
+      ("М" . "M") ("м" . "m")
+      ("Н" . "N") ("н" . "n")
+      ("О" . "O") ("о" . "o")
+      ("П" . "P") ("п" . "p")
+      ("Р" . "R") ("р" . "r")
+      ("С" . "S") ("с" . "s")
+      ("Т" . "T") ("т" . "t")
+      ("У" . "U") ("у" . "u")
+      ("Ф" . "F") ("ф" . "f")
+      ("Х" . "Kh") ("х" . "kh")
+      ("Ц" . "Ts") ("ц" . "ts")
+      ("Ч" . "Ch") ("ч" . "ch")
+      ("Ш" . "Sh") ("ш" . "sh")
+      ("Щ" . "Sch") ("щ" . "sch")
+      ("Я" . "Ja") ("я" . "ja")
+      ("Ю" . "Ju") ("ю" . "ju")
+      ("Й" . "J") ("й" . "j")
+    ))
+
+  (remove-diacritics
+    (fold (lambda (pair acc)
+          (ly:string-substitute (car pair) (cdr pair) acc))
+        str transliteration-table)))
diff --git a/public_includes/book_top.ily b/public_includes/book_top.ily
index 2dd0529..59d9891 100644
--- a/public_includes/book_top.ily
+++ b/public_includes/book_top.ily
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 \include "../private_includes/book/book_include.ily"
+\include "../private_includes/book/transliteration.ily"
 \include "../private_includes/book/toc_include.ily"
 \include "../private_includes/book/appendix.ily"
\ No newline at end of file