diff --git a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/ClassParser.java b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/ClassParser.java
index 1f25aa3..047415e 100644
--- a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/ClassParser.java
+++ b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/ClassParser.java
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  *
  * This can be used to feed option bindings that span across multiple instances.
  *
- * @author Jan Mat�rne
+ * @author Jan Materne
  */
 public class ClassParser {
     public void parse(Object bean, CmdLineParser parser) {
diff --git a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Config.java b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Config.java
index bf594b6..0aa5888 100644
--- a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Config.java
+++ b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Config.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
  * Metadataconfiguration.
  * This class holds all metadata for a class, mainly a list of @Options and @Arguments.
  *
- * @author Jan Mat�rne
+ * @author Jan Materne
  */
 public class Config {
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 	/**
 	 * The ConfigElement is an <tt>&lt;option></tt> or <tt>&lt;argument></tt> tag
 	 * in the xml configuration file.
-	 * @author Jan Mat�rne
+	 * @author Jan Materne
 	 */
 	public class ConfigElement {
 		public String field;
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public boolean isInvalid() {
 
 	/**
 	 * SAX-Handler for reading the configuration file.
-	 * @author Jan Mat�rne
+	 * @author Jan Materne
 	 */
 	public class ConfigHandler extends DefaultHandler {
 		public ConfigHandler(Config config) {
diff --git a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Messages_de_DE.properties b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Messages_de_DE.properties
index ab51cee..8483207 100644
--- a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Messages_de_DE.properties
+++ b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/Messages_de_DE.properties
@@ -1,17 +1,25 @@
+# Unicode for Umlauts
+#   Ae, ae     \u00c4, \u00e4
+#   Oe, oe     \u00d6, \u00f6
+#   Ue, ue     \u00dc, \u00fc
+#   ss         \u00df
+
+
+
 MISSING_OPERAND = \
-    Option "{0}" ben�tigt einen Operanden
+    Option "{0}" ben\u00f6tigt einen Operanden
 
 UNDEFINED_OPTION = \
-    "{0}" ist keine g�ltige Option
+    "{0}" ist keine g\u00fcltige Option
 
 NO_ARGUMENT_ALLOWED = \
     Kein Argument erlaubt: {0}
 
 REQUIRED_OPTION_MISSING = \
-    Option "{0}" wird ben�tigt
+    Option "{0}" wird ben\u00f6tigt
     
 REQUIRED_ARGUMENT_MISSING = \
-    Argument "{0}" wird ben�tigt
+    Argument "{0}" wird ben\u00f6tigt
     
 TOO_MANY_ARGUMENTS = \
     Zu viele Argumente: {0}
diff --git a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/XmlParser.java b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/XmlParser.java
index d4fd9b6..eb51bb9 100644
--- a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/XmlParser.java
+++ b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/XmlParser.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
  * &lt;args>
  * </pre>
  *
- * @author Jan Mat�rne
+ * @author Jan Materne
  */
 public class XmlParser {
     public void parse(URL xml, CmdLineParser parser, Object bean) {