Adding German Character Set to PostgresSQL

Hi,

I am using psql (8.2.15) and I would like to input German characters (e.g.
ä,ß,ö) into char fields I have in a database. I am having trouble getting
the CENTOS Linux OS I am using to input German characters via a (apparently
supported) German Keyboard Layout. However, that might be a separate matter.
When I typed the German into Notepad in Windows and attempted to cut and
paste the words into an INSERT statement, the characters do not persist:

Daß becomes DaDa and Heißt becomes HeiHeit which falls short of what I was
hoping for.

I am wondering if I need to enable an international character set within
Postgres before the German characters will input properly? If so, it’s not
clear from the documentation I have attempted to find how one enables other
characters sets within Postgres? Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Thank you.

Hagen Finley

Boulder, CO