Archive for October, 2018
The German Word ‘Sitzfleisch’ Posted by Constanze on Oct 31, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’d like to talk about another ‘untranslatable’ German word, namely: Sitzfleisch. This is a word that has been adopted by the English language, too, and which some think explains the German people’s efficient and productive nature. But before we get into that, let’s look at the word in more detail. Das Sitzfleisch…
Witches In Germany’s Harz Mountains Posted by Constanze on Oct 29, 2018
Guten Tag! Recently I gave you the creepy story of Walpurga Hausmannin, one of Germany’s most famous witches from the 16th Century. In today’s post we’ll continue on the witch theme by talking about a place in Germany that is famous for its association with witchcraft. To get to this place you need to visit…
Germany’s Most Famous Witch Posted by Constanze on Oct 17, 2018
Guten Tag and Happy Hallowe’en! OK, so we’re a bit early, but to prepare for the most gruselig (creepy) time of year, I’ll be bringing you a few posts related to some of the spookier aspects of Germany & German history. Today I am bringing you the story of Walpurga Hausmännin – one of Germany’s…
The Phonetic Alphabet in Germany Posted by Larissa on Oct 16, 2018
Over the past few months I have been using the telephone more and more at work, which means when someone wants to spell their name or address to me they use the phonetic alphabet (also known as Funkalphabet). At first I was completely unprepared and once they started to spell something I would begin just…
Sayings + Expressions 19: Horses Posted by Sten on Oct 12, 2018
Back again with a Sayings + Expressions, and this time we will talk about strong, beautiful and loyal animals: horses! If you want to read other posts in this series, follow this link. Now, let’s start with the Sprichwort (saying)! Dazu/dahin bringen mich keine zehn Pferde! Literally: No ten horses will make me do that/go there! Wild horses…
Old German Handwriting Posted by Constanze on Oct 10, 2018
When I was young there was an old German poster in my family kitchen that used to drive me insane, because although I knew it was in German, I couldn’t read what was written on it. It looked to me like another language! “It’s because that is old German handwriting”, my mum told me. “Some…