Archive for 'Culture'
The German Lebkuchenhaus (Gingerbread House) Posted by Constanze on Dec 22, 2021
Guten Tag und Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)! Over the years we’ve made several posts on German Christmas traditions, of which there are many. Today we’re adding one more into the mix and talking about the Lebkuchenhaus – gingerbread house! Made from gingerbread and lavishly decorated with coloured icing and a variety of other Süßigkeiten (sweets)…
German Christmas Quiz Posted by Larissa on Dec 21, 2021
To get you into the Christmas spirit I have prepared a quiz, if you want to brush up on all of the Christmas vocabulary and history beforehand then have a look at these posts here, here, here and here. Let me know in the comments below how you do, viel Glück! True of False Presents…
Austrian Word Of The Year 2021 Posted by Constanze on Dec 15, 2021
Guten Tag! It’s coming to that time of year when each country reveals its Wort des Jahres – its ‘Word of the Year’! What is the Word of the Year? The Wort des Jahres is voted in each year by a jury (die Jury), usually made up of linguists (der Sprachwissenschaftler: linguist) and people from…
Die Impfpflicht comes to Germany – but how do you say that? Posted by Sten on Dec 10, 2021
While we wrote about it almost a year ago, it seems like it is finally happening now: The German Bundestag voted for a specific Impfpflicht (f, vaccination mandate) today – the first law passed by the new Ampelkoalition (f, traffic light coalition)!. This affects first and foremost die Pflegekräfte (caregivers) in places like nursing homes and…
The World’s Largest Advent Candle Is In Germany Posted by Sten on Dec 2, 2021
Advent, advent, die Kerze brennt! (Advent, advent, the candle is burning!) The four Sundays before Christmas are the four days of Advent, anticipating the birth of Christ. To mark these days, each of them gets a candle – the four Adventskerzen (f, advent candles). They can be attached to Adventskränze (m, advent wreaths) and can be found in…
Weihnachtsgurke: A German Christmas Tradition, Or Not? Posted by Constanze on Nov 30, 2021
Guten Tag! Can I say the W word yet? What’s the W word? Weihnachten (Christmas), of course! I love writing blog posts even more at this time of year, because so many aspects of Christmas have a connection with Germany and/or Austria, and reading about them really gets me in the mood for Christmas time!…
A little Cringe – Germany’s Youth Word 2021 Posted by Sten on Nov 22, 2021
A few weeks ago, the German Jugendwort des Jahres (Youth Word of the Year) was chosen. From a field with some strange contestants, one word clearly took the cake! What this word means and how it entered the German language, as well as the hilarious way the Tagesschau dealt with this news, let’s explore. A wide variety…