Es schneit!!
It’s snowing!!

As I left work earlier it started to snow, and it just so happens that today was the day I decided to write this post: German snow vocabulary! What a lovely coincidence!

Though many people whinge about it I, for one, adore the snow. We’ve never had much of it here (in England), but I have fond memories of winter holidays in Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria, where my family are from) where everything was coated in white and I was often waist-deep in snow. Because of these holidays, I always think of Germany when it snows. I’ve dug out a few of my old photos to show you exactly what I mean. All of the photos I’m about to show you were taken by me – in 2004, if I remember correctly – and are of Zwiesel, Niederbayern and its surrounding areas. I remember being rendered completely speechless by the snow on this holiday. It would be nice to experience that again.

Where I stayed. Photo by Constanze Arnold.

The view from our holiday home. Photo by Constanze Arnold.

View from a window. Photo by Constanze Arnold.

3-tier Schnee! Photo by Constanze Arnold.

Isn’t it beautiful? Unfortunately there hasn’t been anywhere near as much snow as this there in recent years, which is rather sad for me. Apparently, there is currently 20 cm of snow in the valleys in Zwiesel, and 40 cm in the mountain ranges. Not quite as impressive as it was in the years when those photos were taken – but still better than anything we get in England!

Now that my holiday snaps have (hopefully) gotten you into the spirit of things, here’s my list of all things ‘snow’ in German:

Snow – Der Schnee
Snowfall – Der Schneefall
Snowball – Der Schneeball
Snowball fight – Die Schneeballschlacht
Snowstorm/Blizzard – Der Schneesturm
Snowman – Der Schneemann

Der Knopf/Die Knöpfe – button/buttons; Die Mütze – hat; Die Karotte – carrot; Der Schal – scarf

Snowflake – Die Schneeflocke
Powdery snow – Der Pulverschnee

Ice – Das Eis
Black ice – Das Glatteis
Icicle – Der Eiszapfen

Der Eiszapfen – Icicle. Photo by Constanze Arnold.

Avalanche – Die Lawine
Snow angel – Der Schneeengel
Snow blanket – Die Schneedecke

Die Schneedecke – snow blanket. Photo by Constanze Arnold.

Snow Plough – Der Schneeflug

To snow – schneien
To freeze – frieren
To throw (a snowball) – (Einen Schneeball) werfen
To crunch – knirschen

Vielen Dank to our Danish friends over at the Danish Language Blog, who gave me the idea for this post! Now it’s your turn to tell me – in German, obviously! – what your favourite thing about the snow is! Is it the chance to make a Schneemann? Having a Schneeballschlacht? The Knirschen of the Schnee underneath your feet? Share it!

Bis später,
Constanze x