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…
3 German Things That Aren’t So Efficient Posted by Constanze on Sep 26, 2018
Guten Tag! We often talk about Germans being ultra-efficient. In fact, one of the first things that comes to people’s minds when asked to describe Germans is usually a comment about their effizient (efficient) nature. So is there anything about German life and culture that’s actually… not so efficient? Here are three things that may…
The German Kur Posted by Constanze on Sep 19, 2018
When you need to take a period of sick leave from work, you generally stay at home during that time, right? In Germany, when you`re ill, as part of the Krankenkasse (German health insurance), you can request to be sent on a Kur – a type of spa break. Die Kur – literally ‘the cure’…
Celebrating Birthdays in Germany Posted by Larissa on Sep 18, 2018
Hello, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago which inspired me to write this post. I love birthdays – there is nothing better than a day of giving or recieving presents, eating cake and just generally being happy! Germany celebrates birthdays pretty much the same way as in the UK or USA, there is…