A few things to know about delicious Sachertorte Posted by Sten on Dec 29, 2016
At the beginning of this week, there was this mysterious Holzdose (wooden box) on the Küchentisch (kitchen table) at work. A decorated S crowned the words Hotel Sacher, written in Schönschrift (calligraphic writing). Located in WIEN, as the box revealed. A Siegel (seal) underneath told me what’s inside: Original Sacher Torte, it said, again in Schönschrift. You wonder what that is? Soft, chocolatey crumbles, a perfectly sweet…
What are Reichsbürger? Posted by Sten on Dec 22, 2016
There is a bizarre Bewegung (movement) in Germany: The Reichsbürgerbewegung (Reich’s Citizens Movement). They recently came into the spotlight because a Polizist (police officer) was shot. Who are these people? What do they stand for? And what do they want? Let’s find out! What is a Reichsbürger? A Reichsbürger is a German citizen that doesn’t recognize the German state. Some of them believe that…
German Christmas Quiz 2016 Posted by Constanze on Dec 21, 2016
Guten Tag! As it’s my last post before Christmas I thought it’d be fun (educational fun… haha) to get into the Christmas spirit with a German Christmas quiz! Throughout the years the team here on the German blog have written some great articles about Christmas time in Germany. So, first of all, make yourself a…
The German Word ‘Los’ Posted by Constanze on Dec 14, 2016
Guten Tag! There are many ‘little’ German words that often interest language learners, and have them asking questions. Why? Because some of these ‘little words’ have different meanings, or can be used either on their own or as part of other words. For this reason they are often confusing at first, which is why, when…
The German Boogieman Posted by Constanze on Dec 7, 2016
Guten Tag! Today, inspired by a kids’ song I was reminded of recently, the theme is German mythological monsters! The kids’ song is called Es Tanzt Ein Bi-Ba Butzemann. I know this song from my childhood, as many German children probably will. The song is about a Butzemann dancing around in somebody’s house. The first…
Christmas Vocabulary in German Posted by Larissa on Dec 6, 2016
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… which is why I’ve decided to write a post with useful vocabulary you need to know when talking about Christmas! I’ve included links to other Christmassy posts which you’ll find further down. Weihnachten Christmas der Heiligabend …
Germany’s Youth Word of 2016 Posted by Constanze on Nov 30, 2016
Guten Tag! You may remember last year I wrote about the Wort des Jahres (Word of the Year) and the Unwort des Jahres (Un-word of the Year – an offensive/negative word of the year) for 2014. These are published towards the end of each year by the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (GfdS) – the Association…