Tag Archives: Culture
How Germans Turned Into Almans Posted by Sten on Jan 27, 2020
Ah, the Germans. Attached to stereotypes of Pünktlichkeit (punctuality), Ordnung (order) and Gesetzestreue (law abidance) above all else, they have a distinct culture and lifestyle. But how could you encapsulate this in a term? What says “German” like nothing else? Alman, apparently. Let’s have a look. Making fun of Germans Don’t think we Germans are not aware of all these…
German ‘Non-Word’ of 2019 Posted by Constanze on Jan 15, 2020
Linguists from the Technische Universität Darmstadt have decided on the German Unwort des Jahres (the ‘non-word of the year’) 2019. The Unwort des Jahres is ‘Klimahysterie’. At the end of every year, the GfdS (German Language Association) picks a word for its Wort des Jahres (Word of the Year). This is a word that’s been…
St. Pauli – What’s up with this infamous German neighborhood? Posted by Sten on Nov 21, 2019
St. Pauli. You may have heard of this Stadtteil (district) in Hamburg. It is berüchtigt (infamous) and known all over Germany. But why? What’s so special about St. Pauli? FC St. Pauli The first reason is the Fußballverein (football club) FC St. Pauli that’s from this Stadtteil. While the name suggests that this is a Fußballverein only, it is much more. With…
The Last Remaining Part of East Germany? Posted by Constanze on Nov 6, 2019
Following the end of the war in 1945, Germany was divided in two. One side, the east, became Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) while the other side, the west, became Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD). When the country was eventually reunited in 1990, the BRD absorbed the DDR, and so what was formerly East Germany ceased to exist…
Germany’s ‘Free Body Culture’ Posted by Constanze on Oct 9, 2019
Guten Tag! Today the topic is die Nacktheit (nudity) in German culture, which is otherwise known as die Freikörperkultur or FKK – ‘free body culture’. Germany has a fairly relaxed attitude towards nudity and therefore you will see people go nude on beaches and in parks and saunas. There are saunas, for instance, where as…
Everything is named after this 250 year-old German Posted by Sten on Sep 22, 2019
On September 14, last week, the Geburtstag (birthday) of one of the most important German Entdeckungsreisender (explorers) was celebrated. Seen as a “Vordenker für das 21. Jahrhundert” (pioneer for the 21. century), Alexander von Humboldt made remarkable Entdeckungen (discoveries) and made a mark on different scientific fields and well, naming things. Let’s have a closer look on the 250…
3 Words About Former West Germany Posted by Constanze on Jul 24, 2019
Guten Tag! I recently read a book about the history of Germany. It contained many words I hadn’t heard of before, that gave insights into specific aspects of German history. The section on the post-war/Cold War period (1945-1991), in particular, used several German words when discussing the topic of East and West Germany. We all…