Tag Archives: stories
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…
A Unique German Way To Say It’s Snowing Posted by Constanze on Feb 7, 2018
Guten Tag! Is it snowing where you live? For me, there’s nothing better than that moment of seeing snow outside and exclaiming Es schneit! to whoever will listen. Today I’d like to give you a very different way of saying ‘It’s snowing’ in German. Frau Holle schüttelt ihre Betten aus A unique way of saying…
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…
German Children’s Stories 2: Zappelphilipp Posted by Constanze on Sep 14, 2016
Guten Tag! Today I’m tying two topics together: An untranslatable word (we haven’t had one of those for a while!) and a classic German children’s story. One of these inspired the other. Want to learn more? The German word I am focusing on today is der Zappelphilipp. What does der Zappelphilipp mean? A ‘Zappelphilipp’…
German Children’s Stories 1 Posted by Constanze on Jul 22, 2016
Guten Tag! A little while ago somebody requested posts on children’s books and stories. I thought, where better to start than the German books my mum used to read to me as a child! DER STRUWWELPETER Der Struwwelpeter is a very famous German children’s book by Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann. Hoffmann wrote it because he couldn’t…
Truly Grimm: German Fairytales Posted by Constanze on Mar 11, 2016
Guten Tag! Most people will have heard of die Brüder Grimm (the Brothers Grimm) and their Märchen (fairy tales). Perhaps you’ll have read a few of them, or seen the Disney adaptations of these gruesome stories. But who exactly were these famous German brothers, and what is it like reading their fairy tales in German?…