German Language Blog
Menu
Search

Tag Archives: Switzerland

Chalking The Doors: A German New Year’s Tradition Posted by on Dec 30, 2020

Guten Tag und FROHES NEUES JAHR (HAPPY NEW YEAR)! Today’s post is all about a German New Year’s tradition that takes place on January 6th. January 6th in Germany is known as das Dreikönigsfest (‘the three kings festival’), otherwise known as Epiphany, and is celebrated primarily in southern Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. There…

Continue Reading

The German Word ‘Gell’ Posted by on Oct 21, 2020

Guten Tag! In today’s post, I’m bringing you two German words that are the same, but have different meanings. There are several words like this in German, the difference sometimes being their gender (der Taube – deaf person, and die Taube – pigeon, for example), or that the word ending changes when plural (die Mutter…

Continue Reading

Baby Naming Laws In Germany Posted by on Apr 29, 2020

Guten Tag! Today I thought we’d look at Germany’s baby naming laws. Firstly, what is a naming law? A naming law places restrictions upon what parents can call their children. These differ from country to country, with some countries having more relaxed laws than others. For that reason, I thought it would be interesting to…

Continue Reading

How Switzerland Started – The Bundesfeiertag Posted by on Aug 1, 2019

It’s August 1! Not only the start of another summery month, but also an important day: The Bundesfeiertag. The Swiss celebrate the birth of their beautiful country. So let’s have a look at what the Swiss do today and how this day started. A Controversial Date The Bundesfeiertag was celebrated for the first time in 1891 on…

Continue Reading

The Edelweiss And Its Meaning Posted by on Aug 22, 2018

Guten Tag! Today’s post is all about Edelweiss. I have countless pieces of jewellery from Germany with the Edelweiss on it, but it was only recently that I stopped to wonder: Why, exactly, is the Edelweiss so symbolic of Germany? What does it mean? Why is it everywhere? First of all, it came to my…

Continue Reading

The Swiss Silvesterklaus Posted by on Jan 3, 2018

Guten Tag und Prosit Neujahr! Hope you’ve all had a good rest and had a fantastic start to 2018! In my last post I talked about the origins of the German word for New Year’s Eve: Silvester. I also mentioned the Swiss character known as Silvesterklaus. Today I’d like to tell you a little more…

Continue Reading

Bicycle Tour Posted by on Aug 17, 2010

Some months ago I posted an article about Lake Constance (Bodensee), the biggest See (lake) in Germany. Maybe some of you remember. Due to my long summer holidays, now I had the chance to experience the lake another way as gewöhnlich (usual): Spontaneously my wife and I decided to circle the lake by bike!