Tag Archives: Switzerland
Chalking The Doors: A German New Year’s Tradition Posted by Constanze 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…
The German Word ‘Gell’ Posted by Constanze 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…
Baby Naming Laws In Germany Posted by Constanze 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…
How Switzerland Started – The Bundesfeiertag Posted by Sten 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…
The Edelweiss And Its Meaning Posted by Constanze 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…
The Swiss Silvesterklaus Posted by Constanze 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…
Bicycle Tour Posted by jan 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!