Tag Archives: West Germany
The Germans on the Germans: East & West Posted by Constanze on Nov 13, 2019
Hallo! Every country has names for people from different regions within that country. Over the next few posts we’ll look at what words Germans have for other Germans, and why. In this post we will look at what people from eastern Germany call people from western Germany, and vice-versa. A follow-up post will look at…
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…
Germany’s Historic Ghost Stations Posted by Constanze on May 8, 2019
Guten Tag! Today’s post is about die Geisterbahnhöfe – ‘ghost train stations’. This is a term you may already be familiar with, but in German, this word has a significant and interesting history. So, let’s delve right into it! Throughout this post I may refer to the word in its singular or plural form, so…
A Brief History Of The German Flag Posted by Constanze on May 8, 2017
The German flag, with its black, red and gold stripes, is one of the most easily recognisable flags in the world. In this post, I’ll give you some information about the origins of the current flag, and show you some of its variations throughout history. The Holy Roman Empire 962–1806 Known in German as…
The Power of German Traffic Lights Posted by Constanze on Aug 17, 2015
Who knew a pedestrian crossing could have such an impact? Yet that’s exactly what the Ampelmann (also sometimes called by its more endearing term, Ampelmännchen) has been doing in Germany and Austria over the years! A LITTLE BACKGROUND The fascination with pedestrian crossings in Germany started with the famous Ost-Ampelmännchen, which was born in Berlin…
“Westpakete” Posted by Sandra Rösner on Oct 25, 2010
I was born in the ehemaligen (former) German Democratic Republic. And although I was still very young at the time als die Berliner Mauer fiel (when the Berlin Wall came down) and Germany was reunited, I can still recall the Mangelversorgung (scanty supply) that occurred damals (in those days). For instance, I can remember that…