{"id":130,"date":"2010-02-24T00:09:41","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T05:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=130"},"modified":"2017-11-14T09:37:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T09:37:57","slug":"train-fare-dodging-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/train-fare-dodging-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Train Fare Dodging in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every German is familiar with the word Schwarzfahrer<\/em>\u2014literally, black rider but meaning ‘fare-dodger.\u2019<\/p>\n

Depending on what type of \u00f6ffentliche Verkehrsmittel<\/em> (public transportation) you are riding, a conductor or ticket monitor is not usually bei der Pflicht <\/em>(on duty). Vorsicht (<\/em>careful, watch out)! The Kontrolle <\/em>(ticket monitor) could come aboard and ask to see your Fahrschein <\/em>(ticket). Without your fare, die Kontrolle <\/em>(ticket monitor, surveillance) will ticket you with a vierzig<\/em> (fourty) Euro Strafgeld <\/em>(fine). \u00a0The practice of the honor system as a fare purchasing method, reaches beyond the German boarders. Countries across Europe like Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands use this system.<\/p>\n

It was a Saturday night in Portsmouth, NH. I had just finished up my shift at The Wellington Room and was bringing up the trash barrel from outside. There were a few stragglers, friends of the waitress, nursing their Getr\u00e4nke<\/em> (drinks) at the bar. The guy on the right drank wine and the man on the left sipped beer. At rather a most opportune time, Germany became the subject of conversation. The wine drinker mentioned an experience he had in Italy and told a familiar story about public transportation. He described how eine kleine, alte Frau<\/em> (a little, old woman), was stopped by the ticket monitor and asked for her Fahrschein <\/em>(fare\/ticket). He witnessed how the old lady rummaged through her purse and pulled out, one after the other, four or five ung\u00fcltig<\/em> (void, invalid) tickets. Sadly, the old lady was removed from the bus and penalized with a fine.<\/p>\n

As the wine drinker told us the story of the Italian lady, I was immediately reminded of my own Schwarzfahrer Erlebnise <\/em>(fare-dodging experience).<\/p>\n

As anyone may have the Gelegenheit <\/em>(opportunity), so too was I a Schwarzfahrer <\/em>(fare dodger). However, in my version the Teilnehmer <\/em>(participants) could have avoided the ultimate outcome. You see, I had a g\u00fcltig<\/em> (valid) ticket at the time. I was a student at L\u00fcneburg Universit\u00e4t <\/em>(L\u00fcneburg University) and we received free access to public transportation. I had my ID\/ticket right after the Abfahrt<\/em> (departure) from L\u00fcneburg Hauptbahnhof <\/em>(main\/central\u00a0train station)\u00a0to Hamburg Haubtbahnhof<\/em> (main\/central\u00a0train station).<\/p>\n

However, on the way back the next morning I no longer had my Fahrschein<\/em> (ticket) on me. I assumed it had fallen out of my pocket somewhere during the night. It was 7:00am after a night of dancing and walking around the city. There were three other people with me and we were all fix und fertig (dog-tired).<\/em> To complicate things the youngest of us was a friend\u2019s sister who had borrowed a Spanish exchange student\u2019s ID\/ticket. As the Schafferin<\/em> (female conductor), in this case, came along, Jess\u2014pretending to be Monica from Spain\u2014showed her the borrowed Fahrkarte<\/em> (ticket). Jess then quickly slipped it under the table over to me. I handed it to the conductor. She looked at the card and then looked at me and then looked at the card and questioned, \u201cSie hei\u03b2en Monica (<\/em>you’re called\/named Monica)?\u201d\u2014wir waren erwischt<\/em> ( we were caught)!<\/p>\n

At the train station, we were escorted into a gr\u00fcn<\/em> (green) van at L\u00fcneburg Central Train Station and taken to the police station. During the ride, I made small talk with the officers (who were extremely friendly). We even joked that I was really experiencing German culture. Inside the police station we were ausgefragt <\/em>(questioned). While Jess was being accused of Beihilfe<\/em> (abetment), her Schwester <\/em>(sister) and I had to guide us through the process because we had told the Polizei<\/em> (police) Jess was from Spain and couldn\u2019t speak any English or German.<\/p>\n

After we checked out okay, they brought us home. I, of course, was scheduled to return to the Gerichtsgeb\u00e4ude<\/em> (courthouse) at a later date.\u00a0I am not a hundred percent proud of this incident, but I do brag of how it brought me closer to understanding German culture.<\/p>\n

Stories like the two above, gibt\u2019s wie Sand am Meer<\/em> (are a dime a dozen) and provide a common ground for dialogue. When you connect with someone who had the same experience, a bound is automatically created with that person. This is how, through communication, cultural Barrieren <\/em>(Barriers) can sometimes be avoided.<\/p>\n

What struck me about this conversation was that we were having it in a small restaurant in Portsmouth, NH, in a small city some thousand miles away from Germany; we all agreed that it wasn\u2019t the first time the subject of the\u00a0Schwarzfahrer <\/em>(fare dodger) came up in conversation.<\/p>\n

\n

Links to videos about\u00a0Schwarzfahrer <\/em>(fare dodger):<\/p>\n

\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Vjc8P1yBYIY<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZPFbOAITnHk&feature=related<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Der Schwarzfaher-fare dodger<\/p>\n

\u00f6ffentliche Verkehrsmittel \u2013 public transportation<\/p>\n

\u00f6ffentlich – public<\/p>\n

bei der Pflicht\u2013 on duty, at work, prepositional phrase, dative<\/p>\n

Vorsicht \u2013watch out<\/p>\n

Die Kontrolle- surveillance, monitor, control<\/p>\n

vierzig – fourty<\/p>\n

Das Strafgeld<\/p>\n

Die Getr\u00e4nke \u2013 the drinks<\/p>\n

eine kleine, alte Frau<\/p>\n

ein \u2013one<\/p>\n

klein – small<\/p>\n

alt – old<\/p>\n

Farhschein \u2013 ticket<\/p>\n

Die Fahrkarte \u2013 ticket<\/p>\n

Die Fahrkarten – tickets<\/p>\n

Fix und fertig – dog-tired<\/p>\n

Ung\u00fcltig \u2013 void, invalid<\/p>\n

Das Erlebnise \u2013the experience<\/p>\n

Die Gelegenheit \u2013 opportunity<\/p>\n

Die Gelegenheiten – opportunities<\/p>\n

Der Teilnehmer \u2013 participant<\/p>\n

Die Teilnehmer – participants<\/p>\n

g\u00fcltig – valid<\/p>\n

universit\u00e4t – University<\/p>\n

L\u00fcneburg \u2013 a small city in Northern Germany<\/p>\n

Die Abfahrt – depature<\/p>\n

Die Abfahrten – depatures<\/p>\n

Der Hauptbahnhof central\/main train station<\/p>\n

Der Schaffer\/die Schafferin \u2013 male\/female conductor<\/p>\n

Sie hei\u03b2en Monica\u2014Formal you, verb, to be called \u201cIs your name Monica?\u201d<\/p>\n

gr\u00fcn – green<\/p>\n

ausgefragt – questioned<\/p>\n

Die Beihilfe -abetment<\/p>\n

Die Schwester – sister<\/p>\n

Die Polizei – Police<\/p>\n

Das Gerichtsgeb\u00e4ude \u2013Courthouse<\/p>\n

Die Gerichtsgeb\u00e4ude – Courthouses<\/p>\n

gibt\u2019s wie Sand am Meer \u2013 idiomatic expression for \u201ca dime a dozen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Die Barrieren \u2013 barriers<\/p>\n

Die Barriere \u2013 barrier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every German is familiar with the word Schwarzfahrer\u2014literally, black rider but meaning ‘fare-dodger.\u2019 Depending on what type of \u00f6ffentliche Verkehrsmittel (public transportation) you are riding, a conductor or ticket monitor is not usually bei der Pflicht (on duty). Vorsicht (careful, watch out)! The Kontrolle (ticket monitor) could come aboard and ask to see your Fahrschein…<\/p>\n

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