Wort der Woche: Feuerwerk

In Great Britain many children are getting ready for Bonfire Night, November 5th. On this night you will see and hear the bright colours and loud explosive noises of hundreds of Feuerwerke in the evening skies.


German people tend to buy Feuerwerke at the end of December to mark their New Year's Eve festivities. In fact in a year they set off over 30,000 tonnes of fireworks.


Feuerwerke is pronounced Foy-uh- verker.

These are some of the fireworks which are popular at German parties.

Raketen

Chinaböller

und Sternspritzer

Wort der Woche: Apfel



This ancient fruit is known the world over. Der Apfel ist rund, saftig und süß; round, juicy and sweet.



Used throughout Germany this humble fruit provides refreshing juice (Apfelsaft) and glasses of foaming cider (Apfelmost) and is an important ingredient in many cakes and puddings. One of the most famousof these is Apfelstrudel which is so well known it goes by its German name in many non German-speaking countries.

 

Apfelstrudel is a Viennese pastry, with a juicy filling made of apples spiced with cinnamon and flavoured with sharp lemon juice and sweet rum. The whole cake is dusted with icing sugar and usually served witha good Austrian coffee. To find out how to make this delicious teatime treat, click here.

Can you work out what this proverb means?
Einen Apfel pro Tag, mit dem Doktor keine Plag.

I think you might have guessed this one. The english version is: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Wort der Woche: Silber

Silber is the colour of the medal for the second best competitor in a sporting event. It is the precious metal used to make Schmuck ( rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, brooches). A Silberschmied uses traditional techniques to make items from Silber.

An German proverb claims that Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold. Although speaking (Reden) is deemed valuable enough for silver, it comes second place to silence (Schweigen). And a married couple who reach the dizzy heights of 25 years of marriage may celebrate their silberne Hochzeit.

Silberweiß could be used to describe moonlight, and the white willow is known in German as die Silber-Weide.

word of the week: bratwurst

Are you a sausage-lover? If so a trip to Germany is right up your street! There are probably as many types of sausage as there are regions in Germany. Wikipedia lists 36 pages of sausage varieties and each page features a few sub-varieties.

Bratwurst is the most well-known sausage. There are over 40 different recipes for Bratwurst alone. The main ingredient is always chopped meat, usually pork, beef or veal, and flavoured with herbs and spices. The Nürnberger Rostbratwurst is similar in size to a British banger (whereas most German sausages are about twice the size) and is a pork sausage lightly seasoned with marjoram. They are traditionally grilled over a beechwood fire. In a pub they are served on a plate with plenty of delicious sauerkraut and eye-watering horseradish.

If you are in a hurry you can buy them from a street vendor at an Imbißstube. They are usually sold in threes inside bread rolls, slathered in hot German mustard.

Recently Germans have acquired a taste for Currywurst. This is simple and filling fast food, German style. One pork sausage, steamed then fried, is cut into slices and served with generous amounts of warm curry ketchup. This is simply what it sounds like - tomato ketchup blended with curry powder. The Currywurst is usually accompanied by chips or bread rolls.

Currywurst probably owes its existence to British soldiers living and working in Berlin after World War Two. They used curry powder in their own cooking and it is thought that they traded the spicy seasoning with resourceful  German entrepreneur Herta Heuwer. She then put a German spin on the traditional Indian flavours by mixing them with ketchup and serving her creation up with good old German sausage. It has been a firm favourite with young and old ever since.



Here stood the snack stand in which on September 4th 1949 Herta Heuwer invented the spicy
Chillup® sauce for the now world famous Currywurst.



wort der woche: Honig

If you like your food you probably already know that Honig, the food of kings and paupers, is honey. The sweet treat that comes from the Honigbiene (honeybee) is an essential ingredient in a Honigkuchen and on Honigbrot.

Honiggelb is a warm shade of yellow, the colour of Honigwabe. You could find a piece of Honigwabe inside a beehive. It is made up of tiny hexagonal cells which the Queen bee lays her eggs inside. Have you worked out what it is yet? Too right, it's honeycomb!

And one last word. If you are grinning like a Cheshire cat (like the cat in Alice in Wonderland whose smile remained even after it had gone), then the Germans say du grinst wie ein Honigkuchenpferd (you are grinning like a honeycake-horse). I suppose if you were a honeycake-horse you'd have quite a lot to grin about.

Wort der Woche: grün

In the German language green is the colour of politics, inexperience and jealousy. A green-fingered gardener is said to have eine grüne Hand and if you have grüne Augen you are grünäugig or jealous.

A person who lacks experience might be grün hinter den Ohren or wet behind the ears as we would have it. A Grünschnabel is a young whippersnapper, a delightful term in both languages.

Green places are much loved parts of the German landscape and the outside of cities is often surrounded by a grüner Gürtel,  a green belt of farmland, parks and open country where development is not allowed. In the middle of a motorway the Grünstreifen separates traffic flowing in opposite directions. The traditional village green of England, however, is known in German as the Dorfanger.

Other expressions:
                                           

die Grünen	the Greens/Green Party
die Ampel steht auf Grün	the lights are green
der Bauplatz im Grünen	greenfield site
der Grünfink	greenfinch
grünes Licht geben	to give the green light/go-ahead
er hat mich grün und blau geschlagen	he beat me black and blue
ich bin ihr nicht grün	I don’t care much for her
die Grünanlage	green space, park
der Grünspecht	woodpecker

wort der woche: vogel

Ich habe einen Vogel does mean you have a bird, but be careful with this phrase because it can also mean that you are a bit batty. You know, cuckoo, crazy, round the bend.

A Vogelgehirn is another label you might not use to describe yourself. Gehirn means brain so I'm guessing you've already worked out that a Vogelgehirn would be a bird-brain, right?

However you might be happy to be known as a Spaßvogel. The life and soul of the party a Spaßvogel knows how to have fun and is known as a bit of a joker. Spaß is the German word for fun, and you might wish somebody Viel Spaß! (literally much fun!)



The early bird catches the worm



A well known German saying tells us that Der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm. The same saying exists in English too and this picture might help you to puzzle out what it means.

Staying on the subject of animals you might know that a Spinne is a spider and a Vogelspinne is the notorious bird-eating spider from Australia. This giant spider would fit snugly into the palm of a man's hand but you might prefer it to keep away. Its venomous fangs can grow up to 1.5 inches long, and although the poison is fairly harmless to humans it would be as unpleasant as being stung by a wasp. Despite its name the Vogelspinne does not usually eat birds. In the wild it  uses its deadly fangs to kill and consume small rodents, lizards and bats as well as insects. In captivity Vogelspinnen live off a diet of cockroaches, crickets and other insects.

Die australianische Vogelspinne

wort der woche: fahrrad

I remember my first Fahrrad. It was passed down to me from my sister and had solid tyres. I spent hours riding it round the garden and perfected the art of cycling with a cardboard box over my head. Until one day I steered the bike right over the edge of the lawn and dropped four foot, landing in a flower bed.

Fahrrad comes from das Rad which means the wheel and fahren meaning to go or to drive.

Germans often talk about their Rad just as we in England shorten bicycle to bike.

In German towns you will see dozens of bicycles. Most cities have constructed cycle ways which are called Radwege. These safe cycling routes often have their own traffic lights and cyclists in Germany are generally more noticeable and treated with more respect by motorists than they are in the UK.

The Donauradweg is a beautiful cycling route which runs beside the river Danube through Germany and Austria.

If you want to hear more about cycling in Germany why not listen to Annik Rubens' podcast on Radfahren (cycling)?

wort der woche: regenschirm

You might need to take a Regenschirm along with you if the weather forecast predicts Regenschauer. It would also be useful in a Schneeschauer or a Hegelschauer.

Another German compound word, Regenschirm is made up of two words. Regen means rain and a Schirm is a shield or a mask. So, put together a Regenschirm will shield you from the rain. What do you think a Sonnenschirm might be?

Rain being very widespread in Germany there are other compounds beginning with Regen. A Regenjacke can easily be packed in a bag and taken out with on excursions. And in the garden you might want to collect Regenwasser in a Regentonne.

After a period of Regenfall you might spot a few Regenwürme wriggling around on the earth in your garden.

American writer and humorist Mark Twain wrote of bankers « Ein Bankier ist ein Mensch, der seinen Schirm verleiht, wenn die Sonne scheint und der ihn sofort zurückhaben will, wenn es zu regnen beginnt.»

Radfahrer im Regenschauer

wort der woche: pumpernickel

A dark, chewy, moist and slightly sweet mouthful is Pumpernickel. A very German treat, and some say it is an acquired taste. The bread is made with coarse rye flour and its dark colour comes from a very long baking time.

In the USA Pumpernickel has become popular and is usually sweetened and darkened with cocoa powder, molasses or coffee. In the States and parts of Europe the bread is available in delis and chic eateries, although in Germany and Poland it is still everyday fare. Here in the UK it can be bought at German supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi.

Pumpernickel tastes delicious on its own, toasted, or with cheese, cold meats, smoked salmon. To make your own version of the bread try the recipe by Deb from Smitten Kitchen.

wort der woche: das treppenhaus

Treppenhaus is one of scores of German compound nouns, that is a noun made up of two or more nouns. Treppe means stairs and Haus means house. Put together they describe the hallway of a building shared by multiple occupiers. If the building has several Klingelknöpfe (doorbells) then you can expect to walk into a shared Treppenhaus on entering the building.

In many old town houses which have been divided up into apartments the Treppenhaus might contain several lockable letterboxes. The Briefträger (postman/woman) can then easily deliver mail to all the residents of a large house without having to climb five or six sets of stairs in each building.

Another feature of German Treppenhäuser is the light switches. There is a light switch on each landing so that anybody entering or leaving the building can switch on the stair lights. After two minutes the lights then go off automatically, saving electricity and cutting down on waste. Legendary German efficiency.

Elegant art nouveau staircase in Vienna

wort der woche: mohnbrötchen

If you happen to be in Germany for breakfast and are offered Mohnbrötchen then snap them up. They are tasty white bread rolls (Brötchen) sprinkled with poppy seeds (Mohn) and are often eaten at breakfast spread with jam (Marmelade) or Nutella. Many Germans prefer a savoury start to the day and take their Brötchen with ham (Schinken) or cheese (Käse). In Austria and southern Germany these rolls are known as Semmel.

As well as Mohnbrötchen you may see weiche Brötchen on the menu. These are soft rolls and much easier to chew. What do you think is sprinkled onto a Sesambrötchen?

Can you spot any of these delicious morsels in the picture below?

Orangensaft
Käse
Müsli
Tee
Kaffee
Joghurt
Honig
ein gekochtes Ei
Tomatensaft
Knäckebrot
Äpfel

Word of the week: Schultüte

Welcome back after the summer break! I hope you have all had a good holiday and are ready for another year learning lots of German.

Starting the new school year with a Schultüte is a much-loved custom in parts of Germany and Austria. Six-year olds who are just beginning their first year at school carry large cones with them on their first day. The cones are made of paper or card and are brightly decorated. Inside there are sweets and stationery items that will be useful to them as they start school.

Austrian schoolgirls prepared for their first day of school.

To make your own Schultüte click here and follow the instructions.

Word of the Week: Spaghettieis

Spaghettieis is a German-invented ice cream, a cool concoction that looks like a plate of spaghetti bolognese. Created in the 1960s in Mannheim, it is not very well known outside Germany. The white ice cream is squeezed through a press so that it resembles spaghetti, before being topped with strawberry sauce and grated almonds or white chocolate shavings to represent parmesan cheese.

What do you think? Would you try some?

Word of the Week: lustig

Lustig is a great German word. It means funny, merry, jolly. It can also be added to another word to give another layer of meaning. For example, lebenslustig means in love with life, or full of zest.

Does anyone know any other adjectives ending with -lustig? I'd be really interested to know.

Word of the Week: der Dudelsack

This is not a particularly German instrument, but the word appeals to my sense of humour. Literally, ein Dudelsack is a tootle-bag, an instrument very popular in Scotland but common throughout Europe.

Word of the Week: die Klassenfahrt

This does not mean what you think! It is quite innocently a school trip. When I worked in Austria I went on some great school trips. One of them lasted a week and was really a Skifahrt to the Alps. Another very memorable Klassenfahrt was to Windischgarsten, high up in the central Austrian mountains, where we visited a sword factory in the morning and spent the afternoon on a Sommerrodelbahn, a summer toboggan run.

 

Word of the Week: Gummistiefel

Gummistiefel is a compound noun; that means it is one long word made of two shorter words put together. Gummi meaning rubber or gum; you may have heard of Gummibär already. German children buy sticks of Kaugummi; can you guess what it might be?

Stiefel is a cool word meaning boots. I like it because it makes me think of a pair of high heeled stiletto boots; it sounds like steeple! So Gummistiefel, have you worked out what they are yet?

Word of the Week: die Biene

Die Biene (pronounced dee beener) is somebody we all rely on. Bees gather nectar from flowers for their own food, and while doing this their bodies collect grains of pollen. The pollen grains then brush off onto other flowers and those flowers develop into seeds and fruit. Without bees a lot of our flowering plants would find it tough to survive. Bees do have a nasty sting but they only use it as a last resort!

Word of the Week: Schnecken

This is one of those words which can have more than one meaning (in other words it's a homonym!)
Schnecken are small gastropods that carry round their own shells for protection and shelter. Birds feast on them and if they survive they love to nibble on dainty lettuces and other garden morsels.

 



The other kind of Schnecken is a delicacy that most people find irresistible. They are cinnamon flavoured buns that are eaten with coffee, and can be bought in the bakery or made at home. Leckere Schnecken! One just isn't enough!