In the last few years, Germans and other German-speakers have been embroiled in a debate over das Gendern, or "gendering." Anyone who has tried to master the German language knows that, unlike English, all nouns in German, not just proper nouns, are capitalized and...
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Traveling to Germany in Covid Times: What You Need to Know
Before You Go If you, like me, have been champing at the bit, eager to once again fly to Germany from the USA, it is now possible. While we don't currently have truly ideal conditions, US-Americans are now taking long-haul flights across the Atlantic and landing in...
The Matterhorn and Zermatt: What You May Not Know About the World’s Most Iconic Mountain
Berg der Berge (Mountain of Mountains) Let's start in Zermatt, a city without combustion-engine autos (to preserve its pure mountain air). Electric-powered shuttles provide local transport. Most visitors reach Zermatt via the cog railway from the nearby town of Täsch....
Germany in the USA and Canada: Part 2
A Preview of German Place Names and Connections: From Leipsic to Winesburg When I first wrote about German Place Names in the USA and Canada more than five months ago, I realized that the topic was far more vast than I had originally thought. Since then, as I have...
Why Does Berlin (BER) Have So Few International Long-Haul Flights?
Why is Berlin such an international flight provincial backwater? For a major European capital city, Berlin has very few international nonstop flights. Long-haul flights to and from other continents are a rarity in Berlin, Germany's largest city by far. (The Berlin...
Germany’s TV Tax: The Debate Over the Rundfunkbeitrag
Germany's Version of British TV Licensing North Americans newly arrived in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland are surprised to learn that they have to pay an annual fee to receive public broadcasting radio and television plus internet video streaming. Even if you don't...
Exiles and Expats in Switzerland: From Albert Einstein to Tina Turner
Switzerland as a Refuge US-born Tina Turner lived in Switzerland with her German-born husband from 1994 until her death at 83 in May 2023. Albert Einstein did the same with his wife in Bern and Zurich about a century earlier. Both Albert Einstein and Tina Turner also...
Claus Spreckels: The German-American “Sugar King”
The Germans Who Built America's Sugar Industry Not all the early American sugar barons were German. But most of them were. If you don't know the story of sugar, you're missing a fascinating tale. We don't have room to tell you that whole sweet story here, but we do...
When Is Your Name Day (Namenstag)? Happy Name Day!
In some places your name day is more important than your birthday. If you don't know when your name day is, you live in a part of the world where the celebration of your given name (first name, Vorname, Christian name) is uncommon or even unheard of. That would be...
Germany in the United States and Canada
North American Communities with German Namesakes This was originally intended as a normal brief blog post about German (and Austria/Swiss) place names in the USA. However, as I was researching and writing this post, I began to realize that the topic was far more...
My Favorite German Words and Expressions
Meine Lieblingswörter und Redewendungen Thanks to Hitler's ranting speeches and Hollywood WWII movies, the German language has a less than ideal reputation as a foreign language. Among most people who do not speak it (and even among some who do), German is regarded as...
An ABC Cultural Manual for Germany (Part 2)
A Field Guide to Cultural Differences Between Germany and the USA (Part 2) Over time we at The German Way have covered the topic of daily life and cultural comparisons between Germany and the USA (and other places) very thoroughly. But it's a vast topic, and there's...
A Tale of Two Airports: From TXL to BER
Berlin Gets a (Fairly) New Airport It finally happened on the last day of October 2020 (Halloween!). It was a long wait, but despite scandals, false starts, huge budget overruns, and a major black mark against vaunted German efficiency, Berlin Brandenburg Airport...
Thomas Jefferson’s German Connections
Jefferson's European Education In 1788, while serving as an American diplomat in Paris, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) spent two weeks on the road for an unofficial private journey along the Rhine. In my article, Germany’s Route 66: A Road Trip on Bundesstraße 3, I...
The German Who Named America
America • The Americas • American: What's in a Name? How did the American continent (Erdteil in German, "earth part") get its name? America, considered one continent or a "double continent," was the fourth one to be discovered by Europeans. When (in 1606) they found...
Expat or Immigrant: Is There Really a Difference?
Beyond Dictionary Definitions: Expat or Immigrant Most foreigners living in Germany or other countries are faced sooner or later with the question: Am I an expat or an immigrant? At first glance it may seem to be a superficial matter of dictionary definitions. But for...
Who invented the bicycle? The German connection
"Bicycle" in German: das Fahrrad and das Velo The bicycle is one of those everyday things we take for granted. Almost everyone as a child learns to ride a bike (trainer wheels with mom or dad as coach). I grew up riding various Schwinn bicycles (more on that below)...
Germany’s Other Dark Chapter: The Colonial Past and Genocide in Africa
'Black Lives Matter' is Also a German Concern The Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and around the globe, including in France, Germany, and the UK, have led people to confront the issue of racial discrimination in their own countries and elsewhere. Both...
David Bowie in West Berlin and the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ Recordings
"Heroes" is the only Berlin Trilogy album fully created and recorded in Berlin Most music fans know that the British singer and musician David Bowie lived in West Berlin and created three albums there, commonly referred to as the "Berlin Trilogy" (Low, "Heroes", and...
Walt Disney’s European Tour in 1935: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
The Nazi Rumors and Disney Over the years, at various times, Walt Disney's been labeled anti-Semitic, a Nazi sympathizer, and a racist. When Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) visited Hollywood to promote her Olympia film in 1938, Walt Disney was the rare exception of a...
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