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GERMAN LANGUAGE

Eight things Germans believe bring good luck

Germans have several ways of bringing good fortune, from breaking things to chimney sweeps. Here's what you can do in Germany to bring yourself as much luck as possible.

Published: 29 July 2021 16:12 CEST
Updated: 7 January 2022 16:02 CET
Eight things Germans believe bring good luck
A group of chimney sweeps hike up the Brocken mountain on German Unity day last year to bring everyone luck. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Matthias Bein

A lot of superstitions about bad luck in Germany are well-known across the world. From lighting a cigarette with a candle to gifting knives, there are a whole load of possible missteps which might end up cursing you and your friends to years or even decades of bad luck.

But no fear- there are plenty of ways to ensure that you get lucky too. Here’s your eight-step guide to getting lucky according to German tradition. 

READ ALSO: Eight strange superstitions the Germans hold dearly

  • Pigs

One popular German phrase is ‘Schwein haben’ (literally ‘to have a pig’), which means that you got lucky. Similarly, ‘Schwein gehabt’ (literally ‘got pig’) is used as an expression of good fortune along the lines of saying ‘lucky you!’ or ‘lucky me!’. 

It is common to gift friends and family with a marzipan Glückschwein (good luck pig) to mark New Year. 

A German girl with her Sparschwein – or piggy bank. Yes, pigs are lucky. But it’s even luckier to have a pig full of money. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Patrick Pleul

Piggy banks (Sparschweine) are also given to youngsters to encourage them to save (because who doesn’t want a pig full of cash?).

Pigs are considered lucky because of their connection with fertility, successful harvest and thus prosperity. Piglets in particular are seen as portending good fortune. It is thought that this custom might have arisen in the Middle Ages, when to own pigs was a signal of wealth and status. 

READ ALSO: German word of the day: Sau

  • Smashing things

Smashing anything breakable, such as glass, china or ceramic is thought to bring good luck in Germany. Loud crashes and bangs from breaking household objects drive evil spirits out of the house, and are thought to bestow a few years of good fortune to the person who broke them. 

The German saying ‘Scherben bringen Glück’, meaning ‘shards bring luck’, was coined for this situation. Around wedding days, breaking porcelain plates is often a part of the celebration. According to custom, the more shards created by the process, the better luck the couple will have in married life.

This tradition is called Polterabend, and while it used to take place until midnight on the night before the wedding, nowadays it more frequently happens either on the wedding day itself or around a week before.

Ulrike and Martin probably smashed things at the Polterabend just before their wedding. We wonder if it brought them luck and they’re still together. Photo: picture-alliance / dpa | Roland_Witschel

So even if you might not be inclined to lather someone with well-wishes after they’ve just broken your favourite plate, remember to give a shout of ‘Scherben bringen Glück!’ to help them cash in on their years of good luck.

  • Salt

Salt (das Salz) is thought to have the power to bring good luck in Germany. Because of this, it’s seen as lucky to give salt and bread as a housewarming gift, and is thought to mean that the person moving in will never go hungry in their new home. 

It is believed that the superstition arose from a time when salt was a valuable commodity and a symbol of wealth and success. Only the richest and most prosperous could afford it. 

However, don’t think about combining superstitions and spilling your salt. Unfortunately, this will bring you seven years of bad luck.

Pass the salt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Catherine Waibel

In addition, make sure you don’t bring a knife with you to slice the housewarming bread. Giving a knife as a housewarming gift is seen as wishing death on the person you are gifting the present.

READ ALSO: Eight strange Austrian superstitions foreigners should know about

  • Black cats – but only if they’re moving in the right direction
This gorgeous lad is called Arne and he’s at the association Tierschutz Hildesheim und Umgebung e.V, Lower Saxony, if you’d like to check if he’s still available. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Julian Stratenschulte

Although in some countries black cats unequivocally bring bad luck, in Germany the relationship is more complicated. A black cat moving from left to right will bring bad luck, whereas a black cat moving from right to left will bestow good luck on the person whose path it crosses. 

The German saying relating to this superstition is ‘schwarze Katze von rechts nach links, Glück bringt’s’, which means ‘a black cat from right to left brings good luck.’

  • Chimney sweeps 
Consider yourself blessed with luck! Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Matthias Bein

Seeing a chimney sweep (der Schornsteinfeger) is meant to bring good luck in Germany – particularly on New Year’s Day or on your wedding day. This is thought in part to be because traditionally chimney sweeps would collect the fee for their services on the first day of each new year, meaning they were often among the first to wish families a happy new year. 

There’s a lovely story behind the main photo on this story, and the one above. It’s a group of chimney sweeps from Saxony-Anhalt who hiked up the Brocken mountain on the 30th anniversary of German reunification in October 2020. The group of 16 meet once a year and want to bring luck to everyone. 

It is thought to be even luckier if you turn one of the silver buttons on their uniforms, get ash on your face from a chimney sweep or if you see a chimney sweep in the presence of a pig! 

Alongside the marzipan pigs often gifted on New Year, you can also often find little chimney sweeps modelled out of marzipan. 

Befriending a chimney sweep can be seen as having good luck on demand, as inviting a chimney sweep to almost any social event will, according to tradition, ensure that it runs perfectly smoothly.

READ ALSO: Friday the 13th: Eight strange superstitions that the Germans hold dearly

  • Knocking on the pub table

Having a pint in a German pub might seem like a more raucous occasion to you than you’re used to, particularly if you notice your friends knocking their fists against the table as you walk in. However, this tradition isn’t just about greeting your pals and preparing for a fun-filled evening: it’s actually a way of communicating to them that you’re not the devil in disguise. 

Did these friends knock on wood before the Germany played France on June 15th during the Euros? (France won 1-0, sob).

Traditionally, pub or tavern tables were made out of oak because it was seen as a holy tree that the devil was unable to touch. By knocking on the wood (Holz klopfen), the people sitting around the table are able to prove that they haven’t been possessed by the spirit of evil. 

But be sure to make eye contact as you’re clinking glasses in the pub and saying ‘Prost’ (cheers), or according to German superstition you’ll be cursed with seven years of bad sex. 

READ ALSO: Why do Germans make eye contact when they clink glasses?

  • Putting a coin in a new wallet

Gifts are a tricky business according to German superstition, and it’s easy to accidentally slip up and buy something that could leave the recipient silently cursing you for condemning them to years of bad luck.

A wallet is always a versatile gift for a good friend, but one thing to remember is that if you’re buying someone a new wallet for their birthday or Christmas, you should remember to slip a penny or another coin in it for good luck. This should mean that the person you are gifting it to will never be poor.

Everyone wants a bulging wallet. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez
  • Hanging up a horseshoe

Before the dawn of technology like social media and text messaging, lovers would send love letters which were delivered by horse and carriage. Waiting for word from their significant others, they would listen out for the telltale sound of horses trotting up to their houses. Finding a horseshoe (das Hufeisen) was actually seen as more lucky and desirable than receiving the letter itself. 

“Good luck! feel free to grab a horseshoe,” tweeted one person after finding a ton of horseshoes last year. 

Traditionally, horseshoes are hung from the front door to bless visitors with good luck, though there are mixed opinions on which way they should be hung. 

It was thought that when a witch saw a horseshoe hanging over a door, she would have to ride every single road touched by that horseshoe, deterring her from bringing wickedness to the house in question.

However, if you do have a lucky horseshoe, you are running the risk of bad luck too – misplacing or losing it is thought to bring bad fortune.

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GERMAN LANGUAGE

‘Umpf’: Six noises to help you sound like a German

You may think fancy vocab is the only way to impress your friends in German, but these quirky noises could actually be the key to sounding like a local.

Published: 24 April 2024 17:23 CEST
Updated: 28 April 2024 08:39 CEST
'Umpf': Six noises to help you sound like a German

For most German-language learners, it’s a familiar scenario: you kick off your language journey with textbooks and courses and eventually start to get comfortable with the tricky grammar and vocabulary.

But as soon as you start talking to a native speaker, you’ll probably hear several words you’ve never heard before – and even a few confusing noises that are hard to decipher.

These funny sounds – which are usually described as discourse markers by linguists – can be used to express anything from exhaustion to surprise, or even to check whether the person you’re talking to is listening.

If you want to sound like a native, it’s worth getting familiar with these quirky noises and trying to incorporate them in your everyday speech.

The good news is that they’re a lot more fun to use than the tricky words you learn in language schools.

What’s more, they’re an easy way to add some natural flair and personality to your German.

READ ALSO: What are the different levels in German and how do I reach them?

Tja

Hearing this word can be confusing for foreigners, because it may sound an awful lot like “ja”, or yes.

But rather than being an affirmative response to a question, ‘tja’ is often used ahead of a contradiction or as an expression of scepticism, similar to the English word “well”.

You may also hear “tja”, or even “ja”, simply used as filler words for the speaker to buy time to think about what they’re saying. For example, if a stranger asks you if the next train to Dresden leaves from Platform 3, you may respond with “Ja… nein”, if you aren’t quite sure of the answer.

Another key meaning of ‘tja’ is best summed by a meme that defines it as a the typical German response to the apocalypse, nuclear war, alien attack or having no bread in the house.

When something catastrophic has happened – like the apolocalypse or an empty bread shelf – it can be taken to mean either “I told you so” or “sh*t happens”, casting an ironic light over the gloomy situation.

Here’s how you pronounce it.

Hä

This is a word you won’t read in the German textbooks, but “hä” is a sure-fire way to sound more German in your conversations.

Much like the English “huh?”, you can use “hä?” to express surprise or incomprehension. If a friend from your German course tells you they actually enjoy learning German grammar, then a disbelieving “hä?” is probably an apt response.

In a more banal context, if you haven’t quite understood what somebody’s said, a gentle “hä?” could stand in for the more polite and formal, “wie bitte?”.

A word of warning, though: “hä?” is viewed as very informal and can even be construed as rude in certain situations, so be sure to only use it among people you’re very friendly and familiar with.

Here’s how you pronounce it.

READ ALSO: German word of the day – Hä?

Ne

Whether you’re a fan of German podcasts or have a few German friends who enjoy to speak at length about the world, you’ve probably come across ‘ne’ at some point or other.

It’s generally used at the end of sentences to check that the other person is listening and has understood, similar to the English “right?” or “you know?”.

For that reason, it often has a high inflection, as if you’re asking a question – though you don’t necessarily expect a response.

So next time you embark on a long rant in German, try interjecting a “ne?” or two. This can add variety to your tone and at the very least ensure the other person hasn’t fallen asleep halfway through.

Here’s how it’s pronounced.

Auwa

When a German child trips and falls over at the Spielplatz, the first thing they may shout is, “Auwaaaaa!” before calling on their parents to come and comfort them.

But it’s not just the little ones who use this noise to express pain in Germany – adults will also emit an occasional “auwa!” if they accidentally stub their toe.

A sad teddy bear with broken arm

A sad teddy bear with a broken arm. “Auwa” is the most German way to respond to a painful accident. Photo: Photo by Trym Nilsen on Unsplash

An alternative to “auwa” is the more English-style “auch!”, which is pronounced the same as “ouch!” but spelled differently. This can also be used to respond to a comment that stings a little, as a good-natured way of letting someone know your feelings were hurt.

Here’s how “auwa” is pronounced.

Puh

Though hearing this word may bring some toilet humour to mind, “puh” has less to do with bodily functions than you might expect.

It’s actually more similar to the English word “phew”, which is used to express tiredness or relief.

One scenario you might use “puh” is after running to the bus stop to catch the last bus home. Once you sprint through the doors and sink into your seat, you may let out an exhausted “puh!” to show your relief at having made it.

Before you forget the more childish connotations entirely though, it’s worth knowing you can also use “puh” when encountering something disgusting.

If it’s your turn to take out the Biomüll and the rotten vegetables are starting to emit a foul odour, you might say, “Puh! Es stinkt!” (Ew! It stinks!”), before hurrying to the bins as fast as you can. 

Here’s how it’s pronounced.

READ ALSO: 12 colourful German expressions that’ll add swagger to your language skills 

Uff / Umpf

If you’ve ever eaten an entire bowl of Käsespätzle, you probably know the sensation of feeling so full you’re about to burst.

For precisely this situation, you’ll need to know “umpf” or “uff”. Both of these words neatly sum up that feeling of being stuffed to the brim with food – but not necessarily in a bad way.

A bit like “oof!” in English, “uff” and “umpf” are ways of showing that you’re both sated and a little bit sleepy after a big meal. With Germany’s very hearty cuisine, they’re both expressions that you’ll need in your life fairly often.

Here’s how “uff” is pronounced.

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