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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Stolpersteine

You’ll see this word a lot on and around November 9th in Germany, commemorating the Jews murdered by the Nazis.

German word of the day: Stolpersteine
Photo credit: Francesco Ungaro / Unsplash + Nicolas Raymond / flickr

What does it mean?

Stolpersteine, literally translated as “stumbling stones,” are small brass plates found outside the former residences of Jews taken, deported, and murdered during the Holocaust.

Each one is put in place of an old cobblestone outside the residence, wherever it is – even if the residence is no longer there or someone else currently lives there. If multiple Jews were taken from the residence, multiple Stolpersteine may appear there. Typically engraved on the plates is “hier wohnte” or “here lived” followed by the person’s name, maiden name if a married woman, date of birth, and the place and date of their death – typically in a ghetto or camp.

How do you use it or where might you see it?

Stolpersteine is a noun generally used in most contexts and understood to be implicitly plural, although you can also explicitly indicate plural use by saying die Stolpersteinen. In both cases, use the article die. If you want to make it clear that you’re talking about a single such brass plate, you can use the masculine der Stolperstein.

Stolpersteine are found predominantly in Germany, but are laid in cities around Europe, with the help of a German foundation. You’ll likely find a few newspaper articles about Stolpersteine around this time of year as Germans commemorate Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass” on November 9th, 1938, which saw Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues targeted with violence, with the blessing of the ruling Nazis.

READ ALSO: ‘Everything has changed’: What led to, and followed, Kristallnacht?

A Stolperstein dedicated to Dagny Herzberg is laid outside her former residence in Schönwalde-Glien, near Berlin in May 2022.

On the Kristallnacht anniversary every year, some people in Germany will pay their respects to victims by laying flowers at Stolpersteine, or by polishing the brass plates so they shine again in renewed remembrance and respect.

In addition to news articles, you might find tips on how to polish Stolpersteine in YouTube videos, for example.

You might, for example, see a clipping or video with this headline.

Stolpersteine reinigen. Eine einfache Anleitung – Cleaning Stolpersteine. A simple guide

READ ALSO: Stolpersteine: Standing defiantly in communities amid rising tensions

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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Dudelsack

This hilarious sounding German word describes something quintessentially Scottish.

German word of the day: Dudelsack

Why do I need to know Dudelsack?

In the run-up to the German v Scotland opening match of Euro 2024, there were a lot of these gracing the streets of Munich. More importantly, why wouldn’t you want to know a word like Dudelsack?

Just say the word aloud and it will brighten your day. 

What does it mean?

Dudelsack (pronounced like this) is one of those German words that’s both charmingly literal and somewhat onomatopoeic, describing a big bag or sack that makes a ‘doodling’ kind of noise: in other words, the bagpipes.

As well as sounding like the noise this traditional Scottish instrument makes, dudeln also translates as ‘to drone’, and anyone who’s heard the bagpipes will know that this is also a fairly accurate description of how they sound. 

READ ALSO: 10 German words with hilarious literal translations

As Scotland geared up to play Germany in the opening match of Euro 2024 in Munich, many sacks were doodled in the Bavarian capital. 

Seeing parades of kilts and hearing the distinctive wail of the Dudelsack against the backdrop of Munich’s gothic town hall isn’t something you experience every day, and we’re sure it’s an experience the people of Munich also won’t forget for a while. 

Use it like this: 

Hör mal auf, Dudelsack zu spielen! Es geht mir auf die Nerven.

Stop playing the bagpipes! It’s getting on my nerves.  

Weißt du, wie der Dudelsack klingt? Man hört ihn überall in Schottland.

Do you know what the bagpipes sound like? You can hear them everywhere in Scotland. 

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