Warum wir Deutschland mögen

Fotos, Zitate und andere deutsche Häppchen Photos, quotes, and other German treats

[thatswhywelovegermany]

einen Stich haben

literally: to have a sting / stab

to be not be quite right in the head, to have strange ideas

Origin: Possibly originating from sunstroke.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Ein falscher Satz wird gewöhnlich durch einen ebenso falschen Gegensatz verdrängt, erst spät findet man die in der Mitte liegende Wahrheit.

A false proposition is usually displaced by an equally false opposite; only later does one find the truth that lies in the middle.

Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762 – 1814), German educator and philosopher

[thatswhywelovegermany]

jemanden im Stich lassen

literally: to leave someone in the stab / sting

to let someone down, to abandon someone in danger

Origin: Possibly originating from the language of chivalry, referring to a wounded fighter left without aid, though an allusion to a bee losing its life upon stinging is also conceivable.

[escuerzoresucitado]

Pedestrian traffic lights

[sjorsdottir]

Ooooh, we have a bunch of really fancy pedestrian traffic lights in Germany! I need to share:

Starting off with the difference between formerly Eastern German traffic lights (upper images) and formerly Western German traffic lights (lower images):

The city of Erfurt had some additions, like an umbrella or a heart:

Same sex love in Marburg (upper image) and Frankfurt (lower image):

Traffic light lady in Bremen:

Karl Marx light in Trier:

Face of Friedrich Engels in Wuppertal:

Elvis in Friedberg (Hessen):

A sparrow (for the Golden Sparrow film awards) in Gera:

Winemaker in Bad Dürkenheim:

Mainzelmännchen (mascot of the public broadcasting service ZDF) in Mainz:

Otto Waalkes (German Comedian) in Emden:

Town musicians of Bremen in Bremen:

A miner in Pirmasens, Rheinland-Pfalz:

Bishop in Fulda:

Source: Saarbrücker Zeitung

Enjoy!

[translatingpoststogerman]

And we call these "Ampelmännchen" ("traffic lights little man").

[robot-roadtrip-rants]

omg that's amazing! I wanna visit Germany just to take pictures of all the cute traffic lights.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Nur derjenige ist frei, der alles um sich herum frei machen will.

Only the person who seeks to set everything around them free is truly free.

Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762 – 1814), German educator and philosopher

[thatswhywelovegermany]

bei jemandem einen Stein im Brett haben

literally: to have a stone in someone's board

to be in someone's good books, to be favored by someone, to enjoy someone's favor

Origin: In the medieval version of backgammon or trictrac, the key was to place one's pieces effectively. Thus, anyone who succeeded in doing so stood a good chance of winning and achieving success.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Ein Mensch wollt' immer recht behalten: / So kam's vom Haar- zum Schädelspalten!

A person always insisted on being right: that’s how it went from splitting hairs to splitting skulls!

Eugen Roth (1895 – 1976), German poet and author of lighthearted yet contemplative poems

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Stein und Bein schwören

literally: to swear stone and leg / bone

to swear up and down, to reaffirm an oath with particular emphasis

Origin: The idiom is often traced back to medieval oath-taking rituals involving altar stones and relics ("Bein" in the sense of "bone"), though it is more likely that the phrase simply alludes to the exceptional hardness of the objects mentioned.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Die Menschen bezahlen die Vermehrung ihrer Macht mit der Entfremdung von dem, worüber sie Macht ausüben.

People pay for the expansion of their power with alienation from that over which they exercise power.

Max Horkheimer (1895 – 1973), German social philosopher

[thatswhywelovegermany]

der Stein des Anstoßes sein

literally: to be the stone of impact or stumbling

to be the bone of contention, to be the cause of an argument or a source of annoyance

Origin: The source of this phrase is to be found in Luther’s Bible translation. It reads: “He will be a snare and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both houses of Israel, a snare and a trap for the citizens of Jerusalem, […]” (Isaiah 8:14).

This passage is revisited in two places in the New Testament: “They stumbled at the stone of stumbling, […]” (Romans 9:32) and “[…] a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; they stumble at it because they do not believe the word, to which they were also appointed.” (1 Peter 2:8).

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Wenn unsere Gegner sagen: ›Ja, wir haben Euch doch früher die Freiheit der Meinung zugebilligt.‹ Ja, Ihr uns! Das ist doch kein Beweis, daß wir das Euch auch tuen sollen! Daß Ihr das uns gegeben habt, das ist ja ein Beweis, wie dumm Ihr seid!

When our opponents say, "But we granted you freedom of opinion in the past"—yes, you granted it to us! That is hardly proof that we ought to do the same for you! The fact that you granted it to us is actually proof of just how stupid you are!

Joseph Goebbels (1897 – 1945), German politician, chief propagandist of the nsdap, closest confidant of Adolf Hitler

[thatswhywelovegermany]

aus dem Stegreif

literally: from the stirrups

off the cuff, spontaneous, without preparation

Origin: Royal couriers read out their master's messages without dismounting; to command even greater attention, they rose from the saddle and stood in their stirrups.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Das Leben ist weder Zweck noch Mittel, das Leben ist ein Recht.

Life is neither an end nor a means; life is a right.

Heinrich Heine (1797 – 1856), German poet, writer, and journalist

[thatswhywelovegermany]

sich aus dem Staub machen

literally: to make oneself out of the dust

to make off, to slip away, to beat a hasty retreat, to hop off, to skedaddle, to abscond, to disappear

Origin: In the heat of battle, clouds of dust were kicked up, allowing it to make one's way to safety largely unnoticed by friend and foe alike.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Leben Sie jeden Tag, als wäre es Ihr letzter. Eines Tages werden Sie damit recht behalten.

Live every day as if it were your last. One day, you will be right.

Eckart von Hirschhausen (*1958), German TV host, physician, comedian, and writer

[thatswhywelovegermany]

sich vor jemandem in den Staub werfen

literally: to throw oneself into the dust before someone

to grovel before someone, to be excessively humble or submissive

Origin: This gesture was mentioned as early as antiquity as a sign of submission.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Kein Mensch auf der Erde hat das Recht, seine Kräfte ungebraucht zu lassen und durch fremde Kräfte zu leben.

No one on earth has the right to leave their own forces unused and to live off the forces of others.

Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762 – 1814), German educator and philosopher