The Latest at Goethe

It’s like looking into a kaleidoscope: 100 typically German words presented by the project 100 und ich – Kleine Geschichten über Deutschland. Astonishing, funny, romantic or touching – people tell about their favourite “Germany words” in personal anecdotes. By Lena de Boer

Take a group of happy children, add some games, balloons, presents and cake and what have you got? In Germany, it’s called Kindergeburtstag; one word for a very big concept.

If you want to say Kindergeburtstag in English or French, you have to paraphrase it, for example with “children’s birthday party.” Hence, a compound noun is something typically German as well as the story behind that noun. The project 100 and I is collecting just such words and stories. The project is made up of video messages like a mosaic in which people – big and little, young and old – present their favourite “Germany word.” Of course, the little girl sitting on the swing in her room who will turn nine tomorrow and celebrate with 14 of her friends at the park has only one favourite word: Kindergeburtstag.

Kindergeburtstag

In order to watch this video you need the Flashplayer

Kuchen also fits in with Kindergeburtstag. It is not a compound noun, but somehow nonetheless typically Germany. A young woman from the Black Forest talks about the tradition of the regular Sunday family get-together for Kaffee und Kuchen. She was six years old when she baked her first Kuchen; a spice cake. But, in her family everyone loves baking, so there are afternoons when 15 cakes form a row down the middle of the table. The first to go is always the Black Forest gateau, which granddad loves the best.

The people in the videos tell authentic stories, some are amazing, some romantic and some are touching. Some are refreshingly simple. The panorama that these images and anecdotes create stretches across an entire land full of experiences and stories; it is one made of character, honesty and cultural dialogue. It is a picture that couldn’t be more typically German.

---

Stories from Germany: To the webpage of 100 and I

---

A young man, for instance, tells the story of his girlfriend. They met in Spain and have lived in Germany, England, France and Switzerland. Sometimes they lived together and other times they had to overcome long distances. His word is Europa. So, it is also typically Germany to be quite untypical at times and break through boundaries. Boundaries such as those overcome by the man in the wheelchair whose Germany word is Willenskraft. Against all doubts and fears, he made it up the 1,200-metre-high Schauinsland. His short story about Germany ends with the words: “If your will is not strong enough to move mountains, then you simply have to climb them.”

The words will be collected this year until 31 December, then the winners will be chosen and prizes awarded. Learners of German can expand their vocabulary here on a personal level with authentic material. Speakers of German can post a video with their favourite “Germany word” on the site as a contribution to the project. In this way, Germany can be experienced on two levels: in the exploration of words, but in particular in encounters with other people.