Bodensee: Lake Constance

The largest lake in Germany is the Bodensee. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it’s therefore also at a Dreiländereck: a place where the borders of three different nations meet.

The Bodensee borders on Deutschland, die Schweiz, and Österreich. On some English maps, it’s also known as ‘Lake Constance.’

On the north side of the lake, there’s Deutschland. At the east end of the lake is Österreich. Along the south is die Schweiz.

Several major towns are located on the shores of the Bodensee: On the German side, there are Überlingen, Meersburg, Lindau, Konstanz, and Friedrichshafen. On the Austrian side, there’s Bregenz. On the Swiss side, there are smaller towns like Romanshorn and Kreuzlingen.

Many famous people have lived here over the centuries. The famous inventor, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, lived and worked in Konstanz from 1838 to 1917. He is also known as Graf, meaning ‘count.’ Graf Zeppelin developed the famous type of lighter-than-air ship.

The famous author Annette von Droste-Hülshoff was born in northern Germany in 1797 and spent part of her life there. But she moved to Meersburg later in life and remained there until her death in 1848. Mountains in the area inspired some of her poems.

The lake is good for segeln, schwimmen, and windsurfen. There are three main islands in the lake: Mainau, Lindau, and Reichenau.

Mainau is also known as the Blumeninsel, and the entire island is essentially one big park, with lots of flowers and other plants.

The three islands, as well as the cities around the shores of the lake, have the usual Burgen and Schlösser and other historic buildings which tourists love to see.

Oktoberfest - What It Really Is

People who’ve never been to Germany, and never taken a German class in high school, have still probably heard about the Oktoberfest. This annual event, in the city of München, attracts attention and tourists from around the world. But what, exactly, is it?

The Oktoberfest takes place every year, regardless of the weather, and it’s mostly outdoors, so if it seems rainy, people simply bring umbrellas. Food is one aspect of the celebration. People enjoy roasted Hühner and different types of Wurst. There are also Kartoffelsalat and Brezeln.

The Fest takes place on a large festival grounds called the Theresienwiese, which locals call simply the Wies’n. The fairgrounds were named after a princess whose wedding was celebrated by a horse race held there.

The wedding of Princess Therese and Crown Prince Ludwig took place in 1810. The horse race attracted over 40,000 spectators and turned into a big party. It was so successful that they decided to do it again the next year, and every year, and to name the fairgrounds after the princess.

At the beginning of the Oktoberfest, there’s a big parade, including a Trachtenfest: people wearing the old-fashioned traditional clothing of the region. The parade winds through the streets of downtown München and out of town to the Theresienwiese.

During the Fest, many people wear Trachten, the typical traditional clothing of the region. Because the Fest takes place in Bayern, many signs are written in local dialect, and people speak in a Bavarian accent.

The Fest is now sixteen days long, begins in September, and ends on the first Sonntag im Oktober. Millions of tourists from around the world attend, but lots of Germans are there, too.

There are games and rides, similar to a carnival atmosphere, and souvenirs of all types are sold. Naturally, there’s lots of Bier and Wein. Hundreds, even thousands, of picnic tables are set up in long rows, and people often start a conversation with someone they’ve never met before. It’s a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, called Gemütlichkeit.

The Fest has lots of Musik: sometimes Blasmusik from a wind ensemble, sometimes a Ziehharmonika (accordion), and sometimes modern music from a DJ. Naturally, there’s lots of Tanz as well!

The various tents, with food and drink, and the large groups of tables, are sponsored by various Brauereien, the major breweries of München. They see this as an opportunity to advertise their brand and get people to try it.

Freizeit! Fun Stuff in Central Europe

If you’re walking around a large city in central Europe - like Wien or Genf - there’s lots of entertainment. Billboards (Reklametafeln) are regularly updated with posters advertising concerts, plays, movies, and festivals. Those same posters are hung on columns or pillars (Litfaßsäulen) which are placed in parks or near sidewalks for that purpose.

In local newspapers (Zeitungen), magazines (Zeitschriften), and brochures (Broschüren), schedules for these events might be published several months ahead.

If you’re going into a movie theater (Kino), you’ll find small printed symbols on the posters which tell you about the Jugendschutzgesetz - the youth protection law. If the movie’s poster says frei ab 14 Jahren, then you’ve got to be at least 14 years old to get into that movie.

Even smaller town will have Theater, Opern, Museen, and Konzertsäle: theaters, operas, museums, and concert halls. It’s best to buy your Theaterkarten (theater tickets) in advance, in case the performance is sold out (ausverkauft) on the day of the performance.

If you live there, you might buy an Abonnement (a subscription to season tickets). If you get to the theater at the last minute and still don’t have tickets, check at the Abendkasse counter to see if there are any still available.

At a concert or play, the seating is described as Parkett if it’s near the orchestra, Loge if it’s a box seat, 1. Rang if it’s the first balcony, Balkon if it’s the center of the first balcony, and Gallerie if it’s the gallery. If your ticket says Reihe 7, Platz 10, then your exact seat is row 7, seat 10.

At nicer concerts, you’ll leave your hat, coat, and bag at the Garderobe: the checkroom. During the summer, many people enjoy a more casual experience at a Freilichttheater.

Large cities have a Zoo, also called a Tiergarten.

At different times of the year, large and small towns have a Musikfest, a Filmfest, a Kunstfest, and just about any other kind of Fest you can imagine. Just add the word Fest to your favorite form of entertainment: Tanzfest, Sportfest, and so forth.

A town will have a yearly Stadtfest, and a village will have an annual Dorffest. A group of students from the same school can organize a Schulfest.

Several times a week, there will be a Markt, which is like an ordinary farmer’s market with fruits and vegetables. But once a year, there’s a Jahrmarkt, also called Volksfest, which is like a carnival. A Zirkus will come to town from time to time.

Some celebrations are regional: München is of course known for its Oktoberfest. Around the city of Köln, the Mardi Gras celebration is known as Karneval, but in southern Germany, it’s called Fasching.

At a Dorffest, the streets in the center of the village may be closed to car traffic, and tables will be set up outdoors. There will be Musik and Tanz, Bier and Wein, and lots of fun conversation. This friendly, relaxed, and congenial atmosphere is called Gemütlichkeit and is some of the best fun you’ll ever have!

08 / 15 Nullachtfünfzehn

Imagine that you’re having a conversation with a friend in Germany, and you ask her or him how his day has been. You might ask Wie geht’s? or Wie war die Schule heute?

You might expect answers like gut or schlecht or langweilig or nicht so gut or so lala. But you might be surprised to if your friend answered by saying null acht fünfzehn.

To answer a question with 08 / 15 is to use an idiom. It means, roughly, ‘run-of-the-mill’ or ‘usual’ and is indicates that things are going routinely, even boringly.

The story behind this odd expression starts in 1908. In that year, a particular type of machine gun was designed, manufactured, and brought into service in the German army. The design was updated in 1915.

The official designation for this weapon was LMG 08/15, whereby LMG stands for leichtes Maschinengewehr. This weapon was produced in large numbers, and widely used, both in training and in battle, in World War I. It also saw use in WWII.

The ubiquity of this gun, both during long boring repetitive hours of training, and in long hours in the trenches on the front lines, made it a symbol of routine.

Decades after the war, author Hans Helmut Kirst titled one of his novels 08/15. The novel dealt with WWII.

The phrase 08/15 is now used to indicate that something is normal, routine, or repetitively boring. It is sometimes written in its slang pronunciation, nullachtfuffzehn. In the twelfth and final volume of the standard Duden reference books, the phrase is explained:

Die als geflügeltes Wort (auch in der Form „Nullachtfuffzehn“) in die Umgangssprache eingegangene Zahlenkombination ist zu einem Begriff geworden, mit dem man etwas als „alltäglich“ und „gänzlich unoriginell“ charakterisiert. Sie kam durch den deutschen Schriftsteller Hans Helmut Kirst (1914-1989) ins allgemeine Bewußtsein, nachdem dieser seiner sehr bekannt gewordenen Romantrilogie aus den Jahren 1954/1955 den Titel „08/15“ gegeben hatte. Zugrunde liegt die militärische Bezeichnung für ein Maschinengewehr aus dem Jahr 1908, das 1915 technisch verändert wurde und die Bezeichnung LMG 08/15 bekam. Die Zahlen wurden dann zunächst zu einer Metapher für den geistlosen militärischen Drill.

The term can be used pejoratively, in the sense of mittelmäßig, or neutrally, in the sense of üblich or alltäglich.