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Germany has launched a new campaign to protect and promote German, a move seen as a backlash against the growing use of English.Walking past the "Coffee Bar", advertising "breakfast and bakery" and the "Midtown Grill" offering "great steaks, chops and seafood", you could easily be in downtown Manhattan or Central London.
But this is in fact Potsdamer Platz, in the very heart of Berlin, the scene for the launch at the end of February of a new campaign to protect and promote German, a move seen as a backlash against the growing use of English.
Spearheading the campaign -- entitled "German, the language of ideas" -- was Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who found himself in hot water when he refused to speak English at his first press conference after being elected.
"I am not ashamed of the German language. It is wonderful," Westerwelle told foreign reporters recently.
He added: "German is the most spoken language in Europe. It is the native language of over 100 million people," spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and some parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Westerwelle's campaign is being viewed as a reaction against the growing dominance of English in a country proud of its linguistic and literary heritage.
It can claim Goethe, the author of Faust; the poet and philosopher Schiller; and more recently Bertolt Brecht and Guenther Grass.
Last July, the new version of the iconic Duden dictionary, the guardian of the language, came out with 5,000 new words.
But many were taken straight from English.
A Berlin restaurant features an ad in English on 25 February 2010
Germans can now officially have "der Babyblues" and go to "eine After-Show-Party" -- hoping it is not "eine No-Go Area." "Der Nickname" and "Das It-Girl" are other words that crept into this year's edition.
In the corporate world, many German firms insist their executives speak English in meetings, even when held in Germany.
English is even making inroads into the German legal world.
Although it is enshrined in the German constitution that "the court language shall be German," a pilot scheme near Cologne is allowing corporate cases to be heard in English.
The increasing use of English prompted Erika Steinbach, a member of parliament, to fire off a furious press release.
"Millions of Germans are going through life having to guess rather than really knowing what is going on, because products, adverts and instructions are in a foreign language," she said.
The Association for the German Language (VDS) welcomed Westerwelle's crusade.
"It's high time, because English is taking over several tasks that used to be done in German," Holger Klatte, a VDS spokesman, told AFP.
"This is shown in the fact that there are so many foreign English words in Germany -- more than in other European languages."
“Deutschmobiles” are touring Poland promoting the German language among teachers, parents, and students. Poland has the highest number of German-learners, followed by Russia and France.
Cynics might suggest that Westerwelle -- uncharitably rechristened "Mr Westerwave the outside minister", a literal translation of his name and title into English -- has a personal interest in promoting German.
His refusal to speak English and his invitation to the BBC journalist who posed the question to "take a nice cup of tea" sparked a vicious bout of mockery in the press and on the web about his language skills.
But it is not just politicians who are fighting the omnipresence of English in Germany.
Knowledge of the German language in the European Union
"Counter" will become "Schalter", "Hotline" will become "Servicenummer" and "Flyer" will become "Handzettel."
But old habits die hard.
Soaring high above Potsdamer Platz, among the billboards -- in English -- advertising international companies, is the iconic Deutsche Bahn building, dominating the skyline with its red DB logo.
On the side of the building, in plain English, is the welcome sign.
"DB: Mobility. Network. Logistics."
AFP/ Richard Carter/ Expatica
I am sorry for you Mr. Westerwelle and Germany but the German language is a dead language. You and the rest of the Germans need to swollow your pride and establish English as the official language of Europe. Without a single language, Europe will continue to suffer internationally and not achieve its full potential. You can thank Hitler for its demise but that is simply the way it is today.
This would continue making Germany a country unwelcoming to tourists and temp-expats. Keep your circle closed and see what happens in a few decades!!
The claim that the German language is the dominate language of Europe smacks of neo-Nazi propaganda. By their own statistics that 100 million Europeans, out of a total population of 300 million speak German, sounds like a nimority to me. In fact, over two thirds of the Germans speak English. Diana, you need not speak German to Germans you will only confuse them and they are easily confused. Only the old folks and old Nazis refuse to speak English. My grandparents spoke German even though they lived in America (USA) . After WWI all German Americans began speaking English. Germany was defeated twice but they want to rise again and have all of Europe speak German. Before WWII German was the second language in many European countries, but English has taken the place of German in all but a hand full of countries formerly occupied by the Nazi's. It is sad to see that the old Nazis will never give up and accept defeat gracefully.
Richard, please calm down. You are effectively calling Herr Westerwelle a Nazi! There is nothing wrong with protecting a nation's culture and language plays a big part of that culture. One of Europe's great strengths is its diversity. Educated people learn English because they see the benefits of doing so but do let people speak their own language!
John, you sound like a true European liberal: "strength in diversity." However you are wrong, it is, "united we stand, divided we fall." The point of my rant is that Germans tend to be a bit egocentric about their language, culture, and superiority and that pride has been their downfall. The concept of a European union implies oneness not diversity. For example, look at the success of the Euro as the single currancy. In ten short years the strength of unity has challenged the all mighty U.S. Dollar as the currancy of international exchange. Germany needs to understand that a single language for all of Europe will have the same effect. Of course educated people, as you so aptly point out will continue to study and enjoy their "Native languages" just like we studied Latin in high school and Greek in college.
Richard, you just sound anti-German! Your earlier comments about the war and Hitler give you away - get over it! The Germans are not the only nation to be proud, and protective of their language, have you ever been to France for example? They have a right to protect their language, while learning English at the same time. Now give us all peace from your inane ramblings please.
I don't blame the germans. Until now,apparently,they've been far less chauvinistic about their language than the french. They've been too nice and accomodating about things , linguistically , for their own good. Despite the great revival and resurgence in the german language in europe ( especially in the east ) and around the world, there would be even more demand and deference, for and to, german in europe ( and perhaps elsewhere ) if they insisted that their language be used and not english. They have the number of speakers, the number of countries where german has legal status in some way, and the economic powerhouse status of germany to make this a reality. They just need to do it. I don't have a drop of teutonic blood in me but i am trying to learn german here in canada. I think that it's an outstanding world language on the rise again and , like an increasing number of people in north america, i just got interested in it. I like language study. I think mr Herzog is living in the past.
Living in Germany, I often hear complaints about the number of English words creeping into the German language. Some of these are too obviously an attempt to make a statement appear “kool” but there is another aspect which seldom receives much attention by those complaining the loudest and it's strangling their language right on their own doorstep.
Take for example a letter I recently received from a well known German life insurance company which included no less than six words in one average paragraph, all exceeding 20 letters of the alphabet (which I arbitrarily consider to be excessively long), These were: Rentenbezugsmitteilungsverfahren, Alterssicherungssysteme, Versorgungseinrichtungen, Versicherungsunternehmen, Mitteilungspflichtige
I am sorry for you Mr. Westerwelle and Germany but the German language is a dead language. You and the rest of the Germans need to swollow your pride and establish English as the official language of Europe. Without a single language, Europe will continue to suffer internationally and not achieve its full potential. You can thank Hitler for its demise but that is simply the way it is today.
This would continue making Germany a country unwelcoming to tourists and temp-expats. Keep your circle closed and see what happens in a few decades!!
The claim that the German language is the dominate language of Europe smacks of neo-Nazi propaganda. By their own statistics that 100 million Europeans, out of a total population of 300 million speak German, sounds like a nimority to me. In fact, over two thirds of the Germans speak English. Diana, you need not speak German to Germans you will only confuse them and they are easily confused. Only the old folks and old Nazis refuse to speak English. My grandparents spoke German even though they lived in America (USA) . After WWI all German Americans began speaking English. Germany was defeated twice but they want to rise again and have all of Europe speak German. Before WWII German was the second language in many European countries, but English has taken the place of German in all but a hand full of countries formerly occupied by the Nazi's. It is sad to see that the old Nazis will never give up and accept defeat gracefully.
Richard, please calm down. You are effectively calling Herr Westerwelle a Nazi! There is nothing wrong with protecting a nation's culture and language plays a big part of that culture. One of Europe's great strengths is its diversity. Educated people learn English because they see the benefits of doing so but do let people speak their own language!
John, you sound like a true European liberal: "strength in diversity." However you are wrong, it is, "united we stand, divided we fall." The point of my rant is that Germans tend to be a bit egocentric about their language, culture, and superiority and that pride has been their downfall. The concept of a European union implies oneness not diversity. For example, look at the success of the Euro as the single currancy. In ten short years the strength of unity has challenged the all mighty U.S. Dollar as the currancy of international exchange. Germany needs to understand that a single language for all of Europe will have the same effect. Of course educated people, as you so aptly point out will continue to study and enjoy their "Native languages" just like we studied Latin in high school and Greek in college.
Richard, you just sound anti-German! Your earlier comments about the war and Hitler give you away - get over it! The Germans are not the only nation to be proud, and protective of their language, have you ever been to France for example? They have a right to protect their language, while learning English at the same time. Now give us all peace from your inane ramblings please.
I don't blame the germans. Until now,apparently,they've been far less chauvinistic about their language than the french. They've been too nice and accomodating about things , linguistically , for their own good. Despite the great revival and resurgence in the german language in europe ( especially in the east ) and around the world, there would be even more demand and deference, for and to, german in europe ( and perhaps elsewhere ) if they insisted that their language be used and not english. They have the number of speakers, the number of countries where german has legal status in some way, and the economic powerhouse status of germany to make this a reality. They just need to do it. I don't have a drop of teutonic blood in me but i am trying to learn german here in canada. I think that it's an outstanding world language on the rise again and , like an increasing number of people in north america, i just got interested in it. I like language study. I think mr Herzog is living in the past.
Living in Germany, I often hear complaints about the number of English words creeping into the German language. Some of these are too obviously an attempt to make a statement appear “kool” but there is another aspect which seldom receives much attention by those complaining the loudest and it's strangling their language right on their own doorstep.
Take for example a letter I recently received from a well known German life insurance company which included no less than six words in one average paragraph, all exceeding 20 letters of the alphabet (which I arbitrarily consider to be excessively long), These were: Rentenbezugsmitteilungsverfahren, Alterssicherungssysteme, Versorgungseinrichtungen, Versicherungsunternehmen, Mitteilungspflichtige
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