Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Mauerfall / der Fall der Berliner Mauer

English translation:

the fall of the Berlin Wall

Added to glossary by Werner Walther
Feb 4, 2011 19:43
13 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

Mauerfall / der Fall der Berliner Mauer

Non-PRO German to English Other Government / Politics
Ich suche etablierte Begriffe dazu. Habe ich das in unseren Verzeichnissen nur noch nicht gefunden ?
Change log

Feb 4, 2011 20:03: Susanne Schiewe changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Feb 5, 2011 14:17: British Diana changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Feb 5, 2011 17:10: Helen Shiner changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (5): 784512 (X), Lancashireman, Derek Gill Franßen, British Diana, Johanna Timm, PhD

Non-PRO (5): Rosa Paredes, Edith Kelly, Susanne Schiewe, Kim Metzger, Helen Shiner

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Discussion

Werner Walther (asker) Feb 5, 2011:
mit Edith Schreibweise, aber auch politische Interpretation und Rezeption in unseren Gesellschaften zeigen sehr klar, dass dies eine Profi-Frage ist, bei der jeder Buchstabe und jeder mögliche Tonfall dem Thema andere Richtung und anderes Gewicht geben. Wie damals die Gänsefüßchen oder das vorangestellte 'so genannte' oder eben das Weglassen dieser Einordnungsmerkmale - wer weiß das noch, und wer kann das noch interpretieren?
Werner Walther (asker) Feb 5, 2011:
@Tariq Thank you - you're quite right. As I said, it is not my question today. My daughter's teacher is preparing a presentation on these things, and I am convinced, she will use all of these ideas - the opening (it just opened in that November night), but this Iron Curtain term is very important - the word is nearly banned now from political correctness, and surprisingly many artists (and the leftists of course) etc. are complaing now, that 'the good old times' of the country behind the Wall have gone. It's a crazy world.
Edith Kelly Feb 5, 2011:
Pro würde das gerne wieder pro machen, denn die Schreibweise scheint nicht selbstverständlich zu sein. Mir kam sie zwar selbstverständlich, aber bei 4 Anworten eine richtig geschrieben scheint doch den pro-Charakter zu zeigen.
trsk2000 (X) Feb 4, 2011:
alternative metaphors? @Werner Walther?
Are you in fact looking for alternative metaphors, or perhaps a collective saying that encompasses all the political ramifications of the era? Something like, "the fall of the Iron Curtain"?
Werner Walther (asker) Feb 4, 2011:
@Andrew Your approach bears a great deal of precision, and in professional circles the Fall of the Wall is the Big Bang, and your proposals are more sophisticated labels to the issue.
I asked the question, as my daughter's English teacher asked for it this afternoon. Unfortunately there is also the 2 to 1 translation fall=autumn and fall=falling down. Regards, sincerely, W.
Werner Walther (asker) Feb 4, 2011:
@Rose I don't agree with you. The two states of Germany were hard to understand for non-experts. A Democratic Republic of Germany - Democratic, that ought to be the Western part, the friends and allies, etc., etc. was one of the common errors outside of Germany, and even in Germany. And for the children of today ist is not only yesterday's talk, it is yesteryears, almost forgotten. And, as it is with many topics, we should not draw conclusions from our circles (translators, teachers, managers, academia) to the mainstream knowledge of our population.
Thank you, and have a nice weekend, W.
Lancashireman Feb 4, 2011:
Hey, give the guy a break. An English reader is far more inclined to take ‘the fall of the Berlin Wall’ literally and to miss out on the symbolic aspect. That’s why in certain circumstances, it is better translated with some other formulation, e.g. ‘with the demise of the communist regime’, ‘when East Germany disappeared off the map’ etc. After all, the asker did enquire about ‘etablierte Begriffe’ (plural).
And at least he didn’t make it a (paying) members-only question.
784512 (X) Feb 4, 2011:
non-pro I accidentally voted Pro. I've never quite understood that re-classification system. Anyway, I don't think this question is a pro question at all. It "ging ja schnell" because it rolls off the tongue for any English native speaker.

Regards, Rose.
Werner Walther (asker) Feb 4, 2011:
@Rosa You're saying I am too easy going (too lazy) for searching it? I beg your pardon, but, please, please, have a look at my questions-answers ratio. And, I couldn't find a confirmation in KudoZ, that's why I asked for it!

Saludes to Canada, sincerely, Werner.
Lisa Miles Feb 4, 2011:
yes to all :)
Werner Walther (asker) Feb 4, 2011:
Das ging ja schnell! Das kannte ich auch, ich war nur nicht sicher. Ist sprachlich irgendwie verwandt mit Shirers The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Scheint in beiden Sprachen identisch als feststehende Wendung. Vielen Dank, aber wer bekommt das Betthupferl in Form von Punkten?
Rosa Paredes Feb 4, 2011:
Werner, you were not able to find this? Geeeez ....

Proposed translations

+6
6 mins
Selected

the fall of the Berlin Wall

So wurde es überall gesagt.

Berlin Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - [ Diese Seite übersetzen ]The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. Contents. 1 Background ...

Background - Erection of the inner German ... - Construction begins, 1961
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
Peer comment(s):

agree Lancashireman : The right combination of upper and lower case, IMO.
55 mins
agree mill2
1 hr
agree Bernhard Sulzer : with Andrew
6 hrs
agree Ramey Rieger (X) : yes
11 hrs
agree AllegroTrans
1 day 1 hr
agree Kim Metzger : Search tip for asker: in Google, enter "Mauerfall" wall
1 day 5 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Das i-Tüpfelchen hier ist in der Tat die richtige Rechtschreibung. In der Schule wird es von unseren Kinderns so verlang, und hier sollten die gleichen Anforderungen gelten."
5 mins

fall of the Berlin wall

It is referred to as "the fall of the Berlin wall" and also with the phrase "(when) the wall came down". I don't know of any close equivalent to "Mauerfall" in English. There are literally millions of Google hits for these.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Lancashireman : Big W for wall. please. I think you're right about the lower case 'f' for 'fall', though.
55 mins
Something went wrong...
6 mins

the fall of the Berlin wall

"Ich bin ein Berliner", wenigstens ursprünglich, det kannste glooben!
Peer comment(s):

neutral Lancashireman : Big W for wall. please. I think you're right about the lower case 'f' for 'fall', though. // Disagree would have been too harsh.
53 mins
for that, you give a neutral; ?
Something went wrong...
6 mins

the Fall of the (Berlin) Wall

I´d say

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 Min. (2011-02-04 19:53:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Literature about the fall of the wall and the process of Germany's reunification . ... 1989 – 10 Wall Stories. Stories by famous writers, illustrated by the ...
www.goethe.de/kue/lit/prj/lwe/aut/bru/enindex.htm
Peer comment(s):

neutral Lancashireman : Not sure about that Big F.
55 mins
Something went wrong...
18 hrs

The "Wende", German Reunification etc.

I have heard these other possibilities as least as often as "The Fall of the Berlin Wall" which is a bit of a mouthful.
Something went wrong...
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