Talk:Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
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[edit] Reich=Empire?
It needs to be stated that the translation of "Reich" as "empire/imperial" fails to recognize the multifaceted meanings of the German term and is therefore misleading and slated. Neither the Weimar Republic nor the GDR ever considered themselves as "empires". See also:
- "The use of the English word empire and its adjective imperial may be confusing because the Weimar Republic was a republic; empire is an imprecise translation of the German word Reich (which does not have a specific monarchic connotation) and is increasingly translated as commonwealth or realm." (from article on Weimar Republic). Ekem 13:58, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
- Ekem, "commonwealth" and "realm" are themselves imprecise; empire is still the closest translation in English to Reich. At the time, "German Empire" was indeed the standard translation (in other contexts, the word does have a broader meaning). The reasons for the Weimar Republic continuing to use the name Deutsches Reich (anger at loss of empire, appeasement of nationalists, less than total commitment to democracy, etc.), and the reasons that the East German national railway continued to use the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (loss of access to West Berlin if they changed it) have been discussed on their respective pages, and even more so in the German Wikipedia. I have edited this passage in the Weimar Republic article. ProhibitOnions 21:54, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
- "Reich" can be translated in at least ten different ways: State, empire, nation, land, region, country, realm, commonwealth, domain, and res publica. [1] There is no such thing as a universally best translation and often enough “empire” will not do. The German word, for better or worse, is multifaceted. My point is simple: the English translation has to consider the context. The reasons why the Weimar Republic or the GDR railways used the term is not under dispute, - the fact that the German term carries different meanings makes it possible to be used under various circumstances. Ekem 16:32, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, but the point is, the Weimar Republic wasn't reinterpreting the word as something cuddlier (like "Realm") and nor were the East Germans. There is no real change in context. Read any old West German travel guide to the GDR, it will inevitably say something about der üble Name der DDR-Eisenbahn or the like; no-one was reading this as a word that had neutral connotations, least of all the communists themselves, who claimed to be anti-imperialist; on the rare occasions the name Reichsbahn was addresed, it was lamely defended as a Traditionsname, hardly a sign that a neutral meaning of Reich was intended. Today, Reich is one of the words considered historisch belastet. ProhibitOnions 20:07, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
- We are not moving ahead here. How about adding to the English translation the remark "literally" ( i.e. Reichsbahn, literally "Imperial Railway"), that gives the translation some qualification, until somebody has a reference concerning a reliable document such as a GDR source where an official translation is shown? Ekem 00:40, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
- Now, now, Ekem. "We are not moving ahead" indeed. If you want to add "literally" I have no objection; I don't think there was ever an "official" translation of Deutsche Reichsbahn, as the GDR always used the German term in English, at most with a description. FWIW, the Deutsche Bundesbahn often used "GermanRail" in English, but that's hardly a literal or official translation. Here in Germany, no-one interprets "Deutsche Reichsbahn" as having a meaning other than as Imperial in the sense of the German Reich. ProhibitOnions 11:36, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
- We are not moving ahead here. How about adding to the English translation the remark "literally" ( i.e. Reichsbahn, literally "Imperial Railway"), that gives the translation some qualification, until somebody has a reference concerning a reliable document such as a GDR source where an official translation is shown? Ekem 00:40, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, but the point is, the Weimar Republic wasn't reinterpreting the word as something cuddlier (like "Realm") and nor were the East Germans. There is no real change in context. Read any old West German travel guide to the GDR, it will inevitably say something about der üble Name der DDR-Eisenbahn or the like; no-one was reading this as a word that had neutral connotations, least of all the communists themselves, who claimed to be anti-imperialist; on the rare occasions the name Reichsbahn was addresed, it was lamely defended as a Traditionsname, hardly a sign that a neutral meaning of Reich was intended. Today, Reich is one of the words considered historisch belastet. ProhibitOnions 20:07, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
- "Reich" can be translated in at least ten different ways: State, empire, nation, land, region, country, realm, commonwealth, domain, and res publica. [1] There is no such thing as a universally best translation and often enough “empire” will not do. The German word, for better or worse, is multifaceted. My point is simple: the English translation has to consider the context. The reasons why the Weimar Republic or the GDR railways used the term is not under dispute, - the fact that the German term carries different meanings makes it possible to be used under various circumstances. Ekem 16:32, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
- Ekem, "commonwealth" and "realm" are themselves imprecise; empire is still the closest translation in English to Reich. At the time, "German Empire" was indeed the standard translation (in other contexts, the word does have a broader meaning). The reasons for the Weimar Republic continuing to use the name Deutsches Reich (anger at loss of empire, appeasement of nationalists, less than total commitment to democracy, etc.), and the reasons that the East German national railway continued to use the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (loss of access to West Berlin if they changed it) have been discussed on their respective pages, and even more so in the German Wikipedia. I have edited this passage in the Weimar Republic article. ProhibitOnions 21:54, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
