German placename etymology
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Placenames in the German language area can be classified by the language from which they originate, and by their age.
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[edit] Languages
- Celtic names, used in prehistoric times in the southern and western parts of the German language area. Examples: Mainz (from Latin Moguntiacum, derived from a Celtic name), Remagen (from Latin Rigomagus, from a Celtic name meaning "king's field"), Wien (Vienna) (from Latin Vindobona and Celtic Vedunia, meaning "forest brook"), Zürich (from the Celtic word Turus; the antique name of the town in its Romanized form was Turicum.)
- Latin names:
- from classical times, when the southern and western parts of the German language area belonged to the Roman Empire. Examples: Koblenz (from Confluentes "joining rivers"), Köln (Cologne) (from Colonia "colony"), Aachen (from Aquae "springs"), Augsburg and Augst (from Augusta "city of Augustus" and the Germanic suffix -burg).
- from medieval times, when Latin was the language of church and administration. Examples: München (Munich) (from monachus, "monk"), Münster (from monasterium, "monastery"), Neumünster, Fraumünster, Grossmünster. See also minster.
- German(ic) and Slavic names:
- From the 600s AD until recently, era, Slavic languages such as Polabian, Sorbian, Pomeranian, Polish, and Slovenian were also spoken in many eastern parts of the German language area. For Example: Chemnitz (from Caminici), Leipzig (from Sorbian lipa, "linden"), Leuna (from Lunaw), Rostock (from Old Polabian rostok, "river fork"), Dresden (from Sorbian Drežďany), Schwerin (from Polabian zvěŕ), Stettin (originally Pomeranian).
- Additionally, German placenames (and surnames) ending in -witz, -itz and -ow show placenames also used in Slavic (compare Polish placenames ending in -wice, -wiec, -ic and -ów and Czech placenames ending in -vice, -vec, -ic and -ov). The German suffix -au is often related to the Slavic -ow and -ov, because that derived from the Old German spelling (u= w =double u). the old Germanic district Gaue (plural), established by Charlemagne, were in earlier German sources spelled Gowe, Gouwe (compare to English: government, governer, gouverneur).
Some of today's place names do not reflect the actual earlier historical names such as Hesbaye, but when one searches for older names, one can still find the old Gouwe (Gau), such in Haspengouwe or Gäu as in Allgäu.
The German and (Slavic-influenced suffixes) can be found in what is today eastern Germany and in neighboring areas of Poland and the Czech Republic. They were used in ancient Thuringia, Saxony, Franconia, Bavaria, Hesse, and Lower Saxony near Friesland.
During the time when Charlemagne (German: Karl der Große) was ruling, Western Slavs took up the name Karl to mean king (Krol). The German word for city hall, Rathaus, was Polonized into ratus.
[edit] Meaning of Germanic names
- German names from prehistoric and medieval times:
- with the suffix -au, -aue, Low German -oog (related to rivers or water), see German words Au or Aue. This meaning of -au (earlier spelling ow, owe, ouwe) describes settlements at rivers, creeks. Example: Passau, a town Aue, rivers named Aue.
- with the suffix -um (North Germany), -heim (South and Central Germany, Switzerland), -ham / -am (Bavaria and Austria), -hem / -em (West) (all cognate to English home and the English place name suffix -ham). Examples: Alkersum, Bochum, Borkum, Pforzheim, Kirchham.
- with the suffix -ing or -ingen, -ungen, -ung, -ens (meaning "descendants of", used with a personal name as the first part). Examples: Göttingen, Straubing, Esens.
- with the suffix -stadt or -stedt ("town"). Examples: Darmstadt, Neustadt.
- with the suffix -burg ("keep", borough). Examples: Hamburg, Luxembourg, Regensburg (with the river Regen), Salzburg (with the Ancient Roman reference to salt), Straßburg (referring to the ).
- with the suffix -berg ("mountain"). Examples: Heidelberg, Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Königsberg ("king's mountain", now Kaliningrad)
- with the suffix -dorf or -torf ("village"). Example: Düsseldorf.
- with the suffix -furt ("ford"). Examples: Erfurt, Frankfurt.
- with the suffix -brücken or -brück ("bridge"). Examples: Saarbrücken, Osnabrück.
- with the suffix -hausen ("house"). Examples: Mülhausen (Mulhouse), Mühlhausen, Schaffhausen.
- with the suffix -feld ("field"). Examples: Bielefeld, Mansfeld.
- with the suffix -werth, -wörth, or -ort ("holm"). Example: Kaiserswerth, Donauwörth, Ruhrort
- with the suffix -roth or -rath, -rode, -reuth, -rade ("clearing"). Example: Roth, Wernigerode, Overath. It can also be used as the prefix -Rade: Radebeul, Radevormwald.
- German names from modern times. They usually follow the established patterns.
- Wuppertal ("Wupper valley"), Karl-Marx-Stadt ("Karl Marx city", name for Chemnitz during the DDR era), Wilhelmshaven ("William's harbour", referring to King William I of Prussia).
[edit] References
- Berger, Dieter (1999). Geographische Namen in Deutschland. Mannheim: Duden. ISBN 3411062525.
