A fictional candidate "campaigning" for Germany's parliamentary elections next month would win 18% of the votes if he stood, an opinion poll suggests.
Horst Schlaemmer is not even a real person, let alone a real candidate. Played by German comedian Hape Kerkeling, the spoof would-be chancellor has spiced up a campaign criticised as dreary.
His campaign slogan "Yes weekend" is inspired by Barack Obama, and he has pledged to replace Germany's national emblem - the eagle - with a bunny.
Horst Schlaemmer has become so popular that his spoof "campaign launch" was broadcast live on two TV networks and reportedly attracted more than 100 journalists.
In real life, Hape Kerkeling is a German comedian and TV presenter who has been one of the country's most popular impersonators for many years. The 44-year-old once arrived at a German presidential reception dressed up as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. He is often compared to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who has gained worldwide fame through his characters Ali G, Borat and Bruno.
Ahead of his new film, he further blurred the lines between fact and fiction by launching the Horst Schlaemmer Party. With his old-fashioned glasses, ratty moustache, grey wig and funny accent, the spoof candidate cuts a distinctive figure ahead of Germany's legislative elections on 27 September.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
German language gets 5,000 more words
Around 5,000 new words have been officially added to the German language as the country's iconic dictionary, Duden, introduced its first new edition for three years.
The new version contains 135,000 words, including many new words that an English-speaker would find familiar, several inspired by the financial crisis and a few that reflect 21st-century life, such as "twittern" - to twitter.
Germans can now officially have "der Babyblues" and go to "eine After-Show-Party," - while hoping that it is not "eine No-Go Area".
"Der Nickname" and "Das It-Girl" are other new German words taken from English that have found their way into the language of Goethe.
The financial crisis and its effects account for many of the new German entries.
"Die Bad Bank" requires no translation, and also appearing for the first time are "Kreditklemme" ("credit crunch"), "Konjunkturpaket" ("stimulus package") and "Abwrackpraemie" ("car scrappage bonus.")
High profile tensions with the country's large and poorly integrated Turkish community are also reflected in two new words "Ehrenmord" ("honour killing") and "Integrationsgipfel" ("integration summit.")
German is infamous for its incredibly long compound nouns, and while no new words challenge the 39-letter monster "Rechtschutzversicherungsgesellschaften", roughly meaning "legal insurance companies", this year's edition has offered "Vorratsdatenspeicherung" or "the saving of data relating to supplies".
The first Duden dictionary, produced in 1880, consisted of a mere 200 pages and 27,000 words, according to the book's website.
German-language spelling is presided over by the German government, which periodically attempts to "reform" the condition of modern spelling.
In 2004 the German federal education minister, Edelgard Bulmahn announced that a committee would be created and given wide-ranging powers to make decisions about German spelling.
Dr Bernard Rieger, from University College London, said that the production of the new Duden dictionary was the result of a big public debate in Germany.
"There has been a spelling reform recently for the first time in several generations. This was because some of the orthographical rules were not particularly logical and this posed a problem, particularly in elementary schools.
"For instance, in German nouns are sometimes capitalised. But it was not particularly clear which nouns these should be, to the point where they had to be learnt by rote.
"And there were also two forms of the double s, which is the form that you get in the word 'strasse' that looks like the symbol for the Greek letter beta. It wasn't always clear which to use. So it was simplified.
"It was controversial and there was a debate between the traditionalists and the reformers that got very heated. But a compromise was arrived at, in which it was agreed that both were correct.
"Duden, which is a company in Mannheim, implements these changes by producing a big yellow dictionary, which everyone buys."
The new version contains 135,000 words, including many new words that an English-speaker would find familiar, several inspired by the financial crisis and a few that reflect 21st-century life, such as "twittern" - to twitter.
Germans can now officially have "der Babyblues" and go to "eine After-Show-Party," - while hoping that it is not "eine No-Go Area".
"Der Nickname" and "Das It-Girl" are other new German words taken from English that have found their way into the language of Goethe.
The financial crisis and its effects account for many of the new German entries.
"Die Bad Bank" requires no translation, and also appearing for the first time are "Kreditklemme" ("credit crunch"), "Konjunkturpaket" ("stimulus package") and "Abwrackpraemie" ("car scrappage bonus.")
High profile tensions with the country's large and poorly integrated Turkish community are also reflected in two new words "Ehrenmord" ("honour killing") and "Integrationsgipfel" ("integration summit.")
German is infamous for its incredibly long compound nouns, and while no new words challenge the 39-letter monster "Rechtschutzversicherungsgesellschaften", roughly meaning "legal insurance companies", this year's edition has offered "Vorratsdatenspeicherung" or "the saving of data relating to supplies".
The first Duden dictionary, produced in 1880, consisted of a mere 200 pages and 27,000 words, according to the book's website.
German-language spelling is presided over by the German government, which periodically attempts to "reform" the condition of modern spelling.
In 2004 the German federal education minister, Edelgard Bulmahn announced that a committee would be created and given wide-ranging powers to make decisions about German spelling.
Dr Bernard Rieger, from University College London, said that the production of the new Duden dictionary was the result of a big public debate in Germany.
"There has been a spelling reform recently for the first time in several generations. This was because some of the orthographical rules were not particularly logical and this posed a problem, particularly in elementary schools.
"For instance, in German nouns are sometimes capitalised. But it was not particularly clear which nouns these should be, to the point where they had to be learnt by rote.
"And there were also two forms of the double s, which is the form that you get in the word 'strasse' that looks like the symbol for the Greek letter beta. It wasn't always clear which to use. So it was simplified.
"It was controversial and there was a debate between the traditionalists and the reformers that got very heated. But a compromise was arrived at, in which it was agreed that both were correct.
"Duden, which is a company in Mannheim, implements these changes by producing a big yellow dictionary, which everyone buys."
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Somali pirates get $2.7 mln ransom for German ship
Somali pirates holding a German ship with five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board have received a $2.7 million ransom and are counting it before releasing the ship.
The German-flagged container vessel Hansa Stavanger was captured about 400 miles (645 km) off the southern Somali port of Kismayu on April 4.
The release of the 20,000 tonne ship, owned by Hamburg shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg, was expected last week but it was delayed after the pirates demanded a higher ransom.
Earlier, a Malaysian-owned tugboat held for over seven months was released after a ransom was paid, with 11 Indonesian crew.
Gangs of Somali pirates in the shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe have made millions of dollars in ransom payments from ships hijacked in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
The German-flagged container vessel Hansa Stavanger was captured about 400 miles (645 km) off the southern Somali port of Kismayu on April 4.
The release of the 20,000 tonne ship, owned by Hamburg shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg, was expected last week but it was delayed after the pirates demanded a higher ransom.
Earlier, a Malaysian-owned tugboat held for over seven months was released after a ransom was paid, with 11 Indonesian crew.
Gangs of Somali pirates in the shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe have made millions of dollars in ransom payments from ships hijacked in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
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