GERMAN |
ABFAHRT departure | MITENAND friendly welcoming Swiss-German term for everyone in a group, with the same disarming overtones as “folks” in English: a hotel receptionist or maitre d’ will greet a party with grüezi mitenand (“hello everyone”), a waiter will say enguete mitenand (“enjoy your meal, folks”), and so on |
| ALTSTADT Old Town | MÜNSTER minster or cathedral |
| ACHTUNG! Beware! | NACHSAISON low season |
| ANKUNFT arrival | NORD north |
| AUSKUNFT information | OBER upper |
| BACH stream | OST east |
| BAHNHOF station | PLATZ town square |
| BERG mountain | RATHAUS town hall |
| BERGFÜHRER mountain guide | RÖSTIGRABEN informal name for the language border – a Graben is a military trench – between French-speaking Switzerland (where they don’t eat the traditional potato dish Rösti) and German-speaking Switzerland (where they do) |
| BERGWEG mountain path | SAMMLUNG collection |
| BILLETS tickets | SBB Swiss Federal Railways |
| BLAUE ZONE blue zone (city parking) | SCHLOSS castle or stately home |
| BRÜCKE bridge | SCHLUCHT gorge |
| DEUTSCHSCHWEIZ German-speaking Switzerland | SCHWEIZ Switzerland |
| DORF village | SEE lake |
| DURCHGANG passageway | STRASSE street |
| FLUSS river | SUD south |
| FUSSGÄNGERZONE pedestrian zone | TAL valley |
| GASSE alley | TESSIN Ticino |
| GEFAHR! Danger! | TOR gate |
| GEPÄCK baggage | TOURISMUS tourist office |
| GIPFEL summit | TOURISTENLAGER dormitory |
| GLETSCHER glacier | TURM tower |
| GUTBÜRGERLICHE traditional, solidly bourgeois | VERBOTEN! Prohibited! |
| HAFEN harbour | VERKEHRSVEREIN tourist office |
| HAUPTBAHNHOF main station | VORSAISON low season |
| HOCHSAISON high season | WALD forest |
| HOF court or courtyard | WANDERWEG footpath |
| HORN peak | WELSCHLAND informal name for French-speaking Switzerland (the Swiss-German word Choderwelsch means
“gobbledy-gook”) |
| JASS (yass) extremely complicated card game played in taverns by young and old using non-standard Swiss playing cards which feature Rosen (roses), Schilden (shields), Eicheln (acorns) and Schellen (bells) | WESTSCHWEIZ formal name for French-speaking Switzerland |
JUGENDHERBERGE youth hostel | ZEUGHAUS arsenal |
KANTÖNLIGEIST literally “little cantonal spirit”: describes a stubborn Swiss parochialism, a blinkered pride in the attributes and culture of one’s own town or canton above all others (with the same overtones as “Little Englander”) | |
KIRCHE church | |
KLOSTER monastery or convent | |
KUNST art | |
KURVEREIN tourist office | |
MASSENLAGER dormitory | |
MATRATZENLAGER dormitory | |
