This is a fun post, with a little serious grammar explanation.

Do you remember your German lesson where you learned how to say that you’re English, Spanish or…?
You would have learned to say ‘Ich bin Engländer/ Spanier’ if you are a man or ‘Ich bin Engländerin/ Spanierin’ if you’re a woman. Yes, you would also have learned that there are exceptions, but with many countries you have an ‘er’ at the end of that word for the man and another ‘in’ for the woman.

The same happens with towns/ cities. I come from a town called Schüttorf amd as a woman I could say ‘Ich bin Schüttorferin’, whereas my brother, who still lives there, says ‘Ich bin Schüttorfer’. As with countries there are exceptions or you might need to add an umlaut, but most of the times you add the ‘er’ for a man and a further ‘in’ for the woman.

So far so good.

Now for the fun bit, which keeps popping up so many times on social media.

Hamburger
Ein Hamburger is a man who lives in Hamburg.
Ein Hamburger is a burger you can eat.
I don’t think you need to worry about which is which 🙂

Frankfurter
Ein Frankfurter is a man who lives in Frankfurt.
Ein Frankfurter Würstchen is a sausage.

Wiener
Ein Wiener is a man who lives in Vienna.
Ein Wiener Würstchen is a sausage.

Krefelder
Ein Krefelder is a man who lives in Krefeld.
Ein Krefelder is a beer.

Thüringer
Ein Thüringer is a man who lives in Thüringen.
Eine Thüringer Bratwurst is a sausage.

Krakauer
Ein Krakauer is a man who lives in Kraków. (Krakau is the German word for the Polish town Kraków)
Eine Krakauer Wurst is a sausage.

Amerikaner
Ein Amerikaner is a man who lives in America.
Ein Amerikaner is a black and white cookie.

Berliner
Ein Berliner is a man who lives in Berlin.
Ein Berliner is a doughnut with lovely jam inside.

And this is a good place to talk about JF Kennedy’s speech in 1963, when he said “Ich bin ein Berliner.” I think this is possibly the cleverest speech ever. When you say what nationality or job you have, in German you don’t use ‘ein/ eine’. So, I say ‘Ich bin Deutschlehrerin’ or ‘Ich bin Deutsche’. Now, Kennedy couldn’t say ‘Ich bin Berliner’ because he didn’t live in Berlin. Instead he said ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’. The Berliners knew exactly what he meant by that ‘I’m one of you (even if I don’t live with you here in Berlin’). They loved it and cheered! Most German learners, however, see it as a mistake: ‘Oh dear, he doesn’t know that you don’t use ‘ein’ in this sentence. He is saying that he’s a doughnut. How funny!’

And that’s why it’s such a memorable sentence, even after all these years. The Berliners still remember it because he showed his solidarity with them and foreigners think it’s funny because apparently he’s a doughnut. It’s a win-win, isn’t it?

And finally, one item that isn’t food, but …
Pariser
Ein Pariser is a man who lives in Paris.
Ein Pariser is the colloquial name for a condom.

Have I missed any? Let me know if I have.