The 21st June is the official first day of summer, so this blog post is about summer with German words and songs.
Unlike for spring (see my spring post here) there is only one word in German for summer: der Sommer. But the summer is divided into several parts.
- der Frühsommer – early summer
- der Hochsommer – midsummer (high summer)
- der Spätsommer – late summer
- and, if we’re really lucky, in September, der Altweibersommer – Indian summer
But first of all, the first day of summer is on the day of the summer solstice, die Sommersonnenwende.
Other words beginning with Sommer are –
- der Sommerabend – summer’s eve, summer evening
- das Sommeralpenveilchen – cyclamen
- der Sommeranfang – beginning of summer
- die Sommerausgabe – summer issue (of a magazine)
- die Sommerblumen – summer flowers
- das Sommerbohnenkraut – summer savory
- das Sommerfest – summer party
- die Sommerferien – summer holidays
- die Sommersprossen – freckles
- das Sommerloch – silly season
- die Sommerzeit – summer time, but also daylight saving time
If you’d like to sing a German children’s song about summer, listen to this one.
Of course, you may prefer the song ‘Jetzt ist Sommer’ by the Wise Guys. I’ve found a video with the lyrics (not always spelled correctly, but allowing you to sing as well)
Eine Schwalbe macht noch keinen Sommer. – One swallow does not make a summer, so I’m going to see if I can find LOTS OF swallows. And I’ll leave you with a poem from Wilhelm Busch about a doctor who was miserable because – thanks to the lovely weather – he had no patients ☺
