Day 159: A Name for My Kingdom

One of the most curious things I’ve discovered about Germany is its name. Yes, its name. It’s rather striking that a country called Deutschland (which is pronounced something like “Doichlan”… well, more or less) has completely different names in other languages—Alemania in Spanish, Germany in English, or Niemcy in Polish, for instance.

I’ve managed to gather a list of names (most of them from a German passport, and the rest from Wikipedia):

The reason behind so many different names is as follows: after unification, the new country’s emperor, Wilhelm I, organized a contest to see who could come up with the most beautiful name. Writers, philologists, literary figures, and word-inventors from all over the world came to Berlin. The Germans, who are very methodical (they prefer to describe themselves as “rational”), divided the participants into groups according to the language they spoke.

Each group was given five days to agree on and choose a single name. When the time was up, all the groups submitted their proposals to a jury made up of the emperor (Wilhelm I), the chancellor (Otto von Bismarck), and a German newspaper editor (Ludwig Maria Ansonen). The absence of judges from other nations caused great discontent among the participants, who felt the jury was not impartial.

That’s why, when the German group’s choice “Deutschland” was declared the winner, there was an uproar in the hall. No one could believe that such an ugly name could have won. When the participants complained to the jury, and the jury declared the decision final, all the groups stood up and stormed indignantly out of the room.

In a later meeting, all these groups proclaimed themselves the rightful winners. That is why, to this day, Germany is called by a completely different name in every language.