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ArchivesHow is Edelweiß used in German-speaking countries?
Hi !!!
Edelweiß is a floreal name (It means 'Alpine Star') but it is also a song in a famous musical. The song is sung by the main character about Austrian patriotism against the Nazis during II° W.W.
Is it used for babies? How is it perceived nowadays?
T.I.A.
Edelweiß is a floreal name (It means 'Alpine Star') but it is also a song in a famous musical. The song is sung by the main character about Austrian patriotism against the Nazis during II° W.W.
Is it used for babies? How is it perceived nowadays?
T.I.A.
This message was edited 10/29/2018, 9:08 AM
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Replies
I never heard of a real person named Edelweiss (and I live in the german-speaking part of Switzerland). Because it is very wordy ("noble white") and well-known as a flower, it is not very popular I think. And I do not know, if it is an accepted name by the state.
This message was edited 11/18/2018, 2:17 AM
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It is not used at all, as far as I know. I haven't been able to find popularity data for it and I have never met anyone named this nor have I heard of anyone named this.
I doubt that anyone would want to use it in a German speaking environment. It comes from edel=noble and weiß=white and is the name of a small white flower.
I know that there's a song in The Sound of Music that is against Nazis but the edelweiß was also a symbol used by the Nazis which is why I would recommend to avoid this name.
In German speaking countries it would be seen as weird and it wouldn't be thought of as a name.
I doubt that anyone would want to use it in a German speaking environment. It comes from edel=noble and weiß=white and is the name of a small white flower.
I know that there's a song in The Sound of Music that is against Nazis but the edelweiß was also a symbol used by the Nazis which is why I would recommend to avoid this name.
In German speaking countries it would be seen as weird and it wouldn't be thought of as a name.
This message was edited 11/5/2018, 5:06 PM
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Edelweiß does NOT mean "alpine star"
It actually literally means "noble white", derived from German edel meaning "noble" combined with German weiß meaning "white". If the name meant "alpine star", then it would have been something like Bergstern. Also see:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/edelweiss#English (in English)
It actually literally means "noble white", derived from German edel meaning "noble" combined with German weiß meaning "white". If the name meant "alpine star", then it would have been something like Bergstern. Also see:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/edelweiss#English (in English)
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The word "Edelweiß" means the flower also known in English as "Alpine Star", "Lions Foot" and "Snow flower". Thus Edelweiß does mean "Alpine star", but is more normally translated into English as Edelweiss.
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Just because those are the English names for the flower, does not mean that Edelweiß (alternatively written as Edelweiss in some languages, such as Dutch, English and French) actually has that meaning. To say "Edelweiß means 'alpine star'" implies that that is the English meaning of the flower's German name, which is incorrect. The only correct way to link "alpine star" to the name, is to say something along the lines of "The Edelweiß flower is known as the Alpine Star in English" - this doesn't suggest direct translation from German and recognises that the flower has a different (and etymologically unrelated) name in English.
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I think it's safe to say the flower "Edelweiss" translates into the flower "Alpine Star". Maybe the OP could have described that better, but it isnýt wrong. Alpine Star was capitalized, which suggested to flower to me.
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I'm sorry to say, but Edelweiß isn't used as a given name in German-speaking countries. It's simply a vocabulary word here.
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Thank you!!!
Another question:
Some users told that this flower is the symbol of Nazism but I know that the song in the musical was sung by a character Who did not want to join the Nazi Navy because he was Austrian.
Why the musical used it anyway? It makes no sense..
There is a very big difference between a Nazi symbol and an Austrian patriotic song (so anti-annection?)...
Which is the most immediate link?
The song is the opening theme of 'The Man in the High Castle' a book and then TV series where Nazim is worldly spreaded. So It is used as a way to highline this tragic lifestyle or on the contrary is a resistance song?
Another question:
Some users told that this flower is the symbol of Nazism but I know that the song in the musical was sung by a character Who did not want to join the Nazi Navy because he was Austrian.
Why the musical used it anyway? It makes no sense..
There is a very big difference between a Nazi symbol and an Austrian patriotic song (so anti-annection?)...
Which is the most immediate link?
The song is the opening theme of 'The Man in the High Castle' a book and then TV series where Nazim is worldly spreaded. So It is used as a way to highline this tragic lifestyle or on the contrary is a resistance song?
This message was edited 10/29/2018, 11:36 AM
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A lot of symbols are used in different cultures and countries, sometimes with the original meaning intact and sometimes with a different one. A good example of this is the swastika: we all know what it meant to the Nazis, but in e.g. Buddhism it symbolises the footprints of the Buddha.
With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that the Edelweiß meant something different to the Nazis than it did (and still does) to the Austrians. For the latter, it is their national flower, which symbolises both the purity of the Alp mountains and the bravery of those who manage to get their hands on the flower (since it isn't easy to find and pick one). For the Nazis, it symbolised the purity of the Aryan race (partly because the flower's name literally means "noble white") as well as Adolf Hitler, since it was his favourite flower.
Now, in The Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp is an Austrian naval officer who didn't want to join the Nazis, because he was a patriotic man and also because he didn't agree with the Nazi ideology and politics. As such, he sang the song about the Edelweiß as an expression of both his love for Austria and resistance towards the Nazis. Had he been a Nazi sympathiser instead, him singing the song would have represented his agreement with the Nazi ideology. So basically, in the musical, the meaning of the flower and the song entirely depends on Captain von Trapp's personal views. They would have been used in the musical no matter what his views were, but of course, the song would never have become so iconic if Von Trapp had been a Nazi sympathiser.
All in all, I don't see anything nonsensical or contradictory about the use of the Edelweiß in the musical.
With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that the Edelweiß meant something different to the Nazis than it did (and still does) to the Austrians. For the latter, it is their national flower, which symbolises both the purity of the Alp mountains and the bravery of those who manage to get their hands on the flower (since it isn't easy to find and pick one). For the Nazis, it symbolised the purity of the Aryan race (partly because the flower's name literally means "noble white") as well as Adolf Hitler, since it was his favourite flower.
Now, in The Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp is an Austrian naval officer who didn't want to join the Nazis, because he was a patriotic man and also because he didn't agree with the Nazi ideology and politics. As such, he sang the song about the Edelweiß as an expression of both his love for Austria and resistance towards the Nazis. Had he been a Nazi sympathiser instead, him singing the song would have represented his agreement with the Nazi ideology. So basically, in the musical, the meaning of the flower and the song entirely depends on Captain von Trapp's personal views. They would have been used in the musical no matter what his views were, but of course, the song would never have become so iconic if Von Trapp had been a Nazi sympathiser.
All in all, I don't see anything nonsensical or contradictory about the use of the Edelweiß in the musical.
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