Friday, July 22, 2011

Göthe

When Dante Alighieri is Italy's and William Shakespeare, England's national poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is recognized as such in my country. He was not only a poet but one of the last universally educated geniuses of the German tongue. 

There is not one place in Germany without a street or square named after him. In Freiburg, many regard Goethestraße as the most beautiful alley in town, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Beautifully decorated houses built in a variety of historical styles line the street.

 This is not true for Munich's Goethestraße running off the central train station where red light premises compete with cheap electronic stores. It was there where it happened. Road construction work around the station called for a detour signaled by panels showing Göthestraße instead of Goethestraße, an obvious mistake. A mistake? Hey, not so fast.

Our national poet was born in Frankfurt on 28 August 1749 as the son of Johann Caspar Göthe. As a young man, Johann Wolfgang changed his name to Goethe, in his father's eyes, a misdeed; he never pardoned his son. 

The reason for Goethe's change has yet to be discovered. Did he, as a young man, already think of his international renown? Mind you, umlauts are rarely found in other languages if it is not for the Turks or Hungarians. By the way, the Turks are called Törökök in Hungarian. Those Hungarians not only overdo it concerning the frequency of their "ös." In addition to the short "ö" carrying two dots, they also know the long "ő" taking two strokes.

The American keyboards I used during work and later on the Internet forced me to change my name from Höfert to Hoefert. 

My brother working in the UK was so annoyed with the umlaut that he dropped the "tüttels" altogether. Maybe he did the right thing because when changing from "ö" to "oe," I suffered from the pronunciation of my name by my Dutch colleagues. In their language, the "oe" stands for the phoneme "u." 

Did Goethe consider this fact when he changed from "ö" to "oe"? Did he want the Dutch to call him de oude Goede, i.e., the old Good one?
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