Today's words · 🏛️ Architecture
Look up! 10 German words for buildings
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The moment you look up at the buildings, a German city starts to look completely different.
You step out of Cologne's main station and a huge cathedral fills the sky. An older lady next to you says proudly, "An dem Dom hat man über 600 Jahre gebaut!" — and all you can manage is "Schön!"
Today's ten words are about architecture and buildings. With them you can follow a city tour and say a sentence or two about a building you like. 🏛️
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Gebäude
[guh-BOY-duh]building(Pl. die Gebäude)
📌 Das Gebäude ist über 100 Jahre alt.
→ The building is over 100 years old.
💡 A noun from bauen (to build) 🏢 Something built = a building.
Bonus The plural looks the same: ein Gebäude, zwei Gebäude
die Architektur
[ar-khi-tek-TOOR]architecture(Pl. die Architekturen)
📌 Ich interessiere mich sehr für moderne Architektur.
→ I'm very interested in modern architecture.
💡 A borrowed noun in -ur, so die 📐 Almost the same as English.
Bonus Adjective: architektonisch = architectural
der Architekt
[ar-khi-TEKT]architect(Pl. die Architekten (f: die Architektin))
📌 Der Architekt zeigt uns die Pläne für das Haus.
→ The architect shows us the plans for the house.
💡 Greek for ‘master builder’ 👷 Just like English architect.
⚠ Weak noun: den/dem/des Architekten
bauen
[BOW-en]to build, to construct(baut – hat gebaut)
📌 Hier wird ein neues Haus gebaut.
→ A new house is being built here.
💡 Stack it up like Lego 🧱 Houses, bridges, snowmen — you bauen them all.
Bonus building site = die Baustelle (you'll see them everywhere)
der Turm
[toorm]tower(Pl. die Türme)
📌 Vom Turm hat man eine tolle Aussicht.
→ There's a great view from the tower.
💡 From Latin turris 🗼 English turret is a cousin.
⚠ Plural with umlaut: die Türme
die Brücke
[BRÜ-kuh]bridge(Pl. die Brücken)
📌 Wir gehen über die Brücke.
→ We walk across the bridge.
💡 Same root as English bridge 🌉 The g just turned into ck.
Bonus A ‘bridge day’ between a holiday and the weekend = der Brückentag
der Stil
[shteel]style(Pl. die Stile)
📌 Ihr Kleid hat einen eleganten Stil.
→ Her dress has an elegant style.
💡 From Latin stilus (pen) 🖋️ A way of writing → a style.
⚠ Sounds exactly like der Stiel (handle, stem).
das Hochhaus
[HOHKH-hows]high-rise (building), tower block(Pl. die Hochhäuser)
📌 Wir wohnen im zehnten Stock eines Hochhauses.
→ We live on the tenth floor of a high-rise.
💡 hoch (high) + Haus (house) = a high house 🏙️ Frankfurt is full of them.
⚠ Plural with umlaut and -er: die Hochhäuser
der Dom
[dohm]cathedral(Pl. die Dome)
📌 Der Kölner Dom ist sehr berühmt.
→ Cologne Cathedral is very famous.
💡 From Latin domus (house) = the house of the church ⛪ der Kölner Dom!
⚠ Not a dome! A dome is die Kuppel.
die Säule
[ZOY-luh]column, pillar(Pl. die Säulen)
📌 Das Dach ruht auf vier Säulen.
→ The roof rests on four columns.
💡 Säule sounds like ‘soy-luh’ — picture a giant soy sauce bottle holding up the roof 🏛️
Bonus Figuratively too: eine Säule der Gesellschaft = a pillar of society
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
In old town centres you'll often see a Fachwerkhaus, a half-timbered house with its wooden frame on show. They look like something out of a fairy tale.
The Bauhaus, which shaped modern design worldwide, also began in Germany. It was a school founded in Weimar in 1919, famous for a simple, practical style.
Architecture words also pop up when you look for a flat. In ads, Altbau usually means an older building with high ceilings, and Neubau a more recently built one. 🏠
✅ Quick quiz
Q. In Cologne, a friend points at the cathedral and asks what it is. What do you say?
- ① Das ist ein Hochhaus.
- ② Das ist eine Brücke.
- ③ Das ist der Kölner Dom.
Show the answer
③ Das ist der Kölner Dom.
der Dom means cathedral, and Cologne's is der Kölner Dom.
On your next walk, pick a building and say, "Das Gebäude hat einen schönen Stil!" Your city will suddenly feel like a museum! 🌇
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 💻 Computers