Today's words · 👮 Police & reporting
Bike gone? 10 German words for the police station
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Having your bike stolen is almost a rite of passage in Germany — and that day you'll need words, not a key.
You step outside in the morning and the bike you locked in front of your building is gone. Just the lock is left. You need to report it to the police, but your mind goes completely blank.
Today's ten words are the ones you need when reporting something to the police. Thief, break-in, witness, statement — with these you can explain calmly what happened. Hopefully you'll never need them, but it's good to be ready! 👮
📋 The ten words at a glance
- die Polizei — police
- der Polizist — police officer, policeman
- festnehmen — to arrest, to detain
- der Dieb — thief
- das Polizeirevier — police station
- der Einbruch — break-in, burglary; onset (of)
- Anzeige erstatten — to report (to the police), press charges
- der Zeuge — witness
- die Aussage — statement
- der Täter — perpetrator, culprit, offender
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
die Polizei
[po-lee-TSY]police((no pl.))
📌 Ruf die Polizei!
→ Call the police!
💡 Same root as police 🚓 Just end it with ‘-tsy’.
⚠ No plural: die Polizei is the force. One officer is der Polizist.
der Polizist
[po-lee-TSIST]police officer, policeman(Pl. die Polizisten (f: die Polizistin))
📌 Der Polizist hilft uns.
→ The police officer is helping us.
💡 die Polizei + -ist = one officer 👮 Like Pianist, -ist is a person.
⚠ Weak noun: den Polizisten, dem Polizisten
festnehmen
[FEST-nay-men]to arrest, to detain(nimmt fest – nahm fest – hat festgenommen)
📌 Die Polizei hat den Dieb festgenommen.
→ The police arrested the thief.
💡 fest (firmly) + nehmen (take) = to take firmly 🚔 Arrested!
⚠ Separable: Die Polizei nimmt ihn fest. / hat ihn festgenommen
der Dieb
[DEEP]thief(Pl. die Diebe (f: die Diebin))
📌 Der Dieb hat mein Fahrrad gestohlen.
→ The thief stole my bike.
💡 Same root as thief 🦹 The b sounds like a p at the end.
Bonus to steal = stehlen · theft = der Diebstahl
das Polizeirevier
[po-lee-TSY-ray-veer]police station(Pl. die Polizeireviere)
📌 Bitte kommen Sie morgen aufs Polizeirevier.
→ Please come to the police station tomorrow.
💡 Polizei + Revier (district) = your local station 🏢 It guards its patch.
Bonus Use auf: aufs Polizeirevier gehen
der Einbruch
[INE-brookh]break-in, burglary; onset (of)(Pl. die Einbrüche)
📌 Nach dem Einbruch haben wir ein neues Schloss gekauft.
→ After the burglary we bought a new lock.
💡 ein (in) + brechen (break) = a break-in 🔨 Easy to picture!
Bonus bei Einbruch der Dunkelheit = at nightfall
Anzeige erstatten
[AN-tsy-guh air-SHTAT-en]to report (to the police), press charges(= anzeigen)
📌 Nach dem Diebstahl hat sie Anzeige bei der Polizei erstattet.
→ After the theft she reported it to the police.
💡 The official way to report a crime 📝 Hand in (erstatten) a report (Anzeige).
Bonus Shorter: anzeigen — Ich möchte einen Diebstahl anzeigen.
⚠ die Anzeige can also mean a newspaper advert.
der Zeuge
[TSOY-guh]witness(Pl. die Zeugen (f: die Zeugin))
📌 Gab es Zeugen für den Unfall?
→ Were there any witnesses to the accident?
💡 From zeugen, to testify 👀 The person who tells what they saw.
⚠ Weak noun: den/dem/des Zeugen
die Aussage
[OWS-zah-guh]statement(Pl. die Aussagen)
📌 Welche Aussage ist richtig?
→ Which statement is correct?
💡 aus (out) + sagen (say) = what you say out loud 🗣️ A statement.
Bonus to give a statement = eine Aussage machen
der Täter
[TAY-ter]perpetrator, culprit, offender(Pl. die Täter (f: die Täterin))
📌 Die Polizei sucht den Täter.
→ The police are looking for the culprit.
💡 die Tat (deed) + -er, with a → ä 🕵️ The one who did the deed!
Bonus victim = das Opfer
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Germany's emergency numbers are 110 for the police and 112 for the fire brigade and ambulance. For non-urgent matters you can go to your local police station, and many states also have an online reporting service (Onlinewache).
If something is stolen, your insurer will often want proof that you reported it to the police. That's why many people note down their bike's frame number or take a photo of it in advance. 🚲
✅ Quick quiz
Q. You're at the police station to report your stolen bike. What do you say first?
- ① Ich möchte einen Diebstahl anzeigen.
- ② Der Polizist hilft uns.
- ③ Gab es Zeugen für den Unfall?
Show the answer
① Ich möchte einen Diebstahl anzeigen.
anzeigen means to report to the police, so this says ‘I'd like to report a theft’.
Act out reporting a stolen bike with today's words, out loud. And let's hope you only ever need it for practice! 🍀
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 👛 Lost & found