Sauerland
English
Etymology
Borrowed from German Sauerland.
Proper noun
the Sauerland
- A region of Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- 2025 May 6, Jim Tankersley, Christopher F. Schuetze, “Who Is Friedrich Merz, Germany’s New Chancellor?”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- Mr. Merz is a product of the Sauerland in Germany’s wealthy west, a region that defines his politics and persona. During his campaign, he ran on the slogan “More Sauerland for Germany,” evoking the region’s image as a heartland of the country.
Further reading
German
Etymology
First mentioned in 1266 as Suderlande; the -d- started to disappear around 1400. The first part is possibly a corruption of a Westphalian Low German word for southern: compare süder-, Süd, Old Saxon sûðar, all from sūth, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr. This is more likely than the theory that it is directly from sauer (“sour”, in this sense "poor soil"). The second part is related to Land.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
das Sauerland n (proper noun, strong, usually definite, definite genitive des Sauerlandes or des Sauerlands)
- Sauerland (a hilly region of Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia)
- Synonym: Süderland
Usage notes
- There are märkisches Sauerland and kurkölnisches Sauerland.
Derived terms
- Sauerländer
- sauerländisch
- Hochsauerland
See also
Further reading
- “Sauerland” in Duden online
- Sauerland on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
- Westfälisches Urkunden-Buch. Fortsetzung von Erhards Regesta historiae Westfaliae. Siebenter Band: Die Urkunden des kölnischen Westfalens vom J. 1200–1300, Münster, 1908, p. 563, Nr. 1243: from the year 1266, in Latin and containing the name Wesselo de Suderlande (dative/ablative)