Need a German-sounding name for a prison camp. http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191 bobo_the_bard What the title says. =P The story is steampunk, and the facility in question is an evil hospital/prison for the very worst of criminals. Think combination of Alcatraz and Auschwitz. I just...don't know German at all. :-) It's even fine if the names don't exactly sound German...but I would like a name that sort of makes you immediately think that it's a sinister place. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:47:03 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137013 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137013 Irukazab Dachmannhausen Completely made up. You can always 'germanize' a name by adding -stedt, -hausen or -berg at the end (think 'Hogan's Heroes' :-) ) Burgstedt (made up, too, I hope!) Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:17:39 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137076 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137076 LozzT-In-Time Kampfhausen. I actually did German for three years. Not sure if its actually written properly, hut 'kampf' means struggle and 'haus' means house, so I added one and one. Yay memory lol Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:13:19 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1141637 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1141637 Generalist Choose a German castle and use that. Colditz Castle would be a real world example. It was where the Germans kept the Allied prisoners that had repeatedly escaped from other prisons. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:08:19 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1141687 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1141687 Caseyhein Since you mention Auschwitz, most military compounds are named for the town they are closest to. If you don't like that approach, there is also history of naming things in the most pleasant sounding way as possible. For example in my Horror Novel set in Vietnam-war era Bavarian Germany. An american soldier is stationed to a recreation facility in the german alps, this facility is now run as a cooperative facility between many nations. However the building was originally a Insane Asylum, then the Nazis took the building during WW2 and used it for high altitude and cold weather experimentation. The name that I chose for the Facility was Bergweisse Irrenhaus. (Mountain Meadow Madhouse translated) Insane asylums have always been a place of horrible conditions but they always have the nicest sounding names. Just my .02 Good Luck Casey Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:44:37 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1141726 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1141726 Nike Lennard *g* Sorry, I won't make you to look silly but most of the suggested names doesn't sound natural. As Casey pointed out, most such facilities are named after a town or a place. And such names tend to have very old roots and to be typical for specific regions -hausen f.e. isn't used in northern Germany for settlements foundet before the 8th century, so you can't combine that with modern words like "Kampf" or "Dachmann" (which is a modern and irregular form of "roofer" so Dachmannhausen would be a town founded by roofers). On the other hand -stedt or -stede is used only in northern Germany, in Bavaria it's -stätt. Forms with -itz have slavian origins. "Bergweisse" sounds like a bavarian beer. Meadows is "Wiese". And an insane asylum wouldn't be called "Irrenhaus" but "Psychiatrische Klinik" or "Psychiatrische Anstalt" (Irrenhaus isn't PC). If you wan't something sinister I strongly suggest "Düsternbrook" (which is in real a quarter of Kiel and means dire swamp, but can be settled in northern Germany only) or - if you prefer something more southward you can take Todenhausen (sounds a like Deathmanshousing) or Schwarzenau (a place near or surrounded by black water). And if you want to make it most evident, take Not or Elend (Distress and Misery - both are real settlements in the Harz Mountains). Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:10:46 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1142124 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1142124 Irukazab [quote=Nike Lennard] *g* Sorry, I won't make you to look silly but most of the suggested names doesn't sound natural. As Casey pointed out, most such facilities are named after a town or a place. And such names tend to have very old roots and to be typical for specific regions -hausen f.e. isn't used in northern Germany for settlements foundet before the 8th century, so you can't combine that with modern words like "Kampf" or "Dachmann" (which is a modern and irregular form of "roofer" so Dachmannhausen would be a town founded by roofers). On the other hand -stedt or -stede is used only in northern Germany, in Bavaria it's -stätt. Forms with -itz have slavian origins. "Bergweisse" sounds like a bavarian beer. Meadows is "Wiese". And an insane asylum wouldn't be called "Irrenhaus" but "Psychiatrische Klinik" or "Psychiatrische Anstalt" (Irrenhaus isn't PC). If you wan't something sinister I strongly suggest "Düsternbrook" (which is in real a quarter of Kiel and means dire swamp, but can be settled in northern Germany only) or - if you prefer something more southward you can take Todenhausen (sounds a like Deathmanshousing) or Schwarzenau (a place near or surrounded by black water). And if you want to make it most evident, take Not or Elend (Distress and Misery - both are real settlements in the Harz Mountains). [/quote] Well, I don't think WWII era Germany was very PC. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:52:16 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1144483 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1144483 Nike Lennard [quote] Well, I don't think WWII era Germany was very PC. [/quote] Not in the way you think. But "Irrenhaus" is a 19th century word and got out of use before the beginning of the 20th century with the development of Psychologie and Psychoanalysis. Even if the Nazis didn't accept this concept, they didn't go behind the nomenclatur. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:36:14 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146410 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146410 Nike Lennard And I really would like to know where do you get your other informations about Germany you share so freely - Hogart's Heroes are definately not the best source. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:50:01 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146431 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146431 Irukazab [quote=Nike Lennard] And I really would like to know where do you get your other informations about Germany you share so freely - Hogart's Heroes are definately not the best source. [/quote] It's Hogan's heroes and no, it was an example on how to successfully Germanize a name, though it was done in jest. But you should not assume you alone hold he key to German culture. ;-) Das waere I grosser Fehler. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:40:34 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146543 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146543 Nike Lennard No I don't keep the only key to anything. But actually I'm German and do know quite a lot about Germanys culture, history and language. I tend to win trivial pursuit as well. But I won't judge about other countries by reading some novels or comics settled there. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:27:17 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146578 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1146578 Irukazab [quote=Nike Lennard] No I don't keep the only key to anything. But actually I'm German and do know quite a lot about Germanys culture, history and language. I tend to win trivial pursuit as well. But I won't judge about other countries by reading some novels or comics settled there. [/quote] gut zu wissen. carry on. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:31:17 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1147224 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50191?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1147224