5.1 Ferien, Urlaub und Geografie

Lektionsüberblick

On our journey through the language of travel, we will begin with the timing of our travel. Going from primary to secondary school and then onto your post-secondary education, your travel is generally limited to the Ferien, the days and weeks during which there are no classes, and Feiertage, days on which everything, or at least school/uni is closed. When you plan to travel, you have to decide the kind of travel you want to do and the locations you want to or are able to visit. We will discover and expand on these topics during this first lesson on Urlaub und Reisen. In the end, you will be able talk about 1) days off from school, 2) different kinds of vacations, and 3) location, location, location.

1) Schulferien und Feiertage

Many Europeans are often astounded by the very long summer break we typically have in the US, around 10 weeks, compared to their 6 weeks. It may look like American children attend much less school than European children. However, if you look at the whole school calendar, you can see that some US schools have little or no fall break and only one week off in the spring, whereas the schools in German-speaking countries often have a two-week fall break, a two-week spring break, and additional days off. For example, schools in Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and some German states have Sportferien or a Sportwoche in late winter or early spring, in order for families to go skiing. (The schools in German-speaking countries and US schools tend to have the same 2 weeks off over the Christmas holidays.) You can see these differences and similarities in the following images. (With the exception of Liechtenstein, the images only show a selection of the Kantonen, Bundesländer, or states.)


As you can see, the Swiss school calendar not only depends on the individual Kanton, but also on the kind of school in that Kanton. For example, the Gymasium Laufenthal-Thierstein in region around Basel has slightly different Ferien than all of the other schools.


The German school calendar does not include a Sportwoche, altough some states have Winterferien. Yet other schools have Pfingstferien instead. Pfingsten is a church holiday called Pentecost or Whitsuntide. The Monday after Pfingsten (called Pfingstmontag) is a holiday in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and parts of Switzerland. Some states take a longer school break over this holiday.


The Austrian school calendar calls their late winter/early spring break Semesterferien. Ostern is Easter. Like with Pfingsten, the Monday after Easter is called Ostermontag and is a holiday in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and parts of Switzerland.


Liechtenstein’s school calendar is very straight-forward. After all, the total population is smaller than 40K.


This school calendar is for Albany County in Wyoming, where UW is located. Because the university is the largest employer in town, the school calendar, in particular the spring break, usually follows the university calendar.

German-speaking countries have many more federal holidays than the US does, as can be seen in the following chart. (The italicized holidays in this chart are fixed to a certain weekday and the date will change from year to year.) Not all of the US holidays are days off from school.

 Wie kann man über die Unterschiede sprechen?

Die amerikanischen Sommerferien sind länger als die schweizer Sommerferien.

Die amerikanischen Herbstferien sind kürzer als die schweizer Herbstferien.

Die Ferien in Burgenland sind so lang wie die Ferien in Kärnten.

Kinder auf Schulen im deutschsprachigen Europa haben mehr schulfreie Feiertage als Kinder auf amerikanischen Schulen.

Kinder auf amerikanischen Schulen haben weniger schulfreie Feiertage als Kinder auf Schulen im deutschsprachigen Europa.

Kinder auf Schulen im deutschsprachigen Europa haben keine Thanksgivingferien, weil Thanksgiving ein amerikanischer Feiertag ist.

Österreich hat die meisten Feiertage.

Let’s practice!

Deutsch IRL – Sommerferien

Jetzt bist du dran!

Du hast zwei Aufgaben:

1) Wie lange waren die Sommerferien an deiner High-School? Waren sie länger oder kürzer als in Laramie? als Zürich? Answer the questions in your written journal using the modeled language above.

Then record your answer in your audio journal.

2) Pick one of the Feiertage celebrated in Switzerland and look up information about it. Write down 2-3 interesting facts about this holiday in your written journal. Challenge yourself and write the facts down in (your) German!

2) Urlaubsarten

When school is out, it may be time to travel! When you are traveling with your family, that is called the Familienurlaub, the family vacation. Wie waren deine Familienurlaube? What were your family vacations like? The following presentation shows you some typical kinds of vacations. Are any of them familiar to you?

Deutsch IRL

Jetzt bist du dran!

Bist du in den Ferien mit deiner Familie in den Urlaub gefahren? Wie alt warst du? Was für einen Familienurlaub war er? Answer the questions in your written journal using the modeled language above. For this entry, keep it simple. In future lessons, you can expand on this vacation and provide more detail.

When you are doing, check your spelling and structures. Then record your answer in your audio journal.


3) Wohin geht die Reise?

We know when we’re going – in den Ferien – and what kind of family vacation we want, now let’s look at places we can travel to or have traveled to – Wohin geht die Reise?. This will mean learning some geographical features, how to talk about traveling to a country, and reviewing our knowledge of giving and understanding directions.

Die Geografie

Let’s check your recall!
Westerland in NF Die Ärzte’s popular 1988 song Westerland is a hommage to a part of the island Sylt in der Nordsee.

You can watch the music video and read along with the lyrics.
Vokabelhilfe:
der Wannsee – ein See in Berlin
die Sehnsucht – the yearning
den Verstand verlieren – to lose one’s mind
die Nordsee – the North Sea
das Ufer – the shore
retten – to save
untergehen – to sink down/ to drown
unter sich sein – to be among others

Die Länder und Bundesstaaten

Let’s look at how to talk about traveling to a place. Read and listen to the following sentences. Then practice! Be sure to click through to each slide.
Here is a good list of countries with articles in their names.

Die Wegbeschreibungen

Knowing how to follow directions in German is an important part of traveling in a German-speaking country. Let’s review and expand upon your ability to do so.

 

Deutsch IRL

  • Bitte wenden, Lied, ok.danke.tschüss feels that an entire generation is dependent on apps and smartphones and can no longer find their way around on their own. What is virtual and what is real? The two worlds seem to be merging. The link leads you to the song and some activities.
  • Auf dem Weg, Lied, Mark Forster, a song about going somewhere. How many direction words can you understand? Click on “Show more” to see the lyrics.

Jetzt bist du dran!

Wohin bist du gefahren? Think about the last time you left Laramie. Where did you go? In your written journal, answer the question using the language modeled above and include any geographic features you may have passed by or driven through.

When you are done, record your answer in your audio journal.

Jetzt kombinieren

In our first lesson on travel, you learned how to talk about 1) days off from school, 2) different kinds of vacations, and 3) location, location, location. Now let’s combine everything!

Write about a Familienurlaub including information about how old you were, which Ferien you were on, what kind of vacation it was, where you went and which geographical features did you drive by or drive to.

At this point, you do not need to add more detail. It is more important to stay with the modeled language and write what you know.

Media Attributions

Media Attributions

  • 2030-2040 ch banner reduced size
  • Screenshot
  • Screenshot
  • Screenshot
  • Screenshot
  • Schulferien 2025 USA
  • 5.1 Feiertage vergleich 2025

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Deutsch im Alltag III: Gestern und heute Copyright © by Rebecca Steele is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book