Knowledge (XXG)

Ossi and Wessi

Source 📝

232:(a portmanteau of Ossi and Wessi) has been used to describe West Germans who after reunification have moved to the East. In 2019, Christian Bangel observed the growing political influence of Wossis in federal politics, as numerous politicians socialized in West Germany live in Potsdam. Examples include Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (born in Osnabrück, former Lord Mayor of Hamburg), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (born in Hannover) and AfD politician Alexander Gauland (born in Chemnitz, fled to Marburg, returned to Potsdam after reunification). 22: 212:("know-it-all") and thus indicates a Wessi who feels superior to Ossis. Some former East Germans feel that former West Germans do not respect their culture and that East Germans were assimilated into West German culture, rather than the two cultures being united as equals. These people are sometimes called Jammerossis (jammer meaning complaining).This term was named 66:, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Knowledge (XXG). 220:
East Germany was indeed incorporated into West Germany under existing West German law. This solution was taken in order to legally avoid the necessity of creating a new constitution as demanded by the West German
76: 637: 52: 384: 716: 692: 266: 519: 354: 185:(1945–1990). These names represent the lingering differences between the two pre-reunification cultures, and Germany's popular culture includes many 86:
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
94: 645: 292: 685: 605: 474: 711: 503: 409: 373: 424: 721: 678: 107:
Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Knowledge (XXG) article at ]; see its history for attribution.
493: 399: 329: 213: 169: 160: 102: 123: 71: 546: 241: 217: 182: 435: 116: 572: 310: 194: 613: 580: 499: 405: 246: 186: 98: 662: 440: 379: 142: 456: 705: 173:– "westerner") are the informal names that people in Germany call former citizens of 34: 178: 174: 138: 457:"German adult education in East-Germany after unification: picking up the pieces" 222: 617: 584: 267:"Inside Track: Why Germany's Ossis and Wessis are still divided 25 years on" 475:"Opinion: How eastern and western Germany still differ from each other" 190: 105:
to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is
193:
may consider these names insulting, others regard them as part of the
495:
Humor, Satire, and Identity: Eastern German Literature in the 1990s
63: 520:"Reunification Controversy: Was East-Germany Really 'Annexed?'" 311:"Typically Ossi – Typically Wessi | DW | 05.01.2009" 15: 638:"Scholz' Kabinett steht: Relativ jung und sehr westdeutsch" 75:
to this template: there are already 1,848 articles in the
666: 398:
Caldwell, Peter C.; Hanshew, Karrin (August 23, 2018).
59: 55:
a machine-translated version of the German article.
401:Germany Since 1945: Politics, Culture, and Society 372: 547:"Deutsche Sprachpreise: Ein Jahr, ein (Un-)Wort!" 293:"The World from Berlin: 'Ossis Aren't Indians'" 101:accompanying your translation by providing an 46:Click for important translation instructions. 33:expand this article with text translated from 686: 8: 606:"Deutsche Einheit: Jetzt kommen die Wossis" 141:. For the Australian informal demonym, see 693: 679: 661:This article about German culture is a 258: 571:ZEIT (Archiv), D. I. E. (1993-04-02). 545:Gunkel, Christoph (October 31, 2011). 374:"Ossi and Wessi test the German water" 216:in 1991. Politically speaking, in the 80: 168: 159: 7: 658: 656: 208:meaning "better") which is a pun on 717:East Germany–West Germany relations 665:. You can help Knowledge (XXG) by 492:Twark, Jill E. (August 21, 2007). 330:"East-Germans are still different" 228:Since the reunification, the term 189:and clichés. While some people in 14: 137:For the Irish soccer-player, see 604:Bangel, Christian (2019-05-05). 455:Sporing, Marion (June 2, 2003). 387:from the original on 2022-05-24. 328:Rennefanz, Sabine (2010-09-30). 113:{{Translated|de|Ossi und Wessi}} 20: 111:You may also add the template 1: 644:. 2021-12-06. Archived from 124:Knowledge (XXG):Translation 83:will aid in categorization. 738: 655: 136: 58:Machine translation, like 508:– via Google Books. 414:– via Google Books. 404:. Bloomsbury Publishing. 35:the corresponding article 712:German words and phrases 436:"Unity loses its lustre" 214:German Word of the Year 200:There is also the name 122:For more guidance, see 383:. September 10, 1994. 573:"Vom Wessi zum Wossi" 498:. Walter de Gruyter. 355:"OSSIS, WESSIS WALLS" 242:New states of Germany 166:German pronunciation: 157:German pronunciation: 95:copyright attribution 722:German culture stubs 218:German Reunification 481:. February 7, 2019. 359:Washingtonpost.com 271:Heraldscotland.com 103:interlanguage link 674: 673: 526:. August 31, 2010 479:The Local Germany 361:. August 2, 1992. 299:. April 16, 2010. 247:East-German jokes 135: 134: 47: 43: 729: 695: 688: 681: 657: 650: 649: 634: 628: 627: 625: 624: 601: 595: 594: 592: 591: 568: 562: 561: 559: 557: 542: 536: 535: 533: 531: 516: 510: 509: 489: 483: 482: 471: 465: 464: 452: 446: 445: 432: 426: 422: 416: 415: 395: 389: 388: 376: 369: 363: 362: 351: 345: 344: 342: 341: 325: 319: 318: 307: 301: 300: 289: 283: 282: 280: 278: 273:. 6 October 2015 263: 187:Ossi-Wessi-jokes 172: 170:[ˈvɛsiː] 167: 163: 158: 114: 108: 82: 81:|topic= 79:, and specifying 64:Google Translate 45: 41: 24: 23: 16: 737: 736: 732: 731: 730: 728: 727: 726: 702: 701: 700: 699: 654: 653: 636: 635: 631: 622: 620: 603: 602: 598: 589: 587: 570: 569: 565: 555: 553: 544: 543: 539: 529: 527: 518: 517: 513: 506: 491: 490: 486: 473: 472: 468: 454: 453: 449: 441:The Irish Times 434: 433: 429: 423: 419: 412: 397: 396: 392: 380:The Independent 371: 370: 366: 353: 352: 348: 339: 337: 327: 326: 322: 309: 308: 304: 291: 290: 286: 276: 274: 265: 264: 260: 255: 238: 165: 164:– "easterner"; 161:[ˈɔsiː] 156: 146: 143:Westie (person) 131: 130: 129: 112: 106: 48: 25: 21: 12: 11: 5: 735: 733: 725: 724: 719: 714: 704: 703: 698: 697: 690: 683: 675: 672: 671: 652: 651: 648:on 2021-12-07. 629: 596: 563: 537: 511: 504: 484: 466: 447: 427: 417: 410: 390: 364: 346: 320: 302: 284: 257: 256: 254: 251: 250: 249: 244: 237: 234: 195:German culture 183:re-unification 133: 132: 128: 127: 120: 109: 87: 84: 72:adding a topic 67: 56: 49: 30: 29: 28: 26: 19: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 734: 723: 720: 718: 715: 713: 710: 709: 707: 696: 691: 689: 684: 682: 677: 676: 670: 668: 664: 659: 647: 643: 639: 633: 630: 619: 615: 612:(in German). 611: 607: 600: 597: 586: 582: 579:(in German). 578: 574: 567: 564: 552: 548: 541: 538: 525: 521: 515: 512: 507: 505:9783110195996 501: 497: 496: 488: 485: 480: 476: 470: 467: 462: 458: 451: 448: 443: 442: 437: 431: 428: 425: 421: 418: 413: 411:9781474262439 407: 403: 402: 394: 391: 386: 382: 381: 375: 368: 365: 360: 356: 350: 347: 335: 331: 324: 321: 316: 312: 306: 303: 298: 294: 288: 285: 272: 268: 262: 259: 252: 248: 245: 243: 240: 239: 235: 233: 231: 226: 224: 219: 215: 211: 207: 203: 198: 196: 192: 188: 184: 180: 176: 171: 162: 154: 150: 144: 140: 125: 121: 118: 110: 104: 100: 96: 92: 88: 85: 78: 77:main category 74: 73: 68: 65: 61: 57: 54: 51: 50: 44: 42:(August 2021) 38: 36: 31:You can help 27: 18: 17: 667:expanding it 660: 646:the original 641: 632: 621:. Retrieved 609: 599: 588:. Retrieved 576: 566: 554:. Retrieved 550: 540: 528:. Retrieved 523: 514: 494: 487: 478: 469: 460: 450: 439: 430: 420: 400: 393: 378: 367: 358: 349: 338:. Retrieved 333: 323: 314: 305: 296: 287: 275:. Retrieved 270: 261: 229: 227: 210:Besserwisser 209: 205: 201: 199: 179:West Germany 175:East Germany 152: 148: 147: 139:Wes Hoolahan 99:edit summary 90: 70: 40: 32: 461:Leeds.ac.uk 223:Grundgesetz 202:Besserwessi 706:Categories 623:2024-06-16 590:2024-06-16 556:August 21, 551:Spiegel.de 530:August 21, 524:Spiegel.de 340:2010-10-02 297:Spiegel.de 277:August 21, 253:References 618:0044-2070 585:0044-2070 117:talk page 69:Consider 37:in German 610:Die Zeit 577:Die Zeit 385:Archived 336:. London 334:Guardian 236:See also 93:provide 191:Germany 181:before 115:to the 97:in the 39:. 616:  583:  502:  408:  315:DW.COM 206:besser 230:Wossi 153:Wessi 60:DeepL 663:stub 614:ISSN 581:ISSN 558:2019 532:2019 500:ISBN 406:ISBN 279:2019 177:and 151:and 149:Ossi 91:must 89:You 53:View 642:ZDF 225:". 62:or 708:: 640:. 608:. 575:. 549:. 522:. 477:. 459:. 438:. 377:. 357:. 332:. 313:. 295:. 269:. 197:. 694:e 687:t 680:v 669:. 626:. 593:. 560:. 534:. 463:. 444:. 343:. 317:. 281:. 221:" 204:( 155:( 145:. 126:. 119:.

Index

the corresponding article
View
DeepL
Google Translate
adding a topic
main category
copyright attribution
edit summary
interlanguage link
talk page
Knowledge (XXG):Translation
Wes Hoolahan
Westie (person)
[ˈɔsiː]
[ˈvɛsiː]
East Germany
West Germany
re-unification
Ossi-Wessi-jokes
Germany
German culture
German Word of the Year
German Reunification
Grundgesetz
New states of Germany
East-German jokes
"Inside Track: Why Germany's Ossis and Wessis are still divided 25 years on"
"The World from Berlin: 'Ossis Aren't Indians'"
"Typically Ossi – Typically Wessi | DW | 05.01.2009"
"East-Germans are still different"

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.