Strangely accurate German words every traveller should know

Walking to clear your head, or thrilled by an epic landscape: There's a German word for that.

Germany is must-see destination for many New Zealanders but the national language can sometimes seem a little overwhelming.

It's a land that encompasses fairy-tale castles, cultural urban hubs and some of the most curiously specific words in the world.

Feeling underprepared and lost for words? There's a word for that in the national lexicon: Sprachlosigkeitsangst.

Just as Kiwis are thinking of travelling to Europe for summer it's time to dust off the phrasebook.

However, there is a certain point where language learning apps and coffee-break podcasts will not help.

Teutonic, pragmatic and to-the-point:

Here are a few handy words for your German odyssey which travellers will find curiously relatable.

Torschlusspanik

[Gate-shutting-panic]
That particular sense of panic that you feel when you can sense time running out, or a deadline slipping away. Perhaps most acutely felt by a passenger hearing their name called out on the airport PA system, along with the words "this is the final bording call for…".

Schadenfruede

[Misfortune- joy]

Or Fremdschämen

[external- shame]

Witnessing distressed passengerers rushing through airport security, you might feel one of these two sensations: Fremdschämen, which is a shared sympathy for another person's unfortunate situation; or Schadenfreude, that dark part of you which finds the spectacle of panicked passengers entertaining and would like nothing better for them to miss their flight.

Erklärungsnot

[Explanation- alarm]

The feeling of distress from not having an explanation at the ready. This handy phrase encapsulates the feelings of being 'caught red handed' and being 'lost for words' in a single utterance. It could be most applicable when you are pulled aside by security screening, or an airport sniffer dog takes an interest in your luggage.

Backpfeifengesicht

[Slapping-face]

Used to describe someone a difficult customer with particularly sour-looking features. Literally 'a face made for dealing a backhand slap' or that smug-looking git in the aircraft seat in front who keeps reclining into your personal space. Best not to act on this one.

Flughafenbegrussungsfreude

[Airport-Greeting-Joy]

The specific sort of happiness you feel when someone picks you up at the airport. Or the opening minutes of the 2003 Hugh Grant film,

Love Actually

.

Which wurst? A trio of traditional german sausages, bratwurst, bauerwurst and weisswurst. Photo / Getty

Futterneid

[Food-Envy]
When someone else is brought a delicious plate of food and you realise, too late, that you've placed the wrong order. It's an easy mistake to make from a German-language Speisekarte, but it makes your plate of Mettbrötchen (raw pork mince on bread) no easier to stomach.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau: Built by King Ludwig II, who may have had extrem 'Ruinenlust'. Photo / Jan Starcke, Getty

Ruinenlust

[Ruin-Excitement]
The feeling of seeing particularly pleasing ruins, the tumbled walls of an ancient castle or the faded grandeur of a German Schloss.

Some Germans have found ruins to be so aesthetically pleasing, they made fake ones. Kunstliches Ruinen (artificial ruins) litter public parks From Spandau to Hanover. Perhaps the most famous follie is the Neuschwanstein Castle, the masterpiece of mad King Ludwig II who built castles as a hobby.

Erkenntnisspaziergang

[Thinking-walk]

Taking a long walk outside in order to think deeply and get your thoughts in order. There is plenty of opportunity for this in the German Alps. Let your mind roam freely in the inspirational scenery.

Perhaps the most famous Erkenntnisspazierganger was the German philosopher Friedrich Neitszche.

He famously decreed that "God is dead" during a long walk in the mountains.

He might have been a victim of the next word, Abgrundanziehung.

Abgrundanziehung

[Grabbed-by-precipice]
That strange compulsion to look over the edge of a cliff. Abgrundanziehung is something else you might encounter in the mountains. It's the stomach churning excitement you get from looking down a long way, which some people describe as a desire to jump from a great height.

It takes all sorts, I suppose.

Fernweh

[Distance-pain]

Or Heimweh

[Home-pain]
Even if you don't feel the Abrundanziehung, you might feel one of these two sensations on your travels.

Reminded by a familiar landscape or a particular café of something you left behind in Aotearoa? Feeling down because there's an 11 hour time difference on your calls home and you can't get a decent mince pie anywhere? You might be suffering from Fernweh or, more acutely, from Heimweh. A homesickness and pining for something left long behind.