Culture
Echte Liebe
EKH-tuh LEE-buh
'Real love' — Borussia Dortmund's motto, and used with total sincerity here. It is written across the south stand and it is not marketing to the people saying it.
die Gelbe Wand
dee GEL-buh vant
The Yellow Wall — the Südtribüne, 24,454 standing places and the largest standing terrace in European football. On a matchday it is the loudest thing in Germany.
Food
Pommes Schranke
POM-ess SHRANK-uh
Chips with both mayonnaise and ketchup — 'level-crossing chips', for the red-and-white stripes. The default Ruhr order and the correct one.
Dortmunder Export
DORT-moon-der ex-PORT
The pale lager style the city invented and once brewed more of than anywhere in Europe. Ask for a Pils and nobody minds; ask for an Export and you have said something.
Social
Ich bin am Arbeiten
ikh bin am AR-bye-ten
'I'm working' — the Rhineland-Ruhr progressive tense that textbook German says does not exist. You will hear it constantly and using it marks you as local.
wat / dat
vat / dat
Ruhrdeutsch for 'was' and 'das'. The dialect flattens endings and eats syllables; recognising it is the difference between thinking people are mumbling and understanding them.
Daily life
Anmeldung
AN-mel-doong
Registering your address, legally required within two weeks of moving in, and the gate to your tax ID, bank account, health insurance and residence permit.
Mietspiegel
MEET-shpee-gel
The official rent index. Dortmund publishes a qualified one, which means it is legal evidence of the local comparative rent — the single most useful document a tenant here has.
Kaltmiete / Warmmiete
KALT-mee-teh
Cold rent versus warm rent — base rent versus rent plus heating and service charges. Listings quote cold; your standing order is warm.
Schufa
SHOO-fah
The credit scoring agency. Landlords, phone operators and instalment sellers all check it, and a newcomer's file is empty.
Transport
Umweltplakette
OOM-velt-plah-KET-uh
The emissions badge on the windscreen. Only the green one gets you into the Ruhr zone, which runs continuously across thirteen cities including this one.
Emergency
112 / 110
—
112 for ambulance and fire, 110 for police. 112 works across the EU.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.