GLOSSARY · ENGLISH
münster words. the german we kept.
Some words stay German in the English Pättken — names, places, and the app's own words. Here is what each one means. On English pages, the first time one of them turns up it is underlined with dots: tap it and you land here.
THE CITY14 WORDS
- Kiepenkerl
- The travelling pedlar of the Münsterland, who carried his wares in a basket (the Kiepe) on his back. His statue on the Spiekerhof in the old town has been a city landmark since 1896.
- Send
- Münster's funfair on the Schlossplatz, three times a year — in spring, summer and autumn. Entry is free; Thursday is family day with reduced prices.
- Promenade
- The tree-lined ring around the old town, laid out where the city walls once stood. No cars — it belongs to bikes and people on foot, and it is the fastest way round the centre.
- Leeze
- Münster's word for a bike, from Masematte. You will hear it everywhere — this is a city that cycles.
- Masematte
- Münster's old street slang, spoken by traders and in a few working-class quarters, with words from Yiddish, Hebrew and Romani. A few of its words live on in everyday Münster speech — Leeze is one.
- Pättken
- Münsterland dialect for a narrow footpath — the little path between fields or houses. Also the name of this app.
- Platt
- Low German, the old regional language of the Münsterland. Older people still speak it; many place and street names come from it.
- Prinzipalmarkt
- The arcaded main street of the old town with its row of gabled merchants' houses — almost all rebuilt after the Second World War.
- Aasee
- The lake on the river Aa, a few minutes' walk south-west of the centre — for walks, sailing, running and sitting on the steps at sunset.
- Wochenmarkt
- The weekly market on the Domplatz, every Wednesday and Saturday until early afternoon — fruit, vegetables, bread, flowers and something to eat on the spot.
- Kuhviertel
- The old-town quarter just north-west of the cathedral, known for its traditional pubs and student bars.
- Hawerkamp
- A former industrial site near the harbour, now clubs, studios and workshops — where Münster goes out late.
- Preußen
- SC Preußen Münster, the city's football club, founded in 1906 and playing at the Preußenstadion on Hammer Straße. Black, white and green, with the eagle on the crest.
- Allwetterzoo
- Münster's zoo on the Aasee. „Allwetter“ means all-weather: about a kilometre of its paths is covered.
STUDENT LIFE17 WORDS
- Mensa
- The university canteen, run by the Studierendenwerk. Show your student ID and you pay the student price. Mensa am Ring and Mensa am Aasee are the two big ones.
- Studierendenwerk
- The student services organisation: canteens, halls of residence, BAföG student finance, advice. Part of your semester fee goes to it.
- Kultursemesterticket (KuSeTi)
- Culture already paid for by your semester fee: with your student ID you get in free or cheaper at partner venues — Theater Münster, the Pumpenhaus, the Borchert Theater, the Hot Jazz Club, museums and more. Each venue has its own rules; the AStA keeps the list.
- Semesterticket
- Your public transport ticket, included in the semester fee: buses and regional trains, as a Deutschlandticket valid across Germany.
- Semesterbeitrag
- The fee you pay the university every semester. It funds the Studierendenwerk, the AStA and your Semesterticket — paying it is how you re-register.
- AStA
- The elected student union executive. It runs advice services and negotiates the Semesterticket and the Kultursemesterticket.
- Fachschaft
- The student council of your subject. It runs the first-week orientation and knows which modules to take first.
- Ersti
- A first-semester student — a fresher.
- ULB
- The Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, the university's main library on Krummer Timpen.
- Anmeldung
- Registering your address at the Bürgerbüro after you move in — required within two weeks. You need the landlord's confirmation for it. The survival dictionary on /welcome has the rest of the paperwork words.
- Bürgerbüro
- The city's citizens' office, where you register your address. Book a Termin (appointment) online first.
- Semesterticket+ (tretty)
- The cargo-bike add-on to the Semesterticket: 360 free minutes and 20 unlocks a day in the tretty app with a university login (asta.ms/semesterticket).
- Buddy-Programm
- The International Office pairs a new international student with a German student for the first semester; sign-up closes at the end of August and the end of February.
- Parlana
- The international language exchange at SpecOps Network (Aegidiimarkt 5), every 1st and 3rd Monday from 8 pm, free, no sign-up.
- ESS
- The Erasmus Student Service of the university: trips, parties and Stammtische every semester, announced on Instagram @erasmusmuenster.
- Wohnbörse
- The AStA's flat and room exchange, by students for students; the Studierendenwerk's halls take applications online at any time.
WORDS OF THIS APP9 WORDS
- Chättken
- This app's anonymous city notice board: no account, no location — you pin a note, others answer. It is moderated.
- Kiepenatze
- The app's own voice on Chättken, always openly labelled — never pretending to be a person. She posts the question of the day and one place a day from Atze's list.
- Atze weiß Bescheid
- „Atze knows“ — the app's list of Münster's pubs, clubs and cafés, each described in one or two of three words: mausig, atzig, fotzig. Atze is German slang for a mate.
- mausig · atzig · fotzig
- The three words of Atze's list — all three are praise, there is no ranking. mausig: sweet, cosy, harmless. atzig: laid-back, down-to-earth, reliable, a mate. fotzig (a reclaimed swear word): confident, cheeky, loud, extravagant — attitude and style.
- Geheimtipp
- An insider tip. In English the app calls them hidden gems — the places and stories most visitors walk past.
- Damals
- „Back then“ — the app's on-this-day history of Münster.
- Drückerei
- The rearrange mode for the cards on Today: press, hold and drag your front page into your own order. The name plays on Druckerei, a printing works, and drücken, to press.
- Setzkasten
- The directory of everything in the app, under More. A Setzkasten is a printer's type case — the app is designed like a printed poster.
- Stadtatem
- „The city's breath“: a quiet live view of Münster — buses on the move, free parking spaces.
The words on forms and letters — Anmeldung, Kaution, Rundfunkbeitrag — are in the survival dictionary on /welcome.