Friedensgrenze or "Peace border"; "Border of Peace" was a euphamism  in the former communist East Germany for the the present border between Germany and Poland. Although the East German government used it, the people of the country probably disagreed with it for the most part.

The border was established after World War II at the Potsdam Conference between Britain, the U.S. and the Soviet Union (July-August 1945).  It has lasted for over 60 years now. The term "Friedensgrenze" itself dates from about 1950, two years before East Germany officially recognized the new border. West Germany recognized it tentatively in 1970 under Willy Brandt and a final agreement was reached between Poland and the new reunited Germany regarding this border in 1991. It is sometimes called the "Oder-Neisse Line" too.

British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was against establishing the Oder-Neisse line as the permanent border between the two countries. He wanted to keep Communism as far to the East as possible in Europe. He also felt that in the long run, Germany would not accept the loss of that much territory and would some day start another war to get it back. However, Stalin won out on this one by fooling American President Roosevelt into thinking that he only wanted the former German territories temporarily and would being willing to renegotiate the borders between Poland and Germany in a few years.

‘Fried’ means "peace" in German and is related to Old English ‘fred’ meaning "peace". Some linguists claim that ‘Grenze’ (border) is a loan word from Slavic citing Polish grancia, Czech hranice and Russian granitsa all meaning "border", but I also read a source once  that gave it a Germanic origin atrributing it to an Franish /Old High German word ‘Granio’, ‘Granijo(?)’  meaning "region."  

The present government of the reunited Germany seems to be trying hard to eradicate all communist terms and influences that existed in the German speech of the former DDR (East Germany).

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‘Fried’ means "peace" in German and is related to Old English ‘fred’ meaning "peace". Some linguists claim that ‘Grenze’ (border) is a loan word from Slavic citing Polish grancia, Czech hranice and Russian granitsa all meaning "border",

German Friede or more commonly Frieden, Polish granica.  Romanian, besides the Romance frontiera, has also the Slavic granita for that.

Brazilian dude

Yes, BD

"Grenze" has cognates in several Eastern European languages including Romanian. The Albanian word for border, kufi is from Latin ‘confinus’ and I suspect that this was the original Romanian word too before it borrowed the Slavonic word. (Albanian is a respository for many early Romanian loan words - A Romanian shepherding people  called Vlachs were active in the region).

Several German etymologie books I’ve just looked at all claim that ‘Grenze’ is a Slavic loan word in German. I can’t seem to relocate the one that derives it from a Germanic source. It would be nice to have it even if it’s incorrect.

Tome Cuidado ! Take Care! Dejte Pozor! Uwaga!  :)

[quote author=brian_costello link=board=what;num=1130399342;start=0#2 date=10/29/05 at 02:48:31]"Grenze" has cognates in several Eastern European languages including Romanian. [...] Several German etymologie books I’ve just looked at all claim that ‘Grenze’ is a Slavic loan word in German. I can’t seem to relocate the one that derives it from a Germanic source. It would be nice to have it even if it’s incorrect.

Hi BC,

I checked two, Kluge 1999 and Pinloche 1930, but they both give the Slavic origins. So, if you’d ever find out the one which gives the (wrong) Germanic etymology, please let us know.
As a minor extra note i found "< 13. Jh. [...]. Seine Aufnahme in die Hochsprache verdankt das Wort dem Gebrauch durch Luther. Das alte Wort Mark bedeutet eher ‘Grenzgebiet’ un passte deshalb nicht mehr zu den moderneren Vorstellungen einer Grenze." (Kluge)

Tschüss

Frank

The Albanian word for border, kufi is from Latin ‘confinus’ and I suspect that this was the original Romanian word too before it borrowed the Slavonic word.

Romanian still has the plural word confinii.  All Romance languages seem to favor the plural, since it was the plural - confines - that was also used in Latin.

Tome Cuidado ! Take Care! Dejte Pozor! Uwaga!

All of these mean Watch out.  Should we all look up before we are hit by a rock?  ;D

My good German dictionary Wahrig states:

[<westslaw. greniz(e) (13. Jh - "century"), "Grenz, Grenzgebiet"; zu altslaw. grani Ecke "corner").

Brazilian dude

Frank,

Thanks for your message and your research. If I can relocate  the Germanic root I was thinking of I will let you know. Otherwise, Kluge and Pinloche will definitely have to stand. As you probably know, Germanic and Slavic have always borrowed vocabulary from each other and Hungarian and Romanian have even borrowed from both of them.

Usually, however, Slavic has borrowed more often from Germanic instead because the Germans  were the more advanced culture for a long time (Nowadays, I’ve heard that the Czechs are actually better engineers than the Germans !).

Some (though not all) Germanic loanwords in Romanian have come by way of Slavic such as grãdinã "garden", brutar "baker (cf. German Brot - bread),"  turn "tower" and "plug" plow.  :)

Brazilian Dude,

I know that "Cuidado!" by itself means "Look out!" or "Watch out!" in Spanish. The strange one is "Aguas!" for "Watch out!" which I’ve heard Mexican Spanish speakers use. I’ve read that it is slang, however.  ;)

Aguas is funny.  Maybe its etymology is similar to gardeloo’s?

Brazilian dude

Brian-

Really great to read you again, and thanks for this wonderful post.

A couple of questions, if I may:

[quote author=brian_costello link=board=what;num=1130399342;start=0#0 date=10/27/05 at 03:49:02]It is sometimes called the "Oder-Neisse Line"

Is the use of "oder" above as in durch ein oder mehrere Drittländer? (Just want to make sure)

[quote author=brian_costello link=board=what;num=1130399342;start=0#0 date=10/27/05 at 03:49:02]The present government of the reunited Germany seems to be trying hard to eradicate all communist terms and influences that existed in the German speech of the former DDR (East Germany).

Do you happen to know where I can read about this?

Thanks, Buddy.

VB

Hi VB,

[quote author=VB link=board=what;num=1130399342;start=0#7 date=11/01/05 at 10:51:32]Is the use of "oder" above as in durch ein oder mehrere Drittländer? (Just want to make sure)

Oder is the name of a river.

Frank

VB,

Hi, "Oder" in this sense refers to a river as mentioned by Frank above. It separates present day Germany and  Poland along with another river called the Neisse. In ancient times, the river was called the "Odra" and still is in the Czech and Polish languages.

In the Orwellian language of the East German communist regime "Friedensgrenze" was the name for the new post-World War II  border between Poland and the German Democratic Republic (DDR), rather than the "Oder-Neisse Line" used in the West. . The East German communists were very much puppets of the Soviet Union in 1950 when the term was created. "Frieden" or "Peace" in Communist lingo did not actually mean exactly the same thing as it does to us. It meant not only a state of quietutde and tranquility without wars but also one in which communism was in absolute control.

By the 1970’s and 80’s Soviet control over East Germany seems to have diminished somewhat just as it had in  Poland even though the country was still officially communist. For example, they were now tolerating long hair and rock n’roll music among their young people to some extent; something they would not have done during the Stalinist period.  8)