Düsseldorf - Düsseldorf ( translation glossary) English spelling of place name,Geography,Science

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German term or phrase:	Düsseldorf
English translation:	Düsseldorf
Entered by:	Orla Shanaghy

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9:52am Aug 25, 2006

German to English translations [PRO]
Science - Geography / English spelling of place name

German term or phrase: Düsseldorf

I have it in my head that Düsseldorf is one of those place names that has an English version (like München->Munich) and that it should be spelled "Dusseldorf" in English i.e. the Umlaut is omitted. However, Merriam-Webster gives it as Düsseldorf. Anyone know for sure? TIA, Orla

Orla Shanaghy

KudoZ activity
Questions: 37 (all closed)
Answers: 117

Ireland

Clarification request(s) and response

Lori Dendy-Molz: 10:51am Aug 25, 2006: I would tend to keep it and I usually do, but things do get complicated when you start dealing with a text that also includes München and/or Kölln, which generally are translated. If it's possible to ask if the client has a preference, I would.

Düsseldorf

Explanation:
Use the umlaut

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Note added at 7 mins (2006-08-25 10:00:05 GMT)
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PONS says so and it is well backed on the Web

Selected response from:

Stephen Sadie
Germany

Note from asker to answerer

Thanks Stephen and everyone else for suggestions and a very interesting discussion!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +12

Düsseldorf

Stephen Sadie

4 +3

Dusseldorf

Marcus Geibel (mgvie)

4 +2

Düsseldorf

Languageman

Düsseldorf

Ilse Reumueller

Answers

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +12

Düsseldorf

Explanation:
Use the umlaut

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2006-08-25 10:00:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

PONS says so and it is well backed on the Web

Stephen Sadie
Germany
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Note from asker to answerer

Thanks Stephen and everyone else for suggestions and a very interesting discussion!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Claire Cox: Looks most odd without...

9 mins

-> thanks claire

agree

Ken Cox: In this age of electronic text, there's no excuse for pretending that diacritical marks don't exist in English (which anyhow came from reluctance to spend money on extra patterns in the era of lead type).

10 mins

-> thanks kenneth

agree

Klaus Herrmann: That's how Düsseldorf presents itself in NY :) http://www.nycvisit.de/index.cfm?ID=152904

17 mins

-> thanks klaus

agree

Melanie Nassar : I have a client that prefers it like this, and it doesn't change the pronunciation for English speakers, unlike ß which I avoid in all translations.

1 hr

-> thanks melanie

agree

Sarah Downing: I generally do, but I know that guides such as Associated Press, tend to prefer Duesseldorf. Personally, Dusseldorf seems wrong to me, even if it purports to be acceptable usage

1 hr

-> Indeed substitutuin of the umlaut has always been an adequate workaround for those not able to use up-to-date technology

agree

xxxIanW

2 hrs

-> thanks Ian...even if you are on the other side of the Rhine / Rhein

agree

milinad

2 hrs

-> thanks milinad

agree

Julia Lipeles

2 hrs

-> danke julia

agree

Ingeborg Gowans

4 hrs

-> thanks ingeborg

agree

Rebecca Garber

6 hrs

-> thanks rebecca

agree

Kathrin.B

9 hrs

-> danke kathrin

agree

Andrew Swift: Also voting to reverse status switch. The fact that PRO translators choose to debate this is reason enough for it to be considered a PRO question.

12 hrs

-> exactly why I voted it PRO, thanks andrew

6 mins confidence:

Düsseldorf

Explanation:
As far as I know, the name is the same in German as well as in English.
You can also write "Duesseldorf".

Reference: http://www.duesseldorf-international.de/

Ilse Reumueller
Austria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German

6 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

Düsseldorf

Explanation:
I don't think anyone would shout too loud if you drop the umlaut, but the official version seems to keep it.

http://www.duesseldorf.de/en/index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusseldorf

Languageman
United Kingdom
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

Dusseldorf

Explanation:
I disagree with Stephen. It might well be that the Umlaut has entered dictionaries - but still many English word processors don't support these characters. And as the spelling with simple "u" has been in official use, why not avoid such problems?

Regards

And mind: "If in doubt, leave it out" :-)

Marcus Geibel (mgvie)
Germany
Native speaker of:

German

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

erika rubinstein

0 min

disagree

Klaus Herrmann: A heartfelt disagree from Düsseldorf. It's a town on the Düssel, not a town for the Dussel (=moron); umlauts are accessible to anyone who cares to use them.

11 mins

disagree

Stephen Sadie: see kenneth's comment, we are living in the 21st century and with pcs

12 mins

agree

Ingo Dierkschnieder: Actually, both spellings are accepted, and I've seen both being used here in the UK. The fact that English word processors might not support Umlauts is a good point.

12 mins

agree

earthreptile: I work for a financial information company with stock exchange listings and we hold Dusseldorf, i.e. without the umlaut, as we do not support extended character sets in our systems.

29 mins

agree

EdithK

6 hrs

agree

Andrew Swift: Also voting to reverse status switch. The fact that PRO translators choose to debate this is reason enough for it to be considered a PRO question.

12 hrs

Voters for reclassification as PRO / non-PRO

PRO (3): Stephen Sadie, Andrew Swift, Ian M-H
Non-PRO (1): EdithK

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German: Düsseldorf

English translation: Düsseldorf