Memories: Am Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt
"Am Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt" means, "at the main train station Frankfurt," and it is located in the heart of Frankfurt. The sign with the big blue "U" in the photo below is for the "U-Bahn;" that is, the "Untergrundbahn" (underground railway, subway). *
The "Dippegucker Restaurant Am Bahnhof" was a longtime favorite of mine. They had "Hannen Alt Bier" as one of their beers on tap, and that in and of itself was enough to make me a good customer. I was sad to learn that it closed a few years ago, although I believe their second restaurant in Frankfurt, near the Eschenheimer Turm,** is still open. I have so many good memories of this restaurant right across from the main train station, by Münchener Straße. It tended to be a busy place, and the area around the train station had much hustle and bustle, as rail travel in Germany, and in Europe in general, is very popular and economical. One of the waiters at the Dippegucker was from France (Paris, I believe?), but unfortunately I now cannot recall his name. Then there were two delightful waitresses, as well as a couple of guys with the kitchen staff. They came to know me, and when I returned to Germany one time, after maybe a two year absence, they all said how they had missed me (hey, I've got some people fooled, so shhhhh, don't tell). I would guess in May or June of 1989, just months from the "Wall" coming down, of which there was absolutely no inkling, at that time, I was leaving the next day, and the whole staff came out and had drinks (shots) with me and wished me a safe trip home. It may have been Jägermeister, which was popular back then, but I just forget, except that it was free. Hey, I told you I missed the place! They were near to closing time, so they were not neglecting customers. If any of those people happen to read this, I think they may remember this and I hope all is well with you!
The top of the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt can be seen over the streetcar with the Jägermeister ad.
* German is famous for stringing words together into super words, and "Untergrundbahn" is a good example. Its three parts all have relatives in English: "under," "ground" and "bane." The first two mean exactly the same as their German relatives, but the third needs explanation, which is in this link, as I did the word history for the compound "Autobahn" in this article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/07/german-question-part-one-hundred-twenty_28.html
** The "Eschenheimer Turm" is a castle-like tower that was built as part of the protective wall around Frankfurt in the Middle Ages.
WORD HISTORY:
Shed-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the verb meaning, "to part with, to give up something, to give off something (often skin, shell, horns or hair), to get rid of something." It goes back to Indo European "skei(t)," which had the notion, "to cut, to cut off, to separate (from)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "skaithanan," which meant, "to divide, to separate." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceadan," meaning, "to separate;'' thus also, "to distinguish (between, from);" thus, "to decide" (that is, "to separate and distinguish one idea from another") and "to give up something or to give off." This later became "scheden," then "sheden," before the modern version. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "scheiden," meaning, "separate (including 'divorce'), divide, distinguish (between, from), to leave/move away;" Low German Saxon "scheden," meaning, "separate, divide;" Dutch "scheiden," meaning, "separate, divide, divorce, part from or disconnect;" West Frisian "ôfskiede," meaning, "separate, divide, part (with, from) and also, "skiede," meaning "divorce." Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish do not use forms of the word.
The "Dippegucker Restaurant Am Bahnhof" was a longtime favorite of mine. They had "Hannen Alt Bier" as one of their beers on tap, and that in and of itself was enough to make me a good customer. I was sad to learn that it closed a few years ago, although I believe their second restaurant in Frankfurt, near the Eschenheimer Turm,** is still open. I have so many good memories of this restaurant right across from the main train station, by Münchener Straße. It tended to be a busy place, and the area around the train station had much hustle and bustle, as rail travel in Germany, and in Europe in general, is very popular and economical. One of the waiters at the Dippegucker was from France (Paris, I believe?), but unfortunately I now cannot recall his name. Then there were two delightful waitresses, as well as a couple of guys with the kitchen staff. They came to know me, and when I returned to Germany one time, after maybe a two year absence, they all said how they had missed me (hey, I've got some people fooled, so shhhhh, don't tell). I would guess in May or June of 1989, just months from the "Wall" coming down, of which there was absolutely no inkling, at that time, I was leaving the next day, and the whole staff came out and had drinks (shots) with me and wished me a safe trip home. It may have been Jägermeister, which was popular back then, but I just forget, except that it was free. Hey, I told you I missed the place! They were near to closing time, so they were not neglecting customers. If any of those people happen to read this, I think they may remember this and I hope all is well with you!
This is the KoreaHaus Restaurant (below), which was also located across from the Hauptbahnhof, but at TaunusStraße. I may be wrong, but I think it was called the "Pan Asia Restaurant" in the earlier 1980s? I'm not sure when I took this picture, but perhaps in the late 1980s. Very good food and super nice people. One time many years ago, I had come down with a cold and two of the staff made such a fuss over me, I was tempted to tell them I had a cold the next time too. Haha, just joking! Ahhchoo! Online sources say the restaurant is permanently closed.
** The "Eschenheimer Turm" is a castle-like tower that was built as part of the protective wall around Frankfurt in the Middle Ages.
WORD HISTORY:
Shed-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the verb meaning, "to part with, to give up something, to give off something (often skin, shell, horns or hair), to get rid of something." It goes back to Indo European "skei(t)," which had the notion, "to cut, to cut off, to separate (from)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "skaithanan," which meant, "to divide, to separate." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceadan," meaning, "to separate;'' thus also, "to distinguish (between, from);" thus, "to decide" (that is, "to separate and distinguish one idea from another") and "to give up something or to give off." This later became "scheden," then "sheden," before the modern version. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "scheiden," meaning, "separate (including 'divorce'), divide, distinguish (between, from), to leave/move away;" Low German Saxon "scheden," meaning, "separate, divide;" Dutch "scheiden," meaning, "separate, divide, divorce, part from or disconnect;" West Frisian "ôfskiede," meaning, "separate, divide, part (with, from) and also, "skiede," meaning "divorce." Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish do not use forms of the word.
Labels: Dippegucker Am Hauptbahnhof, Dippegucker Restaurant, English, etymology, Frankfurt, friendship, Germanic languages, KoreaHaus Frankfurt, personal recollections
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