This time Streets & Squares will visit Gdansk on the Baltic coast in northern Poland, and - more precisely - by the Gulf of Danzig. Danzig is the former German name of Gdansk. There is an interesting list of German streets names correlating with their Polish version in Your Pocket. The Polish language is known for its rich consonants and a lack of vowels, so be prepared to tackle some pretty difficult words and names in this article. Continue reading

Streets and Squares goes this time to Boston, the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and known to most of us for its Irish heritage. But its history goes way beyond that. As always, we leave out most people - even if they are well-known - who don’t have direct relation to the city. And along with the eponymous streets, there may be parks, bridges and other noteworthy public places. The address links lead to Google Maps, and the links of people to their Wikipedia pages, if such exist. Continue reading

This time in Streets & Squares we go to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Lots of eponymous streets here! You might also see the name Reval in lots of places - that’s the old name for Tallinn. A short vocabulary to assist you in orienting in this lovely Hanseatic city: maantee (road), park (park), plats (square), torn (tower), tänav (street). Most street names in Tallinn lack the word street though, and are solely identified by the short form or the bearer of the street in question. Continue reading

This time Streets & Squares goes to Amsterdam. the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. Here is some vocabulary at first Kade, straat and weg can all be translated as streets. Furthermore, plein is square, and park is park. Like always, clicking on the addresses will open Google Maps for you, and clicking on the names will (usually) lead to the person’s Wikipedia page. A. J. KROPHOLLERSTRAAT - Alexander Jacobus Kropholler (1881-1973) was an architect who designed many buildings in his birth town Amsterdam as well as elsewhere. Continue reading

Once again, Streets and Squares is providing you with some interesting background information on street signs around the world - a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we go through Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The street signs there often end in utca. Or just út. _Híd _means bridge, park is park, tér is square, and rakpart is wharf. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_5206” align=“alignleft” width=“368”]Stortorget in Gamla Stan, Stockholm[/caption] This is part of the ongoing series Streets and Squares that provide some background information on street signs around the world - a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we talk about Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. There are lots of squares there that bear historical names, but of course street addresses as well. Continue reading

Let’s have another article in our series Streets and Squares - a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we go through London. You would expect a lot of royal names here - queens and kings etc - and so it is too. But let’s have a nice mix of those and some other interesting names, shall we. Continue reading

Flag of Paris This time Streets & Squares goes to Paris, the capital of France. The city is filled with eponymous addresses, which here may entail streets, squares, parks, bridges etc. The article may expand later on. Those of you who have visited this lovely city, or read about it, probably know that it is divided into 20 areas or districts called arrondissements. The rule of thumb is that the lower the number, the more central the area is. Continue reading

This is part in the article series Streets and Squares that provide some background information on street signs around the world. It is a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we target Berlin which became the capital of the unified Germany exactly 27 years ago, June 20th 1991. Strasse - or straße like they write that double s in German - means of course street, and there are quite a few eponymous streets - and squares and parks - in Berlin. Continue reading

This is the second article in the series Streets & Squares. This time it is about New York City - the place that never sleeps. For those of you who have visited the city, it is no news that its five boroughs, especially Manhattan, are filled with numbered avenues and streets, i.e. with no credit to any historical persons. But there are a few addresses with names too, and here are a few of them. Continue reading

This is the first in the article series Streets and Squares that provide some interesting background information on street signs around the world. It is a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! We start out with Helsinki, the capital of Finland that celebrated its 100 years of independence December 2017. The picture here depicts the Senate Square Church behind Market Square with the South Harbor in front where the Silja Line passenger ferries depart to Stockholm, Sweden. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_1153” align=“alignright” width=“398”]On Rue André del Sarte in Paris[/caption] Ever wonder when you are walking along streets abroad - or even in your home country - about the names in the street signs? Who gave the name to a particular street, square or park - and on what grounds was he or she bestowed the honor? Here follows a new series of articles which will go through cities in different parts of the world. Continue reading