GEZ stands for Gebühreneinzugszentrale der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

The GEZ is responsible for collecting television and radio license fees in Germany.  There are specific rules for calculating how many radios and television sets have to be paid for, depending on the type of usage and exact details can be found on the GEZ website.

Even people who do not own a radio (not even a car radio) or television set may be liable to pay if they own a mobile phone or a computer that can access the internet.  These are referred to as “Neuartige Rundfunkempfangsgeräte”.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

[audio:http://www.germanwordsexplained.com/mp3/2008-09-03_gez.mp3]
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ABM is an abbreviation for Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme.

The word refers to work that is provided for unemployed people, eg. for social causes.  The idea being that unemployed people stay in the routine of getting up in the morning and going to work.

These days the abbreviation is used to refer to something that has to be done “for the sake of it”.  For example, if a company is to be restructured without any apparent reason, then this is often referred to by the employees as an ABM.  Another example is the filling out of forms, although the data is already available.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

[audio:http://www.germanwordsexplained.com/mp3/2008-09-01_abm.mp3]
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The FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and SZ (Süddeutsche Zeitung) are two of the main national newspapers in Germany. Both have now been going for over 50 years.

They take a serious approach to the news, with the FAZ concentrating more on financial issues and the SZ on political topics.

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ARD and ZDF are two public service broadcasters in Germany. ARD is made up of a number of smaller, regional broadcasters whereas ZDF is more centralised and is based in Mainz-Lerchenberg.

Major shows such as Wetten Dass…? and Fernsehgarten are broadcast by ZDF, and the daily news Tagesschau is broadcast by ARD.

Besides their own channels, both are involved in other public service projects such as KiKa – a channel for childrens’ programmes.

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ICE is the abbreviation for Intercity-Express, the high-speed trains that run between the major cities in Germany.

To use the ICE you need a ticket that entitles you to do so, stating that a particular part of your journey is using such a train.

Visitors to Germany may prefer avoid using ICE trains, in order to travel the older, more scenic routes.

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