FDP stands for Freie Demokratische Partei, and is a liberal political party in Germany.
The FDP was founded at the end of 1948, and has played a part in many national and regional governments ever since – often as a minority coalition partner.
The following politicians belonged or belong to the party: Theodor Heuss, Walter Scheel, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Giudo Westerwelle.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
SPD stands for Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands and is one of the main political parties in Germany.
It is the oldest party in the German parliament, having been founded in the 2nd half of the 19th Century.
The following politicians belonged or belong to the party: Willy Brandt, Gerhard Schröder, Kurt Beck, Franz Müntefering, Erich Ollenhauer and Helmut Schmidt.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
Throughout June German Words Explained will be looking at the political parties in Germany.
This week we start with the Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU) and the Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern (CSU).
The CDU was founded shortly after the end of the Second World War in 1945. The following politicians belonged or belong to the party: Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard, Helmut Kohl, Theo Waigel, Norbert Blüm and Angela Merkel.
The CSU was founded in at the beginning of 1946, and is the CDU partner in Bavaria.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
The Jugendamt is an office, usually located in each Kreis or Kreisstadt and sometimes in other large towns.
The office is not only responsible for child protection and assisting parents that are unable to cope with their children, but also to arrange courses and activities for children.
They are also a point of contact for clubs and societies, eg. to apply for financial support to fund training courses or building repairs. The rules for this vary from state to state.
Volunteers those clubs and societies can prove that they have a certain number of hours of training can go to the Jugendamt to apply for a JugendleiterInnen-Card, which gives them free or discounted entry to places such as swimming pools and museums.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
The Wahlamt is an office, usually located in the town hall, that is responsible for organising elections.
It splits a town up into Wahlbezirke and sends out the postcards that tell the people who live in the town where and when they can go to vote.
The office is also the place to go if you want to apply for a postal vote, or if someone is ill on the day of the election and sends someone else to collect their ballot paper.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
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