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The main definition of das Pflaster is:

  • plaster
  • pavement
  • band-aid

How is it then possible to use it to mean place and city, such as in

  • ein teures Pflaster – an expensive city/place

  • ein gefährliches Pflaster – a dangerous city/place

How/why does Pflaster mean city or place in this context? Does the word Pflaster intrinsically have such a meaning?

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3 Answers 3

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The expression ein teures/gefährliches/heisses/... Pflaster comes from former times, when only city roads had cobblestone (Pflastersteine) pavements and thus refers to city roads, therefore - the city, or a place in a city.

It should be mentioned this only works in a number of idioms as above:

Ein historisches Pflaster

to describe a historic city center wouldn't work, or at least sound a bit odd.

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    so i'm understanding that "ein teueres Pflaster" means "an expensive pavement-> city/place"
    – Quality Posts
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 15:05
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    @QualityPosts Exactly. And "heiss" can be used with "Pflaster" with a connotation of "dangerous"
    – tofro
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 15:45
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    The explanation appears a bit "beside the point". The question was why "Pflaster" would represent a place, which the explanation in this answer does not justify. Instead, the explanation outlines why "Pflaster" denotes a specific type of place (rather than any other type of place), which was neither really asked, nor is it necessarily correct in the figure of speech as used now.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Commented Jul 21 at 19:42
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The term "Pflaster" in the mentioned expressions refers to the cobblestones on the ground.

By extension, it refers to any walkable path, and further, to any location such a path belongs to.

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The word "Pflaster" originated form the word "emplastron" which was a band-aid with salve on it. Because of the covering and protecting characteristics of a band-aid the word was then used for the pavement covering the streets.

Since the 19th century the word is "Pars pro toto", meaning "a part (taken) for the whole".

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    Der Strassenbelag soll seinen Namen vom Heftpflaster bekommen haben? Das kann ja wohl nicht sein, denn die Straßen waren schon Jahrhunderte gepflastert, bevor das Heftpflaster erfunden wurde.
    – Robert
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 17:02
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    Mir ist nicht klar, wie das die Originalfrage beantwortet.
    – Robert
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 17:02
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    Das bedingt aber nicht, dass man den Straßenbelag schon immer "Pflastersteine" nannte. Siehe hierzu folgenden Dudeneintrag und einen Wiktionaryeintrag: duden.de/rechtschreibung/pflastern de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Pflaster
    – Daniel Wild
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 17:17
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    @Robert: Im pars pro toto ist ein Hauch einer Antwort versteckt; dieser müsste aber deutlich ausgebaut werden um jemandem zu nutzen, der die Antwort nicht bereits kennt.
    – Wrzlprmft ♦
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 18:27
  • @Wrzlprmft selbst dieser Hauch ist schon fragwürdig, da der Begriff ja i.A. nur in wenigen Wendungen (gefährlich oder teuer) benutzt wird.
    – Chieron
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 18:33

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