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Given two bank names:

I assume, that in the both cases a Genitive with a feminine noun (die) is used. If so, why in the first case the adjective «Deutsche» is written without -r at the end, while in the second case we see -r for the adjective «Münchner»?

Can it be that in case of geographical adjectives we should use -r in Genitive if we have a feminine noun (die): «Münchner», «Pariser», while for the national adjectives no -r required: «Deutsche», «Amerikanische» Bank/Bahn, etc?

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2 Answers 2

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There is no genitive at all, these are both adjectives.

"Deutsche" in "Deutsche Bank" is a completely ordinary adjective, no different from "großer Hund", "kleines Kaninchen", "schöne Frau", etc.; these are declined for gender, case and number (ein Mitarbeiter der Deutschen Bank arbeitet bei der Deutschen Bank und wird die Deutsche Bank nicht besonders bald verlassen).

"Münchner" in "Münchner Bank" is a special kind of adjective that can only be used with geographical names (die Berliner Mauer, das Brandenburger Tor, die Wiener Linien, der Innsbrucker Hauptbahnhof, die Freiburger Bächle). The ending never changes from -er: ein Mitarbeiter der Münchner Bank arbeitet bei der Münchner Bank, wird die Münchner Bank aber bald verlassen.

Either can be used with nouns of any gender, the -er geographical adjectives are mostly used with cities, but also some (not all) larger geographical regions (Thüringer Rostbratwurst, Schweizer Franken, Tiroler Tageszeitung, Kärntner Kasnudeln; but not "Österreicher …" anything, "Österreicher" only means "person from Austria", I have never seen it used as an adjective).

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    In addition, there's also the ending -aner for place names that end in -er, e.g. Hannover →die Hannoveraner Mannschaft.
    – Janka
    Commented Oct 2 at 10:14
  • 'but not "Österreicher …" anything' - funny that you pick Österreich of all countries. "Deutschländer Irgendwas" sounds at best weird, "Frankreicher Irgendwas" sounds plainly wrong, but "Österreicher Irgendwas" does not strike me as unusual. And indeed, looking for "Österreicher Gerichte", as an example, brings up numerous restaurant websites with phrases such as "traditionelle Österreicher Gerichte und regionale Produkte" or "(...) servierte der Koch Leo Österreicher Gerichte". Commented Oct 2 at 21:07
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    @O.R.Mapper I have genuinely never seen such usage before and I am from Austria myself, would have insisted on "österreichische" in both cases
    – wonderbear
    Commented Oct 3 at 5:50
  • Ich vermute, der Koch heißt ganz einfach Leo Österreicher.
    – Sonyfreak
    Commented Oct 8 at 10:01
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Those are not Genitives, but adjectives. I understand you would like to know when those adjectives are formed with the -er and when with the -sch suffix.

There is no way to derive this from semantic or lexical aspects of the word alone. This is demonstrated by the examples Hamburger Bahnhof vs. Hamburgische Bürgerschaft, and Berlinische Galerie vs. Berliner Pilsner.

Lexical Factors

If a city's name ends on -er, it will usually not form the adjective with -er suffix, and hence is likely to form the adjective with -sch (or -aner). Examples are Hannover with hannoversch and hannoveraner (Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung), and Münster with Münsteraner and münstersch or münsterisch (Müntersche Zeitung).

Historic Factors

For cities, location adjectives most often end in -er, as you suggested. There are examples using the -sch suffix though. This is partly a matter of language history. It looks like the -sch has been the norm, but in younger times, -er became more prevalent. That is why you will find -sch in older institutions. The example of Bremische Bürgerschaft vs. Bremer Nationalversammlung demonstrates that the historic shift is not consistent, so it would not be possible to identify a cut-off date at which -er suffix would have become the norm but it seems the transition has been rather "soft" (as one would expect with linguistic changes). I compiled some examples:

  • Hallesche Versicherung (founded 1934)
  • Hannoversche Versicherung (named that way in 1935)
  • Berlinische Galerie (founded 1870)
  • Bremische Volksbank (founded 1926 as Bremische Genossenschaftsbank)
  • Bremische Bürgerschaft (founded in 1848; notably, there was a Bremer Nationalversammlung in 1919, though)
  • Hamburgische Bürgerschaft (founded in 1859)

Duden has a slightly unsatisfactory article which mentions the historic aspect, but does not give any more detail: https://www.duden.de/sprachwissen/sprachratgeber/Von-Ortsnamen-abgeleitete-Adjektive-auf-isch-er

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  • What if I have a city name ending in A? Do I need to replace the A with "isch" to form the adjective? Commented Nov 5 at 20:57
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    @odduse_of_language I don't think so. Off the top of my head, there is Eldenaer Straße, Lauchaer Schafberg, and Geraer Höhler., There are examples with a-isch too, though, for instance Grimmaischer Steinweg, or Kahlaische Straße.
    – Jonathan Herrera
    Commented Nov 5 at 20:59

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