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The news had something that happened on this date a few years ago(9-11) and it had in the title "Gestern-heute" if I remember correctly. What does it mean?

EDIT

To make the question clearer I am not looking for the meaning of "gestern" or "heute", but if putting them together has a meaning. I don't remember the sentence but it was talking about the 9-11 events in 2001.

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    It would tremendously help us to understand and explain "gestern - heute" if you could find a more elaborate quote of the line/context you read it.
    – Takkat
    Sep 11, 2014 at 7:23
  • @Grantwalzer I know what each word means by itself, I am just not sure if putting them together means anything
    – mosaad
    Sep 11, 2014 at 7:25
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    Ah! Well, if you would have included this information in your question, it would probably have an answer by now :)
    – user6191
    Sep 11, 2014 at 7:27
  • @Takkat i updated question
    – mosaad
    Sep 11, 2014 at 7:30
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    Ein ähnliches Konstrukt, "Heute morgen", hat eine besondere Bedeutung, jedoch nur, weil "morgen" doppeldeutig ist. Ansonsten kann ein Sendungstitel eine Verkürzung sein und "Die Welt gestern u. heute im Vergleich" bedeuten, oder etwas derartiges.
    – user unknown
    Sep 11, 2014 at 20:22

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It's probably not supposed to be one word, because

gesternheute

seems contradictory (an antinomy), except maybe in the sense of "either yesterday and/or today" (and then it would be my first encounter with it). Meaning: As things are standing it doesn't have some acknowledged meaning. You can still interpret meaning into it, like you can into Eckenschirm.

Otherwise it's a comparison or timespan between yesterday and today.

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    Even in German you can't combine all types of words. If there were such a term, it would probably be written in two words like other daytimes, for example "morgen Abend" or "heute Morgen". It's most certainly a comparison or timespan.
    – kapex
    Sep 11, 2014 at 15:23
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I guess the “-” in “gestern-heute” is not meant as a hyphen, but rather as a dash. So it should be written “gestern – heute”. Both words are used here in a figurative sense, representing past and present. So I would expect the article to contrast past and present aspects of the 9/11 attack.

A word gestern-heute or gesternheute doesn’t exist, as Grantwalzer already confirmed.

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    That’d also be my guess. If the newspaper would place value on typography, it probably should have been: »Gestern – heute« (Halbgeviertstrich with spaces instead of Viertelgeviertstrich without spaces).
    – unor
    Sep 11, 2014 at 11:02
  • This should be the accepted answer. (Not sure how common it is on German.SE, but a comment like this is incredibly helpful on programming SEs.)
    – Raketenolli
    Jul 27, 2016 at 8:04
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It might have been a "bis-Strich" (I don't know the English term for that). In that case it was probably typeset not as a hyphen (-) but as an en-dash (–).

If that is the case, "gestern–heute" would mean "gestern bis heute", "from yesterday to today".

Generally, the "bis-Strich" is used to denote ranges, like "von 3–5 Uhr" (from 3 to 5 o'clock), or "Seite 36–42" (pages 36 to 42).

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from yesterday to today (timespan); maybe what has changed, how was it back then, and how is it now (the situation)

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    This answer is difficult to understand, if at all. Please you use complete sentences and be a more verbose.
    – Wrzlprmft ♦
    Sep 11, 2014 at 16:40

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