6

This appears in today's DW's Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten:

Bei einer Massenpanik während eines jüdischen Festes in Nordisrael sind nach Behördenangaben mindestens 44 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Mehr als 100 Teilnehmer wurden demnach in dem Wallfahrtsort Meron verletzt.

If I translate Duden's definition of demnach to English, that definition does not seem to make sense in this sentence to me. Without demnach:

More than 100 participants were injured in the place of pilgrimage, Meron.

And with demnach:

Consequently / After what has just been said / Therefore, more than 100 participants were injured in the place of pilgrimage, Meron.

The English translations do not make sense because the demnach translations do not properly connect the two sentences. The English sentence that would make sense is

In addition, more than 100 participants were injured in the place of pilgrimage, Meron.

But "in addition" is not among Duden's definitions for demnach. What is demnach actually saying here?

4 Answers 4

17

demnach tends to be used in news articles when the news item couldn't be verified otherwise by the paper than through one single source.

So, it boils down to "allegedly" or "according to our/this source" - which relates to "Behördenangaben".

7

"demnach" refers to the part of the previous sentence that stands with the preposition "nach", being "nach Behördenangaben". It basically means that the source of the second sentence's information are (not further specified) Israeli offices, as well.

1
  • That is true here, but in general the preposition being nach has nothing to do with it. You could also say: "Laut Behördenangaben [...] Demnach sind ..." (or "den Behörden zufolge", "die Behörden melden, daß", "gemäß den Auskünften der Behörden" or whatever the masters of prose at DW might come up with). Apr 30, 2021 at 22:43
0

You are right. Demnach in this context isn't good. Either there was something said before, where the demnach is connected to or it is just wrong.

Usualy with 'demnach' you can start a conclusion and connect it to what was said before. "accordingly" or "therefore" would be also good describtion.

I couldn't find your example on DW.

I only found this 2:

Im Norden Israels sind bei einer Massenpanik auf einem großen jüdischen Fest mindestens 44 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Mehr als 100 Personen wurden verletzt, viele von ihnen lebensgefährlich. Ermittlungen zur Unglücksursache haben begonnen.

Bei einer Massenpanik auf einem großen jüdischen Fest auf dem Meron-Berg im Norden Israels sind nach offiziellen Angaben mindestens 45 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Etwa 150 Personen wurden verletzt, viele von ihnen lebensgefährlich.

In the ladder you have the expression "nach offiziellen Angaben" (According to official reports). Here you can start the next sentence with "demnach"

https://deutschlernerblog.de/kausalsatz-kausalsaetze-kausale-konnektoren-konjunktionen-adverbien-praepositionen/

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  • A link has been added to the original source, and the sentence in question is the second sentence in the first section.
    – user44591
    May 2, 2021 at 15:40
  • Demnach ist good in the source.
    – Trish
    May 2, 2021 at 16:19
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I'd translate the term dem nach (literally ~ that after) within this context as subsequently, which might match the German meaning a whole lot better than terms alike therefore, accordingly or allegedly (vermutlich), which describes an assumption. When looking at the literal translation, it may become understandable. The problem is that dead people are not an assumption, but a consequence. In general, this term is being commonly used when referring to the factual consequences of an event. There are no assumptions or allegations being involved (these are being indicated otherwise), because some degree of certainty is being implied by this term.

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