Is a Supermarkt the same as Kaufhalle? I met people in East Germany saying Kaufhalle.
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de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaufhalle– Em1Sep 11, 2013 at 19:44
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Thank you. But Wikipedia is wrong. The word is still very alive there.– SchcSSep 11, 2013 at 19:54
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1The article does not contradict that. In fact, it doesn't say anything about the present. You could consider it incomplete, but not wrong.– chirluSep 11, 2013 at 20:17
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They write "wurden ... bezeichnet"– SchcSSep 11, 2013 at 20:18
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Actually, they write "wurden in der DDR ... bezeichnet".– chirluSep 11, 2013 at 20:37
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3 Answers
Supermarkt is the more polished, West German word. Kaufhalle is a more descriptive, hence more East German variant.
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1Der Halle hört man Wände und Decke an, während der Markt mehr nach Pferdemist und Schlamm klingt. Allerdings kaschiert die westliche Version, dass man womöglich Geld los wird. Sep 12, 2013 at 2:36
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1I disagree with the juxtaposition of polished/more descriptive. All my Berlin friends who grew up in the GDR, now in their thirties/forties, still use "Kaufhalle" on a regular basis (sometimes ironic, though).– myhdSep 13, 2013 at 18:47
Yes, "Kaufhalle" is indeed a word that says "DDR" at least as strongly as "Zweiraumwohnung".
answered Sep 11, 2013 at 21:09
There was a supermarket chain called Kaufhalle, so if someone said he goes to Kaufhalle, he really goes to a shop named Kaufhalle. Last shop was closed in 2007 or 2005. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaufhalle
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1You mean a different Wikipedia link: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaufhalle_AG – However, the range of goods was very different from a GDR Kaufhalle or a FRG Supermarkt, and its importance was not such that it would become a generic term.– chirluSep 12, 2013 at 15:11