I picked up a poster in Meißen last summer and I'm trying to get a good translation. A young man there explained the gist of the message, but I'm curious about the exact translation. It reads "Für toleranz und gastfreundschaft. Für offenheit und neugier. Auch dem fremden und unbekannten gegenüber." Translation sites online tell me "For tolerance and hospitality. For openness and curiosity. even the strange and unknown against," or something similar. Can any of you clear this up for me? Thanks!
Posted by
Paradise
6623 posts
The first 2 translated lines are fine. "Für" can be translated as "in support of.
"Auch dem fremden und unbekannten gegenüber." = "Even toward foreigners and strangers."
Posted by
OP
Seattle, Washington
681 posts
Thank you so much! That makes total sense now.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
The first two sentences are OK, the last one not. "Fremden" literally means unknown, strange, but it also means foreigners ("strangers"). "unbekannten" = the unknown = people you don't know. So the last sentence should read:
"Also towards foreigners and people you don't know".
Online translations sites are reasonably good most of the time, but sometimes they produce utter rubbish.