Author: Jadranka Bokan

German language is known for its long words, especially in the common technical and scientific language.

Sometimes they’re so long that they make it to the Guinness Book of World Records!

Here are the examples of the longest words in German:

Fußbodenschleifmaschinenverleih (31 letters)

Meaning: shop that lends floor sanding machines

Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän (41 letters)          

Meaning: Danube steamship company captain

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungs-                  -gesetz (63 letters)                                                                                                                

Meaning: law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling – this is the the longest “authentic” word in the German language.

Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunter-         -beamtengesellschaft  (79 letters)                                                          

Meaning:

Association for subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services. This word is listed in the Guinness book of records. It allegedly was a suborganization of the Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft (DDSG) in pre-war Vienna (Austria) a shipping company for transporting passengers and cargo on the Danube. The DDSG still exists today in the form of the now private companies DDSG-Blue Danube Schiffahrt GmbH (passenger transport) and the DDSG-Cargo GmbH. However, there is no evidence that the suborganization ever existed.