Is Wahlheimat a better option than Heimat?

By Alyssa Baglia

Further digging into the topic of Heimat, I found an article titled “Does Every Language Need a Word for Heimat?”. In reading this article I was able to grasp a little more clear what the definition of Heimat actually is to a German citizen. The article was written by Margit Grobbel, a resident of Munich. In the article, Grobbel talks about what Heimat is and what it means to her slightly. Heimat often is translated to home, it comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “to dwell” or “to stay”. The word is now used as a gimmick the article states, that it is used to sell touristy things to people just visiting that have no concept of what the average German is like in the present day. The shops marketed at this idea of Heimat usually consist of what the stereotypes of German people are, according to Grobble. She gives the example of antler horns being sold, a few times, a popular decoration in the 1950s but not so much anymore.
The word was very popular in the 1950s and the decades surrounding that, it was a popular genre of movies and cookbooks and decorations. Since then people have expanded, moving out of the same town that their entire families had grown up in. People started moving as adults, migrating their traditional roots. With this piece of information, Grobble begins to question what a Heimat would be now, for these people. I think that this question is fair, what would the sense of home and roots be to a person who doesn’t have one?

Another issue with the word Heimat that Grobble points out is that the word is often seen as one of bigotry. Margit Grobbel describes it in her article as “It can be provincial, narrow-minded, or exclusionary. It may also imply protecting your home from something scary — or just from someone else: those who are not ‘from here’ “. In a different article, I found a quote by sociologist Armin Nassehi describing Heimat as "wherever you can be without having to justify yourself being there". I think that this is a particularly controversial definition of the word, this view being one that is making the word have a bad rep. I do not think that a human should have to justify why they are somewhere, especially if it is their proclaimed home. The idea of having to justify the roots or circumstances that tie you to a place or culture is one of the problems with using the word Heimat. The word has ties to everything from the physical location you come from to the culture and traditions you practice. At the end of the article "Does Every Language Need a Word for Heimat?" Margit Gobble suggests instead of trying to translate the word Heimat, instead use "Wahlheimat", which translates to "the home you chose". I think that Wahlheimat accounts for the diversity that is seen around the world more and more. It grants us the power to choose where we are from, not just a geographical boundary. As someone that grew up in a different state than I live in right now, I like to think that I get to pick Ohio as my home, my Wahlheimat, instead of Florida. Simply based on my traditions and where my family originates, I am much more from Ohio than Florida. I like that Wahlheimat gives the power to choose to everyone.

Here are the articles I read and thought about writing this piece:

https://www.internations.org/magazine/does-every-language-need-a-word-for-heimat-39271

https://www.alumniportal-deutschland.org/en/germany/culture/heimat-home-germany-armin-nassehi/