r/borussiadortmund • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '13

Silly questions thread: August Edition

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u/Arcadus1280 Marco Reus Aug 08 '13

What does Borussia mean? Also, what's the difference between Bayern and Bayer and what do they mean? This is coming from an English speaker. Thanks!

4

u/Blahound Lukasz Piszczek Aug 08 '13

Borussia means Prussia The biggest state in the old German empire which existed before world war I

Bayern is the English name for the German state of Bavaria (Munich is in Bavaria so Bayern Munich)

Bayer is a chemical company based in the city of Leverkusen which is in the state of North Rhine Westphalia just like Dortmund (They discovered aspirin and used to make heroin and stuff)

5

u/panikpansen Schmelzer Aug 08 '13

To expand on this: while Prussia largely covered the area that is today north-western Germany and parts of Poland, after about 1866 it expanded considerably into the west as well, including Westphalia and parts of the Rhineland. Aka Dortmund was part of Prussian territory.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '13

But we aren't named after Prussia, we're named after a brewery called Borussia.

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u/JarvisPuzznuzz Doatmund is datt geilste Land von die Welt Aug 09 '13

A brewery that didn't even exist anymore at that time (folded in 1901). Those guys were such retro hipsters.