Barbara Geier: National treasure? Think Herbert Grönemeyer

TEXT & PHOTOS: BARBARA GEIER

If you put the term ‘national treasure’ in DeepL or an online dictionary, asking for the German translation, it will spit out ‘nationales Kulturgut’ – which is a perfect example of a translation being correct in literal terms while still being completely wrong.

Why? Because the quintessential British term national treasure for a beloved figure that holds a special place in the public’s heart along the lines of Judi Dench, Richard Attenborough and the likes does not exist in German. Yes, literally, it would be ‘nationales Kulturgut’ in German, but while one national treasure is all about a cultural honour conferred by the people on a human being as a kind of unofficial title, the term refers to things and is as official and legal as they come.

As per the German Act on the Protection of National Cultural Property, a ‘nationales Kulturgut’ refers to movable cultural property that is listed in the Register of Cultural Property of National Value, owned by public institutions, or forms part of state art collections. And if you try to take one of those abroad without a special licence, you could end up in prison. There you go.

The fact that we don’t also use that term for people in German, that is give it an additional figurative meaning, might say something about the country, but we don’t want to dig too deep into our national psyche here. Instead, let’s celebrate someone who definitely is a German national treasure in the British sense – I’m talking about the one and only Herbert Grönemeyer. His 70th birthday on 12 April with the related media coverage triggered my above ruminations about the pitfalls of literal translations. Because it made me think that if he was British, he’d be called a national treasure and how you couldn’t just translate that term into German but would need to describe the same sentiment in other ways. On that note, welcome also to my bilingual brain, which does that constantly.

Anyway, I think it’s fair to say that this much-loved singer, musician, producer and actor holds a special place in the heart of the German public. Many of his songs are iconic and if you don’t know him, check out his 80s mega hit Männer, in which he ingeniously uses the German language to sing about men. I hear that a younger generation is now discovering this song released in 1984, after Berlin rapper Ikkimel praised Grönemeyer on her Instagram recently as a pioneer of critical masculinity.

A few weeks before his 70th birthday, he was also awarded with the Deutscher Nationalpreis 2026 (German National Prize) for his artistic achievements and his commitment to democratic values. Deutsche Nationalstiftung (German National Foundation), which will officially hand over this year’s award in June, honours the musician for his contributions to German pop music history and for his public engagement against right-wing shifts in society and his continued support of an open, democratic society. So, congrats, Herbie, on your birthday, the award and everything else. It’s good to have you – and next time I’ll need to explain to a German what Brits mean when they talk about a national treasure, I’ll just say, “think Herbert Grönemeyer” and they’ll understand.