German Words Used In Spanish (Germanismos You’ll Actually Hear)

You already know more “German” Spanish than you think. Every time you say guerra /ˈɡe.ra/ — war, blanco /ˈblan.ko/ — white, or brindis /ˈbɾin.dis/ — toast (as in “cheers!”), you’re using words with German roots hiding in plain sight.

Spanish has been borrowing from German and other Germanic languages for centuries: from medieval warriors and forests, to waltzes, bunkers, and sauerkraut. These borrowed words are called germanismos /xeɾmaˈnizmos/ — Germanisms, loanwords of Germanic origin.

In this guide, you’ll meet the most useful German-origin words in Spanish, see how they behave, and grab some ready-made phrases so you can drop them into real conversation without sounding like a walking etymology dictionary.

Quick Primer On Germanismos

A germanismo /xeɾmaˈnizmo/ — Germanism — is a word in Spanish that ultimately comes from German or another Germanic language:

Old Germanic roots filtered through Latin and history → “classic” everyday words like guerra /ˈɡe.ra/ — war and blanco /ˈblan.ko/ — white.
Modern German → more recent words like chucrut /tʃuˈkɾut/ — sauerkraut and zepelín /se.peˈlin/ — zeppelin airship.

Important for you as a learner:

These are normal Spanish words, not “foreign” in everyday use.
You pronounce them with Spanish sounds, not German ones.
Many are high-frequency basics, so understanding their story is a fun bonus, not extra homework.

Now let’s group them in ways that are useful for your Spanish, not just for impressing linguists at parties.

Surprise! Common Everyday Germanismos

Some of your very first Spanish words are secretly Germanic. You don’t need the historical details to use them, but it’s fun to know.

Example sentences:

Hicimos un brindis por el equipo.
/ iˈθi.mos, iˈsi.mos un ˈbɾin.dis poɾ el eˈki.po/
We made a toast to the team.

El bosque está muy tranquilo hoy.
/el ˈbos.ke esˈta ˈmuj tɾanˈki.lo oj/
The forest is very quiet today.

Usage notes & common mistakes:

brindis is the “cheers!” moment, not the drink itself. You “make a brindis” with your glass.
guerra, blanco, bosque, guardia are completely everyday; nobody will think of German if you use them. Their origin is just a cool backstory.

Food, Music And Culture: Very German, Very Memorable

Now for the obviously German-flavoured stuff — good for menus, culture, and news.

First mentions:

chucrut /tʃuˈkɾut/ — sauerkraut
delicatesen /ðe.li.kaˈte.sen/ — delicatessen, store with fancy foods
vals /bals/ — waltz (dance and music)
zepelín /se.peˈlin/ — zeppelin airship
búnker /ˈbuŋ.keɾ/ — bunker (military, political or sports metaphor)
leitmotiv /lejt.moˈtif/ — recurring theme or idea

Examples:

Me encanta la salchicha con chucrut.
/me enˈkan.ta la salˈtʃi.tʃa kon tʃuˈkɾut/
I love sausage with sauerkraut.

Bailamos un vals en la boda.
/baiˈla.mos un bals en la ˈβo.ða/
We danced a waltz at the wedding.

El entrenador quiere un equipo muy defensivo, casi un búnker.
/el entɾe.naˈðoɾ ˈkje.re un eˈki.po ˈmuj ðe.fenˈsi.βo ˈka.si un ˈbuŋ.keɾ/
The coach wants a very defensive team, almost a bunker.

Usage notes:

delicatesen often appears on shop signs for high-end or imported foods.
búnker shows up a lot in politics and sports headlines: a politician’s inner circle, or a football team that defends with everyone behind the ball.
leitmotiv is common in arts, literature, and sometimes everyday talk for “the big recurring theme.”

Science And Tech Germanismos (Nerdy But Nice To Know)

Some German-origin words live in science, minerals, and technology. You don’t have to memorize them all now, but you’ll see them in textbooks or documentaries.

First mentions:

cobalto /koˈβal.to/ — cobalt
níquel /ˈni.kel/ — nickel
cuarzo /ˈkwaɾ.so/ — quartz
feldespato /fel.desˈpa.to/ — feldspar
obús /oˈbus/ — artillery shell

Examples:

Este reloj tiene cristal de cuarzo.
/ˈes.te reˈlox ˈtje.ne kɾisˈtal ðe ˈkwaɾ.so/
This watch has quartz crystal.

El casco del barco está cubierto de níquel y cobalto.
/el ˈkas.ko ðel ˈbaɾ.ko esˈta kuˈβjeɾ.to ðe ˈni.kel i koˈβal.to/
The ship’s hull is coated with nickel and cobalt.

You won’t be shouting ¡cobalto! at a party, but it’s nice to recognize these words as Spanish, not random alien chemistry.

How German Words Change When They Become Spanish

Just like with French and English loans, German-origin words get a full Spanish makeover.

Stress switches to Spanish patterns.
- Walzer → vals /bals/ — stress on the only syllable.
- Zeppelin → zepelín /se.peˈlin/ — Spanish stress on the last syllable with an accent mark.
Spelling adapts to Spanish rules.
- Final -in often becomes -ín: Zeppelin → zepelín.
- Consonant clusters get simplified: Delikatessen → delicatesen.
Pronunciation is 100% Spanish.
- búnker is /ˈbuŋ.keɾ/, not German /ˈbʊŋkɐ/.
- leitmotiv becomes /lejt.moˈtif/, with a clear Spanish /t/ and /f/.
Meanings sometimes narrow or shift.
- vals in Spanish is both the music and the dance.
- búnker can be literal (military) or figurative (very closed group, ultra-defensive football team).

Takeaway: if the word is written the Spanish way, treat it like Spanish — normal stress rules, normal sounds, and regular plural (búnkeres, zepelines, valses, delicatesenes, etc.).

Region Notes

Most of these Germanismos are understood across the Spanish-speaking world, but usage can vary:

chucrut is widely known, but how often people eat or mention it depends on local food culture.
delicatesen is common on shop signs in some countries; elsewhere the same type of store might be called tienda gourmet /ˈtjen.da ɣuɾˈmet/ — gourmet shop.
búnker and zepelín appear more in news, history, and sports than in daily small talk.
Old germanismos like guerra, blanco, bosque, guante, guardia are universal high-frequency words, not marked as “German” by anyone.

For a learner, all the words in this article are “safe” to use anywhere; just remember that some (like cobalto, obús, feldespato) live mainly in technical or historical contexts.

Mini Dialogues

Dialogue 1: At The Supermarket

¿Sabes si aquí venden chucrut?
/ˈsa.βes si aˈki ˈben.den tʃuˈkɾut/
Do you know if they sell sauerkraut here?

Sí, está en la sección de delicatesen.
/si esˈta en la sekˈsjon ðe ðe.li.kaˈte.sen/
Yes, it’s in the delicatessen section.

Perfecto, quiero probar una receta alemana.
/peɾˈfek.to ˈkje.ɾo pɾoˈβaɾ ˈu.na reˈse.ta aleˈma.na/
Perfect, I want to try a German recipe.

Dialogue 2: Talking About Music

En la boda de mis padres bailaron un vals muy bonito.
/en la ˈβo.ða ðe mis ˈpa.ðɾes baiˈla.ɾon un bals ˈmuj βoˈni.to/
At my parents’ wedding they danced a very beautiful waltz.

Sí, el vals es el leitmotiv de su historia de amor.
/si el bals es el lejt.moˈtif ðe su isˈto.ɾja ðe aˈmoɾ/
Yeah, the waltz is the leitmotiv of their love story.

Qué cursi… pero me gusta.
/ke ˈkuɾ.si ˈpe.ɾo me ˈɣus.ta/
How cheesy… but I like it.

Dialogue 3: Football And Bunkers

El equipo jugó muy atrás, casi en búnker.
/el eˈki.po xuˈɣo ˈmuj aˈtɾas ˈka.si en ˈbuŋ.keɾ/
The team played very deep, almost in a bunker.

Por eso el rival no pudo entrar en el área.
/poɾ ˈe.so el riˈβal no ˈpu.ðo enˈtɾaɾ en el ˈa.ɾea/
That’s why the opponent couldn’t get into the box.

Sí, defendieron bien, pero fue un partido aburrido.
/si ðe.fenˈdje.ron ˈbjen ˈpe.ɾo fwe un paɾˈtiðo abuˈri.ðo/
Yeah, they defended well, but it was a boring match.

Quick Reference

Five-Minute Practice Plan

Choose five words from the Quick Reference (mix basic and “fancy”) and write one Spanish sentence for each, relating them to something real in your life (a memory, a film, your city).
Record a short 20–30 second audio where you tell a mini-story using guerra, bosque, blanco, brindis — for example, a fantasy story or a memory from a trip.
Write a three-line “restaurant review” that mentions chucrut, delicatesen, and menú (your choice of dishes). Read it aloud twice.
Take Dialogue 2 and personalize it: change boda de mis padres to another event, and swap vals for another type of music, but keep leitmotiv.
Make a tiny vocab card set: Spanish on one side, English + a hint “(German origin)” on the other, for 8–10 germanismos you like most. Review them tomorrow.
Next time you see one of these words in a headline or sign, pause and quickly say its IPA (or at least the stress) and an example sentence out loud.

Yak-Style Closing Spark

Germanismos are like little historical Easter eggs inside your Spanish: hidden links to knights, forests, waltzes, bunkers, and buffet breakfasts. The best part? You don’t have to learn “extra” words — you just start noticing the ones you already know, pronouncing them confidently, and using them as one more way to show your Spanish has deeper roots than it looks at first glance.