-dam
The ending -damm , in the Netherlands -dam , in Belgium also -damme , is part of numerous place names in the German and Dutch- speaking areas and, depending on the local geography, can be traced back to a special meaning of the word Damm . Especially in connection with the name of a river , it stands for dyke or dam and refers to the need for protection against flooding . Elsewhere it stands for an embankment, namely in swampy terrain for traffic, residential or economic purposes.
Place names consisting of the name of a water body and this ending are among others (water body name in brackets):
- Alblasserdam (Alblas)
- Amsterdam ( Amstel )
- Appingedam (Appe)
- Edam (Ee)
- Giessendam (Giessen)
- Maasdam ( Maas )
- Rotterdam (Rotte)
- Schiedam (Schie)
- Werkendam (De Werken)
Place names without reference to a body of water are for example:
- Altdamm (today part of Stettin)
- Bergerdamm (after the older neighboring town of Berge )
- Heiligendamm (legend has it that monks prayed during a storm surge, after which the sea closed the bay with a dam)
- Langendamm (after the expansion; there are several places with this name)
- Leerdam (after the glory Ter Leede )
- Leidschendam (after the city of Leiden )
- Veendam (from Dutch veen = "moor")
- Volendam (from "backfill" to a closed port)
- Waardamme
- Zwankendamme (probably from "waver")
The apparent ending in the name Potsdam , which has probably been transformed from Poztupimi , has a completely different origin . This is interpreted as Slavic for “under the oaks”, “on the pestle” or “outpost”.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wilhelm Sturmfels, Heinz Bischof: Our place names in the ABC explained by origin and meaning . Dümmlers Verlag, Bonn 1961.
- ^ Ernst Eichler, Hans Walther: City name book of the GDR . Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig 1986.
- ^ Antje Rávic Strubel: Instructions for use for Potsdam and Brandenburg . Piper, 2012.