-dam

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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):

Place names without reference to a body of water are for example:

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

  1. Wilhelm Sturmfels, Heinz Bischof: Our place names in the ABC explained by origin and meaning . Dümmlers Verlag, Bonn 1961.
  2. ^ Ernst Eichler, Hans Walther: City name book of the GDR . Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig 1986.
  3. ^ Antje Rávic Strubel: Instructions for use for Potsdam and Brandenburg . Piper, 2012.