Is there a difference between the German words, Sonnabend and Samstag?

Question

Just curious...

Answer 1

Well, I was curious too. I was born in Germany, but grew up here in America. Never even heard of Sonnabend until a week ago here on YA!! Was always Samstag to me (we still spoke German at home for a very long time and I still speak, read, write & understand it some.)

So, research goes on and here is the answer, according to About.com and yes, it is a regional dialect issue:

"Note that there are two words for Saturday. Samstag is used in most of Germany, in Austria and in German Switzerland. Sonnabend ("Sunday eve") is used in eastern Germany and roughly north of the city of Münster in northern Germany. So, in Hamburg, Rostock, Leipzig or Berlin, it's Sonnabend; in Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich or Vienna "Saturday" is Samstag. Both words for "Saturday" are understood all over the German-speaking world, but you should try to use the one most common in the region you're in. "

Well, that answers my question! Except, of course, my family came from just outside of Berlin -- so why did they say Samstag?

Answer 2

In high-school german, I was taught them as equivalent terms for "Saturday". With my limited recall of german, "Sonnabend" would mean "sun evening" and "Samstag" would mean "sams day", i've no idea what "sams" means in english.

Answer 3

I'm sure whether there's a difference in the roots of the words, but my German teacher in junior high school (who is native German, by the way) told us there was no difference in meaning, but that they were entirely interchangeable. It seems to me to be a dialect difference like soda vs. pop rather than a difference in actual meaning.

Answer 4

Sonnabend is an holiday (A day to pay respect to the dead) when people go to lay flowers on the graves .While samstag is saturday

Answer 5

http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&search=samstag&relink=on