[KS] the real Hof

Ruediger Frank ruediger.frank at rz.hu-berlin.de
Tue Oct 17 12:26:04 EDT 2000


REPLY sends your message to the whole list
__________________________________________

Not really academic, and more indirectly linked to Korea, but since the
discussion has started anyway... that's what I think to know:

An interesting thing is, that "Hof", if used as a single word in German,
has nothing to do with drinking beer etc. The direct translation would
be yard, like Hinterhof=backyard. For hundreds of years, (wealthier)
peasants used to live on a Bauernhof (a peasant's yard, i.e. farm),
since their places consisted of quite a handful of buildings (for
storage, living, cattle etc.) forming a yard. The Hofs (Bauernhoefe)
were distinguished by specific features like big trees (e.g. Lindenhof)
or desasters (like Brandhof). Usually lacking a last name, the peasants
were often called after the Hof they lived on. In the medieval age, it
was a bit difficult to find a Hotel or Motel, and travelers used to
spend the nights as guests of those peasants (hoping not to be robbed
and killed). Some of the latter discovered that this could be quite a
good business and became parttime/fulltime professional hosts, which
lead to the word Gasthof (Hof for guests), with services like food and
beverages attached. That's why many old pubs in Germany or
German-speaking areas still have Hof as the second part of their names
(others would be Krug, Schenke or Haus).

Regarding Hofbraeuhaus (Hof-brewery, they make the famous beer in
Munich), Hof comes from Koenigshof or Kaiserhof; here Hof means court or
residence or the like, since they had the privilege to produce for the
King. The general term for these merchants was Hoflieferanten, i.e.
"those who deliver to the court". Check the logo on the Masskrug
(1000ccl beerglass) you get at the Hofbraeuhaus: there is a crown in it
to symbolize the prestigious business partnership.

So I have to offer two possible clues: either travelers from China,
Japan and/or Korea liked the German pubs in general, which would lead to
the first explanation, or they became attracted by the Hofbraeuhaus in
Munich (when I was there the last time, the Kimigayo was played by
Bavarians in traditional costumes and with Blasmusik - the Japanese
guests, quite a majority, had tears in their eyes and gave a big tip to
the band). 

After all, I would really hate it if the explanation with hop (the
ingredient) - I also heard it in Korea - would appear to be true. BTW,
according to the new romanizatioon scheme, would the inns be written as
"hopeu"? 

Best,

Ru(e)diger


PS: 
>And we all know the word hofentlich
... hoffentlich... 

***********************
Ruediger FRANK
Humboldt-University Berlin
Korea Institute
Fon: +49-30-55 99 878
Fax: +49-30-2093-6666
e-mail: ruediger.frank at rz.hu-berlin.de
Web: http://www2.hu-berlin.de/korea
***********************





More information about the Koreanstudies mailing list