St. Petersburg, why is "burg" there?
Hi
Can anyone explain to me why the name of the city St. Petersburg ends with burg?
Has the word burg (or something like it) any meaning in russian?
I've learned german and there die Burg means fortress, castle and many cities and towns there have it in their names.
Is it not more appropriate to use the word "grad" ( град ) as it is the case in many other names of the cities not just in Russia but in other slavic countries as well?
St. Petersburg was called Petrograd(1914-1924) briefly before it became Leningrad , wasn't it?
Re: St. Petersburg, why is "burg" there?
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Originally Posted by Горан
Can anyone explain to me why the name of the city St. Petersburg ends with burg?
I've learned german and there die Burg means fortress, castle and many cities and towns there have it in their names.
That's because Russians and Germans are the same people. Have you ever wondered why a particular part of Germany is called (P)russia?
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Is it not more appropriate to use the word "grad" ( град ) as it is the case in many other names of the cities not just in Russia but in other slavic countries as well?
No, "grad" would be inappropriate - reeks of the Scandinavian "gaard" too much.
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Has the word burg (or something like it) any meaning in russian?
Of course. There's бугор - за бугром originally meant "out of town". And then, of course, there's the German/Russian meaning of the word - fortress, castle, etc.
Re: St. Petersburg, why is "burg" there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Горан
Hi
Can anyone explain to me why the name of the city St. Petersburg ends with burg?
The city was founded by Petr the Great, who is well known as germanophile. Almost everything of his inventions (for example, system of "collegies" to govern the Russian Empire) has not russian-based, but german-based names.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Горан
Has the word burg (or something like it) any meaning in russian?
No (although even people not familiar with german easily recognise its meaning as "fortified city", "castle").
Quote:
Originally Posted by Горан
Is it not more appropriate to use the word "grad" ( град ) as it is the case in many other names of the cities not just in Russia but in other slavic countries as well?
St. Petersburg was called Petrograd(1914-1924) briefly before it became Leningrad , wasn't it?
You're right -- after beginning of WW I the common anti-german opininons lead to "russification" of it's name. And, BTW, the translation is seriously flawed. Because the city was St. Peterburg (e.g. city of Saint Peter, not of Peter the Greaa) it really should become Svyatopetrograd or something alike.