Gender of the company name "Deutsche Wohnen"

Question

Why isn't the company called Deutsches Wohnen? It is das Wohnen, neutral, if I'm not mistaken.

Deutsche Wohnen (or Deutsche wohnen, but capitalized because it's a name) would mean for me "Germans live". Deutsches Wohnen would imply for me "German living (standards)".

Related: https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/25180/welches-pronomen-bei-firmennamen — David Vogt, Jun 30 '19 at 21:43
@Eller It is not only wrong, as Jonathan stated. It is so disturbing that I cannot find sleep any more and would like to ask you to remove that comment. — Christian Geiselmann, Jun 30 '19 at 22:48
@ChristianGeiselmann I don't see any problem with that interpretation. It could be even a verb if not capitalized. — Eller, Jul 01 '19 at 05:59
Related: https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/50031/artikel-of-mcdonalds — miep, Jul 01 '19 at 08:45
@Eller Yes, that's why it is so disturbing: it is theoretically possible to say that "die Wohnen" is a a plural of "das Wohnen". But this form is never used, and nobody familiar with German would try to use it. It is a merely hypothetical, imaginary form. Moreover, in terms of meaning, there is no use of a plural of a verb. "Das Wohnen" (or any other activity) is not countable, so a plural makes no sense. — Christian Geiselmann, Jul 01 '19 at 10:58
@peterh How does it explain why "deutsche" in company's name is feminin? What is the noun for it? — Eller, Jul 01 '19 at 16:21
@Eller "Firma". Native speakers have explained to me once so: "die Microsoft", "die Siemens", weil sie tatsächlich "die Microsoft Firma", "die Siemens Firma" denken, sagen aber das letzte Wort nicht. — peterh, Jul 02 '19 at 04:03
Related (general question): https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/61451/ — amadeusamadeus, Mar 25 '21 at 19:36

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 30 '19 at 21:43

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Proper names don't have to follow grammar conventions.

Aside from that, company names often feature an implicit

die Gesellschaft – the corporation

and die Deutsche Wohnen is no exception. That's why it's feminine.

answered Jun 30 '19 at 21:43

Janka

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In other words, it is one of the many mannerisms of the real estate business. They have plenty of peculiar words or ways to use words that in a context of normal conversation are simply idiotic. – Christian Geiselmann Jun 30 '19 at 21:46
So, it would be something akin to 'Deutsche Wohnengesellschaft', 'German housing society'? Not very expressive, but as inane as "American Apparel" – Quora Feans Jun 30 '19 at 23:16
Red Blazer Realty – Janka Jul 01 '19 at 00:07
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Wie man bei Wikipedia leicht nachlesen kann, ist die Deutsche Wohnen eine Aktiengesellschaft. In der Abkürzung klingt es in der Tat schräg, aber idiotisch ist es nicht. – user unknown Jul 01 '19 at 07:47
Why then is the adjective in RWE AG neuter? Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG. – Eller Jul 01 '19 at 16:32
People say das RWE? I can't follow. – Janka Jul 01 '19 at 17:18
(the question is not about die or das if you remember) And that's the point - why it's die Deutsche Wohnen AG but die Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG? Both constructions are absolutely equal - die Adjective Neuter-Noun AG. But the adjective is feminine in one case and neuter in another. How that? – Eller Jul 02 '19 at 08:09
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I think that's because it was neuter before, before it became an AG. – Janka Jul 02 '19 at 09:38
It was an AG from the very beginning. "Die Geschichte des RWE beginnt mit seiner Gründung als Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG 1898 in Essen". BTW note "des" in the article title. – Eller Jul 02 '19 at 14:32
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Sorry, no clue then. As I wrote, proper names do not have to follow grammar conventions. – Janka Jul 02 '19 at 18:24

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 01 '19 at 15:06

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The full name is "Deutsche Wohnen AG", where AG means it is based on stocks. AG stands for Aktiengesellschaft (a feminine).

As in the stock market this is obvious, the AG is omitted.

answered Jul 01 '19 at 15:06

MikeGp

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What about RWE which is Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG? – Eller Jul 01 '19 at 16:35
@Annatar My comment (as well as the question) is not about the article but about the adjective. How do you explain why it's "rheinisches" and not "rheinische" although it's an AG too? – Eller Jul 03 '19 at 06:40

mtwde · Answer 3 · 2019-07-02T19:55:11.973

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Actually it's pretty easy why the "Deutsche Wohnen SE" is called this way and it has nothing to do with grammar.

The Deutsche Wohnen was founded in 1998 by the Deutsche Bank.

You see, the subsidiary was named like the parent company the Deutsche Bank. Including all grammar and naming conventions.

Edit:

Current other subsidiaries following this kind of CI are

Deutsche Asset Management Investment GmbH

Deutsche Australia Limited, Sydney

Deutsche Securities Inc., Tokyo

Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH

Deutsche Familiy Office GmbH

edited Jul 02 '19 at 19:55

answered Jul 01 '19 at 15:35

mtwde

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This should be the top answer. Deutsche here is used like a brand name in line with the corporate identity of Deutsche Bank, made up by some bankers that didn't really care about the grammatical derivation. – amadeusamadeus Apr 25 '20 at 23:41
NB: Deutsche is not uncommonly used in the U.S., especially in the finance industry, to refer to Deutsche Bank. – amadeusamadeus Mar 16 '21 at 12:17

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 01 '19 at 16:21

I'll assume (unlike other answetrs) that your question is about the gender of "Deutsche" not the gender of the name itself.

Since it's a name, it could be quite arbitrary. And yes, "Deutsche Wohnen" would mean that Germans live.

The full name is "Deutsche Wohnen AG" and in my opinion it's a play of words. One might understand deutsche "Wohnen AG" as in " a stock market oriented property company that happens to be German" or "Deutsche Wohnen" AG as in "A company named 'Deutsche Wohnen' that happens to be an 'AG'". And what is wrong with "Deutsche Wohnen"? I'd even say that "Deutsches Wohnen" would be problmatic since it might imply hostility toward strangers/foreighners and one would need to explain what is German about it and why German is inherently good etc. On the other hand one can't deny that Germans live and that a German property company is somewhat related to that.

Gender of the company name "Deutsche Wohnen"

4 Answers4