"Arbeit macht frei" meaning in German

See Arbeit macht frei in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

IPA: /ˈaʁbaɪ̯t maxt ˈfʁaɪ̯/ Audio: De-Arbeit macht frei.ogg
Etymology: Literally, “Work makes [you] free”. The phrase has been used since at least the mid-19th century, appearing for example in the 1845 book Geld und Geist (“Money and spirit”) by German economist Heinrich Beta. The decision to put it up over concentration camp gates has been attributed (e.g. by Harold Marcuse) to Theodor Eicke, a pioneering organizer of the Nazi camp system. It may have originally served no other purpose than to suggest to the inmates that by obedience and hard labour they could regain their freedom. (Releases did occur fairly regularly, although the criteria for them were highly arbitrary.) On the other hand, Eicke may already have intended it as a sarcastic taunt. This aspect is obvious at any rate in the later use at death camps like Auschwitz. Etymology templates: {{m-g|Work makes 􂀿you􂁀 free}} “Work makes [you] free”, {{lit|Work makes 􂀿you􂁀 free}} Literally, “Work makes [you] free” Head templates: {{head|de|proverb}} Arbeit macht frei
  1. work brings freedom; those who work thereby liberate themselves Wikipedia link: Harold Marcuse, Heinrich Beta, Theodor Eicke, de:Arbeit macht frei Categories (topical): Nazism Related terms: Melden macht frei
    Sense id: en-Arbeit_macht_frei-de-proverb-UdUIOEII Categories (other): German entries with incorrect language header, German proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
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      "args": {
        "1": "Work makes 􂀿you􂁀 free"
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      "expansion": "“Work makes [you] free”",
      "name": "m-g"
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      "args": {
        "1": "Work makes 􂀿you􂁀 free"
      },
      "expansion": "Literally, “Work makes [you] free”",
      "name": "lit"
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  "etymology_text": "Literally, “Work makes [you] free”. The phrase has been used since at least the mid-19th century, appearing for example in the 1845 book Geld und Geist (“Money and spirit”) by German economist Heinrich Beta.\nThe decision to put it up over concentration camp gates has been attributed (e.g. by Harold Marcuse) to Theodor Eicke, a pioneering organizer of the Nazi camp system. It may have originally served no other purpose than to suggest to the inmates that by obedience and hard labour they could regain their freedom. (Releases did occur fairly regularly, although the criteria for them were highly arbitrary.) On the other hand, Eicke may already have intended it as a sarcastic taunt. This aspect is obvious at any rate in the later use at death camps like Auschwitz.",
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "German entries with incorrect language header",
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          "langcode": "de",
          "name": "Nazism",
          "orig": "de:Nazism",
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            "Ideologies",
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            "Politics",
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          "source": "w"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1845, Heinrich Beta, Geld und Geist:",
          "text": "Nicht der Glaube macht selig, nicht der Glaube an egoistische Pfaffen- und Adelzwecke, sondern die Arbeit macht selig, denn die Arbeit macht frei. Das ist nicht protestantisch oder katholisch, oder deutsch- oder christkatholisch, nicht liberal oder servil, das ist das allgemein menschliche Gesetz und die Grundbedingung alles Lebens und Strebens, alles Glückes und aller Seligkeit.",
          "type": "quote"
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      ],
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        "work brings freedom; those who work thereby liberate themselves"
      ],
      "id": "en-Arbeit_macht_frei-de-proverb-UdUIOEII",
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        {
          "word": "Melden macht frei"
        }
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        "Harold Marcuse",
        "Heinrich Beta",
        "Theodor Eicke",
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        "1": "Work makes 􂀿you􂁀 free"
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      "expansion": "Literally, “Work makes [you] free”",
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  "etymology_text": "Literally, “Work makes [you] free”. The phrase has been used since at least the mid-19th century, appearing for example in the 1845 book Geld und Geist (“Money and spirit”) by German economist Heinrich Beta.\nThe decision to put it up over concentration camp gates has been attributed (e.g. by Harold Marcuse) to Theodor Eicke, a pioneering organizer of the Nazi camp system. It may have originally served no other purpose than to suggest to the inmates that by obedience and hard labour they could regain their freedom. (Releases did occur fairly regularly, although the criteria for them were highly arbitrary.) On the other hand, Eicke may already have intended it as a sarcastic taunt. This aspect is obvious at any rate in the later use at death camps like Auschwitz.",
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "Arbeit macht frei",
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  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Melden macht frei"
    }
  ],
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "Requests for translations of German quotations",
        "de:Nazism"
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        {
          "ref": "1845, Heinrich Beta, Geld und Geist:",
          "text": "Nicht der Glaube macht selig, nicht der Glaube an egoistische Pfaffen- und Adelzwecke, sondern die Arbeit macht selig, denn die Arbeit macht frei. Das ist nicht protestantisch oder katholisch, oder deutsch- oder christkatholisch, nicht liberal oder servil, das ist das allgemein menschliche Gesetz und die Grundbedingung alles Lebens und Strebens, alles Glückes und aller Seligkeit.",
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        ]
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        "Heinrich Beta",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable German dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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