Toytowngermany.com
Encyclopedia
Toytown Germany is an English-language community website
for Germany
. It is an information resource, a meeting point, and a communication platform for English-speaking foreigners throughout the country. This moderated community is free to join, but requires registration to participate. The site is frequented by travelers and expatriate
s alike.
Toytown Germany, known to its users as "TT", provides information about all aspects of life in Germany and its various cities and regions, from local bar and restaurant guides with reviews to events and advice on dealing with the confusion expatriates often face when dealing with life in a new country. The site additionally includes areas for classified ads. The heart of the site is the chat forum in which English speakers discuss news, pose questions and answers, and organize social events.
Toytown Germany is partnered with major German news companies including Der Spiegel
, Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,9221,00.html, and Die Welt
. News feeds from those companies are published on the website. In return, the latest German news related discussions from the TT chat forum are published on the English news pages of Die Welt (ref). While those mainstream news companies provide professional reporting, Toytown Germany provides the general public with a community platform on which to discuss the latest news from Germany.
Of the approximately 230,000 native English-speaking expatriates living in Germany , the Toytown Germany statistics indicate that over 10% of these are regular readers of the website ref.
is an unusually clean, well-organised, and crime-free city, relatively free of most urban blight including graffiti and slums. In mid-2006 the site merged with Britboard, another expatriate site geared toward British expatriates in Germany. Shortly thereafter a decision was made to expand to cover all of Germany and the name was changed to reflect this.
Online community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...
for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is an information resource, a meeting point, and a communication platform for English-speaking foreigners throughout the country. This moderated community is free to join, but requires registration to participate. The site is frequented by travelers and expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
s alike.
Toytown Germany, known to its users as "TT", provides information about all aspects of life in Germany and its various cities and regions, from local bar and restaurant guides with reviews to events and advice on dealing with the confusion expatriates often face when dealing with life in a new country. The site additionally includes areas for classified ads. The heart of the site is the chat forum in which English speakers discuss news, pose questions and answers, and organize social events.
Toytown Germany is partnered with major German news companies including Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,9221,00.html, and Die Welt
Die Welt
Die Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
. News feeds from those companies are published on the website. In return, the latest German news related discussions from the TT chat forum are published on the English news pages of Die Welt (ref). While those mainstream news companies provide professional reporting, Toytown Germany provides the general public with a community platform on which to discuss the latest news from Germany.
Of the approximately 230,000 native English-speaking expatriates living in Germany , the Toytown Germany statistics indicate that over 10% of these are regular readers of the website ref.
History
The site was originally created in August, 2002 as "Toytown Munich". The name originates from the observation that MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
is an unusually clean, well-organised, and crime-free city, relatively free of most urban blight including graffiti and slums. In mid-2006 the site merged with Britboard, another expatriate site geared toward British expatriates in Germany. Shortly thereafter a decision was made to expand to cover all of Germany and the name was changed to reflect this.
External links
- http://www.toytowngermany.com
- http://www.spaetstueckerin.de/wordpress/?p=88
- http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/toytowngermany.com
- jetzt.muenchen 22.Nov.2005 pdf
- "Die Spielzeugstadt als Lebenshilfe" Süddeutsche Zeitung Tuesday 26.Jul.2005
