Wessy

Wessi ( German: Wessi , from German: Westen - West) is a term in Germany used to refer to the inhabitants of West Berlin before the unification of the FRG and the German Democratic Republic . After the unification of Germany, the term is also used to refer to the inhabitants of the " old lands " that were part of the FRG before the unification ^{[1] [2]} .

The antonym of the term “ Wessy ” is the nickname Ossi (from German. Osten - east), denoting the inhabitants of the “ new lands ” formed on the territory of the GDR . There is also the term " resi " ( German wossi ), describing the inhabitants of the eastern lands, after the unification of Germany moved to the west or the inhabitants of the western lands, moved to the east. ^[3]

Interestingly, at the beginning of the 20th century, the terms Ossi and Wessi were common among German and Austro-Hungarian Jews . The fact is that Germany and Austria-Hungary had their own local Jewish communities, but at the same time, many Jews from the Russian Empire moved to Germany and Austria-Hungary due to pogroms and anti-Semitism . And although both German / Austro-Hungarian Jews and Russian Jews mainly belong to the same Jewish sub-ethnic group Ashkenazim , some of the German and Austro-Hungarian Jews considered themselves culturally higher than the "Russian" Jews. So, initially the native German Jews called themselves Western Jews (Westliche Juden or Westjuden in German), and immigrants from Russia called Eastern Jews (Ostjuden or Östliche Juden in German). Over time, the names were reduced to Wessi and Ossi.

In 1987, Hans Magnus Enzensberger in Ach Europa! described a fictitious united Germany in 2006, populated by hostile Wessie and Ossie. Later, the term was repeatedly used both in the literature ^[4] and in television programs and productions ^[5] . Currently, the term is humorously negative in nature ^[6] and is used to indicate characteristic features of behavior and character.

Formed from the words Besserwissender (know-it-all) and Wessi, the neologism Besserwessi , denoting a resident of Germany , in relation to residents of the former GDR (especially in the field of economic policy) using a teaching and edifying tone ^[7] , was recognized as the “ Word of the Year ” by the German language society in 2001, as "the word that dominated this year’s public debate reflected important topics or otherwise characterized them." ^[eight]