The words of the year have been elected annually by the "Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache" (Society for the German Language) in Wiesbaden since 1971. The word is chosen pertaining to its social and political meaning. The pictures illustrate 5 of the 40 words: those of 1978 1980 1996 2004 and 2007.

The Mouseover function reveals - in every illustration - information about the particular subject and its relation to German history.