1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Nachtschwärmer

Hanna Grimm / Anne-Sophie BrändlinNovember 19, 2013

When is your bed time?

https://p.dw.com/p/1AKtU
Teenagers with sunglasses and caps in a club
Image: Fotolia/Patrizia Tilly

They spring to life while the rest of us collapse on our comfortable couches after a long day. For the Nachtschwärmer, the night is the best part of the day. Like bats from a cave, they swarm out as soon as the sun sets.

In German, the term Nachtschwärmer, which literally means "night swarm," is used to describe a night owl - a person who enjoys staying awake at night.

Nachtschwärmer usually start their evening with a bite to eat at a local restaurant. Then they flock to bars where they begin their nocturnal rituals: drinking, talking and more drinking. Finally, the Nachtschwärmer will dance the night away in a club. Once the sun starts rising, the Nachtschwärmer might drink one last beer and grab a currywurst or kebab at the train station on their way back to their den.

If you are friends with a Nachtschwärmer but you enjoy your night at home in front of the television, make sure never to call your buddy before late afternoon. Because even a Nachtschwärmer needs his or her beauty sleep eventually.