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Überwald: Difference between revisions
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''Überwald'' (spelled with an umlaut or as "Ueberwald" for those lacking a German keyboard), named after the [[Discworld]] country, would be a direct and bad German translation of ''"Transylvania"'' (a.k.a. Transsylvania in some spellings), "trans silvania" being Latin for "beyond the forest". In real-world German, Transylvania is called ''Siebenbürgen'' ("seven castles/towns"); in the Middle Ages it was sometimes also called "Transsylvanien" or "Transsilvanien" in German-language documents. Since medieval times, Transylvania has been home to three major population groups - Romanians, Hungarians (Székely) and Germans ("Siebenbürgen Saxons"), and thus most towns and places come with a German, Hungarian and Romanian name attached. Up until World War I, the former principality was part of [[Useful Notes/Hungary|Hungary]], and in the treaty of Trianon it was transferred to [[Useful Notes/Romania|Romania]] (the Hungarian name of Transylvania is ''Erdély'', the Romanian is either the more traditional ''Ardeal'' or just ''Transilvania'').
{{examples
== Comicbooks ==
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** Marvel also has a Transylvania of its own, which is an independent nation and, unsurprisingly, an Überwald.
* A ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' comic issue [[Did Not Do the Research|caused some offence to European fans]] by depicting modern Germany in this manner. It ''was'' specifically shown to be an out-of-the-way, not at all normal town, akin to a Sunnydale counterpart, but...
* The ''[[
* Winzeldorf, Nightcrawler's hometown in the [[X Men|X-Men]] comics, is consistently depicted like this, complete with gypsy sorceresses and [[Torches and Pitchforks|torch-and-pitchfork]] wielding mobs, despite being explicitly stated to be in present-day Bavaria.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* The unnamed, [[Medieval Stasis]] planet in the ''[[
** See "[[Doctor Who
* Mason and Alex, from ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'', go to [[Useful Notes/Romania|Transylvania]], apparently near an ancient, medieval castle, only during the night, for a more... ''[[Nightmare Fuel|chilling effect]]''. Later, Mason transforms into a [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werewolf]] there.
* [[The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries]] of the 70s' episode "The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula" had the plucky detectives going into Transylvania for a Halloween music festival -- cue the old spooky castle and villagers who still wear medieval peasant folk costumes who give the warnings about the vampire in the castle...
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* The nation of Mauristatia in the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' gamebook and RPG universe is like this, with vampire lords lurking in castles and mad <s>scientists</s> alchemists trying to build monsters out of bits of corpses.
* The titular plane in the [[Magic the Gathering]] expansion ''Innistrad'' is home to vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies, ghosts, geists, and all sorts of nasty things. And smack-dab in the midst of this monster mash are the huddled masses of humanity, fighting an endless war against the darkness.
** The earlier ''
'' expansion was another attempt to embody this trope. -->
** The much-reviled ''[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=198083 Homelands]'' expansion was also an Uberwald-flavored set. The flavor of the set (which was very high) couldn't overcome the poor quality of the rest of the set, and it bombed. To this day, ''Homelands'' is remembered as "that set with the excellent setting but horrible cards."
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** And more recently, planet [[James Doohan|Doohan 6]], the Scottish version of the trope.
* In ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'', a Halloween special depicts '''Penn'''sylvania this way, with Mr. Burns taking the part of Dracula.
** Out of all the states, though, Pennsylvania actually fits, outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The culture is heavily Central/Eastern European, especially German and Czech, and conservative. The population is largely farmers (many of whom maintain hex signs) including the Amish, and yes, there [
** The Republican party headquarters is sort of like this.
* In ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]'', Baron Ünderbheit rules Ünderland, a grim and despotic land that somehow borders Michigan.
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[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Uberwald]]
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