Switching between German and English

Wishlist.de speaks German and English. Three things have a language, and each one is set in its own place: the page you’re looking at, your wishlist and your emails.

Switching the site to English or German

The German site lives at wishlist.de, the English one at wishlist.de/en. Nothing switches by itself — you switch with one tap, and you don’t need an account for it:

• On a computer: in the header at the top, next to Help
• On a phone: the language icon at the top right — and, when you’re signed in, in the menu as well
• At the very bottom: in the footer

One exception is our landing page for ads (wishlist.de/en/create-wishlist): there the switch sits at the top next to Log in, and your choice isn’t remembered there.

The switch says “English” on German pages and “Deutsch” on English ones (on a phone, at the top, it’s just the icon). It takes you to the same page in the other language. Where a page only exists in German — the blog, for example — there’s no switch.

We remember your choice for a year in a small language cookie (see the privacy policy). It never redirects you; it only makes sure the language hint offers you the right language.

The language hint

If you prefer the other language, a white bar appears under the header shortly after the page loads: “Also available in English” with a Switch link on German pages, and the same offer in German on English ones. The link takes you to the same page in the other language.

• It shows up at most once per visit, when you arrive — not when you reload, and not when you go back.
• It disappears by itself after 5 seconds. While your pointer rests on it, it waits; the X closes it straight away.
• It never redirects you. Ignore it and you stay where you are.
• To tell which language you prefer, we look first at your own choice through the switch, then at your account language if you’re signed in, and only then at your browser’s language setting. On the landing page for ads, only your remembered choice and your browser count.

Your wishlist’s language

Every wishlist has its own language, German or English. When you create a list, you’ll find the Wishlist language field in the Your list section, preset to your account language. To change it later, open your list’s Settings tab, pick the language and tap Save.

The list’s language decides:

• the link you share — an English list lives at wishlist.de/en/w/…, a German one at wishlist.de/w/…. Creator pages with their own name share wishlist.de/creator/… instead; that link always opens the list’s current language.
• what your guests see when they open that link — buttons, notes and explanations in that language. They can always switch themselves.
• the link preview in WhatsApp and other apps
• the text that goes along when you share — the message for WhatsApp or email, for example
• text our AI writes for the list, such as the words on the thank-you image
• the stream alerts of a creator page (more about stream alerts)

What you write yourself — title, description, wishes — we don’t translate. It stays exactly as you wrote it.

A creator page is set up by its own wizard, which doesn’t ask about language: the page starts in your account language, and you change it in the settings as above.

Your emails’ language

Emails to you arrive in your account language: notifications, such as a new reservation, and sign-in emails, such as a password reset. You set it on the Profile tab of your profile, under Account language — it saves as soon as you pick it. To begin with, it’s the language of the page you signed up on.

Emails to your guests — the confirmation of their reservation and your thank-you, for example — arrive in the language the guest reserved in. So a guest who views your German list in English and reserves there gets English emails.

A co-owner gets their emails in their own account language.

Legal pages

The imprint, privacy policy and terms exist in German only. The English addresses show a short note above the text; the German text is always the binding one.

Common questions

I changed my list’s language. Do old links still work?

Yes. A link you already sent still opens the list — just in that link’s language. One exception: creator links (wishlist.de/creator/…) always follow the list’s current language. New links from the Share button point to the new language.

I picked English in my profile, but the site is still in German.

That’s on purpose: your account language steers your emails and new lists, not the site. To switch the site, use the switch in the header, the menu or the footer.

Why don’t I see the language hint?

It only appears if you prefer the other language, only when you arrive — not after a reload — and only on pages that exist in both languages. While a maintenance notice is showing, it stays away.

Is the Santa video available on English lists?

Not yet. It’s spoken in German and only appears on German lists — see the Santa video.