Richtung

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʁɪçtʊŋ/, [ˈʁɪçtʰʊŋ]

• Audio (Austria):

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• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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Etymology 1

From Middle High German richtunge, from Old High German rihtunga, from Proto-West Germanic *rihtungu. By surface analysis, richten +‎ -ung.

Noun

Richtung f (genitive Richtung, plural Richtungen)

1. direction

   Aus welcher Richtung? ― From which direction?

   In welche Richtung? ― (In) which direction?

   alle Richtungen ― all directions (on a road sign)

   (in) Richtung Norden ― towards the north, in a northern direction

2. school of thought, branch, subfield (also used in a wider sense of "type" in certain compounds)

   die verschiedenen Richtungen des Islams ― the different branches of Islam

Declension

Declension of Richtung [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Richtung	die	Richtungen
genitive	einer	der	Richtung	der	Richtungen
dative	einer	der	Richtung	den	Richtungen
accusative	eine	die	Richtung	die	Richtungen

Derived terms

• Fahrtrichtung
• Gegenrichtung
• Geschmacksrichtung
• Glaubensrichtung
• Himmelsrichtung
• Musikrichtung
• Richtungsentscheidung
• richtungslos
• Richtungswechsel
• richtungsweisend
• Studienrichtung
• Windrichtung

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of "in Richtung" (“in (the) direction (of)”). The usage with the nominative is a result of the original phrase attaching the specific direction as an apposition, leaving it uninflected.

Preposition

Richtung (chiefly informal) [with nominative]

1. towards, to (in the context of larger scale orientation; arrival at the location is not implied)

   Synonyms: in Richtung, nach, zu, gen

   auf dem Weg Richtung Ziel ― on the way to the finish line

   Wir sind Richtung Strand gegangen.

   We walked towards the beach.

   Wer Polarlichter sehen will, muss Richtung Norden schauen.

   If you want to see the northern lights, you have to look towards the north.

   Der Zug Richtung Berlin hatte Verspätung.

   The train heading to Berlin was late.

   • 2010 November 27, Frank Hollmann, “Im Reich der sportlichen Mitte”, in Tagesspiegel‎^[1], archived from the original on 12 June 2025:

     Die Weltfinanzkrise hat manche Planung über den Haufen geworfen, Mexiko zog in letzter Minute die Bewerbung für die Jugendolympiade zurück. Auch deshalb gehe die Tendenz Richtung Asien, so Schormann.

     The global financial crisis has thrown a wrench into many a plan, Mexico has withdrawn its application for the Youth Olympic Games at the last minute. This is among the reasons for why the decision is leaning towards Asia, Schormann says.

Usage notes

• The analysis as a preposition is not widely acknowledged, but is the most consistent with its behavior in this usage. It introduces a phrase specifying a noun or verb phrase with a mandatory noun argument, but it cannot itself be specified by determiners or adjectives.
• It retains the capitalization of the original noun.
• The noun object is always used without an article. Place names and compass directions are most common for this. Adjectives specifying the object are uncommon unless they are part of a proper noun.

Further reading

• “Richtung”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “Richtung” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Richtung” in Duden online

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈriçtuŋ/

Noun

Richtung f (plural Richtunge)

1. direction

   Geh weider in do die Richtung. ― Go back in that direction.

Further reading

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “Richtung”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch