Crossword clues for trabant
Wikipedia
The Trabant is a car that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Saxony. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the Eastern Bloc.
Due to its outdated and inefficient two-stroke engine (which produced poor fuel economy for its low power output and thick, smoky exhaust), and production shortages, the Trabant was regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the extinct former East Germany and of the fall of the Eastern Bloc. It was produced for nearly 30 years with almost no significant changes; 3,096,099 Trabants were produced in total. In Western nations, the Trabant's shortcomings are often written about for comedic effect. However, older models of the car have become popular imports among collectors in the US due to their low cost and easier import restrictions on antique vehicles. There are also clubs in Germany and elsewhere that heavily modify the cars with artistic paint schemes, additional mechanicals, modifications to the body and suspension, etc., as well as several instances of the cars being used for rally racing and other motorsport.
Trabant was a circle of young songwriters and amateur musicians coworking as a band between 1980 and 1987. Most of the music and words were written by Mihály Víg and János Vető, while minor contributions came from György Kozma, Károly Hunyady, Gábor Lukin, János Xantus and József Dénes "Dönci". The two main voices were visual artist and actress Marietta Méhes and Mihály Víg, occasionally Tamás Pajor, Mariann Urbán and Attila Grandpierre. Among other musicians were János Másik and Jenő Menyhárt of Európa Kiadó. Apart from a few film appearances the band seldom performed publicly and never worked in studio; they focused on writing songs and instantly recording them one by one under lo-tech domestic circumstances. Their texts are best described by the words enigmatic, intertextual, grotesque and absurd; their musical style does not fall into any of the known musical categories.
A trabant (Ital. trabanti, from the German traben, Lat.: satellites) was a historical name for an attendant, bodyguard or life guard, especially in the Middle Ages, who usually travelled on foot (as opposed to horseback). The role of a trabant was to protect a member of the aristocracy, a senior official or a senior Landsknecht officer, or to carry out their orders. For a long time it was customary for them to dress in short white hose and a waistcoat in the Spanish style. In earlier times they were armed with a halberd and a dagger. Later they were also used as cavalry.
The trabant guards frequently formed the core of household troops or, as in Brandenburg, field troops as well. The Gardes du Corps were formed from the 2 companies of trabants serving the Electorate of Brandenburg's grand elector, who fought with him in 1675 at the Battle of Fehrbellin.
In the order of battle in 1682 for the newly created Saxon Army there were 172 horses listed in the Trabant Horse Guards (Trabanten-Leibgarde zu Roß) as well as 65 men in the Trabant Foot Guards (Leibgarde der Fuß-Trabanten). In 1701, the Saxon Gardes du Corps was formed out of the Saxon trabants. This Saxon regiment met its end in Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign. In the endless march on Moscow and the subsequent retreat, almost all the trabants lost their lives. The Elector did not reinstate this guards regiment.
Trabant (Slavic for "guide", "escort") may refer to:
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Trabant, an East German car
- Trabant 601, a specific model of the above
- Trabant (military), a life guard and servant of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period
- Trabant (band), an Icelandic band
Trabant is also the surname of the following people:
- Hildegard Trabant (1927–1964), victim of the Berlin Wall
- Jürgen Trabant (born 1942), German novelist; language expert
- Anne Trabant-Haarbach (born 1949), German female football player and coach
- Michel Trabant (born 1978), German boxer
- Stephan Trabant (born 1981), German boxer
See also:
- Trabantenstadt, German for commuter town
Usage examples of "trabant".
South of Jena, in the suburb of Stadtroda, when he was driving between the huge and hideous apartment blocks of the housing estate, a Trabant came bucketing out of a side road.