Leberkäse

German

Alternative forms

• Leberkäs, Leberkas, Lebakaas (dialectal)

Etymology

The first part is probably either from Middle High German leiba (“remainder”), lab (“to clot”) or German Laib (“loaf”); the second part is Käse (“cheese”), although it seems to come originally from Kasten (“box”). By folk etymology it was interpreted as Leber (“liver”) +‎ Käse (“cheese”), for which reason liver (and even cheese) are sometimes added to the dish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleːbɐˌkɛːzə/ (standard; used naturally in western Germany and Switzerland)
• IPA^(key): /ˈleːbɐˌkeːzə/ (overall more common; particularly northern and eastern regions)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Le‧ber‧kä‧se

Noun

Leberkäse m (strong, genitive Leberkäses, plural Leberkäse)

1. Leberkäse (a dish similar to meat loaf, popular in southern Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland)

Declension

Declension of Leberkäse [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Leberkäse	die	Leberkäse
genitive	eines	des	Leberkäses	der	Leberkäse
dative	einem	dem	Leberkäse	den	Leberkäsen
accusative	einen	den	Leberkäse	die	Leberkäse

Further reading

• “Leberkäse” in Duden online
• “Leberkäse” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache