Die Polente! It’s an older German term for police but also a tongue-in-cheek word for a Citroën 2CV police car.
But let me explain.
The German word for police is Polizei (always singular btw), and in the 19th century thieves and crooks (Gauner) coined the term Polente for police. It is similar to slang words for police like Bullen or Bullerei (bulls) in German and “pigs” in English, though I feel Polente is not as negative, at least not nowadays.
So far so good but what does that have to do with the car?
This particular car is a Citroën 2CV, produced in France. In Germany and Austria it was called Ente (duck). When a Dutch journalist saw the car in 1948 he called it ‘de lelijke eend‘ – the ugly duckling – after the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. So by the time the Citroën was imported to Germany it already had a name: Ente.
Polente is the word for police, but also a contraction of Polizei and Ente, referring to the car. In the 1960s, the Citroën was actually used as a police car by German police.
In Switzerland and regions close to France, the Citroën 2CV (deux chevaux vapor = 2 horse power) was called Döschwo or Döschewo, the Germanized word of the French “deux chevaux“.
The following video shows Johannes of Köln with his Polente. It’s not a real police car, it’s just made to look like it. You can rent Johannes and the iconic car for events like a bachelor’s party.
