Jahresendflügelfigur

A compound of Jahresende (“year's end”) +‎ Flügel (“wing”) +‎ Figur (“figurine”). The name was allegedly introduced as a product designation for Christmas figurines by the authorities of the Communist German Democratic Republic, which strove towards the elimination of Christian references in public life. The common German word is Weihnachtsengel (“Christmas angel”), of which “year’s end winged figurine” seems to be a “secularized” version. It has not been proved, however, that this particular name was ever officially used, which makes it more likely to have originated as a popular persiflage.

• IPA^(key): /ˌjaː.ʁəsˈʔɛntˌflyː.ɡəl.fiˌɡuːɐ̯/

Jahresendflügelfigur f (genitive Jahresendflügelfigur, plural Jahresendflügelfiguren)

1. (humorous) a figurine of an angel
   • 2012, Karl Michael Gorlitz, Sandburgen & Luftschlösser/ Lustige Tragödie, volume 3, epubli GmbH.

     Und ich war keine Jahresendflügelfigur, wie es neuerdings jenseits der Mauer hieß.

     And I was no end-of-year winged creature, as it was called on that side of the Wall recently.

   • 2016, Jorge Nicolás Sanchez Rodriguez, Hier ist alles Banane: Erich Honeckers geheime Tagebücher 1994 - 2015, Ullstein.

     Auf die Spitze hat er eine Jahresendflügelfigur gesetzt.

     He put a figurine of an angel at the tip.

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