One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do. The Germans have an antidote, Zweisamkeit.
Anyone whose heart has fallen hard and had their love requited doesn’t need to know the Duden definition of Zweisamkeit, they’ve felt it in those early weeks and months when the world’s ills briefly fall away and you and your new-found lover only have eyes for one thing: each other.
For those yet to be struck bullseye by Cupid’s bow, the German word Zweisamkeit can be translated as “togetherness” or “twoness”, but means much more than its basic translations in English. Zweisamkeit is rather the bond or behaviour between two people who share a deep emotional connection and intimacy.
An aspect of Zweisamkeit is also what you might call in English “being alone together”, being able to get along and do your own thing while your Zweisamkeit partner gets along with whatever they please, in the same room or under the same roof.
While Zweisamkeit is most commonly applied to romantic partners, it can also describe platonic intimacy.
You might remember feeling a sense of Zweisamkeit with your friend during the seemingly endless summer break as a child, with nothing else to do and everyone else on holiday, imagination and silliness borne from boredom likely allowed a sense of Zweisamkeit to flourish. You were thick as thieves.
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