The other night, I was watching a television show on World War II. The number of World War II shows on television here is truly astounding! One of the subject matter experts was discussing naval warfare. After talking about U-boats in the Atlantic, he said, “Meanwhile, on the other side of the Erdkugel…”
Erdkugel? How charming! Die Erde is land, soil, or earth. Die Kugel is a bullet, ball, or sphere. So die Erdkugel is a ball of earth–in other words, the terrestrial globe.