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This fragment comes from a text about an Internet cafe:

An allen verfügbaren Computern kann man online die neusten Zeitungen lesen, mit anderen Leuten "chatten" oder sich zu Hause in angenehme Erinnerung bringen.

So my question is, why the expression zu Hause appears out of the sudden when the text is about things one can do at the cafe?

Baz
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user7651
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  • Also related: http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/24124/at-home-daheim-zuhause-or-zu-hause – Takkat Jun 28 '15 at 09:44

3 Answers3

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It means that you can send a sign of life, as it were, to those at home (while travelling, say).

Ingmar
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  • Your theorie is that "sich" is an accusative object and "zu Hause" is a Dative object standing for the people at home. I think it is the other way around. The "home" is the direct object being recalled, and you yourself are "receiving" the memory. Ultimately there is no telling, but I find "zu Hause" as standing for "the people at home" as less likely than the more generic "at home" as in "the people + the food + the place" (which cannot benefit of a recall). Hope you understand my jumbled comment :) – Emanuel Jun 19 '14 at 15:31
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    I bringe mich zu Hause in angenehme Erinnerung = Ich sorge dafür, dass ich zu Hause in angenehmer Erinnerung bin. Inhaltlich meint das "bei den Menschen zu Hause", denn dies sind die einzigen, die lesen und erinnern können. – Carsten S Jun 19 '14 at 19:09
  • @Emanuel: I agree with Ingmar and Carsten that your interpretation is impossible/implausible. See also the discussion on Martin’s answer. – chirlu Jun 29 '15 at 06:13
  • @chirlu.. implausible maybe, impossible ... why would it be impossible? – Emanuel Jun 29 '15 at 07:56
  • I don't think any native speak would understand it that way. I certainly never considered the possibility. Even if grammatically correct it would be highly unidiomatic. – Ingmar Jun 29 '15 at 13:08
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In this case, i think "Zu Hause" might mean more than "the place you live at", but refers to "home" in a possible meta-sense, since internet cafés are usually used by people on vacation, possibly from another country. Thus "sich zu Hause in angenehme Erinnerung bringen" means something along the lines of "make the people at home positively think about oneself".

As stated by the other answers, this is a pretty rare phrasing, but still legit. I doubt that the meaning is about the guy visiting the internet café thinking of home, but rather telling the people at home about one's well being.

When i was young you normally used post cards for that, but since we are living in a digital age now, posting on facebook, sending an e-mail or using a instant messenger should be the means the author of that notes is thinking about.

Fredchen777
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The previous answers and comments are mostly correct.. problem is that the narrator of the original phrase used an expression which is a bit off track. Maybe one of a thousand or even fewer would phrase it that way. It would be much more likely and natural to say: sich die Heimat in Erinnerung rufen, or, sich der Heimat nah fühlen.. just 2 examples to express it in "better german".

user3135691
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