Cranes and materials handling

Der Turmdrehkran takes its gender and its plural from its last element, der Kran, and that noun has two plurals with exactly the same meaning. Die Kräne, with the umlaut, is what most people say and what a newspaper prints. Die Krane, without it, is the form of the trade: accident-prevention regulations, European standards in their German versions, manufacturers’ manuals, inspection reports. Dictionaries give both, so neither is a mistake. What matters is to keep to one within a document and to notice which one a text has chosen, because the plain plural tells you it was written by people who build, test or operate cranes. The choice carries into every compound: zwei Turmdrehkrane in a lift plan, die Brückenkrane der Halle in a maintenance contract, die Kräne im Hafen in a report from the quayside.