stiegen

Stiegen is a German word with more than one use. As a verb form, stiegen is the Präteritum (simple past) plural of steigen. It occurs with wir stiegen and sie stiegen and is mostly found in written German or regional speech. Example: Die Wanderer stiegen den Hügel hinauf.

As a noun, Stiege (plural Stiegen) refers to a flight of stairs in Austrian German and some southern dialects. In standard German, Treppe is the common term. Stiege appears in architectural descriptions and in historical or regional texts, and it is often seen in compounds such as Stiegenhaus, meaning stairwell or the staircase structure.

Stiegen is also a surname in German-speaking areas, though not widely distributed.

Related terms include Treppe and Stiegenhaus; see also Stiege, a singular form used in various contexts within regional usage.