This is the 2652nd most frequent German word.
ehemals
"Formerly" or "once."
Here, 'ehemals' signifies 'formerly' or 'once', indicating that the city's crucial role as a trading hub belongs to the past.
Die Stadt war ehemals ein wichtiger Handelsplatz.
The city was formerly an important trading hub.
In this sentence, 'ehemals' refers to a bygone era when many artists were residents of the region, thus highlighting a change over time.
Ehemals lebten viele Künstler in dieser Region.
Formerly, many artists lived in this region.
The use of 'ehemals' here points to the building's previous identity as a hospital, emphasizing the temporal transition in its usage.