adverb
back then, at that time
A2
Means 'back then' or 'at that time', a temporal adverb that refers to the past. Used to describe past situations or habitual states (e.g., Damals war alles anders). It requires no preposition and contrasts with words like 'jetzt' or 'heute'.
Examples
Die Familie lebte damals in Berlin, als der Vater den neuen Job annahm.
The family lived in Berlin back then when the father accepted the new job.
Er wohnte damals in Berlin, bevor er umzog.
He was living in Berlin at that time before he moved.
Damals gab es noch keine Smartphones.
Back then there were no smartphones.
Details
Mnemonics
picture an old black-and-white photo captioned 'damals' to mean 'back then'
sounds like 'dumb alls' — imagine people in past times doing something 'back then' (silly image to anchor time)
Notes
A temporal adverb referring to a past time. Common in storytelling and recounting events.