The article deals with the issues of translating culturally specific vocabulary in the Ukrainian-German language pair. The growing number of contacts with representatives of German-speaking countries makes it necessary to find ways to adequately translate lacunae, which are interpreted as differences in the cultures of speakers of different languages, since lacunae represent cultural elements of a particular country. The aim of the article is to determine the peculiarities of translating lacunae of German-language texts into Ukrainian. The study is based on the classification of lacunae into the following groups: mental lacunae, subject lacunae, activity lacunae and axiological lacunae. It has been determined that a special group of lacunae is made up of systemic lacunae, which mean the absence of words in the target language denoting certain objects, subjects and phenomena. Some of them may be related to differences in the political or economic systems of different countries. Some methods of translating lacunae in the German-Ukrainian language pair are analysed. In particular, transcription/transliteration is often used to translate specific things that are nevertheless quite well known in both cultures. It is stated that in some cases there is a so-called acceptance of cultural specificity. This happens when a certain object is spreading very quickly in the world. It has been established that one of the most common ways to translate lacunae is through commentary/explanation of the translation. Translators are both linguistic and cultural mediators. They perform an important function in promoting mutual understanding between speakers of different languages and representatives of different cultures. Lacunae often complicate the work of translators, as they have to find ways to translate the names of objects and phenomena for which there are no definitions in the target language. The study has shown that the most common translation methods for reproducing lacunae in a German-Ukrainian language pair are: transcription/transliteration, cultural adaptation, commentary, context-dependent translation, and descriptive translation.
