Wien Westbf – Kn. Wagram – (GZU) – Linz Hbf – Salzburg Hbf New Western Railway ( Neue Westbahn):
101-436: The Western Railway ( German : Westbahn ) is a two-track, partly four-track, electrified railway line in Austria that runs from Vienna to Salzburg via St. Pölten and Linz Hauptbahnhof and is one of the major lines of Austria. It was originally opened as the Empress Elisabeth Railway in 1858 (Vienna–Linz). The line is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). The Western Railway consists of
202-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
303-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
404-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
505-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
606-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
707-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
808-524: A result of Austria's loss of coal reserves at the end of the First World War under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , it was decided to electrify the line, starting from the west. Electification was completed to Steindorf on 3 October 1938, to Attnang-Puchheim on 6 October 1941, to Linz on 15 May 1949 and to Amstetten on 28 June 1951. Electification of the line was completed with the inauguration of
909-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
1010-534: A second marshalling yard in Wels was started (to the south of the Western Railway), but it was left unfinished at the end of the war. This was intended to give Wels marshalling yards serving traffic running both west–east (today's yard) and east–west (the abandoned yard). The Linz East marshalling yard was given a large expansion as a result of the establishment of the "Hermann Göring Works" (now Voestalpine ) by
1111-717: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and
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#17327875657161212-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
1313-612: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
1414-478: Is also the terminal for four regional transportation networks: The station is served by the following services: Construction of the station began on 9 September 1856, five years after the "Empress Elisabeth West Railway" was launched. The construction of the station meant a considerable change to the urban character of the town. First, the Kremsertor (gate in the medieval wall) had to be dismantled, followed by
1515-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
1616-454: Is an important section of the TEN line between Paris and Bratislava and Budapest . In the long term there are expected to be direct services on these routes with modern high-speed train sets. Since 1990 the capacity of the line has been increased by the creation of a high-speed line. The existing two-track line is being upgraded to provide high capacity and in addition a new double track line
1717-501: Is being built between St. Pölten and Linz, together creating a four-track line. The new sections are designed with many new tunnels and straight sections of track to allow speeds of up to 250 km/h. This upgraded condition of the line has allowed ICE T services to run from Vienna to Frankfurt, Munich and Bregenz since the timetable change in 2006 in Austria and Railjet services to run between Budapest, Vienna, Munich and Zurich since
1818-944: Is built in order to protect the environment), the Wachberg II Tunnel and the Melk Tunnel, were released for operations at 200 km/h. Only a few months later, in 2001, this was followed by the opening of the Prinzersdorf–Groß Sierning and St. Peter-Seitenstetten–St. Valentin (including the St. Peter green tunnel and the Sieberg Tunnel) sections. Since the opening of the Amstetten–St. Peter-Seitenstetten section in 2003, trains can run continuously from Amstetten to St. Valentine at 200 km/h. In 2004, two junctions were built at Wagram and Rohr and finally in 2007
1919-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
2020-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
2121-407: Is expected that the whole Western Railway from Vienna to Wels will have four continuous tracks in 2021, but it will not consist of a four-track line, but it will rather be two double track lines that are operationally linked at several points. A further four track upgrade is planned for the 20 km section between Neumarkt and Salzburg Kasern. Various possible routes have been examined. The upgrade
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#17327875657162222-466: Is expected to be rebuilt as four tracks by 2016. From Amstetten station, the Western Railway runs as four tracks again and with the recommencement of LZB long-distance traffic can accelerate to 200 km/h after the sharp left turn at the western exit to the station, which restricts speeds to 160 km/h. The Old and New Western Railways run parallel as far as St. Peter-Seitenstetten, before
2323-661: Is expected to return to service in July 2013. Speeds on other already upgraded sections, such as St. Valentin–Linz Kleinmünchen, were increased from 200 to 230 km/h in December 2012. As Vienna West station is a terminus, trains to Vienna and continuing to the east (for example, to Budapest) must currently change direction in the West station. After the start of operations through the Lainz Tunnel on 9 December 2012, which connects
2424-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
2525-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
2626-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
2727-915: Is necessary because this section is used by additional services of line S2 of the Salzburg S-Bahn . On 10 January 2013 the fixed route selected for the Neumarkt–Salzburg Kasern section was presented with a start expected in less than 20 years. The upgrade to four tracks is also currently being planned for the Linz–Wels section and planning is continuing on the second stage of the New Lower Inn Valley railway (Schaftenau–Kundl). 48°11′49″N 16°20′14″E / 48.19694°N 16.33722°E / 48.19694; 16.33722 German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
2828-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
2929-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
3030-552: Is one of the western endpoints of the Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (East Region Transportation Authority). With only a few exceptions, all long-haul and regional trains run through St. Pölten railway station. Because of its location both on the existing Western Railway (Austria) and on its new high-speed line, the station is a stop on the Main line for Europe from Paris to Bratislava / Budapest . The station
3131-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
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3232-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
3333-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
3434-485: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
3535-652: Is west of Hadersdorf junction. From this point, the line can be run at up to 250 km/h (160 mph). The line resurfaces after 13 km at Chorherrn near to the Tulln Basin . The regional station of Tullnerfeld is situated in the Tulln Basin . The high-speed line has been connected to the Franz Josef Railway by the reactivation of disused Tulln western curve, promoting regional traffic. After passing through three cut-and-cover tunnels that were built for noise abatement reasons in an open cutting,
3636-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
3737-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
3838-621: The Danube Bank Railway ). Near Asten, the Old and New Western Railways come together again. From Asten-Fisching 1 junction the speed limit is reduced to 200 km/h (120 mph) on the two parallel lines to Linz Kleinmünchen, the current end of the four-track section on the Western Railway. The New Western Railway has been equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) on the newly built section of
3939-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
4040-824: The Enns valley via Steyr and Selzthal to Bischofshofen ) and Enns to Linz, where the line through the Mühlviertel to České Budějovice ( Summerau Railway ) and the Pyhrn Railway branch off. There is also a connection in Linz to the Linz Local Railway to Eferding . After Linz the Western Railway moves away from the Danube . While the Danube flows from the northwest to Linz, the Western Railway now heads off to
4141-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
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4242-522: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
4343-746: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
4444-666: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
4545-517: The Reichswerke Hermann Göring . At a press conference in 1983 Austrian Transport Minister Karl Lausecker outlined details of plans for the development of the Western Railway. Construction was expected to start in 1987, with completion in 1992. New sections would be built between Attnang-Puchheim and Salzburg; upgraded sections would be built between St. Pölten and Linz and between Linz and Attnang-Puchheim. The planned top speed
4646-598: The Southern Railway , are the main arteries of the Austrian railways. With EU enlargement , their importance continues to grow. Not only is a large part of the Austrian National rail traffic on the western railway line, but long-distance services between Vienna and cities such as Hamburg , Dortmund , Cologne , Frankfurt , Munich and Zurich also run on the Western Railway. The Western Railway
4747-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
4848-550: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
4949-513: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
5050-469: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
5151-405: The Amstetten– Vienna West station section on 19 December 1952. Numerous enhancements and additions were made during the period of management of operation by Deutsche Reichsbahn (during the annexation by Germany from 1938 to 1945). Thus, the passing loops at Hutten and Ederbauer were built and a new marshalling yard was built in Wels (to the north of the Western Railway). Also, the construction of
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#17327875657165252-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
5353-523: The Enns bypass (St. Valentin–Asten) was opened to traffic. As part of the rebuilding of St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof the double-bore Eisbergbogen tunnels (a single track tunnel for a passing track and a double track tunnel for the two main tracks) was built west of St. Pölten and opened to traffic in 2010. The line begins in Vienna West station ( Westbahnhof ) and first runs through the Vienna Woods ( Wienerwald ). The Old Western Railway to St. Pölten has now been replaced from Wagram junction to Rohr junction by
5454-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
5555-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
5656-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
5757-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
5858-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
5959-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
6060-408: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
6161-446: The New Western Railway route through Tullnerfeld directly to the mainline tracks of the new Vienna Hauptbahnhof (to open in 2014), long-distance trains will mostly run there. WESTbahn has however announced that its trains from Salzburg to Vienna will continue to run to the West station. The four-track Ybbs an der Donau–Amstetten section, which is designed for a maximum of 250 km/h came into operation in 2015. The reconstruction of
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#17327875657166262-445: The New Western Railway. After the completion of the freight railway bypass closing the "St. Pölten–Loosdorf gap" from Wagram junction to Rohr junction the newly constructed freight bypass will form part of the Old West Railway. After Rohr junction the Western Railway runs through the foothills via Pöchlarn (a junction with the Erlauf Valley Railway to Kienberg-Gaming ), Amstetten , St. Valentin (a junction with Rudolf's Railway up
6363-411: The congestion track between St. Pölten Hbf and Prinzersdorf south of the two-track main line, with its own tube through the Eisbergbogen Tunnel) to Prinzersdorf, then two tracks through the Markersdorf an der Pielach station to Rohr junction, where it fans from two to four tracks. Here the Old Western Railway branches to the northwest to Loosdorf station, while the New Western Railway runs to the south of
6464-430: The current building. In 1907 the station became the terminal of the electric Mariazell Railway . In 1911 it was connected to the city's tram network, which operated until 1976. The station was rebuilt several times over the years, particularly after the city was bombed in April 1945. From 1965 to 1969, the western part of the station was renovated and the decorative corner pavilions made functional. Between 2006 and 2010,
6565-445: The destruction of the entire city wall. A promenade was built in its place. Two years later, the first trains began to use the new stop. In 1877, the railway line between Leobersdorf , Kaumberg and Sankt Pölten became operational. Eight years later, lines to Krems an der Donau and Tulln an der Donau were added. With these new lines, the station building had become too small, so in 1877 a two-year construction project began to erect
6666-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
6767-404: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
6868-430: The double-track Old Western Railway ( Alten Westbahn , line 1) and the double-track New Western Railway ( Neuen Westbahn , line 30). For operational reasons the Western Railway is supplemented by the suburban track (line 23) from Vienna Hütteldorf to Unter Purkersdorf and the relief track (line 3) from Pottenbrunn via St. Pölten to Prinzersdorf . The line was opened from Vienna Westbahnhof to Linz on 15 December 1858 and
6969-408: The east end of Amstetten station to increase top speed from Ybbs to 230 km/h continued until 2016. In 2017, the St. Pölten freight bypass railway (Wagram junction–Rohr junction), which is designed for a maximum speed of 120 km/h, will be opened to traffic. The four-track upgrade from Linz Kleinmünchen to the eastern approach to Linz station is expected to be completed no earlier than 2018. It
7070-435: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
7171-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
7272-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
7373-407: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . St. P%C3%B6lten Hauptbahnhof St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station at St. Pölten , which is the capital city of the federal state of Lower Austria , located in the north east of Austria . The station
7474-495: The line continues to Salzburg station , where the Western Railway ends. The new Vienna–St. Pölten section of the New Western Railway is a high-speed railway. It runs from Vienna via Tullnerfeld to St. Pölten and is part of the TEN project No. 17 " Magistrale for Europe ". The section was put into scheduled operation on 9 December 2012. The travel time without stopping between Vienna West station and St. Pölten
7575-511: The line from Vienna to Wagram junction. The so-called “registration” ( Anmelde ) line starts at the entrance to Lainz Tunnel, which is equipped with both ETCS and with the old Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung (PZB) system. From Hadersdorf junction it was originally intended that the line be exclusively signalled with ETCS level 2, but it was decided to have PZB as a fallback. It is possible to run from St. Pölten to Attnang-Puchheim at 230 km/h using LZB signalling. The Western Railway, along with
7676-531: The line runs through three more tunnels, known as the Perschling tunnel chain ( Tunnelkette Perschling ). The line then runs to Wagram junction in St. Pölten, which now forms the end of the new Western line. Simultaneously with the construction of the new high-speed line, the railway stations in Vienna and St. Pölten are being rebuilt. Vienna Hauptbahnhof was opened on 9 December 2012 for partial operations and
7777-507: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
7878-480: The new Vienna–St. Pölten section (journey time reduction ≈ 15 min) and the New Lower Inn Valley railway from Radfeld to Baumkirchen (journey time reduction ≈ 5 min). These sections are operated at 230 or 220 km/h. Here, the winding and mountainous section of track through the Vienna Woods was supplemented with a new route through Tullnerfeld (Vienna Woods Tunnel and the Perschling tunnel chain) that rejoins
7979-470: The new line makes a tighter curve than the existing route through the St. Peter “green” tunnel. At St. Johann-Weistrach the two lines run for a few hundred meters next to each other again. After the station, the Old Western Railway runs towards Haag , while the New Western Railway takes a right turn to a straight section and then runs to the north through the 6.5 km long Sieberg Tunnel. At
8080-653: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
8181-463: The northern portal, the two lines meet and again run parallel to each other to St. Valentin station . After the station, the new line enters the “Enns bypass”, which can be operated at 230 km/h (140 mph), running around the area of the port and the settled areas of Enns. (In 2005, in the course of the upgrade to four tracks between Ennsdorf and Enns, a junction was built towards Mauthausen , allowing direct operations of trains from Linz towards
8282-687: The official opening on the line on 12 August 1860. In 1884 the railway was nationalised. The extension of the railway line on Austrian territory, the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway ("Gisela Railway") via Zell am See to Wörgl (owned by the KEB since 1875) was also nationalised. Duplication of the line was completed on 14 August 1902; it had been gradual: Linz – Wels on 7 August 1870, St. Valentin –Linz on 22 August 1874, Wels– Lambach on 1 November 1898, Lambach– Attnang-Puchheim on 14 August 1899 and Attnang-Puchheim–Salzburg on 14 August 1902. As
8383-463: The old line, which has been rebuilt on the new alignment. Now, the two parallel lines run through Pöchlarn station until the new line takes a slight curve to the left to enter the almost 5 km long Sittenberg Tunnel. Shortly after the western portal the new and old lines come together again and, about 2 km later, reach Ybbs an der Donau station, where the maximum speed is cut to 160 km/h. The two-track line section between Ybbs and Amstetten
8484-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
8585-466: The route of the Old Western Railway at St. Pölten. Following the upgrade of the last section of the double-track Old Western Railway between Wels and Attnang-Puchheim, namely the Lambach–Breitenschützing section, it now has a high level of performance and since October 2012, trains are able to run on it at 230 km/h. The old line on the Lambach–Breitenschützing section is being rebuilt and
8686-593: The southwest towards Wels. The Western Railway to Salzburg and the line to Passau separate in Wels station . The Alm Valley Railway to Grünau im Almtal also branches off here. The next junction is at Attnang-Puchheim , where it crosses the Salzkammergut Railway running from Stainach –Irdning to Ried . After Straßwalchen where the Mattig Valley Railway branches off to Braunau ,
8787-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
8888-425: The station underwent a €190-million renovation, resulting in a new pedestrian walkway and new platforms. A road tunnel was built on the western side of the complex and the forecourt was redesigned by the city of Sankt Pölten. The station building was also completely renovated; work that included a replacing the roof and façade and adding a better-lit central hall, an information kiosk and new shops. The renovated station
8989-500: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
9090-516: The timetable change in December 2008. The travel time from Vienna to Innsbruck was four and half hours before the timetable change on 9 December 2012; at the timetable change the duration was reduced to four hours and 15 minutes. The upgrading of the line is aimed at achieving the so-called "1-2-3-scheme", that is the journey from Vienna to Linz will be only an hour, Salzburg would be two hours away and Munich and Innsbruck would be three hours from Vienna. On 9 December 2012, two new sections were opened:
9191-478: The town through a “green” tunnel. To the northwest of Loosdorf the two lines come within a few metres of each other before the new line takes a slight curve to the left to the entrance of the Wachberg 2 Tunnel. Shortly after its western portal it runs through the Melk Tunnel, which takes its name from the nearby town . Immediately afterwards it runs over a bridge over a small river before turning to run parallel with
9292-555: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
9393-600: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
9494-664: Was 250 km/h. The Sittenberg Tunnel was opened as the first new section in 1994. The Lambach bypass, including the Kalvarienberg Tunnel, was opened in 1995. The realignment of the Breitenschützing–Schwanenstadt section, including the Römerberg Tunnel, followed in 1997. Three years later, two sections, St. Pölten–Prinzersdorf and Groß Sierning–Pöchlarn, including the Rohr “green” tunnel (that
9595-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
9696-547: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
9797-480: Was authorised under a treaty contracted by Bavaria and Austria in 1851. The Vienna–Linz section was completed in 1858 and the rest of the line to Salzburg was opened for traffic in 1860. The trip from Vienna to Salzburg initially took nine hours. A few weeks before the official opening Empress Elizabeth used the line to travel to her home in Bavaria. Emperor Franz Joseph and Maximilian II of Bavaria were present at
9898-492: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
9999-626: Was extended to Salzburg on 1 August 1860. The continuation to Munich was opened on 12 August 1860. The line was built by the k.k. privilegierte Kaiserin Elisabeth-Bahn (" Imperial and Royal privileged Empress Elisabeth Railway", KEB) company under Hermann Dietrich Lindheim. In addition to the Vienna–Salzburg line, it also built the Wels–Passau Railway (1861) and the St. Valentin–Summerau– České Budějovice line (1872). The line
10100-525: Was fully completed in 2015. St. Pölten station was rebuilt at the end of 2011. Immediately following St. Pölten station runs through a right-hand bend, which can be run at up to 80 km/h, a short straight section and a left-hand curve through the 460 metres-long Eisbergbogen Tunnel, which was newly built in 2010/11 and which can be run through at 160 km/h. At the end of the curve, Linienzugbeeinflussung (LZB) signalling starts, allowing operations at 200 km/h. The line here has three tracks (including
10201-549: Was reduced as a result from 41 to 25 minutes. The new section of the New Western Railway begins at the exit of Wien Meidling station and runs through the Lainz Tunnel , which leads directly to Hadersdorf junction. Up to that point the traditional link to and from the Old Western Railway can be operated at 160 km/h (99 mph). The start of the high-speed line at the entrance of the Vienna Woods Tunnel
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