101-529: Belfort ( French pronunciation: [bɛlfɔʁ] ; archaic German : Beffert , Beffort ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately 25 km (16 mi) from the Swiss border. It is the prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort . Belfort is 400 km (250 mi) from Paris and 55 km (34 mi) from Basel. The residents of the city are called "Belfortains". The city
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
505-480: A French life and home in Belfort made a significant contribution to Belfort and French industry (see Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques ) after 1872. On 5 June 1892, Le Petit Journal organised a foot-race from Paris to Belfort, a course of over 380 km (240 mi), the first large-scale long-distance running race on record. Over 1,100 competitors registered for the event and over 800 started from
606-495: A centre of excellence for the manufacturing of gas turbines. Belfort is located at a busy hub in the region's local and long-distance road network. Its proximity to the commercial port of Mulhouse-Rhin facilitates international trade. The motorway A36 from Beaune to Mulhouse follows a route to the south and east of the city, and forms the main axis linking Belfort to other French and European cities. Passing just south of town, N19 connects Langres (and thereby Paris and Troyes) to
707-470: A foot-race from Bordeaux to Paris in 1903. Giffard served as the editor of Le Petit Journal and then the sports daily Le Vélo , where his passionate support for Alfred Dreyfus and thus his opposition to the car-maker Comte Jules-Albert de Dion over the whole Dreyfus affair led de Dion to create a rival daily, L'Auto , which in turn created the Tour de France cycle race. Pierre Giffard's father
808-559: 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
909-404: A history of bicycle development, La Reine Bicyclette . The expression was made more emblematic by the picture on the cover, of a young woman wearing a modern bicycle as a crown. The title was intended to describe the spirit that the bicycle had brought to her life. Cycling enthusiasts adopted the name, calling their machine "la petite reine". Le Sieur de Va-Partout was the first French book in
1010-458: 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
1111-463: A new style, the literature of reporting, and therefore of a new type of author: the writer-reporter. La Fin du Cheval was Giffard's 1899 humorous thesis on the inevitable replacement of the horse by the bicycle, then by the car. It was illustrated by Albert Robida . La Guerre Infernale was an adventure novel for children, published as a serial, an edition appearing every Saturday. The 520 illustrations were created by Albert Robida. It described
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#17327662272091212-696: 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
1313-483: 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
1414-504: A second edition of the Paris–Brest–Paris cycle-race in 1901, that he had created in 1891. L'Auto's response came on 19 December 1902, when Géo Lefèvre suggested a Tour de France which was an overwhelming circulation success in 1903. Le Vélo' s response in 1903 was a running-race from Bordeaux to Paris, but it was too late. Le Vélo disappeared in 1904 and Giffard eventually joined Desgrange's staff at L'Auto . Giffard created
1515-610: A stoker which was forbidden. On 18 July 1896 Giffard organised the inaugural Paris Marathon on behalf of Le Petit Journal , although he was editor of Le Vélo , suggesting a cooperative commercial relationship. The event followed on from the success of the marathon in the 1896 inaugural Olympics. Gifford started the race before a large crowd at the Porte Maillot, and it followed a course to Versailles and finished in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine . The race and
1616-588: A world war, years before it happened, describing an attack on London by the Germans and war between Japan and the United States . It was subsequently republished as a book. Giffard stood in the national election of March 1900, a candidate in the 2nd constituency of Seine-Inférieure ( Yvetot ). A passionate left wing Dreyfussard , he failed due to the general Dreyfusine rift in French politics, and he
1717-717: 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
1818-601: 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
1919-569: Is also a train service to Frankfurt am Main in Germany. Regional services connect Belfort to Montbéliard , Besançon , Mulhouse , Vesoul , Épinal and Nancy . From 2017, regional trains will connect Belfort with Belfort-Montbéliard TGV station using the new Belfort–Delle railway link. This service links Belfort and the surrounding area to Switzerland, and the high-speed train link will connect Swiss towns such as Delémont , Bern , Fribourg and Lausanne to Paris and other cities. Before 2020,
2020-612: 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
2121-558: 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
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#17327662272092222-478: 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
2323-430: 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
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
2727-674: Is located on the river Savoureuse , on a strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap ( Trouée de Belfort ) or Burgundian Gate ( Porte de Bourgogne ). It is located approximately 16 km (10 mi) south from the base of the Ballon d'Alsace mountain range, source of the Savoureuse . The city of Belfort has 46,443 inhabitants (2019). Belfort
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
3030-401: 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
3131-525: 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
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3232-661: Is the centre of a larger functional area (metropolitan area) with 133,597 inhabitants (2018), between the larger metropolitan areas of Mulhouse and Montbéliard . Belfort's strategic location, in a natural gap between the Vosges and the Jura , on a route linking the Rhine and the Rhône, has attracted human settlement since Roman times, and has also made it a frequent target for invading armies many times in its history. The site of Belfort
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
3535-689: 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
3636-639: 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
3737-537: 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
3838-417: 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
3939-675: The German Gau Baden–Alsace , but it never took place. Belfort has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ). The average annual temperature in Belfort is 10.1 °C (50.2 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,122.3 mm (44.19 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 19.2 °C (66.6 °F), and lowest in January, at around 1.2 °C (34.2 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Belfort
4040-522: 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
4141-746: 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
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4242-666: 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
4343-415: The Paris–Brest–Paris cycle race in 1891, although it was promoted as Paris–Brest et retour in his editorials which he signed "Jean-sans-Terre" . It is now established as the oldest long-distance cycling road event. Le Petit Journal described it as an "épreuve," a test of the bicycle's reliability and the rider's endurance. Riders were fully self-sufficient, carrying their own food and clothing and riding
4444-676: 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
4545-550: 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
4646-460: 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
4747-469: 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
4848-399: The 200-franc prize were won by Len Hurst , a 24-year-old brick maker from England. Giffard organised the first foot-race from Bordeaux to Paris in 1903, which was won by Francois Peguet in 114 hours 22 minutes 20 seconds with Emil Anthoine in second place. The phrase "la petite reine" has passed into the French language as a term for a bicycle. The origins are in 1891, when Giffard wrote
4949-723: 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
5050-532: The French until the garrison was ordered to surrender 21 days after the armistice between France and Prussia ended the war. The region was not annexed by Prussia like the rest of Alsace was. It was exchanged for territories in the vicinity of Metz. It formed, as it still does, the Territoire de Belfort . The siege is commemorated by a huge statue, the Lion of Belfort , by Frédéric Bartholdi . Alsatians not wanting to live under German rule in annexed Alsace and who wanted
5151-748: 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
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#17327662272095252-536: 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
5353-451: 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
5454-681: 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
5555-405: The Germans. The paper's largest advertisers, anti-Dreyfusards such as Count Jules-Albert de Dion , Adolphe Clément and Édouard Michelin believed Dreyfus guilty and removed their advertising from the paper. They then launched a rival paper, at first called L'Auto-Vélo and then simply L'Auto . A circulation war broke out between the two papers. Le Vélo's biggest publicity stunts included staging
5656-655: 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
5757-865: 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
5858-408: 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
5959-434: The Netherlands and Denmark. He reported on the attack by French troops on Cheikh Bouamama fr:Cheikh Bouamama in Algeria and the taking of Sfax in Tunisia , and the arrival of the British fleet at Alexandria and the departure of the French navy. In June 1906, he went back to Le Figaro and reported the first meeting of the Russian parliament , the Douma . Hippolyte Auguste Marinoni asked Giffard to reorganise
6060-474: The Swiss canton of Jura . EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg is located about 60 km (37 mi) east of Belfort (1 hour drive). Belfort is well connected with the rest of France, with direct connections by train to major destinations such as Paris , Dijon , Besançon , Mulhouse , Strasbourg , Lyon , Marseille , Montpellier and Lille , including high-speed trains . Some trains operate into Switzerland, such as Basel and Zürich stations. There
6161-416: The city and around 2500 musicians, most of them students or amateur groups from countries across Europe and the rest of the world. Music styles performed are extremely diverse and include traditional, folk, rock, jazz, classical and experimental. Belfort was the birthplace of: Belfort is twinned with: German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
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#17327662272096262-409: The confirmation sms as a ticket. The region of Belfort already offers around 70 km (43 mi) of cycling tracks with more under construction. Visit the local tourist office for information on the latest additions including the 'Coulée verte' to the west, malsaucy-giromany to the north and the Euro Velo 6 about 20 km (12 mi) to the south. There are many organised cycling events, offering
6363-430: 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
6464-404: 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
6565-503: The distinctions between a reliability trial, a general event and a race, but the main prize was for the first across the finish line in Rouen. 102 people paid the 10 franc entrance fee. On 22 July 1894, 69 cars started the 50 km selection event that would show which entrants would be allowed to start the main event, the 127 km race from Paris to Rouen. The entrants ranged from serious manufacturers like Peugeot , Panhard or De Dion to amateur owners, and only 25 were selected for
6666-435: 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
6767-435: 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,
6868-417: 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
6969-433: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Pierre Giffard Pierre Giffard ( French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ ʒifaʁ] ; 1 May 1853 – 21 January 1922) was a French journalist, a pioneer of modern political reporting, a newspaper publisher and a prolific sports organiser. In 1892, he
7070-542: The main race. The race started from Porte Maillot and went through the Bois de Boulogne . Count Jules-Albert de Dion was first into Rouen after 6 hours and 48 minutes at an average speed of 19 km/h. He finished 3’30" ahead of Albert Lemaître ( Peugeot ), followed by Doriot ( Peugeot ) at 16’30", René Panhard ( Panhard ) at 33’30’’ and Émile Levassor (Panhard) at 55’30”. The official winners were Peugeot and Panhard as cars were judged on their speed, handling and safety characteristics, and De Dion's steam car needed
7171-402: 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
7272-538: The newsroom of the daily paper, Le Petit Journal . He began work on 1 October 1887. There he started a diary which, in the tradition of the paper, he signed with a pseudonym: Jean-sans-Terre. He stayed at the paper for 10 years. In 1891 he organised the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race for the newspaper, followed by the Paris–Belfort running race. In 1892, he was appointed a member of the Légion d'Honneur , and in 1900 he
7373-653: 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
7474-410: The offices of Le Petit Journal , at Paris Opera . This had also been the start point for the inaugural Paris–Brest–Paris cycle-race the previous year. The newspaper's circulation dramatically increased as the French public followed the progress of race participants, 380 of whom completed the course in under ten days. In Le Petit Journal on 18 June 1892, Pierre Giffard praised the event as a model for
7575-450: The opportunity for people to explore the area in the company of an official guide. Belfort's best known cultural event is the annual Eurockéennes , one of France's largest rock music festivals. Belfort is also well known for hosting the annual Festival International de Musique Universitaire (FIMU) held in May each year. FIMU usually involves over 250 concerts at different locations around
7676-545: The physical training of a nation faced by hostile neighbours. The event was won by Constant Ramoge in 100 hours, 5 minutes. The town was bombarded by the German Army during World War I. Before the war, the September Programme of German Imperial Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg , pressed for expansionist aims of French territory, specifically advocated the annexation of the Belfort region along with
7777-410: The previous year. Newspaper circulation dramatically increased as the French public followed the progress of race participants, 380 of whom completed the course in under 10 days. In Le Petit Journal on 18 June 1892, Giffard praised the event as a model for the physical training of a nation faced by hostile neighbours. The event was won by Constant Ramoge in 100 hours 5 minutes. In 1894, when Giffard
7878-462: 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
7979-749: The reserve army in November at Le Havre . There, following the custom of the time, he was made an officer. He became a lieutenant on 10 December 1870. At the end of the war he resumed his studies at Douai , where he gained a university degree in August 1871. Giffard's father died on 1 August 1872, and Giffard moved to Paris to work as a journalist. Giffard had a long and successful career in journalism. Between 1873 and 1878 he worked for Le Corsaire , L'Evénement , La France , Le Gaulois , Le Petit Parisien , La Lanterne and finally Le Figaro . He then assumed editorship of Le Petit Journal in 1887 and of
8080-471: The same bicycle for the duration. The public response to his articles was so phenomenal that he had to change the rules and start charging 5 francs entrance, as 300 riders including 7 women signed up, although the women were later refused entrance. Each bicycle was given an 'official seal' at a two-day ceremony in front of the offices of Le Petit Journal . The 280 sealed machines included 10 tricycles , 2 Tandem bicycles , and 1 Penny-farthing . Participation
8181-712: The senior journalists of France, he went back to Le Figaro and reported the first meeting of the Russian parliament. In 1910 Giffard was employed by his arch-rival Henri Desgrange writing for L'Auto until retirement. Giffard joined Le Figaro on the strength of his reports of the World Exhibition in Paris and of conferences he organised there concerning the invention of the telephone and telegraph. He reported from Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Greece, Austria, Scotland, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Cyprus, Spain,
8282-483: The service Épinal -Belfort will be electrified and modernized. This will allow a link between LGV Est and LGV Rhin-Rhône in Belfort-Montbéliard TGV station , opening new destinations like Nancy, Metz and Luxembourg . A local bus network Optymo operates within Belfort (www.optymo.fr). Tickets can be bought from any newsagent in the city, or a bus passenger can send a sms 'BUS' to 84100 and show
8383-545: The sports daily Le Vélo in 1896. After an abortive election attempt in 1900 Giffard returned to full-time journalism at Le Vélo until its demise in 1904. He then joined Matin , which sent him to the Far East to cover the Russia-Japan war. He returned to Paris in July 1904, weakened by illness, and proceeded to work for several papers, including Dépêche Coloniale and Petit Marseillais . In June 1906, now one of
8484-546: 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,
8585-500: 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
8686-691: The western side of the Vosges Mountains . After the 1940 Battle of France with the German victory, Belfort fell within the Nazi German occupation zone . In November 1944, the retreating Wehrmacht held off the French First Army outside the town until French Commandos made a successful night attack on the Salbert Fort. Belfort was liberated on 22 November 1944. It is believed that Adolf Hitler intended to annex Belfort into
8787-555: 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
8888-600: 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
8989-489: Was 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) on 13 July 1949; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −21.4 °C (−6.5 °F) on 10 February 1956. Belfort is a centre for heavy engineering industries, mostly dedicated to railways and turbines. Belfort is the hometown of Alstom where the first TGVs (Trains à Grande Vitesse, High Speed Trains) were produced, as well as hosting the GE Power European headquarters and
9090-429: 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
9191-907: Was a lawyer and mayor in Fontaine-le-Dun . Pierre was taught from the age of six by Father Biville at Saint-Laurent-en-Caux and from eight at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen . He completed his schooling in Paris , at the Lycée Charlemagne in the Marais district. It was there that he developed his republican ideas. The Franco-Prussian War started in 1870 and Giffard enrolled in the army, with his parents' reluctant permission, at Fontaine-le-Dun in Normandy . He joined
9292-766: Was a victim of de Dion 's sometimes violent anti-Dreyfussard stance. De Dion had distributed free copies of Giffard's humorous book La Fin du Cheval , claiming it to be Giffard's political program. In 1892, Giffard was appointed 'Chevalier' (Knight) of the Légion d'Honneur and in September 1900, at the Paris Exposition, he was appointed an 'Officier' (Officer) of the Légion d'Honneur. He died on 21 January 1922 at his home in Maisons-Laffitte where he had lived since 1883. The rue de Pierre Giffard in
9393-432: Was again organised by Giffard but on behalf of Le Vélo . On 5 June 1892, Giffard organised a foot-race from Paris to Belfort, a course of over 380 kilometers, the first large scale long-distance running race on record. Over 1,100 competitors registered for the event and over 800 started from the offices of Le Petit Journal , at Paris Opera . This had also been the start point for the inaugural Paris–Brest–Paris cycle-race
9494-547: 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
9595-479: Was appointed Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'Honneur and in 1900 he was appointed an Officier (Officer) of the Légion d'Honneur. Parisian newspapers used sporting events as circulation aids, and Giffard created the Paris–Brest–Paris cycle race in 1891, the 380 kilometre Paris–Belfort running race in 1892, the world's first car race from Paris to Rouen in 1894, the Paris Marathon in 1896, and
9696-554: Was appointed as an officer. In 1896, he joined his colleague Paul Rousseau at the head of the newspaper, Le Vélo , where he wrote under the name Arator . There on 19 July 1896 he organised the first Paris marathon and helped found the Automobile Club de France . In 1900 he threw the paper in support of Alfred Dreyfus in the Dreyfus affair . France was divided over the justice of his trial for selling military secrets to
9797-423: Was editor in chief of newspaper Le Petit Journal , he organised what is considered to be the world's first car race from Paris to Rouen , sporting events were a tried and tested form of publicity stunt and circulation booster. The paper promoted it as a Competition for Horeseless Carriages (Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux) that were not dangerous, easy to drive, and cheap during the journey . Thus it blurred
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
9999-589: Was inhabited in Gallo-Roman times. Later, it was heavily settled by Germanic peoples during the Germanic migrations , most notably the Burgundians , who settled in the region after the Gallo-Roman inhabitants had been displaced. It was subsequently recorded in the 13th century as a possession of the counts of Montbéliard , who granted it a charter in 1307. Previously an Austrian possession, Belfort
10100-451: Was restricted to Frenchmen and 99 of the 207 (or 280 ) participants finished. Michelin 's Charles Terront won in 71 hours 22 minutes after passing Dunlop 's Jiel-Laval as he slept during the third night. Both had suffered punctures in their pneumatic tyres, but still enjoyed an advantage over riders on solid tires. The first race was a coup for Le Petit Journal and the organisers decided to run it every ten years. The second race in 1901
10201-589: Was transferred to France by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), which ended the Thirty Years' War . The town's fortifications were extended and developed by the military architect Vauban for Louis XIV . Until 1871, Belfort was part of the département of Haut-Rhin , in Alsace . The Siege of Belfort (between 3 November 1870 and 18 February 1871) during the Franco Prussian war was successfully resisted by
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