Upper Rhine
133-544: France Southern Italy North Germany and Scandinavia Pyrenees Americas Naval battles The Bremen-Verden Campaign ( German : Bremen-Verdener Feldzug ) was a conflict during the Northern Wars in Europe. From 15 September 1675 to 13 August 1676 an anti-Swedish coalition comprising Brandenburg-Prussia , the neighbouring imperial princedoms of Lüneburg and Münster , and Denmark-Norway , conquered
266-465: 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
399-402: 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
532-612: 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
665-633: A battery that opened a continual fire on the Swedish position. On 23 April the Swedes carried out a new raid with 300 horsemen, but were again driven back after initial success, with a loss of 46 men, according to contemporary sources. On 4 July, the Allies completed their earthworks and shelled the Schwinge position so heavily that its roughly 100-man-unit capitulated. With the loss of the Schwinge fieldwork,
798-486: A further step, land on Zealand , the heart of Denmark. Sweden's chances in the Duchy of Bremen-Verden, therefore, lay principally in the strength of her own fleet, which was to have ensured a military victory by dispatching additional troops from the motherland. However, since the Swedish fleet could not sail due to delays in equipment, Bremen-Verden was not reinforced and had to rely on its in-place forces. Sweden's forces in
931-559: 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
1064-458: 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
1197-512: A northeasterly direction with Buxtehude as their objective, reaching it on 12 October. Buxtehude was well fortified, had plenty of food and munitions and, according to the Theatrum Europaeum , a garrison of nearly 400 men. A siege appeared inevitable. After occupying an important eminence in front of the town that same day, the Allies drew up all their artillery of 14 mortars and 37 cannon into battery positions. Shelling commenced on
1330-478: A permanent patrol ship. This arrangement continued to exist under various rulers until 1850 and the customs station on the Schwinge fieldworks itself existed until 1865. Swedish sovereignty ended in 1712. Danish troops besieged the town in the Great Northern War and shelled it from 29 August to 7 September 1712 that destroyed 152 houses, a quarter of the built-up area. During the Swedish times Stade
1463-696: 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
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#17327689845401596-562: A potential springboard against Denmark. Another political power factor was that it would give the Swedes opportunities to recruit mercenaries . The war planning that took place on the Swedish homeland envisaged military victory being achieved through the deployment of the Swedish fleet which was likely to defeat the Danish-Norwegian fleet in the Baltic Sea, thus relieving Sweden's North German possessions, so it could then, in
1729-502: A previous agreement amongst the Allies, the town had been promised to the Lüneburg troops who entered Buxtehude with 500 men. At this time on the fortresses of Carlsburg and Stade remained in Swedish hands. In parallel with the advance of Münster, Brandenburg and Danish troops, there were two unsuccessful landing attempts by Danish and Brandenburg forces, that were repulsed by the Swedes with heavy losses. The first landing operation , at
1862-535: A provisional breakdown of the areas in question in the Hague , on 28 March he gave his approval to the treaty because he saw no other way to achieve an end to the dispute between the Allies, something which was essential for the continuation of the campaign. Although the Elector of Brandenburg did not ratify the decision of his envoy, he dropped his objections to the deployment of Lüneburg auxiliaries to Bremen-Verden in
1995-479: A result of the surrender negotiations, the town was to be occupied by nine Lüneburg companies under General Chauvet. The German mercenaries had to terminate their Swedish service. In the early morning of 13 August 1676, Field Marshal Horn, with 10 cannon and 800 Swedish soldiers, pulled out. The 1,400 German mercenaries were either detained ( untergesteckt ) or released. The last Swedish bastion in Bremen-Verden
2128-483: 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
2261-433: A result. After the fall of Buxtehude several Allied regiments pushed forward towards Bremervörde . On 25 October the siege of Bremervörde Fortress began. After three days of heavy shelling the mercenaries, who were mainly German, refused to render military service for the garrison. The Allies sent a trumpeter into the town as a parlimentaire . He threatened the garrison that all German combatants would be executed when
2394-575: A series of arduous, small sieges, but it also fragmented the troops available to the defenders and prevented them from forming a mobile field army. The Roman Catholic Prince-Bishop of Münster, Christoph Bernhard von Galen , who was intent on extending his power and who, until 22 April 1674, sided with France in battle against the Netherlands, signed an agreement on 7 June 1675 with the imperial court in Vienna that obliged him to supply 9,000 troops "to
2527-528: A short time, had to capitulate to superior forces. Total losses suffered by the Brandenburg force during this operation came to 314 men, the majority taken prisoner. Roughly at the same time, a Danish flotilla landed six companies of infantry under Lieutenant Colonel Harwich on the territory of Land Wursten . But after their successful defence of Carlsburg, the Swedish units under Sidon attacked these Danish mercenaries. After several battles on 4 October,
2660-515: A teacher for Jewish religion and Hebrew was employed (after 1890 Stade's community couldn't afford a teacher any more). From 1903 on the Jewish community of Stade was granted public subsidies to continue functioning. The Stade Region stayed a Jewish diaspora, and from 1860 on Stade's land-rabbinate was never staffed again, but served alternately by one of the other three Hanoverian land-rabbinates. Labour migration and emigration to urban centres outside
2793-601: 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
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#17327689845402926-559: 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
3059-558: 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
3192-478: 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
3325-430: 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
3458-535: 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
3591-611: 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
3724-565: 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
3857-620: Is located in the lower regions of the river Elbe . It is also on the German Timber-Frame Road . The first human settlers came to the Stade area in 30,000 BC. Swedish and Danish Vikings under Eric the Victorious conquered Stade and looted the town during the 990s. Many prominent Saxons were taken back as slaves by Swedish troops. A majority of Vikings withdrew after taking plenty of plunder. A minor part of
3990-435: 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
4123-597: 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
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4256-401: 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
4389-525: 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
4522-776: 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 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 ),
4655-578: 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
4788-404: Is the seat of the district ( Landkreis ) which bears its name. It is located roughly 45 km (28 mi) to the west of Hamburg and belongs to that city's wider metropolitan region . Within the area of the city are the urban districts of Bützfleth, Hagen, Haddorf and Wiepenkathen, each of which have a council ( Ortsrat ) of their own with some autonomous decision-making rights. Stade
4921-485: 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
5054-689: 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
5187-503: The Ämter ("districts") of Wildeshausen , Burg, Bremervörde, Ottersberg and Thedinghausen The rest was to be annexed by Lüneburg-Celle. Denmark and Brandenburg, on the other hand, argued for an equal distribution of Allied conquests. Denmark demanded Carlsburg and Stade, and thus the control of the Weser and Elbe estuaries, in order to be able exchange them later in return for the deployment of auxiliary troops from Münster and Lüneburg for
5320-639: 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
5453-676: The Archbishopric of Bremen , in the Peace of Westphalia . Two-thirds of the town were razed in the great town fire on 26 May 1659. The town was rebuilt again to the same plan. From 1675 to 1676, in the Swedish-Brandenburg War , Swedish Stade was conquered during a campaign by Denmark-Norway and several states of the Holy Roman Empire and remained in allied hands until the end of that war in 1679. Stade, as
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5586-568: 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
5719-569: The Duchies of Bremen and Verden . Bremen-Verden, a remote outpost of Sweden's Baltic Sea empire, was the third Swedish imperial fief in North Germany granted under the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, alongside Swedish Pomerania and the Barony of Wismar . Following its conquest it remained in allied hands until the end of the war in 1679, but was then fully returned to Sweden in the wake of
5852-537: 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
5985-452: The Elbe river, most notably Dow Chemical and Airbus . Also by the Elbe at Stade is the decommissioned Stade Nuclear Power Plant , which was connected to the power grid from 1972 to 2003. By the time the plant was brought offline, it was Germany's second oldest reactor. Following Germany's 2002 decision to phase out nuclear power generation, Stade was the first German plant to be affected; it
6118-417: 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
6251-455: 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
6384-549: The Hanseatic League , but was later eclipsed by Hamburg . In 1611 the city signed a contract with Sephardic Jews, allowing the foundation of a community. In 1613, Johann Friedrich , Administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric, followed by settling Ashkenazic Jews in the city, but during the turmoil of Catholic conquest and Lutheran reconquest the last archival traces of Jews date from 1630. In 1648, by
6517-746: 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
6650-484: The Kingdom of Hanover granted equal rights to Jews and promoted to build up Jewish congregations and a regional superstructure ( rabbinate ) within a nationwide scope. The Jews in Stade regarded this a progress and a burden alike, because prior they had not employed any rabbi and religion teacher due to the implied financial burden. In 1845 – according to the new law – a land-rabbinate, under Land-Rabbi Joseph Heilbut ,
6783-600: The Lower Saxon Circle , the duke took overall command of the now 12,000 strong Allied army. In the headquarters of Prince-Bishop von Galen in Rotenburg a secret treaty was signed on 14 October, wherein the Prince-Bishop, Duke George William and Duke Rudolph Augustus of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel agreed to provide mutual support to one another in the ensuing campaign. Furthermore, a provisional division of
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#17327689845406916-552: The Mandata Avocatoria , had ordered that all subjects of the Holy Roman Empire had to renounce Swedish service, German mercenaries were deserting the Swedish forces in droves. So, at the beginning of November, Horn had the former Buxtehude commander, Hamelton, publicly executed for surrendering the fortress in Stade prematurely. All German mercenaries in Stade had to publicly reswear their oath of allegiance to
7049-666: 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
7182-581: The Rhine , reconquered Stade for the Prince-Archbishop. In 1215 Henry repelled another Danish attack on Stade. In the winter of 1216 Valdemar II and his Danish troops, unable to take the city of Stade, ravaged the County of Stade . From then on Stade remained a part of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. In medieval times (from the 13th century to the late 17th century), Stade was a prominent member of
7315-593: The River Elbe in order to cut off the seaward supply route to the town of Stade. By contrast, Carlsburg was besieged again in late October, despite the Swedes previous successful defence of the town. In October about 3,000 men of the Principality of Lüneburg under the command of Duke George William of Brunswick-Lüneburg arrived in the theatre of war from the Rhineland . As the appointed circle colonel of
7448-676: 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
7581-422: 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
7714-528: The Treaties of Nijmegen . For the major warring parties of Sweden, Brandenburg and Denmark, this theatre of war in northwest Germany was only of secondary significance. After France had invaded the General States in 1672 as retribution for the outcome of the War of Devolution , an alliance formed up against her. The conflict escalated into the Dutch War . In order to relieve her increasingly stretched forces, therefore, France urged its traditional ally, Sweden, to go to war against her enemies, who, in addition to
7847-407: The Treaty of Westphalia , the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen underwent a constitutional transformation from a prince-bishopric into a monarchy, the Duchy of Bremen . The duchy and the neighboured Principality of Verden , colloquially referred to as Bremen-Verden , were granted by the Treaty of Westphalia as an appanage to the Swedish crown. Stade, already under Swedish occupation since 1645,
7980-400: 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
8113-408: 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
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#17327689845408246-617: The Allies withdrew their troops into winter quarters. The hitherto captured forts remained under Allied occupation, in order to maintain the blockade of Stade. The Brandenburg troops left the theatre of war heading for the Duchy of Cleves and Principality of Minden . The Swedes took advantage of the lull around their garrisoned fortresses to temporarily wrest back the initiative. They repeatedly carried out raids and sent out foraging parties. Individual companies went upriver to Buxtehude, Cranz and Altona , and downriver to Bielenberg and Kollmar , burning and pillaging. Their exploits included
8379-413: The Duchy of Bremen-Verden were numerically weak and distributed across several fortified bases. The bulk of the Swedish army was in Stade , Carlsburg and seven other small fortresses. They would only be able to oppose large scale offensive operations with delaying tactics. The Swedish defence plans were based on siege warfare. The number of the fortified places would force her potential opponents, to fight
8512-476: The Elbe. Among the prisoners, were 15 mercenaries who had originally joined up for Swedish service, but had changed sides after the fall of Bremervörde. They were made an example of: one of the deserters was quartered in Stade as a deterrent , five were hanged and nine were branded . This successful phase for the Swedes came to an end when Carlsburg, which had been besieged since the end of October, capitulated. A lack of ammunition, food and soldiers resulted in
8645-447: The Emperor and for Imperial Service" . As a result of this obligation, the bishop was made to participate in the war against Sweden. On 11/21 September 1675 a treaty of neutrality was signed between the Allies, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, Denmark and Brandenburg on the one hand and John Frederick of Brunswick-Lüneburg on the other. Brunswick-Lüneburg, which hitherto had been on the Swedish side, therefore, agreed to remain neutral in
8778-614: 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
8911-414: 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
9044-417: 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
9177-399: 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
9310-623: 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
9443-547: 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
9576-518: 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
9709-477: The Pomeranian War ( Swedish-Brandenburg War ). This dispute involving conflicting territorial claims escalated to such an extent that it threatened to come to open war between the Allies. The General States endeavoured to mediate between the parties to this situation, so as not to jeopardize the war against France. They therefore sent ambassadors, initially van der Tocht and, later, Amerongen, to Bremen for
9842-467: The Prince-Bishopric of Münster and the Duchy of Lüneburg had agreed in advance to exclude Denmark and Brandenburg from the future division of Bremen-Verden, there were serious arguments amongst the Allies, which affected and endangered the continuation of hostilities against Sweden. For example, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster demanded the former Prince-Bishopric of Verden (later Verden duchy),
9975-582: The Stade Region and Jewish demography rather lead to a reduction of the number of Jews in the Stade Region (786 in 1913, 716 in 1928). However, most of the remaining Jews were deported during the Nazi reign. During World War II, Stade remained completely untouched by allied bombings. In past decades, Stade has economically benefited significantly from the presence of chemical and aerospace industry at
10108-608: The States General, included the House of Habsburg and the Electorate of Brandenburg . At the end of 1674, a Swedish army under the imperial commander, Carl Gustav Wrangel , invaded the Margraviate of Brandenburg which was militarily almost unprotected, while the Brandenburg army under Elector Frederick William I found itself at war with France. In a short summer campaign in 1675, Frederick William succeeded in defeating
10241-454: The Swedes succeeded in defeating the Danes and taking 400 of them prisoner. Of these, 200 were then taken into Swedish service and ordered to reinforce the garrison at Carlsburg. The other prisoners were held ( untergesteckt ) in Stade. The main body of the Swedish troops returned to Stade on 7 October. The naval blockade of Carlsburg was lifted and the seven Brandenburg ships repaired instead to
10374-561: The Swedish and Danish forces stayed but were later defeated by reinforcements sent by the emperor. Since 1180 Stade belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen . In early 1208 King Valdemar II of Denmark and his troops conquered Stade. In August Valdemar II's cousin being in enmity with the king, the then Prince-Archbishop Valdemar reconquered the city only to lose it soon after again to Valdemar II. In 1209 Emperor Otto IV persuaded his ally Valdemar II to withdraw into
10507-467: The Swedish army and pushing it back to Swedish Pomerania . Encouraged by the Brandenburg victory, on 17 July 1675 the imperial ban was imposed on the Swedish king in his capacity as an imperial prince in Pomerania, Mecklenburg and Bremen-Verden. A Reichsexekution was declared by the Holy Roman Empire against Sweden. The Westphalian and Upper Saxon Circles were charged with the enforcement of
10640-403: The Swedish crown. By adopting this brutal approach, Field Marshal Horn was able to discipline his garrison force for the time being and ensure its serious defence. Repeated attacks on the fortress of Stade on 6 and 7 November 1675 were unsuccessful, and the Allies could not agree on continuing the siege of the town because of its stubborn resistance and the onset of winter. Finally, on 9 November,
10773-456: The Swedish governor general of the Duchy, had 5,624 soldiers and 600 militia at his disposal. In the face of the threat, Horn had the town thoroughly prepared for defence. To prevent the desertion of German mercenaries in Stade upon arrival of the Allies, the marshal used material incentives and propaganda. Since Sweden had been declared an enemy of the Empire and Emperor Leopold I , in declaring
10906-616: The area he controlled, and Catholic services were reintroduced in many places. At the end of the war, Bremen-Verden remained in Allied possession. Denmark left 3,000 men as garrison troops in the Duchy of Bremen. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It
11039-466: The ban against the Swedes. A little later came the declaration of war by Denmark on Sweden. In this large-scale war, the Allies, Denmark-Norway and Brandenburg, initially intended to conquer the Swedish possessions in northern Germany, then turn use their full might in the theatres of war in Scania . But with the conquest of Bremen-Verden, located on the southern border of Denmark, Sweden would have secured
11172-661: The city's population. In 1757 following the French Invasion of Hanover , the Army of Observation under Prince William, Duke of Cumberland , and the Privy Council of Hanover (government) took shelter in Stade. Cumberland prepared to defend the town before agreeing the Convention of Klosterzeven which brought about a temporary armistice . By the end of the 17th century Ashkenazi Jews reappeared in Stade. In 1842
11305-423: The command of Lieutenant Colonel Sidon. The Brandenburgers, who were now clearly outnumbered, were informed by scouts of the approaching force. They lifted the siege and embarked on the ships again on 2 October. Due to unfavourable winds, the ships, now loaded with the infantry, found themselves close to the shore as the Swedish reinforcements arrived. Consequently, they were attacked by the Swedes and, after resisting
11438-659: The conquests was negotiated that excluded Denmark and Brandenburg. In the aftermath of this campaign there was considerable disagreement and distrust, as the Protestant federated princes did not want to give the Roman Catholic Prince-Bishop von Galen too much influence in a Protestant Imperial Circle . On 4 November the Allies advanced on Stade , the HQ of the Swedish regional government of Bremen-Verden. The Stade garrison under Field Marshal Henrik Horn ,
11571-457: The destruction or capture of several Danish and Dutch ships on the Elbe. In early January, Colonel Sydau, with about 400 dragoons and 400 infantrymen, led another Swedish expedition to Freiburg/Elbe in Kehdingen against about 500 entrenched Münster soldiers under Lieutenant Colonel Lamsdorff. Following the failure of a frontal assault by the Swedes, Sydau ordered his dragoons to circumvent
11704-535: 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
11837-456: 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
11970-519: 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
12103-493: The end of September, was carried out near Carlshagen by a Brandenburg formation under Admiral Simon de Bolfey , in order to conquer the strategically important Carlsburg Fortress on the Weser. This Swedish fortress had been first constructed in 1672 with the task of controlling the mouth of the Weser. Approaching from the River Elbe, a Brandenburg squadron of seven ships appeared, with a landing force of 534 men; together with
12236-464: The end of September. The Danes participated with 2,500 men under the orders of Count Gustavus Adolphus of Baudissin. The Münster troops under Prince-Bishop von Galen marched from neutral Bremen to the fortress of Langwedel on the Weser, capturing it on 27 and 28 September. With that, the way into the state of the former Prince-Bishopric of Verden was open. Verden upon Aller itself fell into Allied hands on 27 September. Münster forces suddenly invaded
12369-465: The fortress was captured. The threat was based on the fact that they had used their weapons in the service of an outlaw against the Holy Roman Empire. In view of the situation, the Swedish commander had no choice but to surrender the place. The Swedish officers and men were given free passage with all their possessions and weapons, whilst most of the Germans transferred to the Allied side. As the result of
12502-533: The gigantic pylons of Elbe Crossing 1 and Elbe Crossing 2 ; the Elbe Crossing 2 pylons are the tallest in Europe and the sixth-tallest in the world. In late 2007, line S3 of the S-Bahn Hamburg was extended to Stade. Trains depart Stade station every 20 minutes (at peak times), arriving at Hamburg central station in roughly one hour. Firms with notable locations in the area include: Stade
12635-597: The headquarters of the Swedish Stadhalter, was besieged from early April 1676 to 13 Aug 1676. In the wake of the Treaty of Saint Germain in 1679, Stade was once again awarded to Sweden. The Elbe customs station near Stade, in Brunshausen at the mouth of the Schwinge, played special role in trading on the River Elbe from the period of the archbishopric. In 1663, the Swedes stationed an Elbe customs frigate as
12768-435: 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,
12901-481: 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
13034-575: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Stade Stade ( German pronunciation: [ˈʃtaːdə] ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade ( German : Hansestadt Stade , Low German : Hansestadt Stood ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany . First mentioned in records in 934, it
13167-504: The light of the favourable progress being made in the war against Sweden in Swedish Pomerania. Nevertheless, the Elector secured Denmark's support in a secret agreement in early 1677 that Brandenburg should get "at least one fifth of territory to be divided in Bremen-Verden." The ongoing dispute over the distribution of Bremen-Verden amongst the allies delayed the onset of the siege of Stade until spring 1676. The Allies agreed
13300-413: The morning of 13 October, setting fire to over 60 houses. On 14 October a total of 100 mortar bombs and 60 artillery shells were fired into the town from howitzers and mortars , again wreaking much damage, but without causing a single fatality. On 15 October, fire was lifted in order for the trenches necessary for an assault on the town to be prepared and in order to launch an all-out attack. Because
13433-402: 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
13566-646: The negotiations. The statthalter ("governor") of the Netherlands, William III of Orange , proposed that all fortresses in Bremen-Verden should be slighted, to negotiate the final apportionment of territory at the peace congress in Nijmegen and to transfer provisional administration of both duchies to Lüneburg-Celle and Münster. Brandenburg and Denmark were expressly entitled to retain their rights to territorial interests in Bremen-Verden if, contrary to expectations, they did not achieve "compensation" in Swedish Pomerania and Scania . Although Brandenburg's envoy wanted to reach
13699-653: 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
13832-425: The north of the Elbe, and the deposed Prince-Archbishop Valdemar took Stade. On 2 May 1209 Otto IV granted important town privileges ( Stadtrecht ) to Stade. Otto IV confirmed the burghers to be personally free and recognised them constituting a political entity of their own law, the burgenses and optimi cives of Stade. Property within the municipal boundaries could not be subjected to feudal overlordship and
13965-507: The position and attack the rear of the Danish position. After the dragoons had taken their assault position in the village as per their orders, a Swedish attack was launched on the earthworks from all sides. The Münster troops sustained heavy losses, gave up the position and fled. Pursued by Swedish cavalry , 260 were captured. By contrast, the Swedes lost just 50 men in the Battle of Freiburg on
14098-462: 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
14231-430: The resupply of Stade from the sea was no longer possible. When three Swedish warships, held up by unfavourable winds, and six other transport ships loaded with supplies, reached the mouth of the Schwinge, they were shelled by Allied batteries stationed on the banks of the Schwinge estuary. The Swedish fleet had to withdraw from Stade and, after a few raids into the area around the Elbe, they left. Cut off from all resupply,
14364-439: The same day the landing force pulled back from its positions in front of the fortress, in the course of which 30 Brandenburg soldiers switched sides to join the Swedes. Encouraged by the statements of these deserters , on 1 October the Swedes launched an attack with 200 men, but had to withdraw with losses after a brief fight. In order to relieve Carlsburg Fortress, 13 squadrons of cavalry were dispatched there from Stade under
14497-524: The same time, the besiegers began to build earthworks . Stade had access to the sea by virtue of its location at the mouth of the Schwinge , a tributary of the Elbe. Part of the Swedish fortifications also included a fieldwork that guarded the mouth of the Schwinge in Stadersand. Under its protection, several Swedish ships were able to reach the town, providing much needed supplies during the course of
14630-556: The shelling had already resulted in heavy damage, the Buxtehude commandant, Hamelton, was forced to surrender the town having been implored by its citizens and his German mercenaries who had learned of the pronouncement of the Imperial Ban on Sweden. The garrison was permitted to withdraw to Stade taking its belongings and side arms. On 16 October the Allies entered the town, 24 cannon and their munitions falling into their hands as
14763-453: The ships' complements , the whole force comprised about 800–900 men. On 28 September, the troops were landed near Lehe , north of Carlsburg. Because the Swedish commander of Carlsburg, which was relatively strongly defended by about 800 soldiers, refused to surrender, the Brandenburg admiral, de Bolfey, had his troops erect earthworks in front of the town and, on 30 September, opened fire with several salvoes from his ships' guns. However, on
14896-414: The siege. So to prevent access to Stade from the sea and thus tighten the stranglehold of the siege, the Allies decided to seize the Schwinge fieldwork. To this end, they called for artillery from Glückstadt and also brought in two 18-gun Lüneburg ships into the mouth of the Schwinge. All Swedish attempts to disrupt the preparations were repulsed. The Allies drew closer and closer to the hill and established
15029-467: The situation in the fortress of Stade deteriorated considerably. An outbreak of shigellosis reduced the strength of the garrison to around 3,000 soldiers. With the deterioration in the material situation, moral amongst the besieged fell. Twice there were mutinies amongst the Swedish soldiers which could only be put down with the use of repressive measures. The desertion of German mercenaries now grew to such an extent that active defence with patrols and raids
15162-802: The southwest of the Swedish territory when, according to the reports of the Theatrum Europaeum , about 10,000 men – according to other records 4,000 men – of the Prince-Bishop of Münster passed through Haselünne and invaded the Swedish Amt of Wildeshausen. They continued their advance to the River Weser unimpeded. On 25 September at Bremen , Münster's artillery fired across the Weser. A Brandenburg force of 1,600 infantry and 700 cavalry under Major General Freiherr von Spaen , coming from Westphalian territory, also arrived in Bremen at
15295-546: 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,
15428-482: The surrender of the fortress on 22 January by its commander, the Frenchman, Colonel Jean Mell, to the united Münster, Danish and Lüneburg siege troops. The Swedish garrison, still about 380 strong (of which 200 were unfit to fight), were given free passage. At the surrender of the fortress 80 cannon fell into the hands of the Allies. In accordance with the treaty a mixed Münster and Lüneburg garrison took over. Because
15561-552: The terms on 28 April and 8 May in Bremervörde. This envisaged the attack on the last Swedish possession to be carried out with 16,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. The conquered fortress was to be filled equally by troops from Denmark, Brandenburg, Lüneburg-Celle and Munster. In early April the Lüneburg commander, Lieutenant General Chauvet, implemented measures to blockade the town. As a consequence, there were almost daily skirmishes and Swedish raids with varying degrees of success. At
15694-500: 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
15827-406: The town and established themselves at one of the town gates. After Verden the town of Rotenburg was conquered, falling after some resistance. From there the marching column pressed on immediately towards Ottersberg , which was taken on 3 October 1675 by the now seasoned troops of the Prince-Bishop of Münster. The roughly 140 man Swedish garrison were taken prisoner. The Allied army then marched in
15960-508: The upcoming fight against Sweden. That treaty between the four allies was signed primarily because it was in the political interests of the imperial princes involved, rather than in discharge of their obligation to defend the circle or empire . Thus the execution of the imperial ban was carried out by the respective territorial armies, while the circle troops took no significant part in the fighting. Autumn 1675 campaign Spring 1676 campaign The campaign began on 15 September 1675 in
16093-443: The water through two channels to the Elbe. As the supply situation in the town became ever more critical, the Stade citizens and the garrison's governor general, Horn, were forced to negotiate with their besiegers. The negotiations began on 13/23 July. However, they were delayed at the behest of population who, despite the tougher conditions preferred to be garrisoned by Protestant Lüneburg troops rather than Catholic Munster forces. As
16226-555: 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
16359-600: 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
16492-429: 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
16625-501: Was a part of the Swedish province of Bremen-Verden-Wildeshausen from 1645 to 1712, and some of the buildings built by the Swedes are still in use today. Stade's heyday lasted until the Thirty Years' War . In 1628 Tilly conquered the town; shortly thereafter, Sweden took possession of it until 1636. After a period of Danish occupation, Sweden finally recaptured it in 1643 and was also officially granted possession of it, together with
16758-547: 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
16891-743: Was closed down permanently on 14 November 2003. Close to the former nuclear plant there is an inactive oil-fired power station, the Schilling Power Station . The Old Town of Stade is home to a variety of notable historic buildings; among the most notable are the St. Cosmae et Damiani Lutheran Church , the Wilhadi Lutheran Church, the city hall, the Schwedenspeicher and the Zeughaus . Located near to Stade are
17024-409: Was established in the city, serving 16 Jewish congregations, which were founded over the years in the whole Stade Region, with altogether 1,250 Jews in 1864 (highest number ever reached). The local authorities now requested, that the Jewish congregations establish synagogues and Jewish education for the pupils. In 1849 Stade's synagogue opened, but had to close due to financial restrictions in 1908. And
17157-492: 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
17290-425: Was no longer possible. In June, the earthworks on the Allied side were so far advanced that they reached the town moats. However, the town was not shelled, because they intended to starve its citizens and not storm it in order to protect their own forces. Countermeasures by the Swedish garrison consisted of flooding the surrounding area by opening the locks on the river. However, their besiegers succeeded in draining
17423-512: Was now in Allied hands. Following the conquest of Stade, 3,000 Lüneburg troops under the command of Major General von Ende were sent to Swedish Pomerania to support the local Brandenburg troops. The rest went at the end of September, with some Münster troops, to fight the French at Wetzlar on the River Lahn. During the occupation of Stade, Prince-Bishop von Galen led a re-Catholicization of
17556-489: Was the capital of the province. In 1712 Denmark-Norway conquered Stade and the whole of Bremen-Verden. Stade remained Bremen-Verden's capital also after the Danes ceded it to the Electorate of Hanover in 1715. When in 1823 Bremen-Verden was replaced by new administrative forms, Stade continued to be the capital of the Stade region . In 1355 and in 1712, Stade suffered from the plague epidemic, which killed at least 30–40% of
17689-476: Was to be freely inherited without feudal claims to reversion. Fair juridical procedures were constituted and maximal fines fixed. Otto IV obliged himself to prevent burghers from being taken as hostages and to liberate captured burghers. After Otto IV had changed his mind and reinvested Prince-Archbishop Valdemar with the See in 1211, Valdemar II recaptured Stade. In 1213 Otto's elder brother Count Palatine Henry V of
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