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101-683: It is located about three kilometers east of Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais . The Gornergrat is located between the Gornergletscher and Findelgletscher and offers panoramic views of 29 mountains above 4,000 m (13,123 ft), whose highest are Dufourspitze (in the large Monte Rosa massif), Liskamm , Matterhorn , Dom and Weisshorn . This is the last stop of the Gornergrat train , opened in 1898, which climbs almost 1,500 m (4,900 ft) through Riffelalp and Riffelberg . At

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

404-538: A subarctic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dfc ). Summertime is cool in Zermatt, with mild days and cool nights, while winter is cold and snowy, with highs around freezing and annual snowfall averaging 128 inches (325 cm). The village was "discovered" by mid-nineteenth-century British mountaineers, most notably Edward Whymper , whose summit of the Matterhorn made the village famous. The Matterhorn

505-612: 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

606-560: A distance of around 180 km from Zermatt, and Milan Linate ( LIN ), almost 255 km away. Zermatt is known throughout the world for its skiing, especially Triftji for its moguls. The high altitude results in consistent skiing continuously throughout the summer. Skiing in Zermatt is split up into four areas: Sunnegga, Gornergrat, Klein Matterhorn and Schwarzsee. There is also a connection to Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy through

707-559: 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

808-458: 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

909-478: A permit which allows residents to drive and park at the northern outskirts and for the permission to bring combustion-engine vehicles in to the town such as construction vehicles. Emergency and municipal vehicles, (fire trucks, ambulances, police etc.) generally use combustion engines, although even some of these are non-combustion (garbage trucks, etc.). Passenger vehicles operating within Zermatt include small electric shuttles provided by hotels to carry visitors from

1010-696: 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

1111-411: A rate of 0.54%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2013, was 9.5 while the death rate was 4.9 per thousand residents. Most of the population (as of 2000 ) speaks German (4,093 or 68.4%) as their first language, Portuguese is the second most common (719 or 12.0%) and Italian is the third (474 or 7.9%). There are 226 people who speak French and 1 person who speaks Romansh . As of 2008 ,

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1212-483: 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

1313-685: A small alpine museum. Zermatt is marketed as an all-year skiing resort, with summer skiing limited to the Theodul Glacier behind the Klein Matterhorn. Whilst strictly true, during the off season in May and June there will tend to be only one or two runs open, and the main glacier area does not open until July. In operation since 25 October 2003, the Furggsattel six-seater chairlift has twelve (of eighteen) masts that stand directly on

1414-432: A total of 2,167 apartments (52.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,890 apartments (45.4%) were seasonally occupied and 103 apartments (2.5%) were empty. Of the 977 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 22.8% were single family homes and 45.5% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 10.8% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 14.4% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2012

1515-717: 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

1616-641: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zermatt Zermatt ( German: [tsɛʁˈmat] , Swiss Standard German: [tsɛrˈmat] ) is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German -speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland . It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). It lies at

1717-601: 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

1818-621: Is access to Schwarzsee via a gondola to the right, a cable car that leads on to the Trockener Steg midstation (and then on to the Klein Matterhorn ); and a new gondola, opened on 18 December 2006, links Furi to Riffelberg on the Gornergrat mountain. This lift addresses one of the most persistent criticisms of Zermatt: that it is very difficult to ski the two sides of the valley without a tiresome trek through Zermatt between

1919-526: Is accessed via the SunneggaExpress funicular railway , followed by a gondola to Blauherd and finally a cable car onwards to the Rothorn (3,103 m) above. The topography of the mountain and the valley tends to keep the Rothorn clear and sunny, even when Zermatt is submerged in cloud. From Blauherd there is a gondola down to Gant, and from there a connecting cablecar goes to Hohtälli. This cable car and

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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2222-478: 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

2626-473: Is geographically small. There are three main streets which run along the banks of the Matter Vispa, and numerous cross-streets, especially around the station and the church which forms the centre of Zermatt. In general anything is at most a thirty-minute walk away. There are several "suburbs" within Zermatt. Winkelmatten/Moos, which was once a separate hamlet, lies on a hill (1,670 m [5,480 ft]) on

2727-565: 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

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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3232-578: 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

3333-433: 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

3434-689: 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

3535-639: 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

3636-537: 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

3737-417: 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

3838-522: 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

3939-751: The Gornergrat at 3,089 m (10,135 ft). Zermatt is also the western terminus for the Glacier Express rail service connecting to St. Moritz and the MGB ( Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn ). Together with eleven other towns Zermatt is a member of the community Best of the Alps . To prevent air pollution that could obscure the town's view of the Matterhorn, the entire town is a combustion-engine car-free zone. Almost all vehicles in Zermatt are battery driven and almost completely silent. Electric vehicles are allowed for local commerce. The Cantonal police can issue

4040-746: 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

4141-666: 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

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4242-555: The Plateau Rosa glacier. In 2008, Zermatt hosted an "Infinity Downhill Race". The race took place on 13 and 14 December and comprised a course descending from the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (3,800 m (12,500 ft)) and finished in Zermatt itself (1,600 m (5,200 ft)). The course was 20 kilometres (12 miles) long and featured a 2,200 metres (7,218 feet) descent. The Sunnegga Paradise

4343-676: 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

4444-550: 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

4545-513: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and   Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German

4646-512: The main train station (or the taxi transfer point just outside town) to the hotel properties, "electro" taxis operated by four major Zermatt families, and "electro" buses, which serve two routes: one between the major hotel areas and the stations of the various ski-lifts, and the other following a similar route but also serving the more rural "suburb" of Winkelmatten . Horse-drawn carriages can also be found; some are operated by hotels and others are available for hire. Most visitors reach Zermatt by

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

4848-441: The tertiary sector provided 5,807 jobs in 736 businesses. In 2013 a total of 13.7% of the population received social assistance. In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 4,261. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 20, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 538 of which 83 or (15.4%) were in manufacturing and 385 (71.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in

4949-444: The 2004/09 survey) of 242.91 km (93.79 sq mi). Of this area, about 9.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 85.2% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by 54 ha (130 acres) and the agricultural land has decreased by 160 ha (400 acres). Zermatt has

5050-638: The Alpine four-thousanders are located around Zermatt or in the neighbouring valleys. Zermatt is traversed by the main river of the valley: the Matter Vispa , which rises at the glaciers at the feet of the highest peaks: the Gorner Glacier on the east side near Monte Rosa and the Zmutt Glacier on the west side between Dent d'Hérens and Dent Blanche . The town of Zermatt, while dense,

5151-723: 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

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5252-748: 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

5353-536: 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

5454-451: 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

5555-681: 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

5656-543: The Gorner Ridge, nearby the Rotenboden railway station is the peak Riffelhorn (2,928 m (9,606 ft)). The observatory at the summit of Gornergrat was built on top of the Kulmhotel Gornergrat in the late 1960' and is most notably equipped with a 600 mm telescope built by Officina Stellare . It was the location of the Gornergrat Infrared Telescope (North tower; until 2005) and of KOSMA (South tower; until 2010). [REDACTED] Media related to Gornergrat at Wikimedia Commons This Valais location article

5757-496: The Gornergratbahn and the Matterhorn Express at opposite ends of the town. Testa Grigia at the top of the Theodul Pass serves as a connection to the Italian ski-resorts of Cervinia and Valtournenche. From the Swiss side it is reachable by skilift only, but from the Italian side by a chairlift and by a cablecar. In March 2019 it was announced that a new lift – the 'Alpine Crossing' – will connect Testa Grigia and Klein Matterhorn from spring 2021. There are customs offices here as well as

5858-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are

5959-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

6060-408: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c.  thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c.  1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy

6161-478: The Matterhorn. The viewing area will be widened to keep tourists off the road and away from electric vehicles. The project should be complete by autumn 2019. The nearest airports that international air travellers to Zermatt can avail of from Switzerland are Sion Airport ( SIR ), which is 85 km away from the resort, Zurich Airport ( ZRH ), around 250 km away, and Geneva Airport ( GVA ), also 250 km away. Other nearby airports in Italy include Milan Malpensa ( MXP ), with

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6262-430: 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

6363-404: 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

6464-435: 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

6565-453: The federal election, a total of 1,326 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.0%. In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 1,009 votes were cast, of which 66 or about 6.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 34.4%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 1,289 votes were cast, of which 105 or about 8.1% were invalid. The voter participation

6666-404: The form of Praborne , or Praborgne . The reason of this change from Praborno to Zermatt is attributed to the gradual replacement of the Romance -speaking people by German-speaking colony. The town of Zermatt lies at the southern end of the Matter Valley (German: Mattertal ), which is one of the lateral branches of the grand Valley of the Rhône . Zermatt is almost completely surrounded by

6767-431: The glacial ice of the Theodul Glacier – a first for Switzerland. The new CHF52 million 3S Glacier Ride Cable Car from the resort to Klein Matterhorn was opened on 29 September 2018. It has an uplift capacity of 2000 people per hour and takes just 9 minutes to reach the top using 25 cabins, each with 28 seats. The Zermatt Bergbahnen's website mentions a few projects for the following years: As well as several changes to

6868-418: The hamlet of Zmutt (1,936 m [6,352 ft]), north of the creek Zmuttbach. Findeln (2,051 m [6,729 ft]) is located in the eastern valley above the creek Findelbach. It lies below the Sunnegga station (2,278 m [7,474 ft]). Located near a train station of the Gornergratbahn , Riffelalp (2,222 m [7,290 ft]) is one of the highest hamlets with a chapel. Zermatt had an area, (as of

6969-407: The high mountains of the Pennine Alps including Monte Rosa (specifically its tallest peak, named Dufourspitze ), Switzerland's highest peak at 4,634 metres (15,203 ft) above sea level . It is followed by the Dom (4,545 m [14,911 ft]), Liskamm (4,527 m [14,852 ft]), Weisshorn (4,505 m [14,780 ft]) and the Matterhorn (4,478 m [14,692 ft]). Most of

7070-435: 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,

7171-417: 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

7272-426: The jobs in town in hotels or restaurants and just under half of all apartments are vacation apartments. Just over one-third of the permanent population was born in the town, while another third moved to Zermatt from outside Switzerland. The name of Zermatt , as well as that of the Matterhorn itself, derives from the alpine meadows, or matten (in German ), in the valley. The name appeared first as Zur Matte ("at

7373-516: The local transportation network (as the "electro" buses do not have enough capacity). The results of this study are published in the December 2007 edition of Zermatt Inside . The six options explored are a coaster, a funicular, a metro, moving sidewalks, a gondola and more "electro" buses. In 2019 work started to improve access on the Kirchbrücke – one of the most popular places to photograph

7474-568: The meadow") and became later Zermatt. It does not appear until 1495 on a map or 1546 in a text, but may have been employed long before. Praborno or Prato Borno ( Prato also means meadow) are the older names of Zermatt; they appear in the ancient maps as early as the thirteenth century. The Romand -speaking people from the Aosta Valley and from the Romand-speaking part of canton Wallis (Valais) used this name until about 1860 in

7575-402: 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

7676-407: The newer 4-seat chairlift Sunnegga-Findeln-Breitboden provide connections between Sunnegga and Gornergrat. With few steep slopes, this mountain is often used to train younger skiers. The Gornergrat is served by the Gornergrat railway , a 29-minute ride to the Gornergrat peak (3,089 m), via Riffelalp, Rotenboden and Riffelberg, (with limited stops at Findelbach and Landtunnel just above Zermatt). At

7777-653: 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

7878-633: The population was 51.6% male and 48.4% female. The population was made up of 1,840 Swiss men (31.6% of the population) and 1,166 (20.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,837 Swiss women (31.5%) and 985 (16.9%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 2,214 or about 37.0% were born in Zermatt and lived there in 2000. There were 720 or 12.0% who were born in the same canton, while 774 or 12.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,039 or 34.1% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2013 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.5% of

7979-529: The population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 69.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.0%. As of 2000 , there were 2,763 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,830 married individuals, 207 widows or widowers and 188 individuals who are divorced. As of 2000 , there were 2,441 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 921 households that consist of only one person and 128 households with five or more people. In 2000 ,

8080-462: 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

8181-423: The rack-assisted railway train from the nearby town of Täsch (Zermatt shuttle). Trains also depart for Zermatt from farther down the valley at Visp and Brig , which are on the main Swiss rail network. The town also has a heliport ( ICAO : LSEZ) and a local helicopter operator, Air Zermatt , which also provides alpine rescue services. In 2007, a project group was formed to evaluate options for development of

8282-458: The rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 13.65. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2014 , was 0.28%. The historical population is given in the following chart: The petroglyphs and prehistoric grinding stone at Hubelwäng is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance . In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the CVP with 43.7% of

8383-477: The season in late February or early March – cablecar is now permanently closed, with no replacement lift planned. A new slope leading back from Hohtälli to Kellensee just under the Gornergrat replaced this lift to maintain the link from the Rothorn to Gornergrat. Near the southern end of Zermatt, the Matterhorn Express gondola transports passengers up to the interchange station at Furi. From here there

8484-420: The slopes, and the placement of new snowmaking installations. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a lion rampant Or langued of the first on a trimount Vert between two mullets of five Argent in chief. Zermatt has a population (as of December 2020 ) of 5,820. As of 2013 , 39.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years (2010-2013) the population has changed at

8585-476: The southern side. Steinmatten is located on the eastern bank of the main river. Many hamlets are located in the valleys above Zermatt, however they are not usually inhabited all year round. Zum See (1,766 m [5,794 ft]) lies south of Zermatt on the west bank of the Gorner gorge, near Furi where a cable car station is located (1,867 m [6,125 ft]). On the side of Zmutt valley (west of Zermatt) lies

8686-546: 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,

8787-478: The summit, the hotel and restaurant have been refurbished and accommodate a shopping centre. Riffelalp station is linked to Riffelalp Resort by a short tramway line named Riffelalptram . A cable car heads up from Hohtälli to the Rote Nase (3,247 m). This final lift serves a freeride area but can be unreliable as this mountainside requires good snow cover to be skiable. The lifts in this area generally open for

8888-512: The terminus on the south-western tip of the ridge is a hotel. The station forms part of the Zermatt ski area. From 1958 to 2007 there was a cable car from Gornergrat over the Hohtälli (3,275 m (10,745 ft)) to the Stockhorn (3,405 m (11,171 ft)) which, until the construction of the Klein Matterhorn cable car, was the highest mountain station in Zermatt. At the west side of

8989-566: The tertiary sector was 3,703. In the tertiary sector, 531 or 14.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 477 or 12.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 2,178 or 58.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 38 or 1.0% were in the information industry, 54 or 1.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 116 or 3.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 56 or 1.5% were in education and 87 or 2.3% were in health care. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

9090-500: 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

9191-546: The upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), at the foot of Switzerland's highest peaks. It lies about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the over 3,292 m (10,801 ft) high Theodul Pass bordering Italy . Zermatt is the southernmost commune of the German Sprachraum . Zermatt is famed as a mountaineering and ski resort of the Swiss Alps . Until the mid-19th century, it

9292-553: The vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (33.3%), the FDP (14.1%) and the SP (4.1%). In the federal election, a total of 1378 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 48.1%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 68.98% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (19.61%), the SP (6.3%) and the FDP (3.51%). In

9393-577: The winter and hikers in the summer; the highest of them leads to the Klein Matterhorn at 3,883 m (12,740 ft), a peak on the ridge between Breithorn and Matterhorn that offers extensive views in all directions. It is possible to cross into Italy via the Cervinia cable car station. A rack railway line (the Gornergratbahn , the highest open-air railway in Europe) runs up to the summit of

9494-555: 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

9595-600: 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

9696-400: Was 45.4%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%. About half of the jobs in Zermatt are in the hotel and restaurant industry. As of  2012 , there were a total of 6,370 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 42 people worked in 19 businesses in the primary economic sector . The secondary sector employed 521 workers in 68 separate businesses. Finally,

9797-429: 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

9898-547: 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

9999-492: 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

10100-674: Was one of the last alpine mountains to be summitted (in 1865), and the first expedition that reached the top ended dramatically with only 3 of the 7 climbers surviving the descent. The story is related in the Matterhorn Museum . Zermatt is a starting point for hikes into the mountains, including the Haute Route that leads to Chamonix in France and the Patrouille des Glaciers . Cable cars and chair lifts carry skiers in

10201-428: Was predominantly an agricultural community; the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 was followed by a rush on the mountains surrounding the village, leading to the construction of many tourist facilities. The year-round population (as of December 2020 ) is 5,820, though there may be several times as many tourists in Zermatt at any one time. Much of the local economy is based on tourism, with about half of

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