117-475: The Cuckoo Railway ( German : Kuckucksbähnel , literally "Little Cuckoo Railway"), in its early days the Elmstein Valley Railway ( Elmsteiner Talbahn ), is a 12.97 kilometre long branch line in the central Palatine Forest , which runs through the region of Neustadt / Kaiserslautern from Lambrecht to Elmstein . It was built primarily to support the local forestry industry. In 1902
234-465: 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
351-402: 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
468-612: 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
585-559: 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
702-820: A heritage railway. After leaving Lambrecht station the railway line uses the southern track of the Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway before branching off to the southwest into the Elmstein Valley after about a kilometer. Immediately afterwards it passes over the B 39 federal highway on an overbridge. It passes the old Lambrecht Goods Station and the village of Frankeneck and then follows the Speyerbach stream, crossing it five times as it snakes back and forth repeatedly. After that it only passes through very small settlements like Sattelmühle, Erfenstein and Breitenstein as well as running past several castles such as
819-469: A length of just under seven route kilometres the trains run along the double-tracked, electrified Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway . At Lambrecht station the trains of the Cuckoo Line always depart from platform 1. From April to October two pairs of trains work the line on Sundays and holidays. The first train of the day leaves between 10 and 11 a.m. from Neustadt, where the final service of
936-410: A locomotive from one end of a train to the other. They are important for efficiency on single track lines, and add to the capacity of other lines. A private siding does not belong to a railway, but to a factory, government department, etc. connected to it. Some larger private sidings have their own locomotive belonging to the owner of the siding. In Australia private sidings must be registered with
1053-458: 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
1170-740: A petition to the Palatine Railways , which aimed at the establishment of a halt and loading point, exclusively for goods traffic, between the stations of Weidenthal and Lambrecht. This was to be built in Frankeneck immediately next to the confluence of the Hochspeyerbach and the Speyerbach. The hope was that, using this planned operating point on the Palatine Ludwig Railway , would save on transportation costs. These efforts were initially unsuccessful. However, at
1287-696: 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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#17328008867501404-483: 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
1521-719: A running line are commonly known as loops ; those not so connected may be referred to as single-ended or dead-end sidings , or (if short) stubs . Sidings may be used for marshalling (classifying), stabling , storing, loading, and unloading rail vehicles. Common sidings store stationary rolling stock , especially for loading and unloading. Industrial sidings (also known as spurs ) go to factories , mines , quarries , wharves , warehouses , some of them are essentially links to industrial railways . Such sidings can sometimes be found at stations for public use; in American usage these are referred to as team tracks (after
1638-504: A spectator. The locomotive escaped with only a few scratches; the shed, however, suffered more serious damage that had to be repaired. As a replacement, a train from Lambrecht arrived at the end of the section at 8.15 am; around 10 am the first train finally left Elmstein for Lambrecht. The operator was initially the Bavarian State Railways who, since 1 January, had taken over the whole Palatine railway network; so that
1755-425: A team track on railroad-owned property adjacent to the railroad agent's train station . As rail traffic became more established, large-volume shippers extended privately owned spur tracks into mines , factories , and warehouses . Small-volume shippers and shippers with facilities distant from the rail line continued using team tracks into the early part of the 20th century. Throughout the mid to latter portion of
1872-540: A transport link parallel to the Ludwig Railway between Neustadt and Lambrecht. The Bavarian government had received a draft law on 5 April 1892 concerning the construction of branch lines in the Palatinate . This was intended to assign interest rate guarantees to certain routes based on the model given. During this time, the establishment of a branch line from Lambrecht to Elmstein was also discussed, for which
1989-717: 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
2106-601: 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
2223-437: Is also in the borough of Lambrecht not far from the northeastern edge of the village of Frankeneck . During Bavarian State Railway times it was classified as Type 2 station, which meant that it handled "passenger, luggage and express goods". Because space at Lambrecht station was restricted and at the limits of its capacity, this station acted for decades as the "Lambrecht Goods Yard" ( Güterbahnhof Lambrecht ). Several years after
2340-612: 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
2457-558: 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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#17328008867502574-478: 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
2691-430: 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
2808-535: 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
2925-611: 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
3042-565: 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
3159-435: 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
3276-597: 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
3393-401: 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
3510-525: 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
3627-578: 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
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3744-428: Is the passing siding (U.S. and international ) or passing loop (U.K.). This is a section of track parallel to a through line and connected to it at both ends by switches (U.S.) (points in international usage). Passing sidings allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass, and for fast, high priority trains to pass slower or lower priority trains going the same direction. Passing sidings are also used to switch
3861-485: 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
3978-689: 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
4095-545: The Acher Valley Railway . They haul various historic wagons through the Elmstein Valley. In addition, a diesel locomotive is available: a Class V 36 with running number 127, that was built in 1941. The station was opened on 25 August 1849 when the gap in the Palatine Ludwig Railway between Frankenstein and Neustadt was closed. The completion of this section overcame the complicated topography of
4212-639: 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
4329-537: 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
4446-417: 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
4563-522: 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
4680-746: 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
4797-616: The Julius Glatz GmbH paper fabric from the direction of Lambrecht. Entsprechende Gleisreste befinden sich im Firmengelände. Five years later the factory was given a new siding, this time from the direction of Elmstein. A lorry with additional wheelsets for rails is available for the loading of goods. The trains of the Cuckoo Railway generally start at platform 5 of the central station in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Over
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4914-666: 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
5031-526: The Rhine . The key resource of the Speyerbach source region has always been its wood. For centuries, cut or split logs were transported by timber rafting down the river, i.e. propelled by the current, and were sold in the almost treeless Anterior Palatinate . As early as March 1874 entrepreneurs from the villages of Frankeneck and Neidenfels complained that transporting goods to Lambrecht station by road would be very expensive. For this reason, they launched
5148-676: 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
5265-550: 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
5382-513: 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
5499-530: The diesel locomotive , V 36 127 , due to restrictions placed by the Bundesbahn . Since then the line has been mainly used by holidaymakers and day trippers. As a result of the large numbers of customers, trains also had to be lengthened. In the years that followed, special trains were often run, for example, the Glass Train visited twice. In June 2004 the Cuckoo Line celebrated its 20th anniversary as
5616-469: 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
5733-453: The "Little Cuckoo Line Operating Company" ( Kuckucksbähnel-Betriebs-GmbH ) or KKB, which was initially owned by the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße , the collective municipality of Lambrecht, three clubs from the region and several private individuals. Finally, on 2 June 1984, the museum line was opened. The inaugural train departed at 9.45 am from Neustadt Central Station and carried 350 passengers. It had to be hauled to Lambrecht by
5850-745: The 20th century, improved highway systems and abandonment of low-volume rail lines made full-distance truck shipments more practical in North America and avoided delays and damage associated with freight handling during transfer operations. However, as a result of higher fuel costs, greater traffic jams on Interstate Highways, and the growing movement towards sustainable development, there has been recent upward trend towards moving long-distance freight traffic off highways and onto rail lines. This has resulted in local communities and rail lines seeking construction of new team track and intermodal facilities. Some railroads publish detailed specifications for
5967-605: The Cuckoo Line are maintained for the KKB in the railway museum in Neustadt by the German Railway History Company (DGEG). This railway museum is housed in the historic engine shed at Neustadt's central station. The locomotives working the heritage line are the tender engine, Speyerbach , a three-axled former industrial engine dating to 1904, and number 89 7159, a Prussian locomotive of Class T 3 dating to 1910. The latter had previously been deployed on
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#17328008867506084-723: 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
6201-748: 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
6318-536: 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
6435-451: 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
6552-681: 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
6669-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
6786-865: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
6903-408: 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
7020-448: The MP, Andreas Deinhard , used his influence in the Chamber of Representatives. With the gradual demise of timber rafting at the end of the 19th century, the main source of livelihood in the Elmstein Valley was threatened and the population was forced to find other sources of income. Those affected saw the solution to the problem as a railway link that would act as a replacement for the transportation of wood using timber rafts. In addition
7137-437: The Neustadt valley which had hitherto stood in the way. Lambrecht was one of two intermediate stations along this stretch of line. Its original station building was designed in a style that was common for stations in the Palatinate especially in the second half of the 19th century. It was destroyed in the Second World War. The current station building was built in 1957. Since 12 March 1964 the station has also been electrified. It
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#17328008867507254-447: The Palatine Forest Railway Committee ( Pfälzer Waldbahn-Komitee ) took place. Because the line affected various parishes whose villages were some way from the direct route - for example, Hambach , Kirrweiler and Lachen – determining the course of the trackbed proved very difficult. The villages of Elmstein and Kirrweiler were prepared to offer the necessary land for the railway without being paid. In addition, Elmstein strove to increase
7371-452: The Sattelmühle Goods Loading Yard ( Güterverladestelle Sattelmühle ) was the transshipment point for goods from the Elmstein Valley. In the last years of goods services operating between Frankeneck and Elmstein, freight was only moved on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The last scheduled DB goods train was on 30 June 1976. It hauled two empty wagons and one laden with timber. Officially goods traffic on this section of line, which by this stage
7488-416: The administration of the Palatine Railways came to the conclusion that the road network was satisfactory and the distance to the existing stops on the Ludwig Railway was too short to justify an additional connection. The forest authorities also criticized the proposal for a tram line because it would have made an additional transhipment of wood necessary. The Bavarian government considered it pointless to create
7605-434: The closure of the line, it was redesignated as "Frankeneck Yard of Lambrecht (Pfalz) Station" ( Bahnhofsteil Frankeneck des Bf Lambrecht (Pfalz) ). With the regular opening of the railway the station was given a station building as it was the only intermediate station along the route. Because it had a rather low importance it was correspondingly small. In the mid-1970s it was dismantled and rebuilt 200 metres away, not far from
7722-405: The company of Vering & Waechter was awarded the contract. Planning was completed by January 1897. Initially an industrial siding was laid from Lambrecht station, which ran via Frankeneck to the hamlet of Sattelmühle. It was opened in 1902 and served both to transport wood from the Palatine Forest as well as to serve the timber yard in Frankeneck. At the same time it formed the first stage of
7839-427: The contributions from Esthal , Hambach and Lachen. During the course of the negotiations, it turned out that a sum of money in the five-figure range would be needed. Elmstein wanted a grant of 35,000 marks towards land acquisition costs, but because of the opposition of the royal treasury, they were only awarded 30,000 marks. In addition, individuals such as Albert Biirklin and Count D'Arlon gave both money and land for
7956-480: The county of Bad Dürkheim and also the parish of the collective municipality of Lambrecht . In addition to the town of Lambrecht, it also links the communities of Frankeneck, Esthal (from the abandoned halt of Esthal to Breitenstein) and Elmstein (from Helmbach to the end of the line). Between Breitenstein and Helmbach it twice crosses the territory of Kirrweiler (Pfalz) , an exclave of the county of Südliche Weinstraße . From Iptestal until just before Breitenstein
8073-417: The day from Elmstein ends between 18 and 19 00 hours. The other two services begin and end in Lambrecht. The journey time between Lambrecht and Elmstein is roughly one hour. Ticket prices vary from 5 to 25 euros. There are reductions for children, families and groups. Tickets for the Cuckoo Railway are also valid for the DB connecting train between Lambrecht and Neustadt. Special trains may also use
8190-430: 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
8307-404: 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
8424-519: 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
8541-724: The end of 1881, the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company built a stackyard at Lambrecht railway station. On 28 May 1888, 67 entrepreneurs sent a request to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior - at that time the Palatinate belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria - with the aim of building a tramline from Neustadt via Lambrecht and Frankeneck to Elmstein. However, this submission was not successful:
8658-435: 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,
8775-481: 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
8892-567: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Industrial siding A siding , in rail terminology , is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line , branch line, or spur . It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end. Sidings often have lighter rails, meant for lower speed or less heavy traffic, and few, if any, signals. Sidings connected at both ends to
9009-534: The last scheduled steam-hauled passenger train. On this day it was decorated with the words "Cuckoo's last journey" ( Kuckucks letzte Fahrt ). From the early 1960s, diesel traction replaced steam for goods haulage. Because the Neustadt engine shed was, at this time, being gradually wound down, the line was increasingly becoming the responsibility of its counterpart in Ludwigshafen. Until 1973 the latter deployed locomotives of Class V 20 that had originally served
9126-522: The line borders on the borough of Neustadt immediately to the south. In the early months three pairs of trains operated daily between Lambrecht and Elmstein. But as early as May 1909 a new timetable appeared, according to which there were four trains each way on working days and five on Sundays. The trains comprised second, third and, until 28 Oct 1928, fourth class coaches. In addition, the Palatine Forest Club , founded in 1902, arranged for
9243-530: The line has been operated as a heritage railway . Goods trains still run as far as Frankeneck. The Elmstein Valley , densely covered in woods and hence sparsely populated, suffered in earlier times from a poor road infrastructure, especially away from the direct route between Neustadt and Kaiserslautern. The valley follows the upper reaches of the Speyerbach river, the most important Palatine tributary of
9360-411: The line now lay, politicians began attempts in 1971 to preserve the line as a heritage railway. This was initially unsuccessful because DB blocked it. Nevertheless, these efforts to preserve the line did not come to a halt. For example, in the time that followed the then Transport Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Heinrich Holkenbrink , took part in an inspection visit. Initially DB was persuaded to delay
9477-403: The line on 1 June 1971. In 1977, goods traffic also ceased because the line had been used less and less by the forestry industry and goods takings had reduced sharply. The last scheduled goods train had already run on 30 June 1976. In its last years of operation the railway line had only had the official status of an industrial siding. In the county of Bad Dürkheim , formed in 1969 and in which
9594-630: The line. The nearest depot, Bahnbetriebswerk Neustadt , was primarily responsible for the running and rolling stock used on the line. The steam locomotives used in the first years of operation, were those of classes T 4.I and T 4.II of the Palatinate Railway . They were working the Cuckoo Railway until the late 1930s. From 1927, the Prussian T 9 - designated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn as DRG Class 91 - could be found on
9711-421: The local road through the valley. By the turn of the millennium it was no longer occupied and rather run down. In 1926 it was given another building that functioned as a goods shed. At the same time the station was expanded. In the course of this, a locomotive shed was built that has since been demolished. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
9828-402: 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
9945-700: The name until it eventually became the official name of the line. After the Second World War the railway line was the responsibility of the Operating Association of Southwest German Railways ( Betriebsvereinigung der Südwestdeutschen Eisenbahnen ) or SWDE, which was transferred into the newly founded Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in 1949. The latter assigned the Cuckoo Line to the Mainz Federal Railway Division ( Bundesbahndirektion Mainz ) to which all railway lines in
10062-577: The newly created state of Rhineland-Palatinate were allocated. At the same time the profitability of the line was questioned. On top of the rapid increase in car traffic of that time, DB itself contributed to the competition by introducing a bus service running parallel to the railway. On 28 May 1960, regular passenger services were finally withdrawn. After the disbandment of the Mainz Division, its counterpart in Karlsruhe became responsible for
10179-653: 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
10296-474: The opening of the railway was its first official duty there. On 1 April 1920 the line became the property of the Deutsche Reichsbahn . In 1922 it was incorporated into the newly founded Ludwigshafen Reichsbahn Division ( Reichsbahndirektion Ludwigshafen ). In the wake of its disbandment on 1 April 1937 the line was allocated to the Mainz Division ( Reichsbahndirektion Mainz ). Although it
10413-611: The planned branch line. The committee continued to campaign for a full branch line by the construction of an extension of the industrial siding to Elmstein. The government in Bavaria took the view that it should be a national responsibility to build the line, especially because of the imminent transfer of the Palatine Railways into the ownership of the Royal Bavarian State Railways . This railway
10530-508: The planned closure and intended lifting of the line to a later date. At this time the trackage was already showing signs of needing structural repair. In addition, the Karlsruhe Federal Railway Division declared itself ready to sell all the land on the collective municipality of Lambrecht ( Verbandsgemeinde Lambrecht ). Because the revival of the line initially appeared unrealistic, plans were made to convert
10647-501: The planned line was seen as a way of stimulating the economy of the valley. In August 1895 a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Lambrecht's mayor that sent another petition to the Bavarian government. At the same time the committee engaged the relevant communities with a memorandum entitled "The Necessity of an Elmstein-Neustadt Valley Railway" ( Die Nothwendigkeit einer Elmstein=Neustadter=Thalbahn ). Finally, one year later,
10764-462: 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
10881-516: The railway. Furthermore, road construction engineers confirmed that the maintenance costs of the planned railway line would be significantly lower than that of the local roads. After a lengthy campaign for a railway through the Elmstein Valley the Landtag of Bavaria finally gave permission on 10 Aug 1904 for the construction of a branch line. Construction work finally began in March 1905. It entailed
10998-551: The removal of 800,000 cubic metres (28,000,000 cu ft) of earth and cost a total of 692,000 marks. Responsibility for the course of line and the earthworks fell to the Neustadt Railway Division. The construction of the 9.55-kilometre-long (5.93 mi) section from Sattelmühle to Elmstein was carried out by German and Italian workers. In 1907, the required expansion of Lambrecht railway station followed. The local construction industry also benefited from
11115-587: The route and, later, its sub-type, the Class T 9.3 was a common sight. Some years later, the DRG Class 64 locomotives, which had been stabled in Neustadt since 1928, also worked the branch line. In the first half of the 1950s, classes 57.10 (formerly the Prussian G 10) and 74 (formerly the Prussian T 12) were also used. The latter was especially employed on shunting duties. On 22 August 1954, number 91 593 headed
11232-531: The ruins of Erfenstein and Spangenberg , both linked to a local legend . It then runs through almost undisturbed nature. After Helmbach is a section with an incline of 1 : 69 (14 ‰) as it passes through a gorge. The line ends at the entrance to Elmstein, where the main operating point is located. The signs for the halts are written in Fraktur lettering and their platforms are largely grassed over. The Lambrecht–Elmstein railway runs entirely within
11349-442: The safety regulator. A refuge siding is a single-ended (or dead-end) siding with a similar purpose to passing loop in that it temporarily holds a train while another one passes. A team track is a small siding or spur track intended for the use of area merchants , manufacturers , farmers and other small businesses to personally load and unload products and merchandise, usually in smaller quantities. The term "team" refers to
11466-401: The section to Sattelmühle was opened, initially just as an industrial siding . In 1909 it was extended to Elmstein and upgraded to a fully fledged branch line. Regular passenger services were withdrawn in 1960 - due to the sparse population of the region it had always played a secondary role. This was followed in 1977 by the cessation of goods traffic between Frankeneck and Elmstein. Since 1984
11583-546: 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,
11700-425: The teams of horses or oxen delivering wagon-loads of freight transferred to or from railway cars. Team tracks may be owned by the railroad company or by customers served by the railroad, or by industrial parks or freight terminals that encompass many customers. In some jurisdictions, the operation and construction of team tracks is regulated by legal authorities. Earliest rail service to an area often provided
11817-405: The test arrived at Elmstein station at 11 am. The official inauguration took place five days later. The first train was due to depart Elmstein at 6.20 am. However, as it was about to leave there was a fatal accident. The Jungfern service was just a few metres from the end of the line when, owing to a wrongly set turnout, the train accelerated at full steam into the locomotive shed and killed
11934-500: 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
12051-437: The timetable to be adjusted for excursion traffic. The journey time between Lambrecht and Elmstein was initially between 45 and 51 minutes, but this reduced over the course of time to around 30 minutes. Goods traffic, which always had a greater significance on the railway than passenger traffic, was largely sustained by the timber industry of the region. Consequently, flatbeds and open wagons were utilized. From 1902 to 1909
12168-525: The track repaired in places. Shooting itself took place in May 1983. At the same time there were lengthy discussions with DB which saw the railway being sold to the county. The contract was signed in Spring 1984. The plans envisaged operating the line as a heritage railway in cooperation with the German Railway History Company 's museum at Neustadt an der Weinstraße . On 14 February 1984 railway fans founded
12285-443: The trackbed into a cycleway or track for post coaches. Meanwhile, the broadcasters, Südwestfunk , were planning a television series, The Soldier of Fortune - The Adventures of Robert Curwich . The company saw the village of Breitenstein, including the railway, as a suitable location, which is why the partially overgrown line between Lambrecht and Breitenstein had to be cleared. In addition, the railway embankment had to be made safe and
12402-565: The use of teams of horses to pull wagons to and from them). Sidings may also hold maintenance of way equipment or other equipment, allowing trains to pass, or store helper engines between runs. Some sidings have very occasional use, having been built, for example, to service an industry, a railway yard or a stub of a disused railway that has since closed. It is not uncommon for an infrequently-used siding to fall into disrepair. Even if officially abandoned such sidings may be left derelict rather than lifted and removed. A particular form of siding
12519-499: The wartime Wehrmacht . From 1973 until the cessation of goods services to Elmstein, Köf III engine, number 333 170-9, was utilized for the remaining sporadic requirements. From March until the withdrawal of passenger services in 1960, passenger trains used Uerdingen railbuses . These were stabled in Bahnbetriebswerk Landau ; from where they served the whole of the Palatinate region. The engines and wagons of
12636-403: The work of the track. The latter was done mainly by hand, but was also helped by the construction of a Feldbahn , a light field railway worked by a small steam locomotive . The track bed was built on a sandstone foundation. Eleven bridges across the Speyerbach stream were built. On 18 January 1909, a test run on the line was undertaken in order to check it technically. The train being used for
12753-555: 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
12870-600: 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
12987-429: 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
13104-547: 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
13221-492: 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
13338-517: Was initially called the Elmstein Valley Railway ( Elmsteiner Talbahn ), over time the nickname "Little Cuckoo Line" ( Kuckucksbähnel ) was adopted. The call of cuckoos was once a common sound in the Elmstein Valley, which is why the local population in Elmstein were given the nickname "cuckoos" ( Kuckucke ). The term Kuckucksbähnel was probably coined by the owner of the s Lokschuppen restaurant at Elmstein station. The regional press gradually adopted
13455-510: Was integrated in 2003 into the network of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar . The old goods shed, which was last used as a private house , was torn down in 1999 to create car parking . From 16 May that year, an electronic signal box became operational in Neustadt whereupon the station lost its last employees. In addition, Deutsche Bahn dismantled some of the trackage, leaving the station with just three tracks. The halt and former station
13572-463: Was intended predominantly to be used for the transportation of timber, which formed the bulk of the goods traffic, and not so much for passenger services. Nevertheless, it was recognized that, because 130 workers worked away from their homes in Elstein and its outlying villages of Appenthal and Iggelbach , there was some potential for passenger traffic as well. At the beginning of 1904, a meeting of
13689-405: Was only an industrial siding, was ceased on 29 May 1977. That said, the Bundesbahn announced it was prepared to transport freight from the storage areas of the railway. Frankeneck station, which was now just a part of Lambrecht station, continued to be served. Until 1996 timber was still loaded here; one year later the goods tracks were lifted. Until the end of 2004 there was an industrial siding to
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