128-598: Chojnów [ˈxɔjnuf] ( German : Haynau , Silesian German : Hoyn, Silesian language : Chojnůw ) is a small town in Legnica County , Lower Silesian Voivodeship , in south-western Poland . It is located on the Skora river, a tributary of the Kaczawa at an average altitude of 170 m (560 ft) above sea level. Chojnów is the administrative seat of the rural gmina called Gmina Chojnów , although
256-465: 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
384-402: 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
512-612: 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
640-519: A 1288 document issued by the Piast duke Henry V of Legnica , and officially received town privileges in 1333 from Duke Bolesław III the Generous . It was part of the duchies of Wrocław , Głogów and Legnica of fragmented Poland and remained under the rule of the Piast dynasty until 1675. Its population was predominantly Polish . In 1292 the first castellan of Chojnów, Bronisław Budziwojowic,
768-423: A German princess, Margaret of Babenberg , and became duke of Austria . He thereby acquired Upper Austria , Lower Austria , and part of Styria . He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia , and parts of Carniola . He was called "the king of iron and gold" (iron because of his conquests, gold because of his wealth). He campaigned as far as Prussia , where he defeated the pagan natives and in 1256, founded
896-518: A Municipal sports and recreation center formed in 2008 holding various events, festivals, reviews, exhibitions, and competitions. The regional Museum is housed in the old Piast era castle. The collections include tiles, relics, and the castle garden. Next to the Museum there is a municipal library. In śródmiejskim Park, near the Town Hall is the amphitheatre . The local government-run weekly newspaper
1024-799: A city he named Královec in Czech, which later became Königsberg (now Kaliningrad ). In 1260, Ottokar defeated Béla IV , king of Hungary in the Battle of Kressenbrunn near the Morava river, where more than 200,000 men clashed. He ruled an area from Austria to the Adriatic Sea . From 1273, however, Habsburg king Rudolf began to reassert imperial authority, checking Ottokar's power. He also had problems with rebellious nobility in Bohemia. All of Ottokar's German possessions were lost in 1276, and in 1278 he
1152-566: A few decades, especially in agriculture and crafts. In Silesia it had doubled (16% of the total area) by the beginning of the 11th century, 30% in the 16th century and the highest increase rates in the 14th century, the total area of arable land increased seven – to twentyfold in many Silesian regions during the Ostsiedlung . They settled mostly the hills and mountains and started the mine works and high qualities industry such as metal works, weapon industry and beer making. Forest glass production
1280-559: 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
1408-628: A major role in the industrial development of the Czech Kingdom. In the late 12th and in the 13th century the Přemyslid rulers promoted the colonisation of certain areas of their lands by German settlers from the adjacent lands of Bavaria, Franconia, Upper Saxony and Austria during the Ostsiedlung migration. The new settlers not only brought their customs and language with them, but also new technical skills and equipment that were adapted within
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#17327811157901536-515: A more radical sect, soon formed, taking their name from the town of Tábor , their stronghold in southern Bohemia. They rejected church doctrine and upheld the Bible as the sole authority in all matters of belief. Soon after Hus assumed office, German professors of theology demanded the condemnation of Wycliffe's writings. Hus protested, receiving the support of the Czech element at the university. Having only one vote in policy decisions against three for
1664-458: 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
1792-696: 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
1920-483: 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
2048-614: A westerly direction. The city of Chojnów is 5.32 km (2.05 sq mi) in area, including 41% agricultural land. Chojnów has a connection with the major cities of the country (road and rail) and located 5 kilometres (3 miles) south of Chojnów has the A4 Autostrada. To the South of the town is the surrounding Chojnowska Plain. The town is first mentioned in a Latin mediaeval document issued in Wrocław on February 26, 1253, stating,
2176-573: Is Gazeta Chojnowska , which has been published since 1992. It is published biweekly. Editions have a run of 900 copies and it is one of the oldest newspapers in Poland issued without interruption. The Chojnów is the official newspaper of Chojnów with copy run of 750 copies. In Chojnów, there are two kindergartens, two elementary schools and two middle schools. Chojnów is in the Catholic deanery of Chojnów and has two parishes, Immaculate Conception of
2304-535: Is a blue escutcheon featuring a white castle with three towers. To the right side of the central tower is a silver crescent moon and to its left side a golden sun. In the gate of the castle is a Silesian Eagle on a yellow background. Chojnów's motto is "Friendly City". Chojnów is located in the Central-Western part of the Lower Silesia region. The Skora (Leather) River flows through the town in
2432-601: 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
2560-612: 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
2688-558: 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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#17327811157902816-676: Is an industrial and agricultural town. Among local products are: paper, agricultural machinery, chains, metal furniture for hospitals, equipment for the meat industry , beer, wine, leather clothing, and clothing for infants, children and adults. Among the interesting monuments of Chojnów are the 13th-century castle of the Dukes of Legnica (currently used as a museum), two old churches, the Baszta Tkaczy ( Weavers' Tower ) and preserved fragments of city walls. The biggest green area in Chojnów
2944-478: 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
3072-430: 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
3200-535: 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
3328-611: 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
3456-565: 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
3584-435: 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
3712-597: 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
3840-401: 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
3968-463: Is small forest Park Piastowski ( Piast's Park ), named after Piast dynasty . Wild animals that can be found in the Chojnów area are roe deer , foxes, rabbits and wild domestic animals, especially cats. Every year in the first days of June, the Days of Chojnów ( Dni Chojnowa ) are celebrated. The Whole-Poland bike race Masters has been organized yearly in Chojnów for the past few years. Chojnów has
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4096-525: 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
4224-776: Is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ),
4352-578: 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
4480-485: 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
4608-689: 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
4736-474: The Ostsiedlung , often encouraged by the Přemyslid kings. The Germans populated towns and mining districts on the Bohemian periphery and in some cases formed German colonies in the interior of the Czech lands. Stříbro, Kutná Hora , Německý Brod (present-day Havlíčkův Brod ), and Jihlava were important German settlements. The Germans brought their own code of law – the ius teutonicum – which formed
4864-639: 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
4992-697: The Crown of Bohemia ( Koruna česká ), together with the incorporated provinces: at times were incorporated into the Kingdom of Bohemia these provinces: The modern Czech Republic (Czechia) is the legal successor of the Crown of Bohemia, as stated in the preamble to its Constitution. Prior to 1833, Bohemia was divided into seven to sixteen district units, known in Czech as Kraje ( sg. Kraj ) and in German as Kreise ( sg. Kreis ). These included
5120-568: The Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
5248-588: The Czechoslovak Republic . The current Czech Republic consisting of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia still uses most of the symbols of the Kingdom of Bohemia: a two-tailed lion in its coat-of-arms, red-white stripes in the state flag and the royal castle as the president's office. Bohemia was among the first countries in Europe to become industrialized. Mining of tin and silver began in Ore mountains in early 12th century. The German hospes had
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5376-537: 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
5504-417: 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
5632-522: 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
5760-746: 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
5888-666: 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
6016-676: 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
6144-550: 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
6272-520: The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), there was another outbreak in the city, it was occupied by the Austrians and Swedes and in 1642 it was also plundered by the Swedes. It remained part of the Piast -ruled Duchy of Legnica until its dissolution in 1675, when it was incorporated to Habsburg -ruled Bohemia . In the 18th century, cloth production developed and a clothmaking school was established in
6400-521: The Turks . States would have one vote each, with a leading role for France. George did not see a specific role for Papal authority. Czech Catholic nobles joined in the League of Zelená Hora in 1465, challenging the authority of George of Poděbrady; the next year, Pope Paul II excommunicated George. The Bohemian War (1468-1478) pitted Bohemia against Matthias Corvinus and Frederick III of Habsburg , and
6528-513: 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
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#17327811157906656-484: The Winter King , and the Thirty Years' War . Their defeat at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 put an end to the Bohemian autonomy movement. In 1740 the Prussian Army conquered Bohemian Silesia in the Silesian Wars and forced Maria Theresa in 1742 to cede the majority of Silesia, except the southernmost area with the duchies of Cieszyn, Krnov and Opava, to Prussia . In 1756 Prussian King Frederick II faced an enemy coalition led by Austria, when Maria Theresa
6784-444: The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian kingdom was incorporated into the now two years old Austrian Empire and the royal title retained alongside the title of Austrian Emperor . In the course of the 1867 Austro-Hungarian Compromise the provinces of Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia became k. k. crown lands of Cisleithania . The Bohemian Kingdom officially ceased to exist in 1918 by transformation into
6912-408: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
7040-423: The Blessed Virgin Mary and also the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Both parishes have active congregations. There are also two Congregations of Jehovah's witnesses. Chojnów is twinned with: German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It
7168-406: The Bohemian Crown ) was frequently subjected to raids by the Ottoman Empire and its vassals (especially the Tatars and Transylvania ). Overall, hundreds of thousands were enslaved whilst tens of thousands were killed. The incorporation of Bohemia into the Habsburg monarchy against the resistance of the local Protestant nobility sparked the 1618 Defenestration of Prague , the brief reign of
7296-400: The Bohemian and the Hungarian kingdom were held in personal union . Not considered an Imperial State , the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were not part of the Imperial Circles established by the 1500 Imperial Reform . In 1526 Vladislav's son, King Louis , was decisively defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Mohács and subsequently died. As a result, the Turks conquered part of
7424-446: The Bohemian crown went to his son, Wenceslas IV . He had also been elected King of the Romans in 1376, in the first election since his father's Golden Bull. He was deposed from the Imperial throne in 1400, however, having never been crowned Emperor. His half-brother, Sigismund , was eventually crowned Emperor in Rome in 1433, ruling until 1437, and he was the last male member of the House of Luxemburg. The Hussite movement (1402–85)
7552-412: The Bohemian estates elected Albert of Austria as his successor. Albert died and his son, Ladislaus the Posthumous – so called because he was born after his father's death – was acknowledged as king. During Ladislaus' minority, Bohemia was ruled by a regency composed of moderate reform nobles who were Utraquists. Internal dissension among the Czechs provided the primary challenge to the regency. A part of
7680-402: The Catholic Church. He advocated the Wycliffe doctrine of clerical purity and poverty, and insisted on the laity receiving communion under both kinds, bread and wine. (The Catholic Church in practice reserved the cup, or wine, for the clergy.) The more moderate followers of Hus, the Utraquists , took their name from the Latin sub utraque specie , meaning "under each kind". The Taborites ,
7808-451: The Czech nobility remained Catholic and loyal to the pope. A Utraquist delegation to the Council of Basel in 1433 had negotiated a seeming reconciliation with the Catholic Church. The Compacts of Basel accepted the basic tenets of Hussitism expressed in the Four Articles of Prague: communion under both kinds; free preaching of the Gospels; expropriation of church land; and exposure and punishment of public sinners. The pope, however, rejected
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#17327811157907936-426: The Czechs would have three votes; the others, a single vote. In consequence, German faculty and students left Charles University en masse in the thousands, and many ended up founding the University of Leipzig . Hus' victory was short-lived. He preached against the sale of indulgences , which lost him the support of the king, who had received a percentage of such sales. In 1412 Hus and his followers were suspended from
8064-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
8192-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
8320-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
8448-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
8576-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
8704-431: The Germans, the Czechs were outvoted, and the orthodox position was maintained. In subsequent years, the Czechs demanded a revision of the university charter, granting more adequate representation to the native Czech faculty. The university controversy was intensified by the vacillating position of the Bohemian king Wenceslas. His favoring of Germans in appointments to councillor and other administrative positions had aroused
8832-411: The Holy Roman Empire except for participation in the imperial councils. The imperial prerogative to ratify each Bohemian ruler and to appoint the bishop of Prague was revoked. The king's successor was his son Wenceslaus I , from his second marriage. Wenceslaus I's sister Agnes , later canonized, refused to marry the Holy Roman Emperor and instead devoted her life to spiritual works. Corresponding with
8960-440: The Holy Roman Empire. It was precipitated by a controversy at Charles University in Prague . In 1403 Jan Hus became rector of the university. A reformist preacher, Hus espoused the anti-papal and anti-hierarchical teachings of John Wycliffe of England, often referred to as the "Morning Star of the Reformation". Hus' teaching was distinguished by its rejection of what he saw as the wealth, corruption, and hierarchical tendencies of
9088-452: The Hungarian forces occupied most of Moravia. George of Poděbrady died in 1471. Upon the death of the Hussite king, the Bohemian estates elected the Polish prince Ladislaus Jagiellon as king, who negotiated the Peace of Olomouc in 1479. In 1490, after the death of Matthias Corvinus, he was also elected by the strongest Hungarian baron league as king of Hungary, and the Polish Jagellonian line ruled both Bohemia and Hungary [but separate line
9216-595: The Hussites as religious fanatics; they fought in part for a nationalist purpose: to protect their land from a King and a Pope who did not recognize the right of the Hussites to exist. Žižka led armies to storm castles, monasteries, churches, and villages, expelling the Catholic clergy, expropriating ecclesiastical lands, or accepting conversions. During the struggle against Sigismund, Taborite armies penetrated into areas of modern-day Slovakia as well. Czech refugees from
9344-655: 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
9472-423: The Kingdom of Hungary, and the rest (mainly present-day Slovakia territory) came under Habsburg rule under the terms of King Louis' marriage contract. The Bohemian estates in 1526 elected Austrian Archduke Ferdinand , younger brother of Emperor Charles V , to succeed Louis as king of Bohemia. Thus began almost four centuries of Habsburg rule for both Bohemia and Hungary . From 1599 to 1711, Moravia (a Land of
9600-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
9728-861: The Pope, she established the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in 1233, the first military order in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Four other military orders were present in Bohemia: the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1160 ; the Order of Saint Lazarus from the late 12th century; the Teutonic Order from c. 1200–1421; and the Knights Templar from 1232 to 1312. The 13th century
9856-593: The Silesian Duke Henry III when the town is mentioned under the name Honowo. Possible the name of nearby Hainau Island. The name is of Polish origin, and in more modern records from the 19th century, the Polish name appears as Hajnów , while Haynau is the Germanized version of the original Polish name. The settlement of Haynow was mentioned in a 1272 deed. It was already called a civitas in
9984-639: The abandoned town. After World War II and the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945, the town passed to the Republic of Poland . It was repopulated by Poles, expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union . In 1946 it was renamed Chojnów , a more modern version of the old Polish Hajnów . Also Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War , settled in Chojnów. Chojnów
10112-458: The archbishop was given the right to crown Bohemian kings. Charles curbed the Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesian nobility, and rationalized the provincial administration of Bohemia and Moravia. He created the Crown of Bohemia , incorporating Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia . In 1355 Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The next year he issued the Golden Bull of 1356 , defining and codifying
10240-464: The basis of the later commercial law of Bohemia and Moravia . Marriages between Czech nobles and Germans soon became commonplace. The 14th century – particularly the reign of Charles IV (1342–78) – is considered the Golden Age of Czech history. In 1306, the Přemyslid line died out and, after a series of dynastic wars, John, Count of Luxembourg , was elected Bohemian king. He married Elisabeth ,
10368-591: The capital city of Prague); these acted merely as administrative units of the Kraje / Kreise rather than taking on powers of their own. Prague remained a statutory city, as well acting as the administrative centre of the Prager Kreis / Pražský kraj . The city of Reichenberg was a Stadtbezirk (city district) subordinate to the Bunzlauer Kreis , as well as the seat of Landbezirk Reichenberg ;
10496-646: The compact, thus preventing the reconciliation of Czech Catholics with the Utraquists. George of Poděbrady , later to become the "national" king of Bohemia, emerged as leader of the Utraquist regency. George installed another Utraquist, John of Rokycany , as archbishop of Prague and succeeded in uniting the more radical Taborites with the Czech Reformed Church. The Catholic party was driven out of Prague. After Ladislaus died of leukemia in 1457,
10624-489: The crusades were Germans, although many were also Hungarians and Catholic Czechs, the Hussite movement is seen as a Czech national movement. In modern times it acquired anti-imperial and anti-German associations and has sometimes been identified as a manifestation of a long-term ethnic Czech–German conflict. Hussitism began during the long reign of Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419), a period of papal schism and concomitant anarchy in
10752-460: The daughter of Wenceslaus II. He was succeeded as king in 1346 by his son, Charles IV, the second king from the House of Luxembourg . Charles was raised at the French court and was cosmopolitan in attitude. Charles IV strengthened the power and prestige of the Bohemian kingdom. In 1344 he elevated the bishopric of Prague , making it an archbishopric and freeing it from the jurisdiction of Mainz , and
10880-430: 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
11008-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
11136-519: 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
11264-650: The end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries. Shortly before the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the kingdom became part of the newly proclaimed Habsburg Austrian Empire , and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867. Bohemia retained its name and formal status as a separate Kingdom of Bohemia until 1918, known as a crown land within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its capital Prague
11392-459: The following in different time periods: According to Johann Gottfried Sommer Bohemia was divided into 16 district units between 1833 and 1849: In 1849 the number of Kreise / Kraje was reduced to seven. They were then subdivided into political districts (German: politischer Bezirk or Bezirkshauptmannschaft ('district captaincy '), pl. politische Bezirke/Bezirkshauptmannschaften ; Czech: Okres ), which took over most of
11520-566: The following year the Bohemian estates elected George of Poděbrady as king. Although George was noble-born, he was not a successor of royal dynasty; his election to the monarchy was not recognised by the Pope, or any other European monarchs. George sought to establish a "Charter of a Universal Peace Union ." He believed that all monarchs should work for a sustainable peace on the principle of national sovereignty of states, principles of non-interference, and solving problems and disputes before an International Tribunal. Also, Europe should unite to fight
11648-435: 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,
11776-481: 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
11904-520: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( Czech : České království ), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom , was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It
12032-402: 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
12160-575: The nationalist sentiments of the Czech nobility and rallied them to Hus' defense. The German faculties had the support of Zbyněk Zajíc , Archbishop of Prague , and the German clergy. For political reasons, Wenceslas switched his support from the Germans to Hus and allied with the reformers. On 18 January 1409, Wenceslas issued the Decree of Kutná Hora : (as was the case at other major universities in Europe)
12288-495: The newly formed Czechoslovak Republic . Although some former rulers of Bohemia had enjoyed a non-hereditary royal title during the 11th and 12th centuries ( Vratislaus II , Vladislaus II ), the kingdom was formally established in 1198 by Přemysl Ottokar I , who had his status acknowledged by Philip of Swabia , elected King of the Romans , in return for his support against the rival Emperor Otto IV . In 1204 Ottokar's royal status
12416-653: 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
12544-498: The old city. The royal castle, Hradčany , was rebuilt. Of particular significance was the founding of Charles University in Prague in 1348. Charles intended to make Prague into an international center of learning, and the university was divided into Czech, Polish, Saxon, and Bavarian "nations", each with one controlling vote. Charles University, however, would become the nucleus of intense Czech particularism. Charles died in 1378, and
12672-540: The political functions of the Kreise / Kraje . Prague became a statutory city, administered directly by the kingdom. A total of 79 districts existed during this period. In 1854 the political districts were abolished and the previous more centralised administrative structure largely restored. However, 13 new Kraje / Kreise were established in place of the old ones. These Kraje / Kreise were subdivided into between twelve and 20 Bezirke (207 in total, plus
12800-662: The pro-papal king of Hungary and successor to the Bohemian throne after the death of Wenceslas in 1419, failed repeatedly to gain control of the kingdom despite aid by Hungarian and German armies. Riots broke out in Prague. Led by a Czech yeoman, Jan Žižka , the Taborites streamed into the capital. Religious strife pervaded the entire kingdom and was particularly intense in the German-dominated towns. Hussite Czechs and Catholic Germans turned on each other; many were massacred, and many German survivors fled or were exiled to
12928-715: The process of election to the Imperial throne , with the Bohemian king among the seven electors. Issuance of the Golden Bull together with the ensuing acquisition of the Brandenburg Electorate gave the Luxemburgs two votes in the electoral college . Charles also made Prague into an Imperial capital. Extensive building projects undertaken by the king included the founding of the New Town southeast of
13056-462: 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
13184-580: The religious wars in Bohemia settled there, and from 1438 to 1453 a Czech noble, John Jiskra of Brandýs , controlled most of southern Slovakia from the centers of Zólyom (today Zvolen ) and Kassa (today Košice ). Thus Hussite doctrines and the Czech Bible were disseminated among the Slovaks, providing the basis for a future link between the Czechs and their Slovak neighbors. When Sigismund died in 1437,
13312-549: The reorganization of the 8th Polish Corps of Prince Józef Poniatowski . The event is commemorated by a plaque in the facade of the Piast Castle. A railway line was opened in the 19th century. Sewer , Gas lighting a Newspaper and a hospital soon followed as the towns economy improved. The city was not spared in World War II , with 30% of the town being destroyed on February 10, 1945, when Soviet Red Army troops took
13440-432: The rest of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Sigismund led or instigated various crusades against Bohemia with the support of Hungarians and Bohemian Catholics. The Hussite Wars followed a pattern. When a crusade was launched against Bohemia, moderate and radical Hussites would unite and defeat it. Once the threat was over, the Hussite armies would focus on raiding the land of Catholic sympathizers. Many historians have painted
13568-546: 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,
13696-500: 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
13824-465: The town is not part of its territory and forms a separate urban gmina. As of December 2021, the town has 13,002 inhabitants. Chojnów is located 18 km (11 mi) west of Legnica , 26 km (16 mi) east from Bolesławiec and 18 km (11 mi) north of Złotoryja , 5 km (3.1 mi) from the A4 motorway . It has railroad connections to Bolesławiec and Legnica. The Chojnów coat of arms
13952-551: The town. One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through the town in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland traveled that route numerous times. In 1740 the town was captured by Prussia and subsequently annexed in 1742. In 1804 it suffered a flood. During the Napoleonic wars there were more epidemics. In 1813 in Chojnów, Napoleon Bonaparte issued instructions regarding
14080-538: The two were counted together as a single Bezirk . 11 of the Kraje / Kreise had a single district court ( Kreisgericht ). These were located in the administrative centre of the Kraj / Kreis , except for the Čáslavský kraj / Časlauer Kreis , whose district court was located at Kutná Hora /Kuttenberg. The Bunzlauer and Leitmeritzer Kreise ( Boleslavský and Litoměřický kraje ) each had two district courts: Jung-Bunzlau and Reichenberg for
14208-496: The university and expelled from Prague. For two years the reformers served as itinerant preachers throughout Bohemia. In 1414 Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance to defend his views. Imprisoned when he arrived, he was never given a chance to defend his ideas. The council condemned him as a heretic and burned him at the stake in 1415. Hus's death sparked the Hussite Wars , decades of religious warfare. Sigismund ,
14336-555: 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
14464-600: 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
14592-429: 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
14720-484: Was a common industry for German Bohemians. Bohemia proper ( Čechy ) with the County of Kladsko ( Hrabství kladské ) was the main area of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Egerland ( Chebsko ) was ultimately obtained by King Wenceslaus II between 1291 and 1305; given in pawn to Bohemia by King Louis IV of Germany in 1322 and subsequently joined in personal union with Bohemia proper. In 1348 Charles IV created
14848-600: Was abandoned by part of the Czech nobility and died in the Battle on the Marchfeld against Rudolf. Ottokar was succeeded by his son King Wenceslaus II , who was crowned King of Poland in 1300. Wenceslaus II's son Wenceslaus III was crowned King of Hungary a year later. At this time, the Kings of Bohemia ruled from Hungary to the Baltic Sea . The 13th century was also a period of large-scale German immigration, during
14976-441: Was accepted by Otto IV as well as by Pope Innocent III . It was officially recognized in 1212 by the Golden Bull of Sicily issued by Emperor Frederick II , elevating the Duchy of Bohemia to Kingdom status and proclaiming its independence which was also later bolstered by future king of Bohemia and emperor Charles IV, with his golden bull in 1356. Under these terms, the Czech king was to be exempt from all future obligations to
15104-462: Was also widely used as the language of administration in many towns after the Germans immigrated and populated some areas of the country in the 13th century. The royal court used the Czech, Latin, and German languages, depending on the ruler and period. Following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I , both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the core part of
15232-547: 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
15360-516: Was established by the Přemyslid dynasty in the 12th century by the Duchy of Bohemia , later ruled by the House of Luxembourg , the Jagiellonian dynasty , and from 1526 the House of Habsburg and its successor, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine . Numerous kings of Bohemia were also elected Holy Roman Emperors , and the capital, Prague , was the imperial seat in the late 14th century, and again at
15488-492: 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
15616-666: Was in Poland after Casimir]. The Jagellonians governed Bohemia as absentee monarchs because the Hungarian nobility insisted on them putting their capital into Hungary; their influence in the kingdom was minimal, and effective government fell to the regional nobility. Czech Catholics accepted the Compact of Basel in 1485 and were reconciled with the Utraquists. The Bohemian estrangement from the Empire continued after Vladislav [as II] had succeeded Matthias Corvinus of Hungary in 1490 and both
15744-548: Was mentioned. In the 14th and early 15th centuries Chojnów was granted various privileges , including staple right and gold mining right, thanks to which it flourished. The town survived the Hussites , who burned almost the entire town center and castle, but it quickly helped recover its former glory. The largest boom Chojnów experienced was in the 16th century, however by the end of that century began to decline due to fires and epidemic, which claimed many victims in 1613. During
15872-642: Was one of the empire's leading cities. The Czech language (called the Bohemian language in English usage until the 19th century) was the main language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627 (after the Bohemian Revolt was suppressed). German was then formally made equal with Czech and eventually prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech National Revival in the 19th century. German
16000-527: Was preparing for war with Prussia to reclaim Silesia. The Prussian army conquered Saxony and in 1757 invaded Bohemia. In the Battle of Prague (1757) they defeated the Habsburgs and subsequently occupied Prague. More than one quarter of Prague was destroyed and the St. Vitus Cathedral suffered heavy damage. In the Battle of Kolín , however, Frederick lost and had to vacate Prague and retreat from Bohemia. With
16128-426: Was primarily a religious, as well as national, manifestation. As a religious reform movement (the so-called Bohemian Reformation ), it represented a challenge to papal authority and an assertion of national autonomy in ecclesiastical affairs. The Hussites defeated four crusades from the Holy Roman Empire, and the movement is viewed by many as a part of the (worldwide) Protestant Reformation . Because many of warriors of
16256-511: Was the predecessor state of the modern Czech Republic . The Kingdom of Bohemia was an Imperial State in the Holy Roman Empire . The Bohemian king was a prince-elector of the empire. The kings of Bohemia, besides the region of Bohemia itself, also ruled other lands belonging to the Bohemian Crown , which at various times included Moravia , Silesia , Lusatia , and parts of Saxony , Brandenburg , and Bavaria . The kingdom
16384-605: Was the most dynamic period of the Přemyslid reign over Bohemia . German Emperor Frederick II 's preoccupation with Mediterranean affairs and the dynastic struggles known as the Great Interregnum (1254–73) weakened imperial authority in Central Europe, thus providing opportunities for Přemyslid assertiveness. At the same time, the Mongol invasions (1220–42) absorbed the attention of Bohemia's eastern neighbors, Hungary and Poland . Přemysl Ottokar II (1253–78) married
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