85-554: The Hönne Valley Railway ( German : Hönnetalbahn ) is a 22 km long, single-track and non-electrified branch line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia , running from Menden (Sauerland) to Neuenrade through the Hönne valley. It is operated as timetable route 437 from Unna via Fröndenberg , Menden (Sauerland) and Balve to Neuenrade. The line runs through two tunnels and across seven bridges made of natural stone through
170-465: 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
255-765: A push-pull service of Silberling carriages and class 212 diesel locomotives. The freight is limited now to operations to the Rheinkalk lime works in Oberrödinghausen Lendringsen and an industrial siding in Menden. 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
340-402: 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
425-612: 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
510-559: 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
595-458: 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
680-434: A new operator. Some improvements were to be made on trains for the carriage of the disabled and there would be more space for bicycles, more guards, ticket machines on the trains rather than on the platforms, as well as improved connections in Menden (to Dortmund) and Schwerte (to Münster). It would involve about 5.6 million train-kilometres a year, at a cost of €9–10 per train-km, a total cost of about €50 to 55 million. Because
765-696: 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
850-483: 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
935-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
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#17327804979941020-546: Is a regional express line in local rail passenger transport in North Rhine-Westphalia and North Hesse, which runs from Hagen to Warburg and every two hours to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe . The service is contracted by VRR , Zweckverband_Nahverkehr_Westfalen-Lippe (NWL) and NVV and operated by DB Regio NRW. With the award of operations from December 2016, the line is part of the Sauerland Net. The line
1105-612: 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
1190-558: 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
1275-478: 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
1360-430: 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
1445-535: 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
1530-611: 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
1615-565: 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
1700-435: 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
1785-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
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#17327804979941870-401: 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
1955-525: 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
2040-776: 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 ),
2125-578: 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
2210-485: 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
2295-689: 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
2380-639: 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
2465-711: The Ardey Railway ( Ardeybahn in German). The service runs every half hour during the week and every hour on the weekend. The Hönnetal-Bahn RB 54 service connects Unna, Fröndenberg and Neuenrade. The service follows the Fröndenberg–Kamen railway , the Letmathe–Fröndenberg railway and the Hönne Valley Railway ( Hönnetalnbahn in German). The service runs hourly during
2550-568: 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
2635-537: 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
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2720-417: 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
2805-522: 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
2890-746: 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
2975-666: 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
3060-910: The Regional-Express service RE 57 (Dortmund– Bestwig – Winterberg / Brilon Stadt). The RB 43 also carries the brand name of the Emschertal-Bahn , the RB 52 is called the Volmetal-Bahn , the RB 53 is called the Ardey-Bahn , the RB 54 is called the Hönnetal-Bahn and the RE 57 is called the Dortmund Sauerland-Express . In December 2004, DB Regio NRW took over or retained operations of these services. Previously
3145-676: 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
3230-550: 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
3315-513: 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
3400-939: The Upper Ruhr Valley Railway and then on either the Nuttlar–Frankenberg railway or the Alme Valley Railway . The service runs hourly during the week. It runs alternately to Winterberg or Brilon Stadt. The following fares apply to the Sauerland Net: the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (Rhine-Ruhr transport association) fares in the Dortmund and Hagen areas, the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Ruhr-Lippe (Ruhr-Lippe transport community) fares in
3485-611: The class VT 628 or Bombardier Talent railcars. Vehicles from the class 612 were also used. Since 2018, most of the Sauerland network has been equipped with the Pesa Link (class 632 and 633) multiple units planned at the letting of the new tender in 2013, and since the 2021/2022 timetable change, only the Pesa Link multiple units have run. The old Talent railcars are only kept as reserve vehicles. The Sauerland-Express RE 17
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3570-469: 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
3655-723: 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
3740-748: 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
3825-417: 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
3910-399: 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
3995-623: 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
4080-434: The Hönne Valley Railway are operated by DB Regio NRW, using Alstom Coradia LINT 41 (class 648) diesel railcars, which by supplemented by LINT 27 (class 640) diesel railcars. The LINT 41 railcars can be operated either singly or doubly, as required, while the LINT 27 railcars are usually operated in double traction. In addition trains made up of a LINT 41 and two LINT 27 sets are a common sight for school services. Operations on
4165-500: The Hönne Valley Railway from Neuenrade to Werdohl or build a branch from Sanssouci towards Plettenberg , connecting to the existing Ruhr–Sieg railway . These plans were abandoned. The Hönne Valley Railway is served by Regionalbahn service RB 54 ( Hönnetal-Bahn ). Services run hourly in both directions between Unna and Neuenrade on weekdays with trains crossing in Binolen on the hour. Fewer services run on weekends. Trains run at least every two hours to and from Neuenrade. Services on
4250-402: The Hönne Valley Railway, along with the lines from Dortmund to Winterberg , Iserlohn and Lüdenscheid , were awarded in 2004 as a tender package called the Sauerland Net to DB Regionalbahn Westfalen, which has now been absorbed into DB Regio NRW . Before the use of DMUs of class 624 and 628 from about 1994, the line was operated for many years by locomotive-hauled trains usually formed as
4335-453: The Hönne valley, which was already praised for its beauty during the period of German romanticism when it was built. The Menden–Neuenrade railway was inaugurated on 1 April 1912, with construction beginning in 1909. At its opening there were stations at Neuenrade, Garbeck, Balve, Sanssouci, Binolen and Lendringsen and halts ( German : Haltepunkte ) at Küntrop , Volkringhausen, Klusenstein, Oberrödinghausen and Menden-Süd. Horlecke station
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#17327804979944420-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
4505-408: 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
4590-404: The RB 53, RB 54 and RE 57 had been operated by DB Regio NRW and RB 52 had been operated by the Dortmund-Märkische Eisenbahn (DME). In December 2004, DB Regio NRW took over the operation of the RB 52 from Dortmund-Märkische Eisenbahn . The RB 53, RB 54 and RE 57 were already operated by the DB Regio NRW. DB Regio NRW took over operation of the RB 43 from NordWestBahn in December 2015. With
4675-399: The Ruhr on Sundays carried up to 1000 people travelling to the valley's numerous restaurants. Between the two wars the narrow valley discouraged the development of an Emden–Hönne valley–Frankfurt railway as a north-south link protected against enemy (French) action. The line was disrupted during the war by the destruction of the Ruhr bridge at Fröndenberg as a result of the floodwave caused by
4760-406: The air raid on the Mohne Dam ( Operation Chastise ) on 17 May 1943. After the construction of a temporary bridge rail traffic resumed and was also used to supply the labour camp for Schwalbe I (an underground factory built to avoid air raids) at Öberrödinghausen. Two years later, the railway was closed again by the blowing up of the railway bridge in Sanssouci. In June 1945, traffic was resumed after
4845-498: The award of operations from December 2016, the RE 17 service also became part of the Sauerland network. The Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (local transport association of Westphalia-Lippe, NWL) published a call for tenders for the operation of passenger services on the Sauerland Network from December 2016 in the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 October 2012. As a result, Regional-Express services RE 17 and 57 and Regionalbahn services RB 52, 53 and 54 might have had
4930-444: The construction of a temporary bridge, which was used until 1952. In the mid-1950s, it was the most profitable branch line of the Bundesbahndirektion ( railway division of) Wuppertal. In the following years there were a series of rationalisation measures. Despite the rationalisation, traffic increased steadily in the following years. In recent years, the line has been threatened with closure several times. There were plans to extend
5015-430: 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
5100-404: 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
5185-435: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
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#17327804979945270-545: The higher Lüdenscheid station. The service runs every hour, seven days a week, except that services run every two hours on Sunday mornings. The Volmetal-Bahn will in future run an hour earlier from Lüdenscheid to Hagen on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, the Märkischer Kreis is campaigning for a 30-minute cycle of the Volmetal-Bahn from Lüdenscheid via Hagen to Dortmund, since Lüdenscheid station would support higher demand. The Ardey-Bahn RB 53 service connects Dortmund, Schwerte and Iserlohn. It follows
5355-435: 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,
5440-417: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
5525-427: The journey time to Schwerte would be cut, which would allow a connection to Münster . The timetable would be changed to ensure a quick connection at Fröndenberg from Neuenrade and at Menden to Dortmund. The previous level of service would be maintained. The same applied to the sale of tickets at DB ticket offices and DB agencies. However, ticket machines would be available in trains from the end of 2016 and no longer on
5610-594: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Sauerland Net The Sauerland Net ( German : Sauerland-Netz ) is a group of railway services in the western Sauerland and the eastern Ruhr of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and consists of four Regionalbahn services, RB 43 ( Dortmund – Dorsten ), RB 52 (Dortmund– Hagen – Lüdenscheid ), RB 53 (Dortmund– Schwerte – Iserlohn ) and RB 54 ( Unna – Fröndenberg – Menden – Neuenrade ), and
5695-402: 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
5780-423: 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
5865-405: The operation of the network was to be contracted for a period of 12 years, it will be worth more than €600 million. Competition was considered necessary in order to maintain fares. The NWL offered financing for the rollingstock through the municipal budget and to reimburse the top three losing tenderers tender costs of up to €100,000. Passengers would benefit from the competition in the Sauerland as
5950-455: The platforms, as this would prevent damage from vandalism. After 7 PM all trains will be staffed with on-board staff, this would increase total staff on the trains. The contract was awarded to DB Regio, which would use LINK (II or III) DMUs made by the Polish manufacturer PESA . The DB Regio NRW procured 21 new LINT 41 railcars for operation on the Sauerland network, which were manufactured by Alstom. These replaced older vehicles such as
6035-462: 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
6120-730: The service first runs over a section of the Dortmund–Soest railway and then over a section of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway . It runs over the Hagen–Dieringhausen railway (also known as the Volmetalbahn , meaning Volme Valley Railway) from Hagen Hauptbahnhof to Lüdenscheid-Brügge station . Finally, it reverses direction and runs over the Brügge–Lüdenscheid railway from Brügge station to
6205-546: 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,
6290-500: 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
6375-617: The trains would be accessible to the disabled with entrance heights of 1.2 metres as was already the case with the Sauerland-Express. Due to the great success of the Ruhr Valley Cycle Route, RE 17 would have additional space for bicycles (which already existed on RE 57 services). In addition, the NWL specified that future trains on the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway (RE 17/57) would have a top speed of 140 km/h. Thus,
6460-475: The week. On Sundays services run every two hours between Menden and Neuenrade. The Unna–Fröndenberg section has been closed since summer 2022 and a rail replacement bus service has operated due to damage to the railway embankment caused by badgers. The Dortmund-Sauerland-Express RE 57 connects Dortmund and Fröndenberg with Winterberg and Brilon Stadt . It runs along the Ardey Railway,
6545-555: 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
6630-652: 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
6715-601: The “turnip winter” ( Steckrübenwinter ) of 1917/18, this line also supplied potatoes and grain to the starving population of the Ruhr . After 1925, the operation of excursion passenger trains increased again. Before the Second World War, there were so many visitors to the valley that "car-free” Sundays were introduced to provide guests with rest and relaxation. In the period after the First World War trains from
6800-429: 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
6885-547: 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
6970-492: 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
7055-522: Was located between Lendringsen and Menden-Süd, but was no longer classified as a station by 1967. The railway was primarily used for the industry of the Hönne valley. Because of the new traffic, limestone bridges were built along the railway in Binolen, Sanssouci, Balve and Garbeck. The economic growth was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War, which brought a restriction on passenger traffic. In
7140-413: Was offered in the evenings. Initially, class 628 sets were used, but Alstom Coradia LINT 27 (class 640) sets were used from June 2016. Pesa Link railcars are currently running. On working days an average of 3,500 passengers use the RB 43. The Volmetal-Bahn RB 52 service connects Dortmund, Hagen and Lüdenscheid. On its way from Dortmund Hauptbahnhof to Lüdenscheid station,
7225-495: Was previously contracted from DB Regio as part of directly awarded large transport contracts. The Emschertal-Bahn RB 43 service connects Dortmund with Dorsten via Gladbeck Ost. From 2006 to December 2015 it was operated by NordWestBahn , then operations were taken over by DB Regio after a tender. The RB 43 was integrated into the new timetable at the timetable change in December 2015 and an additional train
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