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120-684: Bible Translators Theologians The Lutheran World Federation ( LWF ; German : Lutherischer Weltbund ) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva , Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984,

240-465: 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

360-402: 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

480-612: 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

600-625: A 2009 poll , 25% of Danes believed Jesus is the Son of God , and 18% believed he is the saviour of the world . The church is aimed at having a wide acceptance of theological views, as long as they agree with the official symbolic books as stipulated in the Danish Code of 1683. These are: Revised versions of the Old and New Testament were authorised by Queen Margrethe II in 1992. A revised Hymn Book

720-614: A 2011 survey of 1137 priests, 62% of them supported same-sex marriage in the Church on the same basis as for heterosexuals, while 28% were against. A map of the results hints at the traditional west–east division, with a conservative wing being dominant in central West Jutland (the former Ringkjøbing Amt ) and on Bornholm , but liberal priests dominating in most other cities. In 2004, a poll among pastors said 60% were against church marriage of same-sex couples. Since Denmark approved same-sex civil unions ( registered partnership ) in 1989,

840-427: A Church member is dissatisfied with the particular pastor of his residence parish, he may choose to be served by another pastor who matches better with his Christian views, for example in a neighbouring parish. According to official statistics from January 2023, 72.1% of the inhabitants of Denmark are members of the Church of Denmark, 1.1 percentage points less than the previous year. Membership rates vary from 54.4% in

960-737: A blessing rite, or special prayers. These include the Church of Denmark , Church of Iceland , Church of Norway , Church of Sweden , Protestant Church A.B. in Austria , Evangelical Lutheran Church in America , Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada , Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland , Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva , Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy ,

1080-529: A female priest. He decided there was no legal obstacle to that. The first woman to become a bishop was instituted in 1995. As of 2021, a majority of priests are women. Among a small conservative minority, resistance to women ordained as clergy remains. In 2007 the Bishop of Viborg , known as a moderate conservative, revealed that he had given special consideration to priests who were known to be against ordained women. He had organised ordination ceremonies in such

1200-559: 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

1320-1046: A majority of the churches within the Protestant Church in Germany , Evangelical Church of the River Plate , Protestant Church in the Netherlands , and the United Protestant Church of France . On the other side, several churches, including the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus , Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania , the Malagasy Lutheran Church , the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia and

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1440-458: 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

1560-486: A non-member, contributes with an average of 130 kroner annually (US$ 23). In addition, the bishops are high-ranking officials whose salary is fully paid by the state. In return, certain public tasks are carried out by the Church, such as conducting vital records registries and managing graveyards which are open to all denominations. While the debate about separation of church and state emerges occasionally in Denmark,

1680-446: A non-sectarian, tolerant church where parishioners and priests enjoy a high degree of freedom to practise their own interpretation of Lutheran Christianity. Secondly, many Danish politicians and theologians claim that only this church-state-model will ensure the division of politics and religion, since the Church cannot interfere with political matters or even claim to speak with one voice on behalf of its members. They frequently discourage

1800-442: A parish was dominated by a conservative majority and priest, the liberal minority would often set up a voluntary congregation with their own priest – and vice versa. Today the voluntary congregations are often a solution for people who find the idea of a free church appealing, but wish to keep some bonds to the church. Another, less commonly used feature is parish optionality ( sognebåndsløsning , literally "parish bond release"). If

1920-688: A period in the 16th century, small circles of clandestine Catholicism prevailed. From 1683, Roman Catholic, Reformed and Jewish congregations were allowed in the new town of Fredericia, the latter two also in Copenhagen. Non-Lutherans were also allowed in Friedrichstadt and on Nordstrand in Slesvig and in Glückstadt in Holstein . With the constitution of 1849, freedom of religion

2040-696: 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

2160-483: 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

2280-582: A spiritual leader (such as an archbishop ), nor a central assembly or synod . Bishops have the last say on doctrinal questions within their respective dioceses. The King (in practice the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs) and Parliament are the central bodies, but they usually keep to administrative matters and abstain from interfering with spiritual questions. Church laws are rarely changed, and, when it happens, only administrative matters are affected. Firstly, these principles are generally believed to ensure

2400-463: A split, but said there should be more equality between denominations, possibly by a state subsidiary paid to other approved religious communities as well. Immigrant groups and the Muslim society are divided on the issue, as some think official Christianity is preferable to a purely secular state. Pure equality of religions exists only in a minority of Western European countries. Besides Denmark, only

2520-973: A strict Lutheranism and anti-modern, national-conservative views. The Church of Denmark is member the World Council of Churches , the Lutheran World Federation , the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe and the Porvoo Communion . The Communion Service includes three readings from the Bible : a chapter from one of the Gospels , from one of the Epistles or another part of the New Testament and, since 1992, from

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2640-453: A third of the population attends. The church is still widely used for traditional family ceremonies including christenings and confirmations . In the year 2022, 31.2% of weddings and 80.7% funerals were performed in the Church of Denmark, and 66.5% of children in grade 7–8 were confirmed. The level of weekly church attendance is similar to that in Norway and Sweden . According to

2760-461: A way that new priests who so wished could avoid shaking hands with, or receiving the laying on of hands from, women ordained as priests. According to the bishop, this had happened twice in the 100 ordinations he had performed. The matter became headline news amidst a debate about Muslim fundamentalists who refuse to shake hands with members of the opposite sex. The Minister for Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Bertel Haarder , said he would discuss

2880-509: A wedding of a male couple, although not legally recognised, on a suggestion from a journalist at the newspaper Ekstra Bladet , which announced it as 'The World's First Gay Wedding'. On 25 February 1973, Harald Søbye performed another wedding, this time of a female couple, in a television programme. The state prosecutor investigated the cases, but concluded that the priest's use of his vestment was not illegal. Søbye had been retired in 1964 for political activism, but remained an ordained priest within

3000-717: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and

3120-407: Is a central part of the service. The priest takes a starting point in the text of that Sunday, but is free to form a personal message of it. At special occasions, even non-priests may be allowed to preach. Hymns are also very central. In contrast to Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, Danish congregations sit while singing and stand while listening to Bible readings. As in other Lutheran churches,

3240-601: 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

3360-549: Is a series of discussions that began during July 1964 as an outgrowth of the Second Vatican Council . The statement is an attempt to narrow the theological divide between the two faiths. The declaration also states that the mutual condemnations between 16th-century Catholic church and Lutheranism no longer apply. A similar event took place in Lund Cathedral on 31 October 2016, the 499th anniversary of

3480-559: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German

3600-558: 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

3720-478: 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

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3840-430: 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

3960-535: 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

4080-611: 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

4200-565: 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

4320-472: Is mainly a historical one. Communities recognised before 1970 includes only eight well-established Christian communities as well as one Jewish community. From 1970 until the 1990s only a few more Christian congregations were approved, but since 1998, a much more liberal practice has ensued. Since then, a board of independent experts decide about approval of new religious communities. The board includes professors of law, religious studies and theology and works under

4440-435: 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

4560-597: 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

4680-401: 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

4800-409: Is subordinate to the council, except in spiritual matters such as conducting church services and pastoral care . Parishes in the same local area are grouped into deaneries, with one priest serving as Rural Dean. Deaneries, parochial councils, and pastors are all subordinate to the bishop of the diocese. A special feature is the possibility of creating voluntary congregations ( valgmenighed ) within

4920-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c.  1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period

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5040-476: Is the bishop of Copenhagen , currently Peter Skov-Jakobsen . The further subdivision includes 111 deaneries and 2,200 parishes . There are about 2,400 ordained pastors (Danish: præst ). Each parish has a parochial council, elected by church members in four-year terms. The parochial council leads the practical business of the local church and decides employment of personnel, including the pastors, musicians, verger , and sacristan . The pastor (Danish: præst )

5160-578: 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

5280-485: 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

5400-530: Is voluntary, that the existence of a state church has ancient historical roots, and that the church fulfils certain administrative tasks for the state. They also argue it would be difficult to decide whether church-owned real estate should be handed over to the state or not. The former possessions of the Catholic Church were ceded to the Crown at the reformation in 1536 . According to a poll conducted by

5520-689: 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

5640-639: 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

5760-455: The Diocese of Copenhagen to 82.0% in the Diocese of Viborg . In recent decades, the percentage of Danes that are members of the church has been slowly declining, the most important reasons being immigration from non-Lutheran countries, withdrawal of some members, and a somewhat lower rate (56.2%) of Danish infants being christened. Any person who is baptised (usually infant baptism ) into

5880-537: 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

6000-417: 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

6120-652: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania , which recognize marriage as solely the union between a man and a woman, have broken ties with many of the churches supporting same-sex unions. The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil supports civil same-sex marriage , but does not allow its ministers to celebrate same-sex unions, neither does it ordain ministers who are living in same-sex unions. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

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6240-498: The Faroe Islands , Iceland , England and Greece have official state churches , while Scotland has an officially recognised "national church" that is not connected to the state. Spain , Portugal , Italy and Austria have official ties to Catholicism ( concordat ), but these ties do not extend to Catholicism being recognised as the state religion in these countries. Further there are varying degrees of public funding of

6360-522: 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

6480-746: 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

6600-666: 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

6720-460: The Old Testament . Texts are picked from an official list following the church year . Some liturgical features have a fixed content but are free to the form. This accounts for the Common Prayer following the sermon , where the priest is encouraged to mention the royal house. Some will simply mention "the Queen and all her House" whereas others will list all members of the royal house by name and title. The sermon , as in other Protestant churches,

6840-435: The Queen in 1968, and Mary Donaldson also converted from Presbyterianism before marrying Crown Prince Frederik in 2004. With the Reformation in Denmark in 1536, Lutheran Christianity was established as the state religion. For the next century, in a time when religious wars swept Europe, harsh persecution of other faiths followed ( Lutheran orthodoxy ). Exceptions were granted only to foreign diplomats. For at least

6960-427: 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

7080-422: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit.   ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this

7200-400: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and   Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German

7320-419: The free daily MetroXpress in April 2007, 52% wished to split church and state, 30% were against, and 18% undecided. Minister for Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs Bertel Haarder , spoke out against a split: "Church and state will be separated when more than half of the population are no longer members. N. F. S. Grundtvig said so, and I support that." The opposition Social Democrats also argued against

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7440-438: The historical episcopate . Theological authority is vested in bishops : ten bishops in mainland Denmark and one in Greenland , each overseeing a diocese. The bishop of Copenhagen is primus inter pares . The Church of Denmark is organized into eleven dioceses , each led by a bishop , including one for Greenland (the Faroe Islands was a twelfth diocese until 29 July 2007). The most senior bishop ( primus inter pares )

7560-408: 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

7680-434: The state lottery fund , and members may tax-deduct membership fees and presents to the congregation. Additionally, those congregations recognised by royal decree before 1970 ( anerkendte trossamfund ) may name and baptize children with legal effect, keep their own church registers and transcribe certificates on the basis of such registers. This legal distinction between "recognised" and "approved" communities remains, but

7800-477: The Church of Denmark automatically becomes a member. Members may renounce their membership and later return if they wish. Excommunication is legally possible but a rare occurrence. Examples include declared Satanists . A church member supporting reincarnation was excommunicated, but the Supreme Court overturned the excommunication in 2005. According to the latest inquiry about 2.4% of church members attend services every week, although on Christmas Eve more than

7920-491: The Church of Denmark recognizes only two sacraments , Baptism and the Lord's Supper . These are usually included in the Communion Service. Formerly, individual or shared confession was a condition to receive the Lord's Supper. An official confession ritual still exists, but is now used very rarely. There are also official rituals for confirmation , wedding , blessing of a civil wedding and funerals . Emergency baptism may be performed by any Christian if necessary, and later

8040-400: The Church. These account for a few percent of church members. They are voluntary associations , electing their own parochial council and parish pastor, whom they agree to pay from their own pockets. In return, they are exempt from church tax . The voluntary congregation and its pastor are subordinate to the bishop of the diocese, and members remain full members of the Church. Historically, when

8160-614: 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

8280-426: The Established Church of Denmark, as such, it shall be supported by the State. " §4 not only establish "Folkekirken" as the state church, but also gives certain boundaries as to what the state church is. It is forced to follow the Lutheran doctrines and if, as some critics claim, the Lutheran doctrines explicitly state that homosexuality is a sin then it is a violation of the constitution to allow gay marriages in

8400-424: The Established Church of Denmark, as such, it shall be supported by the State." On the other hand, article 68 ensures that citizens are not obliged to pay personal contributions to any religion other than their own. It has been questioned how these two principles can co-exist. Non-members do not pay church tax , but an additional state subsidiary accounts for 12% of the Church's income. This means every citizen, even

8520-414: 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

8640-536: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of

8760-451: The German states; the invention of the printing press c.  1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of

8880-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by

9000-655: 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

9120-865: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

9240-518: 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

9360-610: The Ministry of Justice, deliberately separate from the Ministry of Ecclesiastical affairs. It merely investigates whether the organisation fulfills basic definitions, such as having a doctrine, creed and cult, in order to be called a congregation of faith. In 2003, the approval of the Forn Siðr religion caused some public debate. The Church is in practice barred from having official positions in political or other matters, since it has no central bodies that could define such stances: nor

9480-674: The beginning of the Protestant Reformation , with the signing of the Statement on the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with Pope Francis and Bishop Munib Younan in a special Catholic-Lutheran dialogue . 119 of the 145 member churches (80%) ordain women as ministers. The LWF was founded at Lund , Sweden, in 1947. Based in Geneva , Switzerland, it replaced the more informal Lutheran World Convention , which had been founded in 1924. The goal

9600-530: The birth of their child was abolished. Instead, it was decided that in the future it was the task of the midwives to report all births in Denmark (only when a midwife isn't present at the birth of a child are the parents still obliged to report the birth of the child). From 1 December 2014 all applications should be submitted in digital form whenever possible. Article 4 in the Constitution of Denmark stipulates that "The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be

9720-600: The child will then be "ratified" in Church. As supreme authority of the Church of Denmark, the monarch must be a member (article 6 of the Constitution). This applies to the royal princes and princesses as well, but does not apply to their spouses. Traditionally, though, every foreigner who has become a member of the royal family has converted or become a member of the church; as a result, the Prince Consort Henrik converted from Catholicism before marrying

9840-409: The church came under discussion. The issue was brought up in an unusual way by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 2004, who said he would approve of such a change, although he claimed to speak as a private person on this issue, not as prime minister. Views among proponents vary whether such a ceremony should be called 'marriage' or merely ' registered partnership ' (registreret partnerskab) , as

9960-546: The church in Belgium , Luxembourg , Germany , Norway , Sweden , in most cantons of Switzerland , and in the Alsace-Moselle region of France . The ordination of women , having been discussed within the church since the 1920s, has been allowed since 1948, despite some rather strong early resistance from the clergy. The then Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs was contacted by a parochial council who wished to employ

10080-477: The church, Inner Mission and Lutheran Mission , as well as one of the twelve bishops, maintain their protests against same-sex marriage. It will be up to each individual priest to decide whether he or she will conduct marriages of same-sex couples. The first same-sex couple was married on Friday 15 June. The process towards the official recognition of same sex marriage in the Church of Denmark began on 8 February 1973, when 'Provo Priest,' Harald Søbye , performed

10200-552: The church, and by the 11th century, Christianity was largely accepted throughout the country. Since the Reformation in Denmark , the church has been Evangelical Lutheran , while retaining much of its high church pre-Reformation liturgical traditions. The 1849 Constitution of Denmark designated the church "the Danish people's church" and mandates that the state support it as such. The Church of Denmark continues to maintain

10320-409: The church. During the next 15 years, Søbye performed approximately 210 blessings or weddings of same-sex couples. When Denmark introduced registered partnerships in 1989, the issue of same-sex marriage for some years received little attention. Church blessings of these partnerships slowly gained ground (see above). Later, the possibility of registered partnership, or same-sex marriage, performed by

10440-603: The council, and carries out the decisions of the Assembly and Council. On 19 June 2021, the LWF Council elected Estonian theologian Anne Burghardt as the next General Secretary. She is the first woman to serve in this role and assumed office on 1 November of that year. This map shows the global distribution of Lutheranism based on The LWF 2019 membership data. Sorted by country in alphabetical order Some member denominations have recognized same-sex unions through marriage,

10560-426: The current arrangement is supported by most political parties. It has been challenged for decades by the left wing and by atheists ; more recently also by some ideological liberals and some members of free churches . Proponents for a separation ( disestablishment ) argue the state church violates equality of religions and the principle of the secular state . Proponents for the current system argue that membership

10680-434: The declared aim of preventing a possible split in the church. See the issues of Female clergy and Same-sex marriage below. The Church of Denmark conducts civil registration of births , deaths , change of name etc. ( vital records ). The keeping of such kirkebøger (" church books ") is a centuries-long tradition, dating from when the parish rectors were the only government representatives in rural areas. In 2002–03

10800-430: 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

10920-456: 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

11040-519: 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

11160-435: 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,

11280-481: 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

11400-408: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Church of Denmark Chalcedonian Christianity was introduced to Denmark in the 9th century by Ansgar , Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen . In the 10th century, King Harald Bluetooth became a Catholic and began organizing

11520-555: The life and work of the federation in consultation with the General Secretary. (born 1961) The Lutheran World Federation Council elects the General Secretary for a seven-year term. The person appointed is eligible for re-election. The General Secretary conducts the business of the federation assisted by the Communion Office Leadership Team, comprising department and unit heads appointed by

11640-424: The matter with the bishops, but also stated that tolerance for various views should be respected. In contrast, the Minister for Employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen , thought that the priests in question should be dismissed, as public employees are obliged to shake hands with anyone. A 2011 poll of the Danish public found that 75.8% of Danes approve of same-sex marriages being performed in the church. According to

11760-524: The member churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship , with common doctrine as the basis of membership and mission activity. The LWF now has 149 member church bodies in 99 countries representing over 77 million Lutherans; as of 2022, it is the sixth-largest Christian communion (see list of denominations by membership ). The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations , theology , humanitarian assistance , human rights , communication, and

11880-402: 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

12000-653: 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

12120-444: The original same-sex civil union was called. In practice, clergy have been allowed to decide for themselves whether to perform same-sex marriages or not, similar to the right to deny remarriage of divorced persons (a policy employed by a conservative minority of priests). A further controversy is that this new practice may be against the Danish constitution; §4 of the Danish constitution states: " The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be

12240-462: 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

12360-501: The question of church blessing ceremonies for such unions emerged. After an enquiry from the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians in 1993, bishops set up a commission to reach a stance on the matter. An early stance on registered partnerships was reached in 1997. Bishops maintained that the ceremony of marriage was God's framework for the relation between a man and a woman, but this view of marriage

12480-424: The rebuilding of Protestant churches in Germany after 1945. By the time of his death in 1951, the federation represented 52 churches in 25 countries. The 20 largest member churches are (with number of members in millions; 2021 statistics): The President is the federation's chief official representative and spokesperson. The president presides at meetings of the Assembly, Council and Meeting of Officers, and oversees

12600-546: 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,

12720-589: The term state church and argue it is, as its name states, the "people's church". Article 66 of the Danish Constitution stipulates a church ordinance shall be laid down by law. This promissory clause dates back from the first Constitution of 1849 but was never put into practice. It was feared that splits could occur if a central authority were created. In very few cases have politicians deviated from their traditional hands-off course in church doctrinal matters. Where they have done so, it has been with

12840-500: 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

12960-540: The traditional church records were replaced by a new national electronic registration system called Personregistrering . After protests in 2005, the Minister for Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs Bertel Haarder announced that people who for various reasons did not want to send their registration forms (e.g. births and namings) to the local church office could now send their forms to a central office located in Nykøbing Falster . In 2010 parents' duty to report

13080-799: The various aspects of mission and development work. The Department for World Service is the LWF's humanitarian and development arm. It has programmes in 24 countries and is the UNHCR ninth largest implementing partner. The LWF is a member of ACT Alliance . On 31 October 1999, in Augsburg , Germany, the LWF signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church . The Catholic–Lutheran dialogue

13200-555: 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

13320-538: 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

13440-429: 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

13560-547: 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

13680-469: Was authorised in 2003. Both the Bible translations and the Hymn Book implied widespread public and theological debate. Historically, there is a contrast between a liberal current inspired by N. F. S. Grundtvig and more strict, pietist or Bible fundamentalist movements (such as Indre Mission ). These tensions have sometimes threatened to divide the Church. Tidehverv is a minor fraction based on

13800-440: Was distinguished from a legal ceremony, which was performed by a mayor or another municipal official. On 15 June 2012 the Church of Denmark made the decision to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies and not merely bless them; therefore Denmark now recognises same-sex marriages . In early 2012 Minister for Equality , Ecclesiastical Affairs and Nordic Cooperation , Manu Sareen introduced a bill approving same-sex marriage, which

13920-492: 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

14040-468: Was introduced in Denmark, but Lutheranism remained the state church. A religious community does not need any state approval in order to enjoy the freedom of religion granted by the constitution. However, state-approved congregations ( godkendte trossamfund ) enjoy several privileges. They may conduct legal weddings , establish own cemeteries , get residence permits for foreign priests, are exempt from corporate and property tax , may apply for means from

14160-528: Was not affected by the fact that some people chose to live in a responsible community with a person of the same sex, approved by society, i.e. a registered partnership. The bishops disapproved of institutionalising new rituals, but couples who wished a non-ritualised marking in church of their registered partnership should be obliged. In such cases, it would be up to the rector to decide, and he should seek advice from his bishop. At this time, many churches chose to bless registered partnerships, however this blessing

14280-525: Was passed in parliament in June 2012. A wedding ritual with liturgy has been developed and presented to parliament by the eleven bishops who are in favor of same-sex marriages being performed in church. Manu Sareen and a majority of bishops initially proposed the ritual would not declare the same-sex couple 'spouses', but 'life partners' ( livsfæller , a Danish neologism ), but the minister later changed his mind on this detail. Two conservative organisations within

14400-564: Was to coordinate international activities of the many Lutheran churches, to provide a forum for discussions on theological and organizational issues, and to assist in philanthropy, missionary activity, and exchange of students and professors. A key leader was Executive Secretary Sylvester C. Michelfelder (1889–1951), representing the American Lutheran Church . He had been a leader in organizing $ 45 million in American help for

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