125-631: Middle Rhine ( German : Mittelrhein , pronounced [ˈmɪtl̩ˌʁaɪn] ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine ) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge ( Oberes Mittelrheintal ), a formation created by erosion , which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and
250-465: 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
375-402: 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
500-734: A specified area for quality wine . The Romans introduced viticulture into the Region. That is, they introduced it into the Moselle valley; it spread into the Middle Rhine Valley during the Middle Ages. This development took place in four phases from the 11th to the end of the 14th century. An essential element of this development was the new technique of terrace viticulture. Vines are grown on terraces sloping from 25° to 30° and more. The climate favours wine production, as both
625-612: 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
750-401: A bridge, a master plan is to be presented to demonstrate the need for new bridge and compatibility with World Heritage status. Only further consultations can reveal whether problems similar to those in the former World Heritage Site Dresden Elbe Valley can be avoided. Various explanations by the state government notwithstanding, reports that consent of UNESCO had been granted after discussions
875-400: A day job, and grew wine as a secondary occupation. New sources of income were the sparkling wine industry and wine bars serving tourists attracted by the Rhine romanticism . After 1870 the railways brought new problems: cheaper and better foreign competition and the advent of vine insects of America and France ( powdery mildew , phylloxera , downy mildew and vine moth ). The deeper cause of
1000-559: 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
1125-459: A land consolidation in the 1960s. Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the old stone walls, a valuable habitat for microorganisms was lost. Some old style terraces are still in use in the Middle Rhine Valley. They continue to use the old technique of binding each vine to a separate pole. In the Middle Ages, wine was the only non-germinated storable drink for the common people, as beer was often expensive and of poor quality, water in urban areas
1250-511: A major tourist attraction since the 19th century. It is also home to some 450,000 people. The valley owes its special appearance to both its natural shape and human alterations. For two millennia , it has been one of the most important routes for cultural exchange between the Mediterranean region and northern Europe . Situated in the heart of Europe, it was sometimes a border and sometimes a bridge between different cultures. The history of
1375-458: 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
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#17327723638091500-696: 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
1625-483: 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
1750-582: Is Brasília, turned out to be premature. According to the UNESCO commission, a decision could be reached in the summer of 2011 at the earliest. The Rhine Cable Car that was constructed for the Federal Garden Show 2011 in Koblenz also posed a threat to world heritage status. For this reason, the garden show organisers agreed with UNESCO on an inconspicuous design of the cable car structures and
1875-561: Is a UNESCO World Heritage Site , a striking cultural landscape with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages , unique terraced vineyards , and many wine villages. The lower half, from Koblenz (Rhine-kilometer 593) to Bonn (Rhine-kilometer 655), is famous for the formerly volcanic Siebengebirge , with the Drachenfels volcano. Both parts together are known as "the romantic Rhine". The Middle Rhine Valley has been
2000-717: 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
2125-601: 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
2250-582: Is a synonym for Rhine romanticism like no other. It did not just encourage the acceptance of the existing castles, it also encouraged their restoration and the building of even more castles. The Electoral Palace in Koblenz was the last residence of the Electors of Trier. It was demolished by the French revolutionary army. The most powerful fortress in Rhineland-Palatinate, Koblenz Fortress ,
2375-612: 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
2500-558: 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
2625-478: 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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#17327723638092750-430: 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
2875-535: 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
3000-611: 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
3125-565: 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
3250-435: 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
3375-597: 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
3500-401: 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
3625-525: Is situated close to the western (left) bank of the river Rhine and mostly aligned to allow 160 km/h operation between Cologne and Koblenz and between Bingen and Mainz. Line speed between Koblenz and Bingen is restricted by the meandering nature of the Rhine Gorge , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The first section of the line opened on 15 February 1844, by the Bonn–Cologne Railway Company ( Bonn-Cölner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) between
3750-525: 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
3875-655: Is the Andernach Geyser , which at 50 to 60 metres (160 to 200 ft) is the highest cold-water geyser in the world. On 7 July 2006, the geyser was reactivated for tourists. There are major railway lines on both sides of the river: the West Rhine Railway on the left and the East Rhine Railway on the right. Major roads are the federal roads B9 and B42, and the Rhine itself is a major international waterway. The most important cities on
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4000-578: 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
4125-485: 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
4250-689: 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
4375-673: The Königshof ("Royal Court"), outside the city gate. Bacharach was a founding member of the League of Rhine Cities in 1254. King Louis IV the Bavarian resided in Bacharach at the time. The painted Volto Santo by Lucca in the local St. Peter's church is testimony to the reverence for the reverence Louis held for the Lucca archetype and the cultural exchange between imperial Italy and
4500-639: 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
4625-583: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prussia annexed the Nassau areas on right bank. Steamships were introduced on the Rhine from about 1830. Railway lines were constructed from 1857. Neither innovation led to industrialization in the narrow Rhine valley. As late as 1900, viticulture dominated the economic structure of the Middle Rhine, with its small cities and agriculture. After the end of
4750-648: The Count Palatine had gained influence on the Middle Rhine since Hermann of Stahleck in 1142. Most of the forty castles in the area between Bingen and Koblenz arose during this period as a sign of mutual competition. These castles are interesting examples of late medieval military architecture. They were partly influenced by developments in France, Italy and the Crusader states. The Counts of Katzenelnbogen in particular, excelled as castle builders. They built
4875-537: 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
5000-417: 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
5125-657: The First World War in November 1918, the left bank of the Rhine and 50 km wide strip on the right bank were declared a "demilitarized zone". At first the Americans administered this territory, after 1923 the French. In the Rhineland, the change from a monarchy to a republic went almost unnoticed. The plan, in 1923, to build a " Rhenish Republic " failed. The French withdrew their troops again in 1929. After
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5250-522: 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
5375-746: 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
5500-759: The Nahe Valley Railway to Saarbrücken . In Koblenz, the Pfaffendorf Bridge over the Rhine was completed in 1864 to connect to the Right Rhine line to Niederlahnstein and Wiesbaden . With the construction of the Horchheim Bridge south of Koblenz, opened in 1879, and the Urmitz Bridge north of Koblenz, opened in 1918, this bridge was progressively given over to pedestrian, vehicular and, eventually, tram traffic and
5625-666: 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
5750-676: 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
5875-550: 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
6000-460: 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
6125-555: The Upper Middle Rhine Valley , the breakthrough by the Rhine through the Rhenish Slate Mountains created this configuration. The valley with its steep rocky slopes, which forced users to create terraces, which shaped the valley over the centuries. It was particularly influenced by the vineyards on terraces (since the 8th century), shale mining and coppicing . Agriculture was possible only on
6250-408: 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
6375-439: The 12th century and the power of the Princes grew. Between 1220 and 1231, several important rights ( regalia ) were transferred to the spiritual ( Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis ) and temporal ( Statutum in favorem principum ) princes of the empire. From 1273, the Emperor was elected by the Electors; in 1356 imperial fiefs became territorial states. This was also the period when most castles were constructed. Four of
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#17327723638096500-540: The 1960s, 92% of the slopes was consolidated into larger vineyards. Nevertheless, the wine industry declined further, due to lack of profits. In 1950 the Mittelrhein region boasted 1,448 hectares (3,580 acres) of vines under cultivation. In 1989 it had fallen by 53% to 681 hectares (1,680 acres), and from 1989 to 2009 the total area of viticulture in the Middle Rhine region shrunk by a further 19% to 438 hectares (1,080 acres). German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
6625-420: The 5th century, the Alamanni and Franks forced the Romans to withdraw from the area. They took over the Roman cities and the Franconians began founding new cities of their own. Unlike the old Roman cities, the new Franconian cities were independent of the old Roman farmsteads; agriculture and livestock farming took place inside the city. These cities can be recognized by their names ending in -heim . At
6750-416: The Counts dies out in 1479, this territory is inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse . The grandsons of Charlemagne split his Empire in the Treaty of Verdun of 843, which they prepared in the Basilica of St. Castor in Koblenz in 842. The left bank of the Rhine between Bacharach and Koblenz falls to Middle Francia . In 925, Middle Francia is finally becomes the Duchy of Lorraine within East Francia ,
6875-614: 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
7000-431: The Frankish immigrants. The Roman settlements, especially the fortified cities in the Middle Rhine Valley, were taken by the Franconian Kings as Crown possessions. Almost all of the territory between Bingen and Remagen, including the cities of Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar, Boppard, Koblenz and Sinzig, were in royal ownership. The enfeoffment of individual parts of the empire began in the 8th century and continued until
7125-414: 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
7250-399: The German Empire. The Rhine remains the heartland of the royal power, or Vis maxima regni as Otto of Freising called it, until in 1138 Conrad III is elected King of Germany in Koblenz, the first King of the House of Hohenstaufen . The late Middle Ages were marked on the Middle Rhine by the territorial fragmentation. In addition to the spiritual Electors of Cologne, Mainz and Trier,
7375-417: 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
7500-399: 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
7625-623: 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
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#17327723638097750-547: 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
7875-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
8000-408: 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
8125-400: The Marksburg, Rheinfels Castle, Reichenberg Castle and Katz Castle . Another outstanding ruler in the 14th century was Elector and Archbishop Baldwin of Trier from the House of Luxembourg . His brother King Henry VII , Count of Luxembourg and Roman-German King from 1308, had pledged him the imperial cities of Boppard and Oberwesel, two of the around twenty cities and towns established on
8250-429: The Middle Rhine (for example, cherry growing in Bad Salzig , like it was practiced in Normandy ). This partly replaced the viticulture, which had declined sharply at the end of the 18th century. The French included the Middle Rhine area in the department of Rhin-et-Moselle , with its seat in Koblenz. The new government replaced the German princes with French secular rulers, abolished the feudal system, seized land from
8375-400: The Middle Rhine form a wine-growing region of the same name . The name Rhine Gorge refers to the narrow gorge of the Rhine flowing through the Rhenish Slate Mountains between Bingen am Rhein and Rüdesheim am Rhein in the South and Bonn- Bad Godesberg and Bonn- Oberkassel in the North. Between Rüdesheim and Lorch , the left bank belongs to the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate ;
8500-460: The Middle Rhine. Landgrave by Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse introduced the doctrine of the Reformation in the Katzenelnbogn area in 1527. In 1545 the Reformation reached the area of the Electorate of the Palatinate through Elector Frederick II . The Thirty Years' War broke out in 1618 from the struggle between the Catholics and the Protestants and the political tensions in the German Empire. France, Spain and Sweden intervened. When peace
8625-419: The Nahe and the Moselle estuary rich already in use in pre-Roman times. The Roman development of the route overlaps in large sections with the route of the modern Bundesautobahn 61 The Romans settled in the area of the Middle Rhine from the mid-1st century BC to about 400 AD. An important factor was the construction of the Roman Rhine Valley Road between the provincial capitals Mainz and Cologne along
8750-451: The Rhine and the slate and greywacke weathered soils function as a heat storage that helps prevent large temperature fluctuations. Additionally, the steep slopes function to drain cold air from the valley. This is particularly beneficial for the late-ripening Riesling , which as of 2010 was grown on about 68% of the total area under viticulture. The terraced vineyards used to be much smaller. The current situation has emerged only after
8875-486: The Rhine and the Moselle. In 83—85 a limes was constructed between the Rhine and the Danube , to protect a weak section of the border. In the 2nd century, the Romans ventured onto the right bank of the Rhine and constructed a fortress at Niederlahnstein . Emperors Constantine and Valentinian safeguarded the frontier by constructing fortresses in Koblenz are ( Confluentes ) and Boppard ( Bodobrica ) with strong walls and round towers, of which remnants remain. In
9000-416: The Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz in the 13th and 14th century that had city rights and similar freedoms. Not all of those city rights have resulted in effective urban development, but in almost all these places more or less extensive remnants of the fortifications remain to this day. Boppard and Oberwesel resisted of integration into a modern territorial state for a long time. Boppard fought battles for
9125-595: The Upper Middle Rhine Valley" is the narrow Rhine Valley from [Bingen and Rüdesheim to Koblenz. On 27 June 2002, the UNESCO included this unique landscape in the list of the World Heritage sites. Recognition as a "cultural landscape" requires under the terms of the criteria an integrated landscape space that has a certain uniqueness and where humans experience an unusual configuration. In
9250-490: The appointment of Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933 the enthusiasm on the Middle Rhine was great. In many places, Hitler was named an honorary citizen. Jewish and other non-Christian officials were replaced by party functionaries. The Jews , who had played a significant role in small town business were robbed and driven out, some of them murdered. The Battle of Remagen during the Allied invasion of Germany resulted in
9375-652: The bridge. The French again took up the administration of the territory in its occupation zone. At end of 1946, the Americans created the State Hesse in their occupation zone; six months later the French founded of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate . Although some areas were combined in the new states that historically do not belong together, a sense of togetherness quickly appeared. The desire for state boundaries more in line with historical territorial boundaries, however, never ceased entirely. The "cultural landscape of
9500-589: The capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine and shortened World War II in Europe. Damage during the battle caused the bridge's collapse on March 17, 1945, but only after the Allies had gained a foothold on the eastern side of the bridge. By March 21, Allied forces had ended the war's hostilities on the Middle Rhine. Because of the battle's outcome, Hitler ordered a court-martial that sentenced to death five officers that had been involved in defending
9625-474: The church and nobility in order to resell it and introduced French-style legislation. On New Year's Day 1814, an army under general Blücher crossed the Rhine at Kaub . This marked the end of the French rule, the final defeat of Napoleon and the beginning of Prussian rule over the Middle Rhine. On the Congress of Vienna in 1815 Prussia received its " Watch on the Rhine " on the left bank. The right bank
9750-739: The cities' defenses. The city of Koblenz was reconstructed in the 18th century and is characterized by the style of early classicism. After the French Revolutionary Wars , the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by the French Republic and later the French Empire. Prefect Lezay-Marnésia, who resided in Koblenz began restoring the road on the left bank, which had not been maintained after the Romans had left and had fallen into disuse. He also promoted fruit production in
9875-427: The city dwellers in check. By the end of the 14th century, firearms were introduced in the area. Structural responses were needed, which only wealthy castle owners could afford. Many castles lost their strategic importance to firearms in this period. Most castles declined slowly or were abandoned. In the Thirty Years' War , many castles were destroyed by passing troops. The final destruction of almost all castles
10000-567: The decline were the changed socio-economic conditions. Until the 19th century, there were few other opportunities for paid employment in the Rhine Valley, so many workers migrated to areas where the emerging manufacturing industries were creating new employment opportunities. The economic situation on the left bank improved after the Second World War . Until then, the only industries on the left bank were viticulture and tourism. In
10125-535: The demolition of the cable car after three years. With a few exceptions, the castles in the Middle Rhine Valley were constructed between the 12th century and the first half of the 14th century. They were usually built on the middle terraces that were created during the formation of the valley. In the 10th and 11th century, castle building had been a privilege of the king and high nobility. Structures from this period were usually made of wood or rammed earth and have not survived. The weakening of imperial power began in
10250-535: 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
10375-456: 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
10500-564: The early 14th century. Beneficiaries of the gifts were, among others, the abbots of Prüm and Trier and of the Abbey of St. Maximin and the Archbishops of Cologne, Trier, Mainz and Magdeburg . The Counts of Katzenelnbogen are also governors of the Abbey of Prüm and this allow them to establish their own territory around their seat Burg Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar. When the male line of
10625-519: 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
10750-771: The end of the 5th century, the Merovingian king Clovis founded the Franconian Kingdom . Although the Roman population of the area declined steadily, the people spoke a Franco-Roman dialect and the language of administration was Latin . Grave inscriptions from the 4th to the 8th century in Boppard, in the St. Severus Church and the Carmelite Church prove the survival of a small Roman population in addition to
10875-542: The forest of Brey and the ring walls on the Dommelberg in Koblenz and on the giant hill at St. Goarshausen. On the western border of the Middle Rhine region, there are also traces of a Celtic settlement, with the grave pillar of Pfalzfeld and the Waldalgesheim chariot burial . In the 4th century BCE, the area had come under the influence of Mediterranean civilizations. The north-south link between mouth of
11000-677: The former station of Cologne St. Pantaleon Cologne and Bonn. It was extended on 21 January 1856, south to Rolandseck station and in 1859 north to the Cologne central station . After the takeover by the Rhenish Railway Company ( Rheinische Eisenbahn Gesellschaft , RhE) on 1 January 1857 the line was extended in 1858 through Remagen and Andernach and crossed the Moselle to Koblenz via the Moselle railway bridge, opened on 11 November 1858. The particularly beautiful section of
11125-525: The freedom of the city in 1327 and 1497. The grave stone in the popular "wide-track bully" type in the Carmelite church of Boppard of the knight Sifrid of Schwalbach, who fell in 1497, is a testimony to this struggle for local liberties which erupted for the last time in the Palatine Peasants' War of 1525. The City Castle of Boppard, built by Baldwin of Trier in 1340, however, is a monument of
11250-435: 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,
11375-481: 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
11500-462: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . West Rhine Railway The West Rhine railway (German: Linke Rheinstrecke , literally 'left (bank of the) Rhine route') is a famously picturesque, double-track electrified railway line running for 185 km from Cologne via Bonn , Koblenz , and Bingen to Mainz . It
11625-702: The last train used it at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. From 1861 the Nassau State Railways established a train ferry between Bingen and Rüdesheim am Rhein ; this was converted to a passenger ferry in 1900. From 1870 to 1914 another train ferry operated between Bonn and Oberkassel to transfer trains between the West Rhine line and the East Rhine railway . During the First World War three strategic Rhine crossings were built at
11750-584: The left bank are Bingen, Bacharach , Oberwesel , St. Goar , Boppard and Koblenz on the Upper Middle Rhine and Andernach , Bad Breisig , Sinzig , Remagen and Bonn on the Lower Middle Rhine. On the right bank are Rüdesheim, Assmannshausen , Lorch, Kaub , St. Goarshausen , Braubach and Lahnstein on the Upper Middle Rhine and Vallendar , Bendorf , Neuwied, Bad Hönningen , Linz am Rhein , Bad Honnef and Königswinter on
11875-633: The left bank of the Rhine, both on the plateau (northbound from Rheinböllen ) as on the left bank in the Valley (the route of the modern highway Bundesautobahn 9 ). The Rhine was the border of the Roman Empire, which is why the road had to be constructed on the left bank, just inside the Empire. Traces of significant road construction have been identified near Stahleck Castle at Bacharach. The cities of Bingen ( Bingium ) and Koblenz ( Confluentes ) are
12000-683: The line between Koblenz and Bingerbrück (now called Bingen Hbf ), which runs close to the river through this winding section of the Rhine Valley was opened on 15 December 1859. Bingerbrück station was at the time on the border of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Hesse . Here it connected with the Rhine-Main line of the Hessian Ludwig Railway ( Hessische Ludwigsbahn ), opened on 17 October 1859, from Mainz and
12125-680: The line was one of the busiest in Germany. The fastest trains connecting the Rhineland and southern Germany ran on the line. The importance of the line for long distance travel has diminished since the opening of the high-speed line. The line is now generally used by one InterCity or Intercity-Express service (stopping at Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz) each hour, one Regional-Express train each hour (the Rhein-Express to Koblenz Hauptbahnhof and one RegionalBahn (stopping) train each hour in each direction, as well as by many freight trains. Before
12250-526: The lower part. Larger tributaries on the left include Nahe , Moselle and Ahr ; on the right Lahn and Wied . The most outstanding castles are the Marksburg , the only undamaged hilltop castle in the Middle Rhine Valley, the Burg Pfalzgrafenstein , on a rocky island in the middle of the Rhine, and Rheinfels Castle , which was developed into a fortress over time. Stolzenfels Castle
12375-402: 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
12500-653: 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
12625-490: The plateaus. The valley is unique in its variety of over 40 castles along only 65 kilometres (40 mi) of the stream. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley is the epitome of the Romantic Rhine landscape and also a traditional transport axis (important shipping lane, two highways and two railway lines). When the world cultural heritage status was granted, UNESCO pointed out that the noise generated by traffic (in particular,
12750-462: 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
12875-511: The railway lines) is a problem. Concrete measures but were neither recommended nor required. Nevertheless, the Rudesheim section was scheduled to be routed through a tunnel (construction began in 2011). The Rhineland-Palatinate state government plans to construct a new Middle Rhine Bridge near St. Goar and St. Goarshausen. This should be coordinated with UNESCO. On 29 July 2010, UNESCO announced in this regard that before further planning of
13000-880: The request of the German generals in order to bring troops and war materials to the Western Front . The Bingen–Rüdesheim ferry was replaced by the Hindenburg Bridge , built between 1913 and 1915 and connecting the East Rhine line with the West Rhine railway and the Nahe Valley Railway. From 1916 to 1918, the Neuwied–Koblenz line , including the Crown Prince Wilhelm Bridge, was built between Urmitz and Neuwied - Engers . The Ludendorff Bridge between Erpel and Remagen
13125-471: The right bank belongs to the wine region of Rheingau in the state of Hesse . Downstream of Lorch, both banks belong to Rhineland-Palatinate until the river crosses the border with North Rhine-Westphalia shortly before Bonn . The Middle Rhine basin at Neuwied separates the upper and lower halves of the Middle Rhine. On the Namedyer Werth peninsula (between Rhine-kilometer 614.2 and 615.5),
13250-425: The seven Electors held territories in the Middle Rhine Valley. The political landscape was a patchwork, as the parts of these territories were not connected. initially, the castles served to secure territory. In the late 12th century, the princes discovered customs revenue as a source of income and some castles were built to control customs. Castles were also built outside cities to keep the aspirations to freedom of
13375-508: The sites of early Roman fortresses , and Oberwesel ( Vosolvia ) housed a Roman Mansio . The fortresses protected agriculture and natural resources against the Germanic tribes of the Tencteri , Usipetes , Menapii and Eburones . The agricultural settlements in the hinterland provided for the people in the cities and military camps. The Romans used the Rhine for shipping. In the 1st century CE, bridges were constructed at Koblenz across
13500-546: 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,
13625-575: The suppression of urban autonomy by territorial princes. Since the territories of the four Rhenish electors lie close together on the Middle Rhine, these cities have been the venue for countless historically important events, such as imperial diets , electoral diets, royal elections and princely weddings. The most important of these events was the Declaration of Rhense in 1338. Boppard was especially frequently visited ed by German Kings and Emperors. The rulers would then reside with their entourage in
13750-547: The surrounding lands raised. This gorge is quite deep, about 130 metres (430 ft) from the top of the rocks down to the average water-line. The Middle Rhine is one of four sections of the Rhine between Lake Constance and the North Sea (the others being the High Rhine , Upper Rhine and Lower Rhine ). The upper half of the Middle Rhine (Rhine Gorge) from Bingen (Rhine-kilometer 526) to Koblenz (Rhine-kilometer 593)
13875-500: 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
14000-426: The valley reflects the history of Western Europe. With its many outstanding monuments , its hills full of vines , its settlements crowded on the narrow river banks, and the rows of castles lined up on the hill tops, it is considered the epitome of the Rhine romanticism . It inspired Heinrich Heine to write his famous poem " Lorelei " and Richard Wagner to write his opera Götterdämmerung . The vineyards along
14125-555: 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
14250-600: 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
14375-429: 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
14500-547: 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
14625-538: Was brought about by Louis XIV's troops during the War of the Palatine Succession . Only the high castles Festung Ehrenbreitstein , Marksburg and Burg Rheinfels were spared. With the advent of Rhine romanticism after 1815, many castles were rebuilt. The Middle Rhine geographical region is largely identical to the geographical region to the Middle Rhine wine region, as defined by the German wine law as
14750-642: Was built from 1916 to 1919. It connected the East and West Rhine railway lines and the strategically important Ahr Valley Railway . The Hindenburg, Ludendorff and Kronprinz-Wilhelm Bridges were destroyed in World War II . Only the Crown Prince Wilhelm Bridge was rebuilt, as the Urmitz bridge, in 1954. The line was electrified in 1959. Until the opening of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line ,
14875-519: Was built in the 19th century by the Prussians. Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , once part of the fortification system, dominates the Rhine Valley to this day. The following castles are found along the Middle Rhine, in downstream order: The terraces of the Middle Rhine Valley have been inhabited since the early Iron Age . Evidence of this are the barrow fields around the city forest of Boppard and in
15000-409: Was divided into many small parcels. By the end of the 16th century this industry was booming. The Thirty Years' War then caused recession and decline. Prices of beer, tea and coffee dropped, causing profit margins on wine to shrink. After 1815, the left bank was Prussian and the economic situation improved. The 1839 German customs union led to strong competition. Many farmers found themselves
15125-489: Was established in 1648, the country was economically ruined with and half the population having died from the fighting, disease or famine. During the 17th century, the Middle Rhine was increasingly the scene of a long-lasting conflict between Germany and France . After devastation of the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Palatine Succession brought in 1688–1692 further destruction of castles and fortifications part of
15250-492: 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
15375-488: Was held by Hesse-Nassau . Prussia secured its supremacy by the construction of the great fortress at Koblenz from 1817 onwards. After 1830, most of the changes introduced by French rulers were abolished in the Rhine Province and the old corporate state (nobility, cities, farmers) was rebuilt. The nobles resumed the political power; the educated middle class had almost no political influence outside of towns. After
15500-453: Was usually polluted and coffee and tea were still unknown. A regional speciality of the four valleys around Bacharach is Feuerwein , a specially treated wine that was traded far to the North. It now again being manufactured at Posthof in Bacharach. It was one of the dominant items of trade in the Middle Ages, fostered by the Rhine as the most important waterway, and existing Roman roads. It
15625-399: Was valued by landlords, as growing wine appreciated the value of their land. The legal, social and economic situation of the workers improved as more and more workers with critical skills were needed. In the late Middle Ages, the economy flourished and the majority of the population was dependent on wine growing. After the dissolution of many Lordships, land ownership fragmented and the land
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