105-471: The South Tyrolean People's Party ( German : Südtiroler Volkspartei , SVP ) is a regionalist and mostly Christian-democratic political party in South Tyrol , an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy . Dieter Steger has been party leader since 2024, while party member Arno Kompatscher has been governor of South Tyrol since 2014. Founded on 8 May 1945,
210-465: 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
315-782: A political manifesto in which it summarised its main values and policies. The manifesto highlights: The manifesto also describes the EPP's priorities for the EU, including: As a central part of its campaign for the European elections in 2009, the EPP approved its election manifesto at its Congress in Warsaw in April that year. The manifesto called for: Concerns that the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz and its leader Viktor Orbán were undermining
420-402: 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
525-612: 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
630-418: A close ally of Durnwalder. The internal divide was also displayed during the vote of confidence on Silvio Berlusconi 's fourth government in 2008: Pinzger and Thaler Ausserhofer abstained, while Brugger, Zeller and Peterlini voted against. Former chairman Philip Achammer is a member of the boards of all the three official factions. The Young Generation ( Junge Generation , JG) is the youth movement of
735-611: A combined 21.5% of the vote. During the electoral campaign the party did not endorse its traditional counterparts in Trentino (the Daisy Civic List / Union for Trentino , UpT, and the PATT), in order not to hurt the relations with Lega Nord (LN), whose Trentino section, Lega Trentino , provided the opposition candidate, Sergio Divina , who was however defeated Despite rumors on an alliance with Lega Alto Adige Südtirol , after
840-559: 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
945-487: A law, declaring a state of emergency within Hungary, granting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the right to rule by decree. On 3 March 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Fidesz would leave the EPP group after it changed its internal rules (to allow suspension and expulsion of multiple deputies and their groups), although Fidesz remained a suspended member of the EPP itself. On 18 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave
1050-660: A mere 17.6%. In the October election, the SVP won 45.7% of the vote in the province (–2.4pp) and lost its 65-year-long absolute majority. Both the German right-wing parties (whose combined share of the vote was 27.2%, +5.7%) and the Greens (8.7%, +2.9%) gained votes. Kompatscher obtained more than 80,000 preference votes and was appointed governor, in coalition with the PD. In May 2014, Theiner
1155-458: 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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#17327768062671260-696: 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
1365-700: A primary election, contested the 2018 general election in a joint list with the PATT, within the centre-left coalition . The German right-wing parties did not participate, leading the SVP to obtain 48.8% of the vote in the province (+4.6pp). However, due to the new electoral system, it secured four deputies, including one for the PATT, and three senators. For the Chamber, Plangger was elected in Meran (61.2%), Gebhard in Brixen (65.0%), Schullian and PATT's Emanuela Rossini from
1470-483: 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
1575-553: Is "the family of the political centre-right, whose roots run deep in the history and civilisation of the European continent, and [which] has pioneered the European project from its inception". The EPP was founded in Luxembourg on 8 July 1976 on the initiative of Jean Seitlinger ; Leo Tindemans , then Prime Minister of Belgium , who became the first President of the EPP; and Wilfried Martens , who later became both President of
1680-601: 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
1785-612: 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
1890-558: 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
1995-478: 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
2100-430: 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
2205-401: Is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Christian-democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives. On 31 May 2022, the party elected as its President Manfred Weber , who was also EPP's Spitzenkandidat in 2019. The EPP has been the largest party in
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#17327768062672310-535: 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
2415-611: 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
2520-477: Is led by Michael Epp . Since 2023 the faction is represented by 2 provincial concillors out of 13. Siegfried Brugger and Elmar Pichler Rolle , who led the party in 1992–2004 and 2004–2009 respectively, are centrist figures who worked for preserving internal unity. In order to prevent the party's break-up along right-left lines, in 2008 Perkmann, leader of the Arbeitnehmer , proposed a "federal reform" of
2625-565: 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
2730-614: Is not in the European People's Party". Orbán's campaigns targeting billionaire George Soros and Jean-Claude Juncker carried wide reverberations for Europe questioning the EPP's effort to install its lead candidate Manfred Weber as the next President of the European Commission . After years of deferring a decision about the Fidesz issue, the EPP was eventually compelled to address the problem two months before
2835-435: 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
2940-597: 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
3045-401: 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
3150-525: 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
3255-776: Is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ),
South Tyrolean People's Party - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-578: 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
3465-485: 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
3570-689: 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
3675-590: The 2006 general election , the party was part of the victorious The Union centre-left coalition, and garnered four deputies, including one for its sister-party in Trentino, the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT) – long-serving Siegfried Brugger, Karl Zeller , Johann Georg Widmann and PATT's Giacomo Bezzi –, and three senators – Helga Thaler Ausserhofer (representing the party's conservative wing), Oskar Peterlini (from
3780-639: 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
3885-476: The Brothers of Italy (FdI, 6.0%), Die Freiheitlichen (dF, 4.9%), Lega Alto Adige Südtirol (LAAST, 3.1%) and The Civic List (LC, 2.6%). Kompatscher, who favoured a centre-left coalition, stayed as governor. The new government was formed by eight ministers from the SVP and one each for FdI, dF and LAAST, while LC provided external support. In May 2024, Steger was elected party leader, replacing Achammer. In
3990-759: The CDU/CSU of Germany, ÖVP of Austria, CD&V of Belgium, PNL of Romania, Fine Gael of Ireland, National Coalition Party of Finland, New Democracy of Greece, the Moderates of Sweden, the People's Party (PP) of Spain, the Civic Platform of Poland, the Social Democratic Party of Portugal and the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria . According to its website, the EPP
4095-568: The Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
4200-537: 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
4305-879: The European Parliament since 1999 and in the European Council since 2002. It is also the largest party in the current European Commission . The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola are from the EPP. Many of the founding fathers of the European Union were also from parties that later formed the EPP. The EPP includes major centre-right parties such as
South Tyrolean People's Party - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-826: The European People's Party (EPP) from Italy, Forza Italia (FI) and the Union of the Centre (UdC). In the event, the SVP garnered 46.5% of the vote in the province and Dorfmann was re-elected to the European Parliament. In the 2022 general election , the SVP decided to run independently with PATT and the Trentino Project . In response, the centre-left coalition made deals with the Team K and Greens after this decision. The SVP obtained 44.1% (–4.7pp) of
4515-545: The European People's Party as an observer member in 1993 and became a full member later. In the 1996 and 2001 general election , the SVP was affiliated to The Olive Tree , on the Populars for Prodi list (led by the Italian People's Party ) and on its own list, respectively. In the 2003 provincial election , the SVP won 55.6% of the vote and 21 provincial councillors out of 35. Durnwalder, governor since 1989,
4620-504: The European People's Party Group of the European Parliament . Fidesz did not deliver on its earlier promise to leave the EPP in case of a penalty. In February 2020, the EPP extended the suspension of Fidesz indefinitely. On 2 April 2020, thirteen parties within the EPP issued a joint statement aimed at Donald Tusk, asking him to expunge Fidesz from the party. Three days before this, the Hungarian Parliament had passed
4725-417: 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
4830-522: 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
4935-508: The Greens (13.2%, +6.5%). However, Michl Ebner was elected MEP with more than 90,000 preferences and a Green, Sepp Kusstatscher (a former member of the internal left of the SVP), was elected too, the first time that the province had two MEPs. Also in 2004, the centrist Siegfried Brugger , party chairman since 1992, stepped down and was replaced by Elmar Pichler Rolle , another centrist. In
5040-746: 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
5145-431: The Italian Socialist Party ) and, since 1994, with some of its successor parties, including the Italian People's Party and the Democratic Union of Alto Adige , as well as the Democratic Party of the Left and, later, the Democrats of the Left and the Democratic Party . That coalition 25 years, until the party chose to team up with Lega Alto Adige Südtirol , local section of Lega Nord / Lega , in 2019. The coalition
5250-439: 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
5355-442: The South Tyrolean Homeland Federation , the Union for South Tyrol and Die Freiheitlichen can thus all be considered splits of the SVP. Within the party it is possible to identify three official internal factions: In August 2018 a new faction, Plattform Heimat (Homeland Platform), was launched. The grouping represents the party's right-wing, which has been weakened over the years by the competition of several right-wing parties and
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#17327768062675460-427: 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
5565-422: 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
5670-400: 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
5775-408: 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
5880-418: The 2019 European elections, as 13 outraged member parties requested the Hungarian party's exclusion from the EPP due to its billboard campaign featuring Jean-Claude Juncker. 190 of the 193 EPP delegates supported the common agreement with Fidesz on 20 March 2019 to partially suspend its membership. According to it, Fidesz was "until further notice" excluded from EPP meetings and internal elections, but remained in
5985-517: The Chamber was due both to the strong showing of Die Freiheitlichen (9.4%) on the right and the decision not to enter in alliance for the Chamber of Deputies either with the centre-left led by the Democratic Party (PD, 18.0%) – successor of the DS – or the centre-right led by The People of Freedom (PdL,16.0%). In the 2008 provincial election , the SVP won 48.1% of the vote in the province (–7.5%), while its right-wing rivals (The Freedomites, South Tyrolean Freedom and Union for South Tyrol ) gained
6090-437: The EPP and Prime Minister of Belgium. It had been preceded by the Secretariat International des partis démocratiques d'inspiration chrétienne , founded in 1925, the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales , founded in 1946 (or 1948), and the European Union of Christian Democrats , founded in 1965. In the late 1990s, the Finnish politician Sauli Niinistö negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union (EDU), of which he
6195-553: The EPP headquarters in Brussels as part of an investigation in Germany. Within the EPP there are three kinds of member organisations: full members, associate members and observers. Full members are parties from EU states. They have absolute rights to vote in all the EPP's organs and on all matters. Associate members have the same voting rights as full members except for matters concerning the EU's structure or policies. These associate members are parties from EU candidate countries and EFTA countries. Observer parties can participate in all
6300-614: 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
6405-399: The European People's Party. In June 2024, The Hungarian Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), who serve in government with Fidesz, left the European People's Party. That same month, members of the newly elected Hungarian Tisza Party led by Peter Magyar , a former Fidesz insider, applied to join EPP. In April 2023, Belgian police and German investigators carried out a raid at
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#17327768062676510-414: 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
6615-417: 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
6720-399: 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
6825-623: 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
6930-547: 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
7035-503: The Ladin section). The latter was replaced by Daniel Alfreider in 2012. Widmann would later leave the party in 2023. In the 2009 European Parliament election , due to the absence of its rival parties on the right, the SVP won 52.1% of the vote, electing Herbert Dorfmann . The SVP contested the 2013 general election as part of the centre-left coalition, Italy. Common Good . Some long-serving MPs, notably Siegfried Brugger and Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, chose not to run for re-election and
7140-408: 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
7245-437: The PD, the UpT and the PATT, contributed also to the election of centre-left or autonomist candidates in the constituency of Bolzano and in those of Trentino. On 21 April, in a party primary, the SVP selected Arno Kompatscher as its head of the list for the 2013 provincial election , in place of Durnwalder. Kompatscher, 42-year-old mayor of Völs am Schlern , won 82.4% of the vote, while former SVP leader Elmar Pichler Rolle
7350-452: The PR list. For the Senate, Julia Unterberger was elected in Merano (61.1%), Meinhard Durnwalder in Brixen (66.5%) and Dieter Steger from the PR list. The SVP's support granted the election of PD's candidates for the Chamber and the Senate in Bolzano, but for the first time the centre-left lost badly in Trentino, where the LN – re-styled as "Lega" – became the largest party. In the 2018 provincial election , incumbent governor Kompatscher
7455-519: The SVP has roots in the Deutscher Verband , a confederation of German-speaking parties formed in 1919 after the annexation of South Tyrol by Italy, which shared many of the same leading figures as the early SVP. An ethnic catch-all party, the SVP is aimed at representing South Tyrol's German-speaking population, as well as Ladin speakers . It is mainly Christian-democratic , but nevertheless quite diverse, including conservatives , liberals and social democrats . The party also gives special attention to
7560-482: 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
7665-456: 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
7770-519: 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
7875-448: The election the SVP continued its alliance with the PD, which was the largest party in Trentino. In April 2009, Richard Theiner , a member of the Arbeitnehmer ("employees") left-leaning wing, was elected party chairman, due to an agreement between the opposing factions. Since then he was assisted by three deputy chairpersons: Thomas Widmann ( Wirtschaft or "business" faction), Martha Stocker and Paola Bioc Gasser (representative of
7980-435: 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,
8085-481: 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
8190-639: The interests of farmers , which make up a good deal of its electorate, especially in Alpine valleys. From 1948 to 2013, the party retained an absolute majority in the Landtag of South Tyrol (Provincial Council). Its best result was 67.8% in the 1948 provincial election , its worst 34.5% in the 2023 provincial election . The SVP had a long-lasting alliance with Christian Democracy (plus the Italian Democratic Socialist Party or
8295-407: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . European People%27s Party The European People's Party ( EPP ) is a European political party with Christian democratic , liberal-conservative , and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it
8400-402: 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
8505-653: 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
8610-434: The party in order to join other parties, notably including Alfons Benedikter , a right-winger who launched the Union for South Tyrol in 1989, Christian Waldner , a conservative liberal who launched Die Freiheitlichen in 1992, Sepp Kusstatscher , a leftist who joined the Greens in 1999, and finally Roland Atz , who switched to Lega Alto Adige Südtirol in 2008. The Party of Independents / Freedom Party of South Tyrol ,
8715-466: The party in order to preserve its catch-all nature and simultaneously give more autonomy to its factions, which had been given an official status. The result was a mild reform of the party and the election to the party leadership in 2009 of a ticket composed by a leading member of the Arbeitnehmer , Richard Theiner, and a leading member of the Wirtschaft faction, Thomas Widmann, plus Martha Stocker ,
8820-735: The party selected its candidates through a primary election . In the general election, the SVP won 44.2% of the provincial vote (–0.1pp from 2008) and, being part of the coalition winning the national majority premium, obtained five deputies: Albrecht Plangger , Renate Gebhard , Daniel Alfreider, PATT's Mauro Ottobre and Manfred Schullian . For the Senate, the SVP ran alone in the constituencies of Merano and Brixen , winning both: in Merano outgoing deputy Karl Zeller took 53.5%, while in Brixen Hans Berger 55.4%. The SVP, in alliance with
8925-428: The party's social-democratic faction) and Manfred Pinzger . In the 2008 general election , the party obtained 44.3% (–9.1pp from 2006 and –16.2pp from 2001), returning only two deputies, Siegfried Brugger and Karl Zeller. In the Senate election, thanks to the plurality voting system, the SVP got its three senators – Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, Oskar Peterlini and Manfred Pinzger – re-elected. The low number of elects in
9030-643: The party, including all members at the age of 14 to 30. The electoral results of the SVP in South Tyrol since 1948 are shown in the chart below The electoral results of the SVP in South Tyrol since 1953 are shown in the table below. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It
9135-483: The post until 2013. Under Durnwalder's long reign, the SVP continued to be the largest party in the Province, garnering more than 50% of the vote in most elections, despite growing competition, chiefly from right-wing parties, i.e. the Union for South Tyrol and Die Freiheitlichen . Most importantly, Durnwalder managed to keep the party, often riven in internal disputes between opposing factions, united. The SVP joined
9240-462: 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
9345-516: The region. In German-speaking valleys the SVP has had almost no opposition for decades. The SVP is a member of the European People's Party (EPP), and its MEP sits in the EPP Group of the European Parliament . In the years the SVP suffered many splits reflecting the diverse composition of the party ( Tyrolean Homeland Party , Social Progressive Party of South Tyrol and Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol ) and many SVP leading members left
9450-471: The rule of law in Hungary caused a split in the EPP in the run-up of the 2019 European Parliament election . On one hand, the EPP had been reluctant for years to address Fidesz's stance against the rule of law, expressed by the Article 7 proceedings of the European Parliament . On the other hand, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker , a prominent EPP-member, stated "I believe his [Fidesz's] place
9555-409: The run-up of the 2024 European Parliament election , the SVP confirmed its electoral pact with FI. In the event, the SVP garnered 47.0% of the vote in the province and Dorfmann was re-elected to the European Parliament. The SVP is an example of a catch-all party. Its ideology ranges from Christian democracy to social democracy , due to the virtual absence of a true social-democratic rival party in
9660-546: 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,
9765-500: 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
9870-511: The vote at the provincial level. Fewer seats were at stake after the successful 2020 constitutional referendum . For the Chamber, Schullian was re-elected in Bolzano with 32.9%, Gebhard was re-elected in Brixen with 57.4% and incumbent senator Steger was elected from the PR list. For the Senate, the party's candidate narrowly lost in Bolzano, Unterberger was re-elected in Meran with 47.8% and Durnwalder
9975-555: 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
10080-600: 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
10185-429: 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
10290-547: 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
10395-799: Was enlarged to the Brothers of Italy , Die Freiheitlichen and The Civic List after the 2023 provincial election. The SVP has a sister party in Trentino , the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT). In the Italian Parliament the SVP teams up with other regionalist parties, notably including the Valdostan Union from Aosta Valley , while at the European level it is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and has recently formed electoral pacts with Forza Italia , Italy's main EPP member. In 1989, Silvius Magnago , long-time SVP leader and governor of South Tyrol since 1960, handed his office to Luis Durnwalder , who would keep
10500-492: 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
10605-659: Was president, into the EPP. In October 2002, the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts, Niinistö was elected Honorary President of the EPP the same year. The EPP has had seven Presidents: During its Congress in Bucharest in 2012, the EPP updated its political platform after 20 years (since its Congress in Athens in 1992) and approved
10710-423: Was re-elected in Brixen with 46.1%. In the 2023 provincial election , the party was reduced to 34.5% of the vote (–7.4pp), with Kompatscher as the most voted candidate. That was due to the competition from a number of right-wing and populist German-speaking parties (combined 25.0% of the vote), as well as the split of For South Tyrol with Widmann (3.4%). After the election, the SVP chose to pursue an alliance with
10815-462: Was replaced by Philipp Achammer as party's chairman. Daniel Alfreider, Zeno Christanell and Angelika Wiedmer were appointed vice chairpersons. Kompatscher and 28-year-old Achammer formed an entirely new leadership team and represented the party's renewal. In the 2014 European Parliament election , the SVP won 48.0% of the vote in the province and Dorfmann was re-elected to the European Parliament. The SVP, which again chose its candidates through
10920-620: Was returned for the fourth time in office, in coalition composed by the Democrats of the Left (DS) and the Democratic Union of Alto Adige . In the 2004 European Parliament election , the SVP formed an electoral alliance with The Olive Tree joint list, including the DS. The party's share of votes fell below 50% for the first time, to 46.7% (–9.3pp from 1999, mainly because of the big win of
11025-424: Was the party's leading candidate. In the election on 21 October 2018, the party gained 41.9% (–3.8pp). The PD, SVP's traditional ally, did so poorly that the SVP needed to find a new coalition partner: after long negotiations, the party chose to team up with Lega Alto Adige Südtirol in 2019. Additionally, for the 2019 European Parliament election , the party formed an electoral pact with the other two main members of
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