149-648: Stadtbahn ( German pronunciation: [ˈʃtatˌbaːn] ; German for 'city railway'; plural Stadtbahnen ) is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport . One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna , where rail routes were created that could be used independently from other traffic. In the 1960s and 1970s, Stadtbahn networks were created again but now by upgrading tramways or light rail lines. This process includes adding segments built to rapid transit standards – usually as part of
298-465: 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
447-540: A langue d'oïl , the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , has characteristics of these three languages and was likely written in or very near to what is now Wallonia around 880 AD . From the 4th to the 7th century, the Franks established several settlements, probably mostly in the north of the province where the romanization was less advanced and some Germanic trace was still present. The language border (that now splits Belgium in
596-402: 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
745-612: 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
894-651: A formal split of the university in two and the creation of a brand new campus in Wallonia, a wider series of State reforms was passed in Belgium , which resulted in the federalisation of the nation and the creation of the Walloon Region and the French Community (comprising both Wallonia and Brussels), administrative entities each of which would gain various levels of considerable autonomy. Wallonia
1043-454: A full-scale metro system due to the excessive costs associated with converting the tramways. Most Stadtbahn systems are now a mixture of tramway-like operations in suburban and peripheral areas and a more metro-like mode of operation in city centres, with underground stations. This 20th century Stadtbahn concept eventually spread from Germany to other European countries, where it became known as pre-metro . The term Stadtbahn first arose in
1192-500: A fully separated U-Bahn (metro) network independent of other forms of transport, others planned for a lesser degree of separation, one that would accommodate additional tram-like sections in the long run. For both the interim and the long-term based concepts, the following terms came into use U-Straßenbahn or Untergrund-Straßenbahn ('underground tramway', abbreviated as U-Strab , Schnellstraßenbahn ('rapid tramway'), and finally Stadtbahn . An older term already used in
1341-559: 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
1490-814: A major philanthropist and gave its name to the Solvay Institute of Sociology , the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the Université libre de Bruxelles . In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the Solvay Conferences on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry. Georges Lemaître of
1639-458: 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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#17327733003381788-554: A part of the southern coast of the late London-Brabant Massif . The valley, along with Haine and Vesdre valleys form the sillon industriel , the historical centre of the Belgian coalmining and steelmaking industry, and is also called the Walloon industrial backbone. Due to their long industrial historic record, several segments of the valley have received specific names: Borinage , around Mons , le Centre , around La Louvière ,
1937-696: 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
2086-481: A process of conversion to a metro railway – mainly by the building of metro-grade tunnels in the central city area. In the first years after the opening of the tunnel sections, often regular trams vehicles (but adapted for tunnel service) were used. These trams were followed by specially designed vehicles like the Stadtbahn B series. By the 1980s virtually all cities had abandoned the long-term goal of establishing
2235-483: 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
2384-491: A square containing the word 'Tram'. Although the design is the same nationwide, the colour varies from city to city to match local public transport operators' systems of colour-coding. The logo is part of the 'S logo scheme' initially developed by Berlin public transport operator BVG , based on the established logos for urban metro ('U', for U-Bahn ) and suburban metro ('S', for S-Bahn ) and including bus ('Bus') and ferry ('F', for Fähre ) operations. The logo also helped spread
2533-548: Is Elio Di Rupo . Following several state reforms , especially the 1993 state reform, Belgium became a federal state made up of three communities and three regions, with Wallonia being represented by the Walloon Region and its two language communities. The directly elected Walloon Parliament was created in June 1995, replacing the Conseil régional wallon (Regional Council of Wallonia). The first Council had sat on 15 October 1980 and
2682-434: Is landlocked , with an area of 16,901 km (6,526 sq mi), or 55 percent of the total area of Belgium. The Sambre and Meuse valley , from Liège (70 m (230 ft)) to Charleroi (120 m (390 ft)) is an entrenched river in a fault line which separates Middle Belgium (elevation 100–200 m (330–660 ft)) and High Belgium (200–700 m (660–2,300 ft)). This fault line corresponds to
2831-601: 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
2980-466: Is a relatively flat and agriculturally fertile area. The south and southeast of Wallonia is made up of the Ardennes , an expanse of forested highland that is less densely populated. There is a German-speaking minority in eastern Wallonia, resulting from the annexation of three cantons previously part of the German Empire at the conclusion of World War I . This community represents less than 1% of
3129-541: Is achieved by giving the trams their own right of way on the surface. Stadtbahn in this wider meaning is thus not a clearly defined concept, but a vague one linked to a set of attributes, much in the same way that Straßenbahn ('tram') is linked to very different, sometimes mutually incompatible attributes. A system that is called Stadtbahn today may not have all of the Stadtbahn attributes: barrier-free access, higher cruising speed than tramways, doors on both sides of
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#17327733003383278-556: Is almost entirely composed of members of Wallonia's and Brussels' parliaments, so the bodies are governed by the same individuals. Additionally, the French Community of Belgium has controversially begun referring to itself exclusively as the 'Wallonia-Brussels Federation' to emphasize the links between the French Community, Wallonia and Brussels. The Walloon Region has a unicameral parliament with 75 members elected for five years by direct universal suffrage , and an executive,
3427-596: Is also home to the small German-speaking Community of Belgium in the east, which has its own government and parliament for culture-related issues. Although in Flanders , the Flemish Region assigned all of its powers to the Flemish Community , the Walloon Region remains in principle distinct from and independent from the French Community, and vice versa. Despite this, the French Community's parliament
3576-612: 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
3725-596: Is also official. The German-speaking Community of Belgium accounts for about 2% of the region's population. Belgian French , which is also spoken in the Brussels-Capital Region , is similar to that spoken in France, with slight differences in pronunciation and some vocabulary differences, notably the use of the words septante (70) and nonante (90), as opposed to soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix in France. There are noticeable Walloon accents, with
3874-558: 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
4023-478: 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
4172-430: 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
4321-453: Is currently an effort to revive Walloon dialects; some schools offer language courses in Walloon, and Walloon is also spoken in some radio programmes, but this effort remains very limited. Literature is written principally in French but also in Walloon and other regional languages, colloquially called Walloon literature. Walloon literature (regional language not French) has been printed since
4470-415: Is divided into five provinces , 20 arrondissements and 262 cities or municipalities . The province of Walloon Brabant is the most recent one, being formed in 1995 after the splitting of the province of Brabant . The largest cities in Wallonia are: The 10 largest groups of foreign residents in 2018 are: Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared since the beginning of
4619-535: 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
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4768-611: 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
4917-417: Is high on the political agenda, and the government is encouraging development of industries, notably in cutting-edge technology and in business parks. The economy is improving, but Wallonia is not yet at the level of Flanders and is still suffering from difficulties. The current Walloon economy is relatively diversified, although certain areas (especially around Charleroi and Liège) are still suffering from
5066-565: 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
5215-435: 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
5364-435: Is one of the three regions of Belgium —along with Flanders and Brussels . Covering the southern portion of the country, Wallonia is primarily French-speaking . It accounts for 55% of Belgium's territory, but only a third of its population. The Walloon Region and the French Community of Belgium , which is the political entity responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education, are independent concepts, because
5513-597: 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
5662-401: 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
5811-483: Is predominantly of Christian heritage. In 2016, 68% of residents of Wallonia declared themselves to be Roman Catholic (21% were practising Catholics and 47% were non-practising), 3% were Muslim , 3% were Protestant Christian, 1% were of other religions and 25% were non-religious. Religion in Wallonia (2016) French is the official language of Wallonia and by far the most used; in the East Cantons , German
5960-546: Is that in systems like Cologne-Bonn's the tracks were converted for Stadtbahn use by changing the electrification, while in Karlsruhe the trains were equipped to run on both types of track. Straßenbahn (tram) and Stadtbahn in the Karlsruhe region are differentiated more by the nature of their city-border crossings only, and not by the technical dimension (Dual-System Light Rail Vehicles). Only those services that extend into
6109-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
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6258-578: 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
6407-485: 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
6556-689: 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
6705-639: 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
6854-537: 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
7003-480: 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
7152-825: The Gaume ) is more reflective of the physical geography. The larger region, the Ardennes, is a thickly forested plateau with caves and small gorges. It is host to much of Belgium's wildlife but little agricultural capacity. This area extends westward into France and eastward to the Eifel in Germany via the High Fens plateau, on which the Signal de Botrange forms the highest point in Belgium at 694 metres (2,277 ft). The Walloon region covers 16,901 km (6,526 sq mi) and
7301-522: 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
7450-686: The Government of Wallonia , elected by a political majority in Parliament. The Government has nine members with the president. Each member is called a Walloon minister . The head of the Government is called the Minister-President of Wallonia . The coalition government for the 2014–2019 legislature was a centre-left coalition PS - cdH until July 28 when it was replaced by a centre-left coalition MR-cdH. The current Minister-President
7599-704: The Hainaut Province , the Gaume (district of Virton ) with the Lorrain language and a Champenois zone. There are also regional Germanic languages, such as the Luxembourgish language in Arelerland (Land of Arlon ). The regional languages of Wallonia are more important than in France, and they have been officially recognized by the government. With the development of education in French, however, these dialects have been in continual decline. There
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#17327733003387748-746: 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
7897-657: The Kingdom of the Netherlands under King William of Orange . The Walloons played an active part in the Belgian Revolution in 1830. The Provisional Government of Belgium proclaimed Belgium's independence and held elections for the National Congress . In the 19th century, the area began to industrialize, and Wallonia was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe . This brought
8046-515: The N-VA . The first appearance of the French word Wallonie as a reference to the romance world as opposed to Germany is said to date from 1842. Two years later, it was first used to refer to the Romance part of the young country of Belgium. In 1886, the writer and Walloon militant Albert Mockel , first used the word with a political meaning of cultural and regional affirmation, in opposition with
8195-666: 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
8344-657: The Pays noir , around Charleroi and the Basse-Sambre, near Namur . To the north of the Sambre and Meuse valley lies the Central Belgian plateau, which is characterized by intensive agriculture . The Walloon part of this plateau is traditionally divided into several regions: Walloon Brabant around Nivelles , Western Hainaut (French: Wallonie picarde , around Tournai ), and Hesbaye around Waremme . South of
8493-427: 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
8642-422: 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
8791-405: The Treaty of Verdun gave the territory of present-day Wallonia to Middle Francia , which would shortly fragment, with the region passing to Lotharingia . On Lotharingia's breakup in 959, the present-day territory of Belgium became part of Lower Lotharingia , which then fragmented into rival principalities and duchies by 1190. Literary Latin , which was taught in schools, lost its hegemony during
8940-456: The Université catholique de Louvain is credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Walloons: Jules Bordet ( Université libre de Bruxelles ) in 1919, Albert Claude (ULB) together with Christian De Duve (UCLouvain) in 1974. In the present day, Bureau Greisch has acquired an international reputation as consulting engineer and architect in
9089-400: 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
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#17327733003389238-442: The Walloon jacquerie of 1886 , the Belgian general strikes of 1893 , 1902, 1913 (for universal suffrage ), 1932 (depicted in Misère au Borinage ), and 1936. After World War II , major strikes included the general strike against Leopold III of Belgium (1950), and the 1960-1961 Winter General Strike for autonomy for Wallonia. The profitability of the heavy industries to which Wallonia owed its prosperity started declining in
9387-448: The direct current of Straßenbahn lines (750 V) could also draw power from the 15-kV- alternating current from normal DB catenary. In Karlsruhe this network reached as far as Heilbronn , 84 kilometres (52 mi) away, where a Stadtbahn network was created going out from this line. Both in Karlsruhe and in Heilbronn the Stadtbahn filled both the roles of a classic tramway system as well as an S-Bahn. The Karlsruhe mixed-operation concept
9536-408: 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
9685-496: The " Walha " by their Germanic neighbours. The "Walha" abandoned their Celtic dialects and started to speak Vulgar Latin . The Merovingian Franks gradually gained control of the region during the 5th century, under Clovis . Due to the fragmentation of the former Roman Empire , Vulgar Latin regionally developed along different lines and evolved into several langue d'oïl dialects, which in Wallonia became Picard , Walloon and Lorrain . The oldest surviving text written in
9834-406: The 'U' logo is used at stops on services that are essentially 'classic' tram lines, not 'second-level' at all. The concept of Regionalstadtbahnen (also known by RegioStadtbahn or other names) arose as a result of the harmonisation or integration of railway lines into Stadtbahn networks. In the area of Cologne–Bonn a single operational system (of so-called above ground lines or Hochflurstrecken )
9983-424: The 12th and 13th centuries, the iron masters of Liège developed a method of refining iron ore by the use of a blast furnace, called the Walloon Method . There were also a few coal mines around Charleroi and the Borinage during this period, but their output was small, and was principally consumed as fuel by various industries such as the important glassmaking industry that sprang up in the Charleroi basin during
10132-399: The 13th century and was replaced by Old French . In the 15th century, the Dukes of Burgundy took over the Low Countries . The death of Charles the Bold in 1477 raised the issue of succession, and the Liégeois took advantage of this to regain some of their autonomy. From the 16th to the 18th century, the Low Countries were governed successively by the Habsburg dynasty of Spain (from
10281-421: The 14th century. In the 19th century, the area began to industrialize, mainly along the so-called sillon industriel . It was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe , and Wallonia was the second industrial power in the world, in proportion to its population and its territory, after the United Kingdom. The sole industrial centre in Belgium outside the collieries and blast furnaces of Wallonia
10430-399: The 16th century. But it did have its golden age, paradoxically, during the peak of the Flemish immigration to Wallonia in the 19th century: "That period saw an efflorescence of Walloon literature, plays and poems primarily, and the founding of many theaters and periodicals." The New York Public Library possesses a surprisingly large collection of literary works in Walloon, quite possibly
10579-453: The 1920s is "Unterpflasterbahn" ('sub-pavement train'); this term has fallen almost entirely out of use by the 21st century. In French-speaking regions (particularly Wallonia and the bilingual Brussels Capital Region ), these concepts were labelled " pre-metro ", stressing their – then-planned and advertised – interim nature. All German cities that had a "true" U-Bahn network had plans to abandon their tramway network at one point or another. In
10728-421: The 1960s ' pre-metro ' meaning, both the 'U' (for U-Bahn ) and the 'Tram' logo are used on city maps (to indicate the location of stops) and on railway station signage (to indicate connections). The 'U' Logo is normally used both where stops or stations are underground and where they serve 'second-level' pre-metro type lines. In cities which prefix all their Stadtbahn line numbers with a 'U' (e.g. Stuttgart ),
10877-466: The 20th century, Wallonia was the more prosperous half of Belgium. Since World War II , the importance of heavy industry has greatly diminished, and the Flemish Region has exceeded Wallonia in wealth as Wallonia has declined economically. Wallonia now suffers from high unemployment and has a significantly lower GDP per capita than Flanders. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between
11026-536: The Belgian population. It forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium , which has its own government and parliament for culture-related issues. Wallonia borders Flanders and the Netherlands (the province of Limburg ) in the north, France ( Grand Est and Hauts-de-France ) to the south and west, and Germany ( North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate ) and Luxembourg ( Capellen , Clervaux , Esch-sur-Alzette , Redange and Wiltz ) to
11175-698: The Construction and Operation of Trams'). 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 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
11324-723: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
11473-537: The French Community of Belgium encompasses both Wallonia and the bilingual Brussels -Capital Region but not the German-speaking Community of Belgium . During the Industrial Revolution , Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the region wealth, and from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of
11622-748: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
11771-536: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
11920-451: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
12069-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
12218-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
12367-1033: 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 ), 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
12516-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
12665-474: The North. Some operators and cities decided to identify the term Stadtbahn with the eventual goal of installing an U-Bahn so that both the original U-Bahn logo (e.g. Frankfurt U-Bahn , Cologne Stadtbahn , Hanover Stadtbahn ) and the derived U-Stadtbahn logos (e.g. North Rhine-Westphalia , Stuttgart Stadtbahn ; see example above) mark station entries and stops. The numbering scheme for Stadtbahn services
12814-489: The Stadtbahn also operates on EBO on parts of the route where track is shared with mainline rail . All four German subway systems are regulated entirely by BOStrab while parts of some tram, light rail or Stadtbahn systems – most notably Karlsruhe Stadtbahn – are regulated under EBO. Meanwhile all S-Bahn systems – including those using third rail electrification like Berlin S-Bahn – are regulated entirely under EBO. While
12963-452: The accent from Liège and its surroundings being perhaps the most striking. Other regions of Wallonia also have characteristic accents, often linked to the regional language. Walloons traditionally also speak regional Romance languages, all from the Langues d'oïl group. Wallonia includes almost all of the area where Walloon is spoken, a Picard zone corresponding to the major part of
13112-578: The case of Hamburg, those plans resulted in the shutdown of the Hamburg tramway by 1978. In the case of Berlin, the network in West Berlin was shut down in 1967 while the plans to shut down the system in East Berlin were reversed and ultimately the tram network started expanding again in the last years of East Germany; it now serves some portions of the former West again. In Nuremberg and Munich
13261-520: The country's history. The baptismal font of Renier de Huy is not the only example of medieval Walloon technical expertise: the words "houille" (coal) or "houilleur" (coal miner) or "grisou" (damp) were coined in Wallonia and are Walloon in origin. The economically important very deep coal mining in the course of the First Industrial Revolution has required highly reputed specialized studies for mining engineers . But that
13410-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
13559-456: 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
13708-503: The distinction in terms while large parts of the general public and non-specialist press by and large do not. By the 1980s conventional tramways had been seen by decision-makers as overloaded systems for more than two decades. However, public attention focused on them at this time for two reasons. The Stadtbahn cities' second level plans faced unexpected complications in the form of lengthy construction work, budgetary problems for tunnel projects, and protests against elevated sections. At
13857-804: The early 16th century until 1713–14) and later by Austria (until 1794). This territory was enlarged in 1521–22 when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor gained the Tournai region from France. Present-day Belgium was conquered in 1795 by the French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars . It was annexed to the Republic, which later became the Napoleonic Empire . After the Battle of Waterloo , Wallonia became part of
14006-499: The east. Wallonia has been a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie since 1980. The term "Wallonia" can mean slightly different things in different contexts. One of the three federal regions of Belgium is still constitutionally defined as the "Walloon Region" as opposed to "Wallonia", but the latter has been adopted by the regional government and is in common use. Prior to 2010, when
14155-519: 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
14304-724: The fields of structures, civil engineering and buildings, including the Millau Viaduct in France. Wallonia is rich in iron and coal, and these resources and related industries have played an important role in its history. In ancient times, the Sambre and Meuse valley was an important industrial area in the Roman Empire . In the Middle Ages , Wallonia became a center for brass working and bronze working, with Huy , Dinant and Chimay being important regional centers. In
14453-577: The first half of the 20th century as a name for the cross-city lines in Berlin and Vienna . The Berlin Stadtbahn line is an elevated heavy rail line linking the East and the West. Long distance, regional, suburban, and urban services ( S-Bahn ) are operated on it. In Berlin unqualified use of the term Stadtbahn is still widely understood to refer to the Berlin Stadtbahn. The Vienna Stadtbahn
14602-414: The first half of the 20th century, and the centre of industrial activity shifted north to Flanders. The loss of prosperity caused social unrest, and Wallonia sought greater autonomy in order to address its economic problems. In the wake of the 1960-1961 Winter General Strike , the process of state reform in Belgium got underway. This reform started partly with the linguistic laws of 1962–63 , which defined
14751-555: The first time in Verviers , commemorating the participation of Walloons during the Belgian Revolution of 1830. It is held annually on the third Sunday of September. The Assembly also chose a motto for Wallonia, "Walloon Forever" ( Walloon : Walon todi ), and a cry, "Liberty" (French: Liberté ). In 1998, the Walloon Parliament made all these symbols official except the motto and the cry. The population of Wallonia
14900-528: The fleets and the infrastructure were in need of massive investment and improvement. After the reunification of Germany in 1990, the use of the Stadtbahn term became popular in the former East Germany as well, as in Erfurt and Dresden . However, neither the Erfurt tramway nor the Dresden tramway have any significant tunnel or elevated sections or plans to build any. In their case separation from road traffic
15049-740: The four language areas within the constitution . But the strikes of 1960 which took place in Wallonia more than in Flanders are not principally linked with the four language areas nor with the Communities but with the Regions. In 1968, the conflict between the communities burst out. French speakers in Flanders (who were not necessarily Walloons) were driven out of, most notably the Leuven-based Catholic University amid shouts of " Walen buiten !" ("Walloons out!"). After
15198-435: 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,
15347-481: 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
15496-461: The larger Gallia Belgica province which originally stretched from southwestern Germany to Normandy and the southern part of the Netherlands. The population of this territory was Celtic with a Germanic influence which was stronger in the north than in the south of the province. Gallia Belgica became progressively romanized . The ancestors of the Walloons became Gallo-Romans and were called
15645-507: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Wallonia Wallonia ( / w ɒ ˈ l oʊ n i ə / wol- OH -nee-ə ; French : Wallonie [walɔni] ; Walloon : Waloneye or Walonreye ), officially the Walloon Region (French: Région wallonne ; Walloon: Redjon walone ),
15794-424: The largest outside Belgium, and its holding are representative of the output. Out of nearly a thousand, twenty-six were published before 1880. Thereafter the numbers rise gradually year by year, reaching a peak of sixty-nine in 1903, and then they fall again, down to eleven in 1913. See 'Switching Languages', p. 153. Yves Quairiaux counted 4800 plays for 1860–1914, published or not. In this period plays were almost
15943-653: The middle) began to crystallize between 700 under the reign of the Merovingians and Carolingians and around 1000 after the Ottonian Renaissance . French-speaking cities, with Liège as the largest one, appeared along the Meuse , while Gallo-Roman cities such as Tongeren , Maastricht and Aachen became Germanized. The Carolingian dynasty dethroned the Merovingians in the 8th century. In 843,
16092-402: 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
16241-399: The names Stadtbahn and S-Bahn have common origin ('rapid urban train'), their meaning today is different. S-Bahn is commuter rail , usually integrated into the railway network and mostly operated by the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn . Stadtbahn , on the other hand, generally use light rail vehicles (either high-floor or low-floor ), and are usually integrated into
16390-653: 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
16539-399: The only popular show in Wallonia. But this theater remains popular in the present-day Wallonia: Theater is still flourishing, with over 200 non-professional companies playing in the cities and villages of Wallonia for an audience of over 200,000 each year. There are links between French literature and (the very small) Walloon literature. For instance Raymond Queneau set Editions Gallimard
16688-474: The other side of the border; they are often called frontaliers . The Ardennes area south of the Meuse is a popular tourist destination for its nature and outdoor sports, in addition to its cultural heritage, with places such as Bastogne , Dinant , Durbuy , and the famous hot springs of Spa . The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 105.7 billion € in 2018, accounting for 23% of Belgian economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power
16837-492: The outset to be eventually converted into a metro system. A final metro system may or may not be implemented in the end. This concept has the benefit of being cheaper in comparison with constructing a metro from scratch. Post-World War II transport policies in West German cities aimed for a separation of public and private transport. The conflicts that arose between increasing car usage and the existing tramway systems led to
16986-481: The plans to shut down the tram networks were slowed down – in part due to protests by citizens against losing tram service without adequate replacement – ultimately abandoned and there are now plans for new tram construction in both cities. However, as late as 2011 the tram line through Pirckheimer Straße in Nuremberg was shut down in the course of the opening of a new section of subway line U3 which runs slightly to
17135-462: 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
17284-464: The publication of a Walloon Poets' anthology. Ubu roi was translated in Walloon by André Blavier , a Verviers pataphysician , for the new and important Puppets theater of Liège of Jacques Ancion, the Al Botroûle theater "at the umbilical cord" in Walloon indicating a desire to return to the source (according to Joan Cross). But Jacques Ancion wanted to develop a regular adult audience. From
17433-550: The region great economic prosperity, which was not mirrored in poorer Flanders and the result was a large amount of Flemish immigration to Wallonia . Belgium was divided into two divergent communities. On the one hand, the very Catholic Flemish society was characterized by an economy centred on agriculture; on the other hand, Wallonia was the centre of the continental European Industrial Revolution , where classical liberal and socialist movements were rapidly emerging. Major strikes and general strikes took place in Wallonia, including
17582-409: The renaming came into effect, Wallonia could sometimes refer to the territory governed by the Walloon Region, whereas Walloon Region referred specifically to the government. In practice, the difference between the two terms is small and what is meant is usually clear, based on context. Wallonia is a cognate of terms such as Wales , Cornwall and Wallachia . The Germanic word Walha , meaning
17731-464: The same time, the smaller cities which had not started Stadtbahn plans reassessed their options in relation to their existing tram systems. Furthermore, relocating public transit or even pedestrians underground increasingly got a negative reputation and the concept of the automotive city – all but dominating public discourse in the 1950s and 1960s – was increasingly called into question. East German cities had no 1960s-style Stadtbahn plans in place, and
17880-404: The scheme. As far as the Stadtbahn terminology problem is concerned, however, the scheme serves only to add further confusion to the matter, since there is no nationwide logo for Stadtbahn services. The result appears to be a contraction in the use of the term Stadtbahn , especially in cities where it has been used in its wider 1980s 'light-rail system' meaning. In cities where Stadtbahn has
18029-467: The signing of treaties, and in many domains, even the Belgian federal government is not able to sign an international treaty without the agreement of the Parliament of Wallonia. Wallonia is also home to about 80 per cent of the population of the French Community of Belgium , a political level responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education, with the remainder living in Brussels . Wallonia
18178-489: The sillon industriel, the land is more rugged and is characterized by more extensive farming . It is traditionally divided into the regions of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse, Condroz , Fagne - Famenne , the Ardennes and Land of Herve , as well as the Belgian Lorraine around Arlon and Virton . Dividing it into Condroz , Famenne , Calestienne , Ardennes (including Thiérache ), and Belgian Lorraine (which includes
18327-556: The so-called 'second level' concept for future light rail schemes. This concept focused on the grade separation, i.e., elevation and/or tunneling of tram lines. Munich and Nuremberg decided to build pure, full-scale U-Bahn (metro) systems. Berlin and Hamburg planned expansions of their existing U-Bahn networks, while most West German cities decided to upgrade their tramway networks step by step, linking new 'second level' infrastructure to existing sections. While some cities regarded this solution as an interim step that would lead to
18476-546: 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,
18625-408: The steel industry crisis, with an unemployment rate of up to 30 percent. Nonetheless, Wallonia has some companies which are world leaders in their specialized fields, including armaments , glass production, lime and limestone production, cyclotrons and aviation parts. The south of Wallonia, bordering Luxembourg , benefits from its neighbour's economic prosperity, with many Belgians working on
18774-750: The strangers , referred to Gallic or Celtic people. Wallonia is named after the Walloons , a group of locals who natively speak Romance languages . In Middle Dutch (and French), the term Walloons included both historical secular Walloon principalities, as well as the French-speaking population of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the whole population of the Romanic sprachraum within the medieval Low Countries . Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 57 BC. The Low Countries became part of
18923-406: The suburbs are called Stadtbahn. They are represented by the 'S' logo that is used for S-Bahn ( Stadtschnellbahn ) in the rest of Germany and therefore partially conflict with it, as it has acquired a second meaning in Karlsruhe. As part of the redevelopment of their main city stations , national railway company Deutsche Bahn adopted a new logo to indicate Straßenbahn (tram) connections:
19072-500: 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
19221-475: The train, driver's cabs on both ends, higher operating voltage, wider cars with comfortable seats, and so on. In 1992 Karlsruhe started an innovative new service, using both heavy and light rail infrastructure, to link the wider region to the city. The vehicles were designed to comply with technical specifications for the (federal) heavy railway and for light rail (communal tramways). Such vehicles are called Dual-System Light Rail Vehicles. The meaning of Stadtbahn
19370-530: The tram network, though the Stadtbahn portions do not operate with street running as much as trams do. They also differ in legal status: S-Bahn systems are governed under the rail rules of the Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung (EBO) ('Ordinance on the Construction and Operation of Railways'), while Stadtbahn systems are usually tramways by law governed under the regulations of Verordnung über den Bau und Betrieb der Straßenbahnen (BOStrab) ('Ordinance on
19519-578: The two are major sources of political conflicts in Belgium and a major factor in Flemish separatism . The capital of Wallonia is Namur , and the most populous city is Charleroi . Most of Wallonia's major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the east–west aligned Sambre and Meuse valley , the former industrial backbone of Belgium. To the north of this valley, Wallonia lies on the Central Belgian Plateau, which, like Flanders,
19668-590: The word Flanders used by the Flemish Movement . The word had previously appeared in German and Latin as early as the 17th century. The rising of a Walloon identity led the Walloon Movement to choose different symbols representing Wallonia. The main symbol is the "bold rooster" (French: coq hardi ), also named "Walloon rooster" (French: coq wallon , Walloon : cok walon ), which is widely used, particularly on arms and flags. The rooster
19817-586: The word "Tram" at the expense of Straßenbahn and elektrische ("electric [railway/tramway]") the latter of which having become somewhat antiquated. The term "Bim" (short for "Bimmelbahn" in turn derived from the semi- onomatopoetic "bimmeln" for the sound of a bell) meanwhile has become limited to Austria, particularly the "Bim" in Vienna . As the new logos became part of the information systems at more and more main railway stations, an increasing number of cities and public transport operators came to accept and adopt
19966-555: 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
20115-600: 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
20264-429: 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
20413-635: Was already the case before the Industrial Revolution, with an engineer as Rennequin Sualem for instance. Engineer Zenobe Gramme invented the Gramme dynamo , the first generator to produce power on a commercial scale for industry. Chemist Ernest Solvay gave his name to the Solvay process for production of soda ash , an important chemical for many industrial uses. Ernest Solvay also acted as
20562-712: Was also adopted by the Saarbahn in Saarbrücken . This model is today referred to in France as the tram-train . Other Stadtbahn networks in Germany without tunnels, but which incorporate railway lines, are found in: Although a precise legal definition of Stadtbahn was planned in the 1970s, there is currently no such definition. By law, the BOStrab regulates all Stadtbahn systems as tram systems, as long as they are not mainline rail. However, all U-Bahn systems in Germany are likewise regulated by BOStrab. In some systems,
20711-407: 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
20860-420: Was chosen as an emblem by the Walloon Assembly on 20 April 1913, and designed by Pierre Paulus on 3 July 1913. The Flag of Wallonia features the red rooster on a yellow background. An anthem, Le Chant des Wallons ( The Walloons' Song ), written by Theophile Bovy in 1900 and composed by Louis Hillier in 1901, was also adopted. On September 21, 1913, the "national" feast day of Wallonia took place for
21009-549: Was composed of members of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the Belgian Senate elected in Wallonia. Wallonia is considered to be left-wing politically, in contrast to Flanders, which is more right-wing. The region has been described as one of the few places in Europe without a significant right-wing populism presence. In Wallonia, there is a cordon sanitaire in the media, where far-right politicians are banned from interviews and live appearances. The ban has also affected more mainstream right-wing parties such as
21158-493: Was created by the Cologne Stadtbahn and the Bonn Stadtbahn , opened in 1974, from the conversion of two former railway lines (the Rheinuferbahn and Vorgebirgsbahn belonging to the old Köln-Bonner Eisenbahnen ). Further developments led to tram-train networks that rather resembled an S-Bahn . This idea was first realised in 1992 in Karlsruhe ( Karlsruhe Stadtbahn ), where as part of the Karlsruhe model even so-called dual system railbuses were used, which in addition to
21307-543: Was enlarged to encompass this new type of " tram-train " service. In other regions, stimulated by the Karlsruhe example and planning to copy it, other terms are in use: Stadt-Umland-Bahn (city-to-region railway, e.g. Erlangen , also in discussion to connect the nearer surroundings of Munich , as far as not supplied with S-Bahn services so far, with the existing public transport there), Regional-Stadtbahn (regional light rail, e.g. Braunschweig ). The difference of this system to other systems where light rail mixes with heavy rail,
21456-427: 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
21605-399: Was in the beginning a system of heavy rail lines circling the city, free of level crossings, operated by steam trains. After World War I the Wiental , Donaukanal and Gürtel lines were converted into an electric light rail system with tram-like two-axle cars (which on line 18G until 1945 switched into the tram network at Gumpendorfer Strasse station). In the 1970s to 1990s the infrastructure
21754-452: Was prefixed with a 'U', except in the Cologne Stadtbahn , Bielefeld Stadtbahn , and Hanover Stadtbahn . In local parlance some of those systems are referred to as "U-Bahn", especially when talking about tunnel sections. However, this somewhat misleading terminology is only officially used in Frankfurt am Main which calls its Stadtbahn "Frankfurt U-Bahn". Official documents and specialist publications or railfans and transit advocates maintain
21903-468: Was the historic cloth making town of Ghent . The two World Wars curbed the continuous expansion that Wallonia had enjoyed up till that time. Towards the end of the 1950s, things began to change dramatically. The factories of Wallonia were by then antiquated, the coal was running out and the cost of extracting coal was constantly rising. It was the end of an era, and Wallonia has been making efforts to redefine itself. The restoration of economical development
22052-404: Was updated, and the lines were partially relocated: they are now part of the Vienna U-Bahn services 'U4' and 'U6'. The Vorortelinie line remained heavy rail and is now part of the Vienna S-Bahn . Since the 1960s the term Stadtbahn has become identified with a second, now dominant, meaning. Here Stadtbahn is an underground urban rail network that is used by conventional trams but planned at
22201-427: Was €25,700 or 85% of the EU27 average in the same year. Belgium is a federal state made up of three communities and three regions, each with considerable autonomy. One of these is the Walloon Region, which is governed by the Parliament of Wallonia and the executive Government of Wallonia . The Walloon Region's autonomy extends even to foreign policy; Wallonia is entitled to pursue its own foreign policy, including
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