118-528: The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation ( German : Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft ; French : Société suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision ; Italian : Società svizzera di radiotelevisione ; Romansh : Societad Svizra da Radio e Televisiun ; SRG SSR ) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern ,
236-475: A controversy arose after a Swiss historian discovered that it was originally built as propaganda for the Nazi regime. Chur has an area (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 54.33 km (20.98 sq mi). About 17.6% is used for agricultural purposes and 52.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 3.9% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85–2004/09)
354-465: 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
472-402: 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
590-612: 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
708-537: A century later, on 23 July 1574, a fire destroyed 174 houses and 114 stalls, or about half the city. Two years later, on 21 October 1576, another 53 houses were burned. Two years after the 1576 fire, the perpetrator, Hauptmann Stör, was executed. After the Napoleonic Wars the Three Leagues became the canton of Graubünden in 1803. The guild constitution of the city of Chur lasted until 1839 and in 1874
826-600: A co-ordination organisation for the regional broadcast associations, and received the only licence to broadcast from the Federal Council . The same year it was agreed that all news reports in the new medium had to be provided by the Swiss news agency SDA , a decision that remained unchanged until 1971. The first national transmitters began operating in 1931: Radio Sottens for French, Radio Beromünster for German, and 1933 Radio Monte Ceneri for Italian. In 1938 Romansh
944-559: 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
1062-458: 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
1180-696: 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
1298-483: 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
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#17327722903251416-402: A total of 1,731 employees and 12 mid sized businesses with a total of 1,141 employees. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 28,695 jobs in 3,375 businesses. In 2014 a total of 16,854 employees worked in 3,306 small companies (less than 50 employees). There were 65 mid-sized businesses with 9,093 employees and 4 large businesses which employed 2,748 people (for an average size of 687). In 2014
1534-563: A total of 7.7% of the population received social assistance. In 2015 local hotels had a total of 152,629 overnight stays, of which 47.8% were international visitors. There were two cinemas in the municipality in 2015, with a total of 4 screens and 736 seats. In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code (running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Chur
1652-534: A younger audience. In 1991, SRG SSR underwent a wide-ranging restructuring. The enterprise organised itself as a private industry association, structured as a holding company under Swiss company law. The name, SRG SSR idée suisse, was introduced in 1999. In 1992, Radio Rumantsch was separated from the German-language radio broadcaster that had housed the Romansh broadcasting activities since 1938, and in 1995,
1770-717: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and
1888-438: Is a radio company owned by SRG SSR that includes three stations: Radio Swiss Pop [ de ] (pop music); Radio Swiss Jazz [ de ] (jazz, soul and blues) and Radio Swiss Classic [ de ] (classical music) all without interruptions. These stations have been on air since 1 September 1998. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
2006-601: 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
2124-612: 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
2242-558: 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
2360-478: 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
2478-430: 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
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#17327722903252596-636: Is derived from its initials in German and its initials in French, Italian and Romansh. In English, the organisation is known as the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation . The moniker " idée suisse " ( French for 'Swiss idea'), which refers to the public service mission of the organisation, was adopted in 1999 and was removed from the name in 2010. Europe's third public radio station started broadcasting from Lausanne in 1922, from
2714-482: Is exported and sold as Passugger mineral water. Chur has an oceanic climate in spite of its inland position. Summers are warm and sometimes hot, normally averaging around 25 °C (77 °F) during the day, whilst winter means are around freezing, with daytime temperatures being about 5 °C (41 °F). Between 1981 and 2010 Chur had an average of 104.6 days of rain per year and on average received 849 mm (33.4 in) of precipitation . The wettest month
2832-535: 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
2950-611: 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
3068-691: Is given in the following chart: From the 2000 census , 14,713 or 44.6% are Roman Catholic , while 12,199 or 37.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 15 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland , there are 589 individuals (or about 1.79% of the population) who belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church , and there are 532 individuals (or about 1.61% of
3186-651: Is handled by five business units: In addition, there are two subsidiary companies which produce for example the teletext pages . HD suisse was the first high-definition television channel of the SRG SSR. Programming came from the four language networks of SRG SSR. SRG SSR is free to watch all television channels on the internet. However, it cannot be watched outside Switzerland due to broadcasting rights on all television channels. All radio broadcasts are listened to outside Switzerland. The former abbreviation SRI originally stood only for "Swiss Radio International", which
3304-565: 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
3422-514: Is linked by a motorway—the A13 . Chur is home to many buildings or other sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . There are two archeological sites in Chur, the old city which is a medieval city and Welschdörfli a prehistoric settlement and Roman Vicus . There are four archives or libraries; the bishop's palace (library and archive), the Cantonal Library,
3540-435: 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
3658-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
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3776-401: 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
3894-878: Is rather complicated. The actual holders of the broadcasting licences that enable SRG SSR to operate are four regional corporations: These four corporations maintain SRG SSR as a joint central production and broadcasting association. The fifth business unit of the SRG SSR is the ten-language news platform Swissinfo . The association 's official name is S chweizerische R adio- und Fernseh g esellschaft (SRG, formerly " Schweizerische Rundspruchgesellschaft ") in German, S ociété s uisse de r adiodiffusion et télévision (SSR, formerly " Société suisse de radiodiffusion ") in French, S ocietà s vizzera di r adiotelevisione (SSR, formerly " Società svizzera di radiodiffusione ") in Italian, and S ocietad s vizra da r adio e televisiun (SSR, formerly " Societad svizra da radio ") in Romansh. The corporate name, SRG SSR ,
4012-525: 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
4130-613: Is the meeting-point of the routes from Italy over many alpine passes ( Lukmanier Pass , Splugen Pass , and San Bernardino Pass ), as well as from the Engadine ( Albula Pass , Julier Pass ), so that it is the centre of an active trade (particularly in wine from the Valtelline ), though it also has a few local factories. The city's main railway station is where the Swiss Federal Railways system link with that of
4248-578: 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
4366-485: 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
4484-689: 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
4602-489: The Burgergemeinde was replaced by an Einwohnergemeinde . When Graubünden became a canton in 1803, Chur was chosen as its capital. Chur's cemetery is in the centre of town, and in the middle of the cemetery is a 13-tonne (13,000 kg) stone monument that dwarfs the nearby gravestones . The huge monolithic block of granite was erected in 1938 and for decades was largely ignored by passers-by until in 2023
4720-763: The 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP/UDC with 26.43% of the vote followed almost equally by the SP/PS (25.96%), then the CVP/PDC (13.74%), the FDP/PLR (12.06%), the BDP/PBD (11.97), and the GLP/PVL (9.71). In the federal election, a total of 11,102 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 45.4%. Chur is twinned with: Chur has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 36,336. In 2008 17.8% of
4838-639: 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
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4956-868: The Alte Kaserne at Zeughaus 3 (the Old Armory), the Confederation Paper Mill, the Main Post Office, the new Town Hall, headquarters of the Rhätische Bahn and several old patrician houses. With the 2021 merger of Haldenstein into Chur, the Ruins of Haldenstein fortress and Haldenstein Castle became part of Chur. The first church on the cathedral site was built in the first half of the 5th century. The Romanesque crypt
5074-537: 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
5192-417: 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
5310-522: 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
5428-843: The Grey League and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions in 1471 to form the Three Leagues . In 1489 Chur obtained the right to have a tribunal of its own but never had the title of Free Imperial City . In 1497–98, concerned about Habsburg expansion and with the Bishop of Chur quarrelling with Austria, the Three Leagues formed an alliance with the Swiss Confederation. In 1499 the Swabian War broke out between
5546-746: 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
5664-666: 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
5782-650: The Rhaetian Railway (RhB). While the SBB lines serve most of Switzerland, most of Graubünden's internal rail traffic is served by RhB lines. One of the RhB lines (to Arosa) uses on-street running through streets in the centre of Chur and Sand in order to reach the station—see Chur Stadtbahn . There are three other railway stations in Chur: There is also a postbus station situated above the railway station. Chur
5900-427: 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
6018-422: 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
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#17327722903256136-400: 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
6254-439: The executive government of the City of Chur and operates as a collegiate authority . It is composed of only three councilors ( German : Stadtrat/ Stadträtin ), each presiding over a department. In the mandate period 2021–2024 ( Legislatur ) the City Council is presided by Stadtpräsident Urs Marti . Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the Municipal Council (parliament) are carried by
6372-408: 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
6490-409: The primary economic sector . A majority (68.5%) of the primary sector employees worked in very small businesses (less than ten employees). The remainder worked in 2 small businesses with a total of 34 employees. The secondary sector employed 3,645 workers in 345 separate businesses. A minority (21.2%) of the secondary sector employees worked in very small businesses. There were 75 small businesses with
6608-404: The 3,792 inhabited buildings in the municipality in 2000, about 37.8% were single-family homes and 39.7% were multiple-family buildings. About 20.5% of the buildings dated from before 1919 and 8.8% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2013 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 7.71. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2015 , was 0.6%. The historical population
6726-480: The Cantonal Archive of Graubünden and the city archive of Chur. There are also four museums on the list; the Bündner Kunstmuseum (Art Museum), Bündner Naturmuseum (Natural History Museum), the Dommuseum and the Rätisches Museum in the Haus Buol. Three churches are included in the list; The cathedral of the Assumption , the Catholic Church of St. Luzi and the Reformed church of St. Martin. There are 15 other buildings that are also heritage sites; these include
6844-470: The City Council, members of the Municipal Council are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Chur allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the Municipal Council. The parliament holds its meetings in the Rathaus (Town Hall). The last regular election of the Municipal Council was held on 27 September 2020 for the mandate period ( German : Legislatur ) from January 2021 to December 2024. Currently
6962-421: The City Council. The regular election of the City Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years. Any resident of Chur allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council. The current mandate period is from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2024. The delegates are elected by means of a system of Proporz . The mayor is elected as such by public election by means of a system of Majorz , while
7080-614: 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
7198-414: 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
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#17327722903257316-417: 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
7434-399: 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
7552-623: 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
7670-432: The House of God) was formed in 1367 in Chur to resist the rising power of the Bishopric of Chur and the House of Habsburg. Chur was the chief town of the League and one of the places the League’s assemblies met regularly. A burgmeister (mayor) of Chur is first mentioned in 1413. The bishop's residence was attacked by the inhabitants in 1418 and 1422, when a series of concessions were wrung out of him. On 27 April 1464 most of
7788-547: 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
7906-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
8024-408: 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
8142-403: The Mittenberg (northeast) and Pizoggel (southwest), hills that guard the entrance to the deep-cut valley Schanfigg. The altitude in the city area varies from 600 meters (2,000 ft) above sea level to 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) above sea level and the Churer Hausberg Brambrüesch (accessible from the Old Town ) is 2,174 meters (7,133 ft) above sea level . The water of Chur's spring
8260-448: The Municipal Council consist of 6 (-, no change) members of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) , 4 (-) Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) , 4 (+1) The Liberals (FDP/PLR) , 3 (+1) The Centre (former CVP/PDC and BDP/PBD) , 3 (+2) Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL) , 2 (-) Freie Liste & Grüne (Free List & Greens), while the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) lost all their 3 seats due to Dissolution and merged with former CVP. In
8378-611: The Romansh TV activities were moved over as well and the Romansh company renamed itself Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha. In 1997, SRG SSR started digital broadcasts via the Hot Bird (13 degrees East) satellite. It is encrypted from satellite due to copyright restrictions. SRG SSR Sat Access information channel stopped broadcasting in 2005. Since 2016, all channels have been broadcasting via satellite only in HD quality. All radio and SRF info TV channels are free-to-air via satellite. On 3 June 2019, SRG SSR terminated digital terrestrial ( DVB-T ) broadcasts of all of its television channels due to
8496-489: The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-profit organisation, funded mainly through radio and television licence fees (79%) and making the remaining income from advertising and sponsorship . Switzerland's system of direct democracy and the fact that the country has four official languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh ) mean that the structure of Swiss public service broadcasting
8614-750: The Three Leagues and Austria and quickly expanded to include the Confederation. During the war troops from Chur fought under the Bishop's Vogt Heinrich Ammann in the Lower Engadin , in Prättigau and near Balzers . Troops from Chur also took part in the 1512 invasion of the Valtellina and the Second Musso War in 1530–31. In 1523 Johannes (Dorfmann) Comander was appointed parish priest of St Martin's Church and began preaching
8732-523: The amount of land that is settled has increased by 86 ha (210 acres) and the agricultural land has decreased by 87 ha (210 acres). Chur is situated at a height of 1,949 ft (594 m) above sea level , on the right bank of the torrent Plessur just as it issues from the valley Schanfigg and about a mile above its junction with the Rhine, almost entirely surrounded by the Alps , overshadowed by
8850-543: The area that then came to be known as the Roman province of Raetia in 15 BC . Under emperor Diocletian (late 3rd century AD), the existing settlement of Curia Raetorum (later Chur) was made the capital of the newly established province of Raetia prima . In the 4th century Chur became the seat of the first Christian bishopric north of the Alps. Despite a legend assigning its foundation to an alleged British king, St Lucius,
8968-478: The bishop's estates had adopted the Reformation. On 1 January 1529 Abbot Theodore Schlegel was publicly beheaded. Bishop Thomas Planta, a friend of St Charles Borromeo, tried, but without success, to suppress Protestantism. He died, probably poisoned, on 5 May 1565. During the 16th century the German language started to prevail over Romansh . In 1479 about 300 houses and stalls burned in another fire. Nearly
9086-434: The bishopric further privileges. In 1170 the bishop became a prince-bishop and kept total control over the road between Chur and Chiavenna . In the 13th century the town had some 1,300 inhabitants and was surrounded by a line of walls. In the 14th century at least six fires damaged or destroyed the monasteries of St Luzi and St Nicolai and St Martin's church and twice destroyed much of the town. The Gotteshausbund (League of
9204-479: The citizens wrote a constitution that granted all governmental power to Chur's guilds. All government positions were restricted to guild members, allowing the guilds to regulate all aspects of life in Chur. Since guild membership had become the only route to political power, local patricians and nobles quickly became guild members, often joining the winemakers guild. The Chur-led League of the House of God allied with
9322-504: The company was renamed Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (and the equivalent names in the other languages - see above) to reflect the addition of television services. In 1965, the Federal Council allowed television advertising, as a means of keeping licence fees down. In 1966, the three main language communities were each given a second radio channel, in order to counter the effects of new commercial broadcasters outside
9440-574: The country, whose strong signals were reaching the Swiss population. In the same year, a dedicated Romansh broadcasting unit was created in Chur , using some of the new German-language second channel's broadcasting time. In 1968, colour television was introduced. In 1978, the radio channels started stereo transmissions. In 1983, the Federal Council relaxed the Swiss media legislation to permit local private and commercial radio channels. SRG SSR countered this threat by launching its third set of channels, aimed at
9558-482: 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
9676-456: 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
9794-519: 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
9912-785: The extremely low usage of digital terrestrial signals on television sets in Switzerland, which was part of a series of cost-saving measures partly brought about as a result of the 2018 " No Billag " popular initiative . The corporation estimated that 1.9% of the public used the DVB-T broadcasts, nearly all of which was for viewing on secondary devices. Television broadcasts remain available through cable, IPTV and DTH satellite. SRG SSR recommended DVB-T viewers switch to satellite. SRG SSR will also shut down its FM transmission infrastructure on 31 December 2024. The corporation concluded that maintaining FM broadcasts along with DAB+ and Internet streaming
10030-670: The first known bishop is one Asinio in AD 451. The bishop soon acquired great temporal powers, especially after 831 when his dominions were made dependent on the Empire alone. After the invasion of the Ostrogoths it may have been renamed Theodoricopolis ; in the 6th century it was conquered by the Franks . The city suffered several invasions, by the Magyars in 925–926, when the cathedral
10148-473: The gender distribution of the population was 47.9% male and 52.1% female. The age distribution as of 2000 in Chur is; 3,087 children or 9.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 1,602 or 4.9% are 10 to 14 and 2,194 teenagers or 6.7% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 4,770 people or 14.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 5,517 or 16.7% are 30 to 39, 4,616 or 14.0% are 40 to 49 and 4,254 or 12.9% are 50 to 59. 3,090 people or 9.4% of
10266-553: The heads of the other departments are assigned by the collegiate. As of 2020 , Chur's City Council is made up of one representative of the FDP ( FDP.The Liberals , who is also the mayor), one of the SP ( Social Democratic Party ), and one new member of The Centre (former CVP/PDC and BDP/PBD) , giving the right parties a new majority of two out of three seats. The last regular election was held on 27 September 2020. The Gemeinderat of Chur for
10384-435: 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,
10502-481: 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
10620-593: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Chur Chur is the capital and largest town of the Swiss canton of the Grisons and lies in the Grisonian Rhine Valley , where the Rhine turns towards the north, in the northern part of the canton. The city, on
10738-547: The mandate period of 2021–2024 The Municipal Council ( Gemeinderat ) holds legislative power . It is made up of only 21 members, with elections held every four years. The Municipal Council decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the City Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of Proporz . The sessions of the Municipal Council are public. Unlike members of
10856-402: 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
10974-569: The new faith of the Protestant Reformation . It spread rapidly and by 1525 the bishop had fled the city and Protestant services were taking place in the churches of St Martin and St Regula. The Ilanz articles of 1524 and 1526 allowed each resident of the Three Leagues to choose their religion and sharply reduced the political and secular power of the Bishop of Chur and all monasteries in League territory. By 1527 all of Chur except
11092-653: 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
11210-483: The population are between 60 and 69 years old, 2,314 or 7.0% are 70 to 79, there are 1,307 or 4.0% who are 80 to 89, 233 or 0.7% who are 90 to 99 and 5 who are 100 or more. In 2015 there were 15,557 single residents, 13,722 people who were married or in a civil partnership, 1,948 widows and widowers, 3,423 divorced residents and 2 people who did not answer the question. In 2014 there were 16,970 private households in Chur with an average household size of 2.00 persons. Of
11328-413: The population were foreign nationals and by 2014 that number was 19.2%. Over the last 4 years (2010–2014) the population has changed at a rate of 2.34%. The birth rate in the municipality in 2014 was 9.2 and the death rate was 10.0 per thousand residents. Most of the population (as of 2000 ) speak German (81.0%), with Italian being second most common (6.4%) and Romansh being third (5.3%). As of 2000
11446-506: The population) did not answer the question. In Chur about 70.3% of the population (between age 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule ). The town is home to the Cantonal School of Graubünden . As of 2014 , there were a total of 32,448 people employed in the municipality. Of these, 108 people worked in 26 businesses in
11564-444: The population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 13 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who are Jewish , and 917 (or about 2.78% of the population) who are Muslim . There are 424 individuals (or about 1.29% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,998 (or about 6.06% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 1,589 individuals (or about 4.82% of
11682-462: 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
11800-498: The right bank of the Rhine, is reputedly the oldest town in Switzerland. The official language of Chur is German , but the main spoken language is the local variant of Alemannic , known as Grisonian German . Romansh and Italian are significantly spoken in the city as a result of the trilingual identity of the canton. On 1 January 2020 the former municipality of Maladers merged into Chur and on 1 January 2021 Haldenstein also merged. Archaeological evidence of settlement at
11918-617: The site, in the Eastern Alps , goes back as far as the Pfyn culture (3900-3500 BC), making Chur one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland. Remains and objects from the Bronze and Iron Ages have also been found in the eastern sector of the centre of the current city. These include Bronze Age Urnfield and Laugen-Melaun settlements from 1300 to 800 BC and Iron Age settlements from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. The Roman Empire conquered
12036-437: The start based on a licence fee system. 980 licences were bought in 1923. Within a few years radio cooperatives working along the same principles had started throughout the country. In 1930 it was decided that radio was an important public service that should not be allowed to become a money maker for private interests, and that it needed to be structured on a federal basis. In 1931 SRG SSR was founded (see original names above), as
12154-546: 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,
12272-500: 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
12390-424: The town was destroyed in a fire, which only the bishop's estates and St Luzi monastery survived. With the bishop’s power waning as he came increasingly under the influence of the nearby Habsburg County of Tyrol , the citizens sent a delegation to Emperor Frederick III . The Emperor reconfirmed the historic rights of Chur and also granted them extensive new rights which freed the city from the bishop's power. In 1465
12508-555: 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
12626-600: 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
12744-428: Was 68.6 per thousand residents, only slightly higher than the national average of 64.6 per thousand. During the same period the rate of drug crimes was 15.7 per thousand residents, which is about one and a half times the national rate. The rate of violations of immigration, visa and work-permit laws was 2.4 per thousand residents, or about half the national rate. Chur is 120 kilometres (75 miles) by rail from Zürich, and
12862-401: Was August, with an average of 112 mm (4.4 in) of precipitation over an average of 11.2 days. The driest month of the year was February with an average of 47 mm (1.9 in) of precipitation over 6.6 days. Blazon: Argent, a city gate gules with three merlons , within which a capricorn rampant sable, langued and viriled of the second. The City Council ( Stadtrat ) constitutes
12980-558: Was SRG SSR's international broadcasting arm (1935–2004), aimed at expatriates and others interested in Switzerland. In October 2004, SRI ceased broadcasting on shortwave and satellite, and instead concentrated its efforts on its multimedia internet platform SWI swissinfo , which now takes most of the resources. The Swissinfo website is produced in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Japanese. Swiss Satellite Radio [ de ] (SSatR)
13098-429: 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
13216-547: 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
13334-641: Was destroyed, and by the Saracens (940 and 954), but afterwards it flourished thanks to its location where the roads from several major Alpine transit routes come together and continue down the Rhine. The routes had already been used under the Romans but acquired greater importance under the Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire . Emperor Otto I granted the town the right to collect tolls in 952 and appointed his vassal Hartpert as bishop of Chur in 958, giving
13452-492: 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
13570-420: Was no longer cost-effective, as due to widespread adoption of DAB+ the share of the public relying exclusively on FM was under ten percent and decreasing. This will be followed by a general switch-off of FM broadcasting by 31 December 2026. SRG SSR is headquartered in Bern . It is governed by an Executive Board, appointed by a central council consisting of representatives of the four organisations. Broadcasting
13688-677: Was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union . In 1939 television test transmissions started in Zürich. In 1953 regular TV transmissions started in German (from Zürich) – one hour per evening, five days a week. A year later, in 1954, French transmissions were broadcast from Geneva. For the Italian-speaking region, the programmes were re-transmitted with Italian subtitles until dedicated Italian studios were built in 1961. In 1960,
13806-535: Was probably built under Bishop Tello (758–73). It contains remarkable paintings by Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein . The current building was built between 1154 and 1270. In 1272 it was dedicated to Saint Mary of the Assumption. The round arch window along the center axis is the largest medieval window in Graubünden. The late- Gothic high altar was completed in 1492 by Jakob Russ. The Church of St. Luzi
13924-600: Was recognised as the country's fourth national language, and the Zürich studios began broadcasting programmes in Romansh in between those in German. During the Second World War , SRG SSR filled an important function as a neutral, unbiased supplier of news, reaching far outside Switzerland's borders through shortwave transmissions. Radio Beromünster and Radio Monte Ceneri became known as the only free German and Italian-language radio stations in Europe. In 1950, SRG SSR
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