85-472: The Palatine Northern Railway ( German : Pfälzische Nordbahn ) is a non-electrified single-track main line that connects Neustadt (Weinstr) Hbf with Monsheim in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It was opened between 1865 and 1873 in three stages. With the replacement of the old Ludwigshafen terminus with the modern Ludwigshafen Hauptbahnhof through station in 1969, Bad Dürkheim station became
170-465: 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
255-402: 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
340-612: 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
425-559: 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
510-727: A minimum. Specially designed branch line coaches ( Lokalbahnwagen ) were produced from the 1890s onwards, initially in green livery with white outlines. These lasted well into the 1960s. On some of the more robust lines, wooden or steel 'thunderboxes' were used from the 1930s onwards, and even former main line six-wheelers were cascaded to some branches. The regional administrative branches were originally called railway offices ( Bahnämter ) and major railway offices ( Oberbahnämter ). The latter were located in Augsburg, Bamberg, Ingolstadt , Kempten, Munich, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Rosenheim , Weiden and Würzburg. Prior to 1886 they were subordinated to
595-458: 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
680-696: 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
765-556: A result of border re-opening and holiday traffic, as in the Bavarian Forest ( Bayerische Wald ). In 1995 the Nuremberg Nordost to Gräfenberg branch (built in 1908) was still running in the traditional way with a locomotive and two coaches, albeit of modern stock, but most surviving branches are operated by DMUs . The first branch line proper was built in 1872 and ran from Siegelsdorf to Markt Erlbach . The last
850-483: 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
935-601: 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
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#17328025700671020-612: 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
1105-558: 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
1190-478: 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
1275-430: 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
1360-535: 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
1445-611: 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
1530-565: 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
1615-435: 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
1700-597: 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
1785-401: 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
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#17328025700671870-525: 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
1955-488: Is the most beautiful German steam locomotive and its popularity is testified by the numerous models produced in recent years by manufacturers such as Roco , Märklin and Trix . In 1914 the first units of the most powerful Bavarian steam locomotive, the Class Gt 2x4/4 Mallet tank engine (later DRG Class 96.0 ) entered service. This was used in pusher service to support trains on the steeper Bavarian inclines. Perhaps
2040-776: Is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ),
2125-578: 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
2210-485: 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
2295-689: 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
2380-639: 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
2465-568: The Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
2550-537: 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
2635-657: The Eis Valley line to Ramsen and Eiswoog. During the sugar beet harvest the Northern Railway is very important for freight transport, particularly around Grünstadt station. 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
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2720-417: 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
2805-782: The First World War . After 1815 the territory of Bavaria included the Palatinate , or Pfalz , which was west of the Rhine and bordered on France and became part of the newly formed German state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946. With the nationalisation of the Munich-Augsburg route in 1844 the Bavarian state railway era began. In the beginning the Royal Bavarian State Railways concentrated on
2890-522: 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
2975-746: 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
3060-479: The Neustadt–Dürkheim Railway Company ( Neustadt-Dürkheimer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) was founded, which was intended to operate the route. Construction of the line, however, was delayed since the location of the station at Wachenheim was unclear at first. In addition, the hilly terrain proved to be a hindrance to the construction of the railway and several Königsbach wine makers continued to oppose
3145-766: The Nuremberg Transport Museum . After the success of this record-holding locomotive, Hammel designed a Pacific engine for Bavaria, based on the Class IVf engines built by Maffei for the Baden State Railways . This new express locomotive, the Bavarian S 3/6 (later the DRG Class 18.4-5), illustrated right, was a major success and continued to be built by the DRG. For many enthusiasts this
3230-666: 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
3315-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
3400-550: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
3485-513: 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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3570-469: 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
3655-654: The "Head Office of the Royal Transport Institution" ( Generaldirektion der königlichen Verkehrsanstalten ). From 1886 to 1906 they came under the "Head Office of the Royal Bavarian State Railways" ( Generaldirektion der königlich bayerischen Staatseisenbahnen ). In 1906 railway divisions were created and they reported to the State Ministry of Transportation. These were the Augsburg, Ludwigshafen/Rhein, Munich, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Regensburg and Würzburg divisions which, apart from Bamberg (absorbed into
3740-723: 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
3825-748: 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
3910-483: 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
3995-451: 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
4080-681: 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
4165-655: 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
4250-518: 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
4335-426: The Neustadt suburb of Mußbach and the small towns of Deidesheim and Wachenheim, the Northern Railway reaches the Bad Dürkheim terminal station. Trains reverse on to the northern branch, which then crosses the Rhine-Haardt Railway to reach Freinsheim at the junction with the line from Frankenthal . A few kilometres north just before reaching Grünstadt is the former junction with the Leiningen Valley Railway , which
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#17328025700674420-407: The Northern Railway is divided in three sections, which are run separately: Between Monsheim and Grünstadt a pair of trains run every hour; between Grünstadt and Neustadt trains run every 30 minutes. The line is operated with class 628 diesel multiple units . The Freinsheim–Grünstadt section is also part of route 666 , which it addition to this section runs on the Freinsheim–Frankenthal line and
4505-457: The Nuremberg division) were taken over by the German Imperial Railway Authority ( Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen ) after 1920. Like the majority of its sister administrations in the other German states, the Royal Bavarian State Railways procured its railway engines from locomotive manufacturers within its own borders. These included Joseph Anton von Maffei and the Krauss & Co. Engine Works of Munich. Four engines were purchased from Baldwin in
4590-425: The US in 1899 and 1901 in order to study modern construction techniques. The knowledge thus obtained was used in the design of new Bavarian machines. Details of the individual Bavarian locomotive classes may be found in the List of Bavarian locomotives and railbuses . The one example of the Bavarian S 2/6 engine was designed and built by Anton Hammel, an engineer at the Maffei Locomotive Works, within 5 months and
4675-408: The acquisition of their land. The Neustadt–Bad Dürkheim section opened on 6 May 1865. On 21 March 1873, the Monsheim–Grünstadt section was opened. On 20 July 1873, the gap was closed between Bad Dürkheim and Grünstadt. It was decided not to move the station from Bad Durkheim, which for eight years had been end of the line; rather it served from 1873 as a terminal station from both directions. In 1870,
4760-450: The construction of 3 main lines: In the following years the state railway network was continually expanded. Gaps were closed and from the middle of the 1880s the countryside was opened up with an extensive branch line network. These were known as the Lokalbahnen or 'local lines'. Branch lines were once a common feature of the Bavarian countryside. The constant ringing of bells (German: bimmeln ) as they crossed ungated tracks gave rise to
4845-430: 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
4930-404: 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
5015-435: 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
5100-435: 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,
5185-417: 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
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#17328025700675270-418: The infrastructure of the line was taken over by the Palatine Northern Railway, the Neustadt-Dürkheim Railway Company was dissolved at the same time. In 1909 the Palatine Northern Railway was taken over by the Royal Bavarian State Railways . After the First World War the line became part of the German State Railways . At the end of World War II the line became part of Deutsche Bundesbahn . Operationally,
5355-429: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Royal Bavarian State Railways The Royal Bavarian State Railways ( Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen or K.Bay.Sts.B. ) was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria . It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into
5440-447: The most iconic branch line engine was the Bavarian PtL 2/2 nicknamed the Glaskasten or "glass box". The first ones were built at the Maffei and Krauss locomotive works in Munich in 1906. Their design was radically new, the most striking features being the large driver’s cab which surrounded the entire boiler and the semi-automatic firing which enabled one-man operation. Gangways at the front and rear allowed train staff to cross over to
5525-402: 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
5610-540: The nickname Bimmelbahn . There were over 180 of them, including about 20 private lines. The majority were standard gauge but some were narrow gauge , including the Chiemsee-Bahn which still operates today as a roadside tramway . But motorisation, especially after the Second World War , led to widespread closures. By 1977 there were only 79 branch lines left and further closures have occurred since. By contrast, some lines are enjoying new-found museum status, such as Mellrichstadt–Fladungen , and others continue to thrive as
5695-423: 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
5780-489: The only group administration within the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft , the Gruppenverwaltung Bayern , was disbanded. As a nation-state, Germany did not come into being until the creation of the German Empire in 1871 from the various German-speaking states such as Prussia , Bavaria , Saxony , Baden and Württemberg . By then each of the major states had formed its own state railway and these remained separate, albeit working increasingly closely together, until after
5865-400: The only station in the form of a terminus in the Palatinate region . Passenger services over the Grünstadt –Monsheim section were discontinued in 1984, but re-established in 1995. The name of the line comes from the Palatine Northern Railway Company ( Gesellschaft der Pfälzischen Nordbahnen ), which acquired the line as its main line in 1870. Its importance lies in the fact that it connects
5950-419: The planned route would be preferred because of its greater scenic appeal. The committee's appeal however, met with little support, as there were fears that it would create difficulties for the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company . For this reason, on 25 January 1862, it was agreed that only a local line would be built between Neustadt and Bad Dürkheim. On 22 August 1862, a concession was issued and two months later,
6035-462: 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
6120-691: The second largest of the German state railways (after that of the Prussian state railways ) with a railway network of 8,526 kilometres (including the Palatinate Railway or Pfalzbahn ) by the end of the First World War. Following the abdication of the Bavarian monarchy at the end of the First World War, the 'Royal' title was dropped and on 24 April 1920 the Bavarian State Railway ( Bayerische Staatseisenbahn ), as it
6205-544: The small towns of Deidesheim , Wachenheim , Bad Dürkheim, Freinsheim and Grünstadt with the railway network. The Northern Railway runs through vineyards and open country near the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest . Starting at Neustadt Hauptbahnhof , it runs to Neustadt -Böbig station parallel to the Palatine Ludwig Railway , later turning to the left towards the north. After passing
6290-546: 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,
6375-685: The terminus of the Rheinhessen Railway . In 1860 a local committee was established to promote the construction of a railway from Neustadt via Bad Dürkheim to Frankenthal. In particular, the workers in Bad Dürkheim's factories would benefit from the proposed line. Although such a route would run parallel to the Palatinate Ludwig Railway and the Mainz–Ludwigshafen railway , the promoters were optimistic that
6460-500: 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
6545-555: 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
6630-600: 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
6715-486: Was Zwiesel to Bodenmais , in the Bavarian Forest, which opened as late as 1928 and is still operational. Track was often lightly laid, limiting axle-loading to 4.25 or 5 tonnes. On well-drained land, sand, gravel, cinders or a mix of the three was sometimes used instead of normal ballast. Rail bridges were simple and tracks followed the lines of roads, paths, or rivers where possible to keep civil engineering to
6800-429: 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
6885-547: 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
6970-510: Was displayed to the public at the 1906 Nuremberg State Exhibition. After its return from the exhibition it was taken over by the Royal Bavarian State Railways on 21 November 1906. A few months later, in July 1907, it set the world speed record for steam locomotives, recording a top speed of 154.5 km/h on the Munich to Augsburg line. Since being taken out of service in 1925 it has been preserved in
7055-492: 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
7140-667: Was finally abandoned in 2005. North of Grünstadt station, the Eis Valley Railway branches off to Ramsen and Eiswoog. Shortly before Albsheim the largely abandoned Worms–Grünstadt railway branches off to Neuoffstein . At Bockenheim is the northern terminus of the German Wine Route and the last town in the Palatinate region. About four and a half kilometres north at Monsheim—in Rhenish Hesse —is
7225-551: Was now called, was merged into the newly formed German Reich Railways Authority or Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen as the Bavarian Group Administration ( Gruppenverwaltung Bayern ). The management of the Bavarian railway network was divided into four Reichsbahn divisions: Augsburg , Munich , Nuremberg and Regensburg . The former Palatinate Railway formed the Ludwigshafen division. On 1 October 1933
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