Final solution
131-605: Parties The National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise ( German : Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , abbreviated NSRL ) was the umbrella organization for sports and physical education in Nazi Germany . The NSRL was known as the German League of the Reich for Physical Exercise ( German : Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , abbreviated DRL) until 1938. The organization
262-465: 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
393-402: 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
524-612: 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
655-758: A FIFA continental team on 26 October 1938 in London , England. During the war, Germany played international games until 1942. In the aftermath of World War II , German organisations were disbanded by the allies. FIFA decided in November 1945 to ban the no longer existing DFB (and Japan 's football association ) from international competition, while the Austrian association was re-founded. Internationally, Germans were still represented, with Zürich -based Ivo Schricker serving as General Secretary of FIFA from 1932 to December 1950. In 1948, Switzerland requested FIFA to lift
786-559: 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
917-816: A major role in the structure and coordination of the Summer Olympics in Berlin. The Olympic Games, the first in history to have live television coverage, provided an ideal setting to showcase the Nazi regime and what Hitler deemed to be his exploits. As Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games, Carl Diem, the former secretary of the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA),
1048-458: 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
1179-696: 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
1310-586: A post von Tschammer craved but was not able to obtain. The German eagle with the swastika on the chest, worn as a badge by the athletes of the 1936 German Olympics team , became the official symbol of the Nazi Sports Body; "the swastika on the eagle's chest displays ... the ideology of the DRL" ("Das Hakenkreuz aber, welches der Adler in seinen Schwingen trägt, bekennt, aus welcher Gesinnung ... im DRL gearbeitet wird) . The verbal salutation "Heil Hitler!"
1441-483: 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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#17327767622261572-701: A step 4 division in the German football league system , and the step 5 Oberliga Nordost . The NOFV itself is formed by the following state associations: DFB Administration is located in Frankfurt (Main) . It is headed by Secretary General Friedrich Curtius and managing directors Heike Ullrich (Deputy Secretary General), Oliver Bierhoff and Markus Holzherr. FIFA World Cup UEFA European Championship Summer Olympic Games FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA Women's World Cup UEFA Women's Championship Summer Olympic Games The official mascot
1703-402: A wider national purpose. This was in line with the ideals of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , the "Father of physical exercises", who connected the steeling of one's own body to a healthy spirit and promoted the idea of a unified, strong Germany. A more controversial aim was the demonstration of Aryan physical superiority . Von Tschammer's impressively staged events of sports pageantry not only enhanced
1834-717: 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
1965-601: 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
2096-612: 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
2227-558: 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
2358-478: 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
2489-430: 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
2620-535: 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
2751-611: 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
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#17327767622262882-565: 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
3013-435: 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
3144-597: 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
3275-401: 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
3406-525: 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
3537-578: 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
3668-433: 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
3799-689: 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
3930-655: The 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the Swiss Football Association requested that the DFB be reinstated with full FIFA membership, which was granted on 22 September 1950 in Brussels. Thus, Germany was excluded from the 1950 FIFA World Cup and could resume international games only in late 1950. In the early years of the division of Germany , West Germany claimed exclusive mandate of all of Germany. Unlike
4061-639: 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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4192-537: 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
4323-417: 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
4454-653: The FRVS administers the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar , a step 5 division. The FRVS itself is formed by the following state associations: The Western German Football Association ( German : Westdeutscher Fußballverband; WDFV ) covers the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The association was known as WFLV from 2002 to 2016 and used to administer the Western German football championship until 1933. From 1947 to 1963, its highest league
4585-457: The German Empire was much larger than today's Germany, comprising Alsace-Lorraine and the eastern provinces . The borders of the regional associations were drawn according to suitable railway connections. Also, teams based in Bohemia , then part of Austria-Hungary , were eligible, as they were German Football clubs and thus considered German. Thus, a German team from Prague was runner-up in
4716-522: 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
4847-812: The Haus des Deutschen Sports (House of the German Sports) in the Reichssportfeld (Sports Field of the Reich) in Berlin. World War II radically altered the role of the NSRL in Germany and the areas under its leadership. The military re-armament and dire war preparations would make the influence of physical exercises in Nazi German society wane in favour of militarism. The massive sports pageantry events in
4978-582: The Hitler salute was made compulsory; Marxists and Jews were expelled. The records of German Jews were erased from the DFB's records, such as those of Gottfried Fuchs who had scored a world record ten goals for Germany in a 16–0 win against Russia at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, becoming the top scorer of the tournament and setting an international record. When, in 1972, German former player and national team coach Sepp Herberger asked
5109-746: 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
5240-655: The IOC , which granted only provisional recognition to the East Germans in 1955, demanding they participate in an All-German Olympic team ( United Team of Germany ), FIFA fully recognized the East German Football Association in 1952. Winning the 1954 World Cup was a major success for the DFB, and the popularity of the sport in Germany. The teams of the DFB and the Saarland were squared off in
5371-477: The Mannschaft were runners-up in the 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002 World Cups and in 1976, 1992 and 2008 European Championships. The DFB has also overseen the rise of Germany as a world power in women's football . The national team has won World Cups in 2003 and 2007 —the latter without conceding a goal in the final tournament, making them the only World Cup champions for men or women to do so. Furthermore,
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5502-737: The Northern German football championship until 1933. From 1947 to 1963, its highest league was the Oberliga Nord , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga . Since the 1994–95 season, the NFV is in charge of the Regionalliga Nord , a step 4 division in the German football league system . The NFV itself is formed by the following state associations: The Northeastern German Football Association ( German : Nordostdeutscher Fußball-Verband; NOFV ) covers
5633-666: 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
5764-679: The SFV , except its member Bavarian FA, along with the Football Association of the Southwest is in charge of the Regionalliga Südwest , a step 4 division in the German football league system . The SFV itself is formed by the following state associations: The Southwestern Regional Football Association ( German : Fußball-Regional-Verband Südwest; FRVS ) covers the states Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland and
5895-676: 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
6026-422: 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
6157-400: 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
6288-408: 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
6419-452: The Czech teams of the territories occupied by Germany , Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren , was formed by the NSRL in 1943. The last big sports event organized in its trademark grandiose style by the NSRL was the Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest (German Gym and Sports Celebration) in Breslau (now Wrocław) in July 1938. This highly nationalistic sports event commemorated the 125th anniversary of the German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon and
6550-407: The DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main . Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League ( German : Deutsche Fußball Liga ; DFL ), organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga , along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising
6681-411: The DRA. After the Enabling Act , which legally gave Hitler dictatorial control of Germany in March 1933, all sports organizations connected to the Social Democratic Party , the Communist Party , and even to the church, were banned. This ban affected especially the sports clubs of industrial workers, most of which were called to split up on their own (Selbstauflösung) before the first semester of 1933
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#17327767622266812-535: The DRL's Statutes: The purpose of the League of the Reich for Physical Exercise is the training of the body and character of Germans grouped together in member organizations through planned physical exercises and care of the national conscience (Volksbewußtsein) in the spirit of the National Socialist state . Regarding method and purpose, and keeping aside the ideology, the well-ordered and solemn DRL/NSRL system proved itself efficient. The 1936 Summer Olympics, as well as other key events, provided ample opportunity to test
6943-425: The DRL) matches between a German team and a British team from Worcester took place in Berlin. Austria's annexation by Germany in March 1938 brought the budding Austrian Nationalliga to an early end. Numerous football teams were disbanded and some players fled the country. All Austrian sports associations were absorbed by the system of the DRL as Gau XVII section under Gaufachwart Hans Janisch. The Hitler salute
7074-416: The DRL/NSRL was at its height. As a sports governing body seeking to control and integrate all sport activities in Germany, the DRL/NSRL provided a highly organized structure. This structuralization, whose nationalistic seriousness was often outright theatrical, was in line with the Nazi Party's goal of reminding Germans constantly that they were members of a large extended country. According to Paragraph 2 of
7205-614: 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
7336-414: 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
7467-404: The German Football Association vice president Hermann Neuberger to invite Fuchs as a guest or a guest of honour to an international against Russia on the 60th anniversary of Fuchs' performance for the German team, the DFB Executive Committee declined to do so, writing that it was not willing to invite Fuchs because it would have created an unfortunate precedent (as was pointed out, given that Fuchs
7598-505: The German championship. On the other hand, clubs of the Danish minority in Northern Schleswig refused to join the DFB. This area after World War I voted to join Denmark. Due to border changes imposed by the Treaty of Versailles , the DFB had to adapt its structure. The Saarland , Danzig , and the Memelland were detached from Germany and East Prussia was cut off from the main part by the Polish Corridor . The role of DFB and its representatives like Felix Linnemann under Nazi Germany
7729-484: The German federation. New coach Sepp Herberger was told on short notice to use also Austrian players in his team, which was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup, weakening the situation of football within the Nazi politics to near meaninglessness. Four Germans (Hans Jakob, Albin Kitzinger , Ludwig Goldbrunner, and Ernst Lehner) represented West Europe in a FIFA friendly on 20 June 1937 in Amsterdam , and another two (Kitzinger again and Anderl Kupfer ) represented
7860-417: 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
7991-399: 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
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#17327767622268122-623: 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
8253-547: 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
8384-644: 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
8515-408: 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
8646-404: The NS Reichsbund für Leibesübungen along with all its facilities and departments. The disbandment of the NSRL meant that all the sports organizations of Germany had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction of both West Germany and East Germany . Even after German reunification in 1990, there has never been such a powerful and all-encompassing sports organization in Germany as
8777-470: The NSRL as a league were served by sports federations some of which still exist: (1) The "Summer Games" include the following games known collectively as " Turnspiele " in German: Schlagball (a German bat-and-ball sport), Fistball , Korbball [ de ] (closely related to korfball ), Schleuderball and Ringtennis . The regional structure of the NSRL followed the Nazi Party model. Often two or more gaue were included in one region where it
8908-411: The NSRL sold lottery tickets as a source of self-financement. Von Tschammer's influence and power within the NSDAP also began rapidly eroding despite having been a committed topmost Nazi leader. He would, however, never witness Germany's defeat and humiliation in the war, for he died from pneumonia in Berlin in March 1943. Arno Breitmeyer , a fellow SA officer became the new Reichssportführer . As
9039-400: The NSRL. Von Tschammer trusted the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Karl Ritter von Halt , whom he named President of the Committee for the organization of the Winter Games. As a result of the prestige acquired in this event, Karl Ritter von Halt would be elected member of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1937,
9170-454: The Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games. Hans von Tschammer und Osten was a SA group leader and promoter of Nazism . In the name of gleichschaltung he disbanded the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen on 5 May 1933 (officially on 10 May). Von Tschammer was then elevated to Reichssportführer on 19 July and the whole sports sphere in Germany was placed under his power. The Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (DRL)
9301-428: The World Cup in 1974 and 2006 . Germany also hosted the 1988 European Championship . Upon reunification in 1990, the East German Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was absorbed into the DFB. The national team won the World Cup for a second time in 1974, a third time in 1990 , and a fourth in the 2014 FIFA World Cup . Also, they were crowned European champions three times, in 1972, in 1980 and in 1996. On top,
9432-578: The already powerless German Football Association was finally wound up. Following the 1938 Munich Agreement and the liquidation of Czechoslovakia as a state, the ethnic Sudeten German football teams played in the Gauliga Sudetenland . The NSRL formed two groups in 1939, which were raised to three in 1941. None of these teams were able to make it to the final stages of the German football champions . Czech clubs continued to play their own Bohemia/Moravia championship A separate Gauliga for
9563-478: The ban on games against Germans, but this was denied. Swiss clubs played German clubs anyway, but had to cease doing so due to international protests. This was only changed in 1949 when The Football Association requested FIFA to lift the ban on club games. FIFA did so on 7 May 1949, two weeks before the Federal Republic of Germany was founded, thus games required permission by the military governments of
9694-481: The borders of the German states , with the exception of some states ( North Rhine-Westphalia , Rhineland-Palatinate , and Baden-Württemberg ) having up to three state associations covering different areas of such state. The Southern German Football Association ( German : Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband; SFV ) covers the states of Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria and Hesse . The SFV , formed on 17 October 1897 under
9825-622: The chief editor of NS-Sport , the official organ of the Reich Sports Office. Other DRL/NSRL publications included Dietwart , a sports magazine with excellent illustrations and Sport und Staat (Sports and State), a massive four-volume Nazi propaganda report on the organized sports activities in Nazi Germany. Sport und Staat was made by Arno Breitmeyer and Hitler's personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann . This lavishly illustrated work had many pictures and information about
9956-597: The clubs following a deal with Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten , who had been in charge of all sports in Germany since 1933, making DFB officials even more powerless. Germany had made a bid to host the 1938 World Cup , but it was withdrawn without comment. Following the Anschluss in March 1938 that made Austria part of Germany, the Austrian Football Association became part of
10087-539: The controversial measures taken by the Sports Office of the Reich at the time, the staging of the massive Reichssportfest event on Trinity Sunday was a decision that shocked devout Catholics . In 1935 journalist Guido von Mengden , was named public relations officer of the Reich Sports Office. He became the personal advisor and consultant of the Reichssportführer in 1936, and subsequently became
10218-474: The decision was made by a hurriedly instituted three-man commission. Thus, in April 1933, Hans von Tschammer und Osten, a figure formerly unknown in German sports, was named Reichskommissar für Turnen und Sport (Commissioner for Gymnastics and Sports of the Reich). Von Tschammer, however, would keep his predecessor in a high position in the sports body, and years later he would appoint Theodor Lewald as president of
10349-482: 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
10480-456: 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
10611-500: The different fronts, so the NSRL concentrated in training and staging local or regional events for younger athletes. Already in 1940 monetary funds for organizing sporting venues, such as the prestigious Kiel Week sailing competition, were not forthcoming. Contributors felt emboldened to deny funds to the formerly influential branches of the Nazi Sports Office owing to the war-related shifting of priorities. During this time
10742-549: The duration of World War I. The Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Olympische Spiele (DRA or DRAfOS) "German Imperial Commission for Olympic Games" , was the German Olympic Sports organization at that time. In 1917 the "German Imperial Commission for Olympic Games" was renamed Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA, sometimes also DRL or, more rarely, DRAfL: "German Imperial Commission for Physical Exercise"). The name change reflected Germany's protest against
10873-519: 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
11004-587: The fact that Germany and other Central Powers were being excluded from the "Olympic family" which was dominated by the Entente Powers . The Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen was led by Theodor Lewald and Carl Diem was its Secretary General. Even though it saw itself as the pan-German umbrella organization for sports, it did not represent all types of sports and sports associations of Germany. A great number of sport clubs, especially those stemming from industrial workers' background, had not joined
11135-493: The fan organization FC PlayFair! , mentioned that the growing unpopularity of the men's national team is "just a perfect example of what can happen when you have the fans out of sight". Direct members of the DFB are only its five regional associations and its 21 state associations, along with the German Football League , whereas the clubs participating in the German football league system are members of
11266-641: The first award of the Iron Cross in the city of Breslau itself in 1813. On 21 December 1938 a decree was issued by Adolf Hitler changing the name of the Reich Sports Body to Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen ( NSRL ), thereby "elevating it to an organization served by the NSDAP ". This name change meant that the NSRL would be "placed under" the Nazi Party. Its seat would be
11397-554: The following two years plunged the NSRL into irrelevance. The once mighty Nazi Sports Body had to give up its weight and its position of pride long before the war was lost. On 31 May 1945, after Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II , the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as "Law number five", this Denazification decree disbanded
11528-509: The following: Numbering according to Departments and Departmental Federations. Championships in the individual types of sports were duly organized by the corresponding associations and federations. Among the events directly organized by the NS Reichsbund für Leibesübungen the most important were: Final solution Parties German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
11659-746: The forerunner of the DRL/NSRL, became the chief organizer of the Berlin Olympic Games. Diem held high posts in the Reichs Sports office even after the Olympics, being named leader of the Foreign Department of the Nationalsocialist Sports Office in 1939 by the Reichssportführer . As such Carl Diem was responsible for the issues of German athletes in foreign countries, as well as for the international affairs of
11790-478: The good organization that the Sports Body of the Reich was able to provide. The NSRL's obvious competence succeeded in instilling a spirit of unity and pride among the German sportsmen and women as well as their supporters. Moreover, even if not duly credited, many of the NSRL's systemic improvements in sports are still in use in today's sports organizations. Besides the departments above, certain competences of
11921-435: 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,
12052-481: 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
12183-457: The large cities, carefully organized to arouse nationalistic fervor, were replaced by military parades of German warriors. Successful sportsmen found it increasingly difficult to compete with frontline war heroes in capturing the attention of the German public. Even though the NSRL continued playing a big role in sporting activities among the youth for a few years, the atmosphere had changed. Many Germans were subjected to conscription and left for
12314-567: The large number of state-based German regional competitions in play for a single recognized national title for the season 1902/03. Germans were not present in Paris when FIFA was founded by seven nations in May 1904, but by the time the FIFA statutes came into effect on 1 September, Germany had also joined by telegram as the eighth nation. The German national team played its first game in 1908. Before 1914,
12445-493: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . German Football Association The German Football Association ( German : Deutscher Fußball-Bund [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈfuːsbalˌbʊnt] ; DFB [ˌdeːʔɛfˈbeː] ) is the governing body of football , futsal , and beach soccer in Germany . A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA ,
12576-506: The men's Bundesliga. Initially, it was played in north and south divisions but became a single league in 1997. Bundesliga teams have enjoyed more success in the UEFA Women's Champions League than those from any other nation; four different clubs have won a total of seven titles, with the most recent being 2015 champions 1. FFC Frankfurt . Since 2005, in memory of former German-Jewish Olympian international footballer Julius Hirsch who
12707-402: 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
12838-766: The name of Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine , originally administered the Southern German football championship , until it was dissolved by the Nazis in 1933. Reformed in the American occupation zone after the Second World War, it operated the Oberliga Süd , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga until the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963. Since the 2012–13 season,
12969-653: 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
13100-472: The operational affairs, whereas the DFB lost most of its duties until it was formally dissolved in 1940. On the pitch, Germany had done well in 1934, but after a 0–2 loss to Norway in the quarter finals of the 1936 Summer Olympics , with Adolf Hitler attending, the DFB and football fell from grace. Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach and the Hitler Youth took over youth football (under 16) from
13231-520: The physical activity, but also the nationalism of Germans. Nordic aesthetic beauty and commitment to Germanic ideals of race went hand in hand during the Nazi era, and von Tschammer und Osten implemented a policy of racial exclusion within sports. Athletes of Jewish origin were excluded from participation in relevant sporting events. In 1936 Hans von Tschammer und Osten, as the head of the Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, played
13362-462: 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
13493-427: The qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup before the Saarland and its FA was permitted to rejoin Germany and the DFB in 1956. Due to that success, and due to regional associations fearing to lose influence, the old amateur structure, in which five regional leagues represented the top level, remained in effect longer than in many other countries, even though a Reichsliga had been proposed decades ago. Also, professionalism
13624-508: The semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world. From 1875 to the mid-1880s, the first kind of football played in Germany was according to rugby rules. Later, association-style football teams formed separate clubs, and since 1890, they began to organise on regional and national levels. The DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund)
13755-545: The state associations covering their district. Today, more than 25,000 clubs are organised in those state associations, fielding nearly 170,000 teams with over two million active players and totalling over six million members, the largest membership of any single sports federation in the world. The Association governs 870,000 female members and 8,600 female teams. The DFB is organised into five regional associations, which themselves are sub-divided into 21 state associations. These associations typically have their boundaries run along
13886-590: The states of Berlin , Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia . The association is the youngest of the five regional associations, having been formed after German reunification in 1990 as a successor of the disbanded German Football Association of the GDR . Since the 2012–13 season and previously from 1994 to 2000, the NOFV administers the Regionalliga Nordost ,
14017-546: 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,
14148-500: 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
14279-655: The time. Due to partition into several occupation zones, and states, the DFB was legally re-founded in Stuttgart on 21 January 1950 only by the West German regional associations, without the Saarland Football Association in the French occupied Saarland , which on 12 June 1950 would be recognized by FIFA as the first of three German FAs after the war. At the FIFA congress held on 22 June prior to
14410-503: The various Nazi organizations, i.e. SA , NSKK , Bund Deutscher Mädel , Hitler Jugend , etc. Printed in 1934 by the publishing house of the German Sports Aid Funds, a branch of the DRL, only volume one and two of a planned series of four volumes were published. The aims of the promotion of sports in Nazi Germany included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of
14541-476: The war dragged on, a huge number of members of the many branches of the NSRL, among them youngsters in their early teens, had to go to fight to the fronts. Since players were not available, except in shoddily organized military sports events in scattered frontline locations, sports life in Germany came practically to a standstill. The last von Tschammer und Osten Pokal football trophy was played in Vienna in 1943 and
14672-468: The women's national team's victory in 2003 made Germany the only nation to have won both the Men's and Women's World Cups, until Spain achieved the same milestone in 2023 . They have also won eight UEFA Women's Championships , including the last six in succession. In 1990, mere months before reunification became official, the DFB founded the women's Bundesliga ( Frauen-Bundesliga ), directly modelled after
14803-555: 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
14934-600: 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
15065-429: 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
15196-547: 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
15327-454: Was documented in 100 Jahre DFB and by Nils Havemann in Fußball unterm Hakenkreuz . According to Gleichschaltung policy, the DFB, with its large membership from all political sides, and strong regional structures compared to weak national ones, submitted to new rulers and new Gau structures. On a short general meeting on 9 July 1933 in Berlin, the DFB did so, at least formally. Later,
15458-514: Was established on 27 July 1934 as the official Sports governing body of Nazi Germany. It would quickly become a formidable system within the German nation. After the DRL's foundation all other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were coopted into the DRL as mere units ("Fachämter"). Even the most prestigious ones, like the German Football Association (DFB) lost their independence. Von Tschammer's goal
15589-492: 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
15720-521: Was expanded to Austria after that country's annexation by Nazi Germany . The NSRL was led by the Reichssportführer , who after 1934 simultaneously presided over the German National Olympic Committee . The NSRL's leaders were Hans von Tschammer und Osten (1933–1943), Arno Breitmeyer (1943–1944) and Karl Ritter von Halt (1944–1945). The 1916 Summer Olympics had been awarded to Berlin, but were canceled because of
15851-759: Was expedient to do so. (1) Thuringia , Anhalt and the Province of Saxony . — (2) Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg and Mecklenburg . — (3) The Palatinate and (from 1935 onwards) the Saar Region . — (4) Austria from 1938 onwards. By 1 January 1937 the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen had 45,096 Associations with 3,582,776 active members (of whom 517,992 were female and 3,064,784 male). On 1 April 1939 there were 44,622 Associations with 3,668,206 active members (of whom 526,084 were female). The sports practiced were
15982-514: Was formed after the Second World War in the French occupation zone in Germany. Its highest league until the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 was the Oberliga Südwest , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga . Since the 2012–13 season, the FRVS , along with the Southern German football association is in charge of Regionalliga Südwest , a step 4 division in the German football league system . Additionally,
16113-477: Was founded on 28 January 1900 in Leipzig by representatives of 86 clubs . The vote held to establish the association was 62:22 in favour (84 votes). Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may have voted only once. Other delegates present did not carry their club's authority to cast a ballot. Ferdinand Hueppe , the representative of DFC Prague, was named its first president. The DFB consolidated
16244-503: Was introduced as compulsory before and after every game. Finally, the operation of junior sports teams was handed over to the local Hitlerjugend units. Despised by Nazis as unworthy of a true German, professionalism in sports was outlawed by the DRL in May 1938. Felix Linnemann , the German Football Association (DFB) president, was one of the greatest campaigners for amateurism in sports in Nazi Germany. In 1940,
16375-438: Was introduced by von Tschammer on 12 December 1936 as the official formal salutation by members of German sport organisations in the sport events that would be organized from that date onwards. The Nazi salute had already been introduced three years before by Josef Klein . On 17 March 1937 all German athletes were called by Hans von Tschammer und Osten to join the Hitler Youth . In 1937 two cricket (Germanized into "Kricket" by
16506-643: Was killed in Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust , the German Football Federation awards the " Julius-Hirsch-Preis " for outstanding examples of integration and tolerance within German football. In 2018, Germany was chosen to host UEFA Euro 2024 . The main criticisms of the DFB are the lack of transparency and the commercialization of football, which has been strongly promoted by DFB officials. Christian Prechtl, from
16637-486: Was over. The more conservative nationalistic and bourgeois clubs were allowed to subsist into the following year. On 12 April 1933 Theodor Lewald gave in to the Nazi authorities and resigned as leader of the German Sports Office after it was revealed his paternal grandmother was Jewish. The Nazi minister of the interior, Wilhelm Frick , interfered with the process of the election of a new Sports leader, and
16768-482: Was rejected, and players who played abroad were considered "mercenaries" and not capped. The conservative attitude changed only after disappointing results in the 1962 FIFA World Cup when officials like the 75-year-old Peco Bauwens retired. According to the proposals of Hermann Neuberger, the DFB finally introduced a single nationwide professional league, the Bundesliga, for the 1963–64 season. The DFB has hosted
16899-686: Was the Oberliga West , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga . Since the 2008–09 season, the WDFV is in charge of the Regionalliga West , a step 4 division in the German football league system . The WDFV itself is formed by the following state associations: The Northern German Football Association ( German : Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband; NFV ) covers the states of Bremen , Hamburg , Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein . The association used to administer
17030-427: Was the last remaining former Jewish German international, the DFB's concern about creating a precedent was a difficult one to understand). As of 2016, Fuchs was still the top German scorer for one match. A new organization, Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (German Reich League for Physical Exercise), was established and Linnemann was appointed leader of its Fachamt Fußball (Football section), which took over
17161-479: Was to build a formidable Nazi sports body to which all German sports associations would be submitted. His vision was that physical exercise would "improve the morale and productivity of German workers" as well as making sports a source of national pride for the Germans. Sporting skills were made a criterion for school graduation as well as a necessary qualification for certain jobs and admission to universities. Among
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