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83-520: The town is on the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal . On the evening of 5 June 2019, a Viking ship, initially said to be the Viking Var , damaged the lock of Riedenburg, on the canal. After the impact, the lock could not be properly closed. No one was injured in the accident. The repair was expected to take two to three weeks to complete. Later reports indicated the vessel involved in that incident

166-465: 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

249-402: 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

332-612: 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

415-417: A cycle track. The old canal comes close to the new canal at Pollanten , and from there the two canals flow downstream in parallel, eventually meeting 5km south of Berching . The cross-section of the waterway is normally trapezoidal , with 31 metres (102 ft) width at the bottom, 55 metres (180 ft) width at the water surface, 4 metres (13 ft) of water depth, and a side grade of 1:3. The channel

498-559: 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

581-458: 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

664-793: A number of fish have spread from the Danube to the Main, and on to the Rhine and Lake Constance . The following list shows some examples: This exchange also works in the opposite direction. Examples include: The construction work was interrupted on 26 March 1979 by a serious accident in the Nuremberg district of Katzwang . A dam broke on the Eibach – Schwanstetten section, which was still under construction but already flooded. About 350,000 cubic metres (12,000,000 cu ft) of water poured through

747-696: 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

830-483: 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

913-487: Is a Waterway Class Vb ; the largest authorised vessel is 190 metres (620 ft) long and 11.45 metres (37.6 ft) wide. The channel in the Kelheim-bound Bamberg lock has a depth of 2.70 metres (8.9 ft). In the few sections with a rectangular profile, the width is usually 43 metres (141 ft) (i.e., the mean between top and bottom widths). The length of the canal is 171 kilometres (106 mi);

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996-717: 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

1079-946: Is a canal in Bavaria , Germany. Connecting the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed , it runs from Bamberg via Nuremberg to Kelheim . The canal connects the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea , providing a navigable artery between the Rhine delta (at Rotterdam in the Netherlands), and the Danube Delta in south-eastern Romania and south-western Ukraine (or Constanța , through

1162-601: 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

1245-612: 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

1328-558: 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

1411-478: 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

1494-430: 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

1577-535: 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

1660-611: 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

1743-672: Is held annually in July, includes a 3.8-kilometre (2.4 mi) swim in the Main-Danube Canal at Hilpoltstein . The canal is closed to vessel traffic during the race. An approximately 14-kilometre (8.7 mi)-long section of the marathon route runs along the canal from the Hilpoltstein lock to the Leerstetten lock. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

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1826-565: 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

1909-435: 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

1992-597: 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

2075-401: 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

2158-525: 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

2241-578: 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

2324-485: 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

2407-689: 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

2490-639: 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

2573-702: The Altmühl at Dietfurt is a drop of 51 metres (167 ft) through three locks. The further difference in elevation of 17 metres (56 ft) along the Altmühl, with two more locks, makes a total of 68 metres (223 ft) for the south ramp. This means that the Danube end of the canal is 107.3 metres (352 ft) above the level of the Main end. Along the course of the canal there are 16  locks with lifting heights of up to 25 meters (81 ft). The 16 locks are managed from four remote control centres (Neuses since 2007, Kriegenbrunn , Hilpoltstein, and Dietfurt from

Riedenburg - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-751: The Danube–Black Sea Canal ). The present canal was completed in 1992 and is 171 kilometres (106 mi) long. Projects for connecting the Danube and Rhine basins by canal have a long history. In 793, the Emperor Charlemagne ordered the construction of a canal—the Fossa Carolina (German: Karlsgraben )—connecting the Swabian Rezat , a tributary of the Rednitz , to the Altmühl near Treuchtlingen . Between 1836 and 1846

2739-537: 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

2822-417: 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

2905-522: 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

2988-746: 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

3071-463: The Ludwig Canal (German: Ludwigskanal), named for King Ludwig I of Bavaria , was built between Bamberg and Kelheim. This canal had a narrow channel, with many locks , and a shortage of water in the peak section, so the operation of the waterway soon became uneconomic—especially given the rapidly advancing construction of the railway network in the southern German countryside. The canal finally

3154-666: 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

3237-676: 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

3320-550: 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

3403-513: 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

Riedenburg - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-441: The ecosystem of new habitats: competition with native species , lack of natural predators , introduction of diseases and parasites , etc. However, there is also the possibility that they will naturalize into the new ecosystem and their introduction lead to an enrichment of the resident wildlife . In order to maintain navigable water levels for the waterway in the Main, Regnitz and Rednitz valleys, water must be diverted via

3569-469: 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

3652-467: The " Main-Donau-Wasserstraße ". Under this plan, in addition to the expansion of the Main and Danube, a completely new channel linking the rivers was to be created. The Rhein-Main-Donau AG (RMD-AG) was founded on 30 December 1921 to undertake the project. To finance the waterway, the RMD was given control of the water resources of the Main, Danube, Lech , Altmühl , and Regnitz . The first concrete plans for

3735-499: The 15-metre (49 ft) wide hole and flooded large parts of old Katzwang. The force of the water was so great that it dug a 10-metre (33 ft) wide crater and swept away cars, people and houses. During the rescue operations, a 12-year-old girl died. The damage was around DM 24 million (converted c. 12 million euros ). After the disaster, the entire canal line was checked for weaknesses and retrofitted at critical points. The long-distance Challenge Roth triathlon , which

3818-484: The 34-kilometre (21 mi) long section through the Altmühl valley. On 25 September 1992, the canal was completed. The equivalent of some 2.3 billion euros were invested in the construction from 1960 to 1992. Almost 20 percent of that went for environmental protection projects. From Bamberg to Fürth the canal follows the valley of the Regnitz , a tributary of the Main. From Fürth to beyond Roth it follows

3901-614: The Altmühlüberleiter canal & tunnel from the upper Altmühl to the Brombachsee reservoirs, across the European Watershed between the drainage basins of the Danube and Rhine. On the other hand, the canal carries cargo traffic that would otherwise require 250,000 truck trips annually, or as an alternative, 3,000 freight trains on the Deutsche Bahn rail network. So far about 20 species of invertebrates and

3984-723: 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

4067-748: 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

4150-417: 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

4233-399: 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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4316-623: 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

4399-547: 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

4482-644: 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

4565-408: 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

4648-441: The Main-Danube Canal, and a benefit–cost ratio of 0.52:1. This might have justified the termination of the project. One of the proponents commissioned a study by the Ifo-Institut München, predicting an estimated 5.5 million tonnes per year for the traffic volume on the Main-Danube Canal. In 2004, the freight volume in exchange traffic totalled 5.9 million tonnes and the total transport 6.9 million tonnes. The course of

4731-444: The RMD Canal in 2006 was down almost 20% compared to the previous year. The most important goods, which were transported on the canal toward the Danube: Goods transported toward the Rhine The container traffic declined from 3,986 to 2,539 TEUs . Of these 85% were in the direction of Danube. Meanwhile, tourism along the canal is economically important. This has contributed to the extensive creation of habitats to compensate for

4814-408: The beginning of 2007). These centres are staffed with one worker on the night shift, and two on the day shift. The locks were modernized from 2001 to 2007, replacing the outdated relay technology with programmable logic controllers (PLC) . The cost was approximately $ 1.3 million per lock. The summit pound is maintained by pumping water from the canal stretches below; and some water is drained into

4897-472: The canal. The transport volume in traffic between Main-Danube Canal and Danube (Kelheim lock) in 2010 consisted of the following items (in tons): Freight volume by country between Main-Donau-Kanal and Donau (Kelheim Lock) in 2010: The construction of canals involves ecological dangers. The Main-Danube Canal makes it possible for aquatic animals to spread from Western to Eastern Europe and vice versa . Invasive species often cause adverse impacts in

4980-422: The completion of the project. The contract was signed on 16 September of that year in Duisburg by Federal Transport Minister Hans-Christoph Seebohm , Federal Finance Minister Rolf Dahlgrün , Bavarian Prime Minister Alfons Goppel and the Bavarian Finance Minister Konrad Pöhner. The last section to be built, between Nuremberg and Kelheim, became politically controversial in the 1970s and 1980s, mainly because of

5063-430: 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

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5146-404: 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

5229-516: The down cycle. On the up cycle, these tanks replenish first the bottom third and then the middle third of the lock volume. The remaining top third is supplied by water from the upper level of the canal. use kilometres (km) sea level (m) lock (m) There were different forecasts of freight transport volumes, from which benefit–cost ratio could be derived. In 1981, a Federal Minister for Transport cost–benefit account assumed an estimated traffic volume of only 2.7 million tonnes per year for

5312-435: 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

5395-435: 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,

5478-417: 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

5561-402: 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

5644-423: The new waterway emerged in 1938, for the so-called Mindorfer Linie south of Nuremberg. As early as 1939 the first preparatory work began at Thalmässing in Landkreis Roth . However, after the war this route was dropped. By 1962, the Main's channel had been expanded as far upstream as Bamberg. In 1966, the Duisburger Vertrag, an agreement between Bavaria and the Federal Republic of Germany , was reached for financing

5727-423: 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

5810-426: The planned extension of the Danube waterway between Passau and Kelheim is still controversial. Proponents argue that the cost structure of inland navigation will require larger ship sizes, so that larger lock dimensions, deeper channels and secure minimum water depth will be required. Opponents argue the environmental degradation is too great and that inland navigation is falling. The transport volume through

5893-462: 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

5976-546: 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,

6059-474: The summit elevation (between the Hilpoltstein and Bachhausen locks) is 406 metres (1,332 ft) above sea level . This is the highest point on Earth that is currently reached by commercial watercraft from the sea. The height difference along the north ramp of the canal—from the Main at Bamberg to the crest elevation—is 175 metres (574 ft), with 11 locks. From the crest elevation down to

6142-401: The summit pound from local natural sources. Finally a pumped storage artificial lake Dürrlohsee that sits even higher in elevation than the summit pound makes up the difference if the aforementioned sources of water are not sufficient. Thirteen locks are designed to conserve water, which they do by piping first the top third, and then the middle third of the lock water into side tanks during

6225-500: 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

6308-541: The valley of the Rednitz , a tributary of the Regnitz. It crosses the Franconian Jura mountains and joins the river Altmühl near Dietfurt . From Dietfurt to Kelheim on the Danube the canal follows the Altmühl valley. Today, some 60 kilometers of the Ludwig Canal still exists in good condition between Nuremberg and Berching . Some of the locks still function, and part of the towpath has been converted to

6391-608: 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

6474-652: 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

6557-429: 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

6640-535: Was abandoned in 1950, after a decision was made to not repair damage it had suffered from Allied bombing during World War II . In 1917, the Landtag of Bavaria passed a law calling for the development of a major shipping route "between Aschaffenburg and Passau ", with the capacity to carry the 1,200-ton ships used on the Rhine . On 13 June 1921, Bavaria and the German Reich concluded an agreement to build

6723-3518: Was actually the Viking Tir . The site Vessel Tracker stated that this ship returned to Regensburg a few hours later and remained there; its records indicate that the Tir did not continue on to Budapest until 13 June. This Kelheim district location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rhine%E2%80%93Main%E2%80%93Danube Canal 49°11′30″N 11°15′3″E  /  49.19167°N 11.25083°E  / 49.19167; 11.25083  ( Rhine–Main–Danube Canal ) 49°54′28″N 10°51′22″E  /  49.90785°N 10.85608°E  / 49.90785; 10.85608  ( Hafen Bamberg ) 49°52′50″N 10°54′29″E  /  49.88067°N 10.90796°E  / 49.88067; 10.90796  ( Bamberg lock ) 49°50′18″N 10°57′22″E  /  49.83847°N 10.95619°E  / 49.83847; 10.95619  ( Strullendorf lock ) 49°44′41″N 11°02′51″E  /  49.74461°N 11.04753°E  / 49.74461; 11.04753  ( Forchheim lock ) 49°41′10″N 11°02′20″E  /  49.68601°N 11.03893°E  / 49.68601; 11.03893  ( Hausen lock ) 49°37′25″N 10°58′49″E  /  49.62371°N 10.98035°E  / 49.62371; 10.98035  ( Erlangen lock ) 49°33′23″N 10°58′12″E  /  49.55640°N 10.97002°E  / 49.55640; 10.97002  ( Kriegenbrunn lock ) 49°24′56″N 11°03′25″E  /  49.41557°N 11.05696°E  / 49.41557; 11.05696  ( Nürnberg lock ) 49°23′30″N 11°03′52″E  /  49.39177°N 11.06448°E  / 49.39177; 11.06448  ( Hafen Nürnberg ) 49°23′08″N 11°03′52″E  /  49.38559°N 11.06440°E  / 49.38559; 11.06440  ( Eibach lock ) 49°17′31″N 11°06′42″E  /  49.29206°N 11.11177°E  / 49.29206; 11.11177  ( Leerstetten lock ) 49°12′40″N 11°10′35″E  /  49.21103°N 11.17646°E  / 49.21103; 11.17646  ( Eckersmühlen lock ) 49°11′40″N 11°13′30″E  /  49.19453°N 11.22501°E  / 49.19453; 11.22501  ( Hilpoltstein lock ) 49°09′07″N 11°26′11″E  /  49.15195°N 11.43652°E  / 49.15195; 11.43652  ( Bachhausen lock ) 49°05′28″N 11°26′38″E  /  49.09100°N 11.44397°E  / 49.09100; 11.44397  ( Berching lock ) 49°01′57″N 11°33′41″E  /  49.03263°N 11.56133°E  / 49.03263; 11.56133  ( Dietfurt lock ) 48°58′29″N 11°41′16″E  /  48.97482°N 11.68766°E  / 48.97482; 11.68766  ( Riedenburg lock ) 48°55′27″N 11°51′05″E  /  48.92418°N 11.85145°E  / 48.92418; 11.85145  ( Kelheim lock ) 48°54′37″N 11°54′16″E  /  48.91034°N 11.90454°E  / 48.91034; 11.90454  ( Altmühl mouth ) Download coordinates as: The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal ( German : Rhein-Main-Donau-Kanal ; also called Main-Danube Canal , RMD Canal or Europa Canal ),

6806-547: 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

6889-492: 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

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