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88-739: Rigi Railways ( German : Rigi Bahnen ) is a railway company that operates a group of railways on the mountain Rigi , located between two of the arms of Lake Lucerne , in Switzerland . They include two standard gauge rack railways , the Vitznau–Rigi Bahn (VRB) and the Arth–Rigi Bahn (ARB), along with the Luftseilbahn Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad (LWRK) cable car . Reaching a height of 1,752 metres (5,748 ft) above sea level,

176-465: 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

264-402: 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

352-612: 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

440-550: A connection with the Rigi Scheidegg cablecar, Fruttli, Klosterli and Staffel. On the Vitznau–Rigi line there is only one passing section, a long section of double track from Freibergen to just below the station at Rigi Kaltbad. At Staffel there is the only track connection between the two railways. This involves a single line leaving the Vitznau–Rigi line below the station and running parallel to its own line until it joins

528-620: A contour-following panoramic rail line that connected it to the Scheidegg summit between 1875 and 1931. Today the line's trackbed, which is 6.7 kilometres (4 mi) in length and includes a tunnel and several bridges, is a rail trail that serves in summer as a panoramic footpath, and in winter for cross country skiing . [REDACTED] Media related to Rigi Kaltbad at Wikimedia Commons 47°02′39″N 8°28′00″E  /  47.04417°N 8.46667°E  / 47.04417; 8.46667 This Canton of Lucerne location article

616-425: A direct connection to the other lines. The line opened, in two stages, in 1874 and 1875. The first electrification, on the short section of line from Arth to Goldau, came with the commencement of the winter timetable in 1906. The mountain section from Goldau to Rigi Kulm, only operated in the summer until 1928, had the power switched on the following year, making this the first standard gauge rack and pinion railway in

704-559: 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

792-458: 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

880-460: A panoramic footpath and in winter is also used for cross country skiing. It was not until 1 January 1959, when the section of the Arth–Rigi line between Arth, on Lake Zug, and Arth-Goldau station was replaced by a bus service, that the second closure took place. The Arth–Rigi line then terminated in its station above the main line tracks. A new rail connection was built at Rigi Staffel , linking

968-696: 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

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1056-483: 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

1144-717: 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

1232-601: 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

1320-612: 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

1408-558: 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

1496-478: 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

1584-430: 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

1672-535: 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

1760-611: 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

1848-565: 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

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1936-435: 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

2024-597: 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

2112-401: 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

2200-553: Is staffed by hostesses dressed in outfits dating from its construction. The line is also home to another early example in Railcar No.7, a 1925 built BDhe 2/4 built by SIG / SLM / MFO. This works from Arth, frequently with a coach, or in the wintertime, the toboggan wagon. 47°00′35″N 8°28′59″E  /  47.00972°N 8.48306°E  / 47.00972; 8.48306 German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

2288-525: 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

2376-578: 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

2464-485: 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

2552-689: 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

2640-639: 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

2728-537: 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

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2816-417: 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

2904-522: 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

2992-701: The Gotthard railway , and it was clear that this main line railway would include a station in Arth, now known as Arth-Goldau station . It was clearly important that the Arth–Rigi line should connect with this station. The concession to construct the Arth–Rigi railway was ceded, in 1873, to the International Company for Mountain Railways in Aarau, a company founded by Riggenbach and this company carried out

3080-746: 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

3168-666: 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

3256-698: The Rigi Railways Company and in the same year took over the Rigi Ski Lift Company. The Vitznau–Rigi railway commences from a terminal station in the centre of Vitznau , and adjacent to the landing stage served by the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees . This company operates passenger vessels, including some historic paddle steamers , on services that link Vitznau with the city of Lucerne and other places on Lake Lucerne . The public square between

3344-676: 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

3432-550: 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

3520-513: 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

3608-493: The canton of Lucerne for permission to build a line from Vitznau to Rigi Staffelhöhe, a point somewhat below the summit of Rigi, but the nearest point to the summit within that canton. The cantonal administration already knew of the success of the Mount Washington Railway and saw the advantages in this construction, granting permission on 9 June 1869. The construction itself began in the following September,

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3696-548: The canton of Schwyz . The summit of Mount Rigi is situated in the canton of Schwyz, along with the northern slopes of the mountain and the town of Arth on Lake Zug below. In 1870, a committee made up of 12 citizens of Arth were granted a concession from the Schwyz Cantonal Council for a railway to operate from Arth via Oberarth to Rigi Kulm, together with a second line to connect Rigi Staffelhöhe to Rigi Kulm. The same engineering team who were responsible for

3784-469: 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

3872-475: The Arth–Rigi railway and the Vitznau–Rigi railway, and opened in 1990. In 1967 the Swiss government granted an operating licence for an aerial cableway to run from near the shores of Lake Lucerne to a point near the summit of Mount Rigi. To avoid direct competition with the Vitznau–Rigi railway, the aerial cableway was to run from Weggis, where connections were available with the lake steamers from Lucerne, to meet

3960-416: The Arth–Rigi railway becoming operational on 4 June 1875. The line offered only summertime services until 1884 when year-round operation commenced. The line from Arth to the junction at Rigi Staffelhöhe was 6.8 km (4.2 mi) long, making the total length of the Arth line 8.6 km (5.3 mi) The maximum gradient is 1 in 5 (20%) Whilst the Arth–Rigi railway was under construction, another line on

4048-723: 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

4136-748: 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

4224-536: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of

4312-451: The German states; the invention of the printing press c.  1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of

4400-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by

4488-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are

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4576-865: 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

4664-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c.  thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c.  1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy

4752-422: The Rigi Railways are the highest standard gauge railway in Europe . They are also the highest railway in both cantons of Lucerne and Schwyz . The Vitznau–Rigi Bahn is also notable as the first mountain rack railway in Europe, and even the second in the world, after the Mount Washington Cog Railway in the United States. Aware of the scenic location of Mount Rigi, Swiss engineer Niklaus Riggenbach masterminded

4840-466: The Rigi massif was also being built. This linked Rigi Kaltbad , on the Vitznau-Rigi line, with Rigi Scheidegg to the east. Unlike the previous two lines, the Rigi–Scheidegg Railway followed the contours near the top of the mountain, rather than climbing it, and was not a rack railway. Also unlike the other two lines, it was built to 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge rather than standard gauge, and so never made

4928-450: The Vitznau–Rigi railway also undertook responsibility for the construction for these lines. The Arth company started by building the line from Rigi Staffelhöhe to Rigi Kulm, and this was ready for opening in time for the summer traffic in 1873. This line made an end-on connection with that from Vitznau and the Vitznau company operated their trains over it, paying the Arth company a ground rent for its use. This state of affairs continued until

5016-434: The construction of a railway from Vitznau , on the shores of Lake Lucerne and the southern flank of Mount Rigi, to a point close to its summit. He already had the technology as he had patented, in France in 1863, a system of toothed racks set between the railway tracks interlocking with cogwheels fitted under the locomotives . Jointly, with fellow engineers Olivier Zschokke and Adolf Naef, he submitted an application to

5104-431: The country to convert to electric traction. Electrification continued in 1937 when the other side of the mountain, the line from Vitznau, came under the wires. The electrification programme supplied power at 1500 V Direct Current from overhead wires. In 1931 the Rigi–Scheidegg Railway, which had never been electrified, was closed. This line, which includes a 70-metre (230 ft) tunnel and several bridges, now serves as

5192-430: 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

5280-404: 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

5368-435: 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

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5456-590: The electrification of the line in 1937. Because the three railcars weren't enough to completely replace the slower steam trains a fourth railcar of the same series as the first three was bought in 1953. It received a bigger cargo hold and was classified as BDhe 2/4 and got the number 4. To add to the passenger carrying capabilities of the line even more a class BDhe 4/4 from the same makers arrived in 1964 and, again from SLM / BBC, in 1986 two railcars (BDhe 4/4), numbered 21 and 22, arrived with single end driving trailers (Bt) numbered 31 and 32 which were nearly identical as

5544-435: 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,

5632-480: The identification VRB 1, and usually to be found shunting at Vitznau, a class He 2/3, built in 1930 by SLM / MFO , in orange and numbered 8, which is the Arth snowplough locomotive, and a further class He 2/2, in red livery and numbered 18, built by SLM in 1938 and which is usually based at Vitznau. The railcars , class Bhe 2/4, are painted in a red livery for operation on the Vitznau section. Numbered 1 - 3 (incl) they were products of SLM / BBC , and introduced with

5720-417: 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

5808-423: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Rigi Kaltbad Rigi Kaltbad is located on the flanks of the Rigi and is connected to Vitznau by the Rigi Railways . It is also connected to Weggis by a cable car. Rigi Kaltbad was also the terminus of the Rigi–Scheidegg railway ,

5896-402: The limited liability company, which had offered 1250 shares was greatly over-subscribed on the first day of issue. On 21 May 1870, Riggenbach's birthday, locomotive No.1, named Stadt Luzern , made its first trial run. Exactly one year later the first mountain railway using rack and pinion technology was officially opened. Riggenbach, never noted for missing an opportunity, drove the first train to

5984-401: The main line. Both railways share a common terminal station at Rigi Kulm, although the two tracks are not linked in the station, and the two lines to Rigi Staffelhöhe follow slightly different routes. Each railway has a single stub track and platform. The Arth–Rigi line is single line with passing points in some of the stations. In order from Arth-Goldau these are Krabel, where there is

6072-399: The merger in 1992. The line from Rigi Staffelhöhe to Rigi Kulm, was just 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long but enabled trains to reach the summit at Rigi Kulm, a height of 1,752 m (5,748 ft) above sea level, a climb of a further 202 m (662.7 ft) from Rigi Staffelhöhe. By the time construction started on the main line of the Arth–Rigi railway, construction had also started on

6160-402: 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

6248-427: The mountain station of the cable car with the railway station. The technical installations were the work of K. Garaventa & Sons of Goldau , and the large cabins were supplied by the Carrosseriewerke Company of Aarburg. On the 25th anniversary of the opening of the cable car (in 1993), the original two red passenger cabins were replaced by modern panorama cabins. In 1992 the two railway companies merged to become

6336-653: 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

6424-424: The passing loop of the Arth–Rigi line. The connecting track is also used for stabling stock between services. The line operates two steam locomotives , No's 16, ( SLM No.2871, built 1923) (See photograph above) and 17, (SLM No.3043, built 1925). They are painted in a dark green livery, lined red. They also have three electric locomotives , a Stadler built battery operated class Ta 2/2 in red livery, which carries

6512-462: 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

6600-450: The railcar 15. Although the railcars are capable of working as single units they are normally to be found working with the trailers. On the Arth section class BDhe 2/4 railcars, built by SLM / SAAS and numbered 11 and 12 arrived in 1949, being joined by No.13 in 1954 and No.14 in 1967. These were joined by class BDhe 4/4 No.15 in 1982. Class Bt driving trailers followed the railcars, No.21 and 22 in 1958, No.23 in 1960 and Nos. 24 and 25 with

6688-421: The railcars in 1967 and 1982 respectively. These vehicles are liveried in blue/white. It is common, on light traffic days, for the railcars to operate without trailers. The drivers control cab , in some older railcars, is not separated from the passenger section. The line also has a collection of historic coaches and those for special use. The most usual use for these vehicles is with the steam locomotive, where

6776-481: The railway at Rigi Kaltbad. The licence was granted to the Rigi Railway Company. The construction period was short, a mere eleven months saw the new aerial cableway completed and the opening took place on 15 July 1968. The cable car rises from the lakeside some 924 m (3,031 ft) to its summit and has a journey time of just 10 minutes. A 100-metre (328.1 ft) pathway at Rigi Kaltbad connects

6864-405: The railway project as general contractor at a cost of CHF 4.2 million and also supplied five of the six steam locomotives needed to operate it. Construction of the first section, that from Arth-am-See, a station by Lake Zug, to Oberarth commenced in 1873 and once the position of the railway station had been agreed with the main line company, in 1874, construction work on the second section began,

6952-546: 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,

7040-401: The station and landing stage is largely occupied by a turntable used by the railway to access its lakeside depot. Since of the closure of the section from Arth , the Arth–Rigi railway now commences on platforms above, and at right-angles to, the main line platforms of Arth-Goldau station . The lines depot lies to the south of the station, where a link track connects the mountain railway with

7128-500: 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

7216-472: The train usually consists of three coaches. Class BDhe 2/3, Railcar No.6, is the world's oldest cogwheel-railcar which dates from 1911. Working with yellow liveried coach, class B2, No.35, built in 1899, this forms the Rigi Pullman train. There are upholstered seats for passengers who like comfort, wooden benches for the more hardy and a standing bar for those who can remain steady on their feet. The bar

7304-424: The upper terminus at Rigi Staffelhöhe. The line, from Vitznau to Rigi Staffelhöhe was 5 km (3.1 mi) long and climbed a total of 1,115 m (3,658 ft) to reach a height of 1,550 m (5,085 ft) at its summit, the maximum gradient being 1 in 4 (25%). As originally built, the Vitznau–Rigi railway only reached Rigi Staffelhöhe, as that was the cantonal boundary between the canton of Lucerne and

7392-555: 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

7480-600: 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

7568-429: 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

7656-547: 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

7744-492: 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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