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95-659: The Wolf's Lair ( German : Wolfsschanze ; Polish : Wilczy Szaniec ) was Adolf Hitler 's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II . The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the village of Görlitz (now Gierłoż ), about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the town of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn ), in present-day Poland . The central complex and the Führer 's bunker were surrounded by three security zones guarded by two Schutzstaffel (SS) units:

190-465: 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

285-402: 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

380-612: 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

475-404: A briefcase into one of the daily military briefings usually held in the bunkers, in the hope that the heavy reinforcements of the bunkers could be turned against the Führer through the shockwave of the blast reverberating off the heavily reinforced walls of the room and certainly killing him. However, on the day of the planned assassination, the location of the meeting was unexpectedly changed to

570-559: 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

665-404: A light brick hut due to Hitler's complaints about the immense heat within the bunkers that day. This change in venue, along with other factors, such as Hitler unexpectedly calling the meeting earlier than anticipated, would contribute to the eventual failure of the plot. Despite this change in plans, Stauffenberg went ahead with carrying out the plot. He carried the briefcase containing the bomb into

760-458: 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

855-437: A new conference room, redesigning the exhibition space, as well as constructing a new observation deck. In 2024, archaeologists exploring the complex's former living quarters of Hermann Göring reported discovering five human skeletons (three adults, a teenager and a baby believed to be a family) missing their hands and feet and lacking any traces of clothing or personal objects buried under the brick residence. Alongside each of

950-696: 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

1045-526: A possible bomber attack on the Wolfsschanze by the Western Allies . She quoted Hitler as saying, "They know exactly where we are, and sometime they're going to destroy everything here with carefully aimed bombs. I expect them to attack any day." According to Speer, between 28 July 1941 and 20 March 1942, Hitler left Rastenburg only four times for a total of 57 days. Afterwards, Hitler spent

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1140-483: 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

1235-408: A tourist attraction. Visitors can make day trips from Warsaw or Gdańsk . Hotels and restaurants have grown up near the site. Plans have periodically been proposed to restore the area, including the installation of historical exhibits. As of 2019, the site was drawing almost 300,000 visitors a year. The Srokowo Forest District, which manages the site, announced renovation and restoration plans for

1330-601: 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

1425-612: 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

1520-558: 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

1615-478: 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

1710-430: 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

1805-535: 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

1900-611: 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

1995-565: 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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2090-435: 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

2185-597: 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

2280-401: 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

2375-525: 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

2470-578: 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

2565-485: 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

2660-689: 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

2755-627: The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht . OKH had been independent until February 1938, when Hitler created the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht which, on paper, subordinated OKH to OKW. After a major crisis developed in the Battle of Moscow , von Brauchitsch was dismissed (partly because of his failing health), and Hitler appointed himself as head of the OKH. At the same time, he limited the OKH's authority to

2850-678: The Bendlerblock in Berlin. On 20 August 1944, Hitler personally presented survivors of the bomb blast with a "20 July 1944 Wound Badge ". Next-of-kin of those killed in the blast were also given this award. The Red Army reached the borders of East Prussia during the Baltic offensive in October 1944. Hitler departed from the Wolf's Lair for the final time on Monday, 20 November 1944 , when

2945-654: The Felsennest in Western Europe. Like the Felsennest , the new headquarters had to be as close to the front as possible, but far enough to be safe from enemy forces. Eventually, a top-secret site was chosen in the middle of the Masurian woods, in what was then East Prussia , far from roads and urban areas, and accessible only by a single railway and small airstrip. To maintain secrecy, locals were told that

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3040-738: The SS-Begleitkommando des Führers , and the Reichssicherheitsdienst . The Wehrmacht ' s armored Führerbegleitbrigade was held in readiness nearby but, as a part of the Heer 's elite Großdeutschland Division , was used to counter-attack Red Army break-throughs in Army Group Centre's front and rescue cut-off Heer , Luftwaffe Fallschirmjager , and SS panzer troops. The 20 July Plot , an assassination attempt against Hitler, took place at

3135-639: 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

3230-568: The Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

3325-537: 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

3420-629: The Eastern front . The OKH commander held the title of Commander-in-chief of the Army ( Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres ). After the Battle of Moscow , the OKH commander Field marshal Walther von Brauchitsch was removed from office, and Hitler appointed himself as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. From 1938, OKH was, together with Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ( transl.  Air Force High Command ) and Oberkommando der Marine ( transl.  Naval High Command ) formally subordinated to

3515-480: 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

3610-671: The European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ),

3705-522: 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

3800-746: 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

3895-666: 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

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3990-676: 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

4085-550: 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

4180-513: 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

4275-469: 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

4370-723: 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

4465-748: 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

4560-536: 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

4655-451: 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

4750-681: 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

4845-655: 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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4940-408: 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

5035-460: The Russian front, giving OKW direct authority over army units elsewhere. This enabled Hitler to declare that only he had complete awareness of Germany's strategic situation, should any general request a transfer of resources between the Russian front and another theatre of operations. Although both OKW and OKH were headquartered in the Maybach complex in Nazi Germany, the functional and operational independence of both establishments were not lost on

5130-510: The Soviet advance reached Angerburg (now Węgorzewo ), 15 km (9 mi) away. Two days later, the order was given to destroy the complex. The demolition took place on the night of 24–25 January 1945, ten days after the start of the Red Army's Vistula–Oder offensive . Tons of explosives were used; one bunker required an estimated 8,000 kg (18,000 lb) of TNT . Most of the buildings were only partially destroyed due to their immense size and reinforced structures. The Red Army captured

5225-421: The Wolf's Lair on 20 July 1944. The name Wolfsschanze is derived from "Wolf", a self-adopted nickname of Hitler. He began using the nickname in the 1920s and it was often how he was addressed by those in his intimate circle. "Wolf" was used in several titles of Hitler's headquarters throughout occupied Europe , such as Wolfsschlucht I and II in Belgium and France, and Werwolf in Ukraine . Although

5320-414: The abandoned remains of the Wolfsschanze on 27 January without firing a shot, the same day that Auschwitz was liberated farther south. Following the war, more than 54,000 land mines were removed from the area, together with abandoned ordnance, and the entire site was left to decay by Poland's Communist government . Since the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, the Wolf's Lair has been developed as

5415-400: The adjutant to the compound commander who then finally authorized clearance". It was between here and the final checkpoint of Sperrkreis 3 that Haeften tossed another briefcase from the car containing an unused second bomb. The two men reached the outer limit of the security zones and were allowed to catch their plane back to army general headquarters in Berlin. The attempted assassination

5510-469: The big raid he was expecting." No air attack ever came. It has never been revealed whether the Western Allies knew of the Wolfsschanze ' s location and importance. The Soviet Union was unaware of both the location and the scale of the complex until the site was uncovered by its forces during their advance towards Berlin in early 1945. Hitler would begin his day by taking a walk alone with his dog around 10 a.m. or so, and at 10:30 a.m. he looked at

5605-433: The complex were camouflaged with bushes, grass, and artificial trees on the flat roofs; netting was also erected between buildings and the surrounding forest so that the installation looked like unbroken dense woodland from the air. The site consisted of three concentric security zones. A facility for Army headquarters was also located near the complex. The FBK and RSD had responsibility for Hitler's personal security within

5700-409: The conference hut, making a request to be placed close to Hitler on grounds that he had trouble hearing due to his injuries sustained while fighting in North Africa, which would ensure that the bomb would be close enough to Hitler to be effective. The bomb exploded at precisely 12:42 p.m., with Stauffenberg having excused himself from the meeting a few minutes before. The interior of the building

5795-407: The conspirators was that Hitler's habit of last-minute changes to his schedule had led to the failure of attempts by others to kill him. Eventually, the conspirators chose the Wolf's Lair as a viable location to target Hitler because it was the only place where they were sure they could get close enough to kill him. Staff officer Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg volunteered to carry a bomb hidden in

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5890-540: The construction works were for a new cement factory. The Organisation Todt completed construction of the entire 6.5 km ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  sq mi) complex by 21 June 1941. Hitler first arrived at the headquarters on 24 June 1941, two days after Barbarossa commenced. At its peak, over 2,000 people lived and worked at the Wolf's Lair , including food-tasters to sample Hitler's food before he ate it to guard him against being poisoned. Additional construction work began in mid-1944 to enlarge and reinforce many of

5985-430: 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

6080-404: 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

6175-435: 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

6270-477: The historic site, including new accommodation options, expanded historical exhibitions, and other upgrades to improve visitor experience. Critics worried that the planned changes could turn the site into a place for neo-Nazi pilgrimages, although the District's spokesperson said that they would "make every effort" to maintain "due seriousness and respect for historical truth". Pawel Machcewicz, a Polish historian who specializes in World War II, said, "[T]he scars left by

6365-435: 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,

6460-417: 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

6555-572: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Oberkommando des Heeres During World War II , OKH had the responsibility of strategic planning of Armies and Army Groups . The General Staff of the OKH managed operational matters. Each German Army also had an Army High Command ( Armeeoberkommando or AOK). The Armed Forces High Command ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ) then took over this function for theatres other than

6650-487: The largest, "a positive fortress" containing "a maze of passages, rooms and halls." Junge wrote, "We had air-raid warnings every day" in the period between the 20 July assassination attempt and Hitler's final departure from the Wolfsschanze in November 1944, "but there was never more than a single aircraft circling over the forest, and no bombs were dropped. All the same, Hitler took the danger very seriously, and thought all these reconnaissance flights were in preparation for

6745-464: The mail that had been delivered by air or courier train. A noon situation briefing would be convened, either in Keitel's or Jodl's bunker, and frequently ran for two hours. This was followed by lunch at 2 p.m. in the dining hall. Hitler invariably sat in the same seat between Jodl and Otto Dietrich , while Keitel , Martin Bormann , and Göring's adjutant General Karl Bodenschatz sat opposite him. After lunch, Hitler dealt with non-military matters for

6840-402: 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

6935-823: The next three months in Obersalzberg before returning to Rastenburg for the next nine months. Hitler's entourage returned to the Wolfsschanze from an extended summer stay at the Berghof in July 1944. The previous small bunkers had been replaced by the Organisation Todt with "heavy, colossal structures" of reinforced concrete as defense against the feared air attack. According to Armaments Minister Albert Speer , "some 36,000,000 marks were spent for bunkers in Rastenburg [Wolf's Lair]." Hitler's bunker had become

7030-653: 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

7125-633: The original buildings on the site on Hitler's orders, although the work was never completed because of the Red Army's rapid advance during the Baltic Offensive . Hitler left the Wolf's Lair for the final time in November 1944 after having spent over 800 days there, the longest he had stayed at any place over the course of the war, during a 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -year period. The buildings within

7220-462: 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

7315-580: The remainder of the afternoon. Coffee was served around 5 p.m., followed by a second military briefing by Jodl at 6 p.m. Dinner could also last as long as two hours, beginning at 7:30 p.m., after which films were shown in the cinema. Hitler then retired to his private quarters where he gave monologues to his entourage till late, usually going to sleep around 3 or 4 a.m. Occasionally, Hitler and his entourage listened to gramophone records of Beethoven symphonies, selections from Wagner or other operas, or German lieder . On Thursday, July 20, 1944, an attempt

7410-534: The respective staff during their tenure. Personnel at the compound remarked that even if Maybach 2 (the OKW complex) was completely destroyed, the OKH staff in Maybach 1 would scarcely notice. These camouflaged facilities, separated physically by a fence, also maintained structurally different mindsets towards their objectives. On 28 April 1945 (two days before his suicide ), Hitler formally subordinated OKH to OKW, giving

7505-514: The site, while external protection of the complex was provided by the FBB, which had become a regiment by July 1944. The FBB was equipped with tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and other heavy weapons. Any approaching aircraft could be detected up to 100 km (60 mi) from the site. Additional troops were also stationed about 75 km (45 mi) away. Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge , recalled that Hitler repeatedly spoke in late 1943 or early 1944 of

7600-504: The site. After a short delay at the RSD guard post just outside Sperrkreis 1, they were allowed to leave by vehicle. The two officers were then driven down the southern exit road towards the military airstrip near Rastenburg. The alarm had been raised by the time they reached the guardhouse at the perimeter of Sperrkreis 2. According to the official RSHA report, "at first, the guard refused passage until Stauffenberg persuaded him to contact

7695-522: The skeletons thunderbolt stones (or Donnerkeil)—bullet-shaped fossils of extinct squid-like creatures called belemnoids—were found. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within

7790-584: The standard translation in English is "Wolf's Lair", a Schanze in German denotes a sconce , redoubt , or temporary fieldwork. The German translation for the lair of a wolf is Höhle (cave) or Bau (dwelling). As part of the preparations for the coming Operation Barbarossa , the decision was made in late 1940 to build a military headquarters for the Führer in Eastern Europe, similar in concept to

7885-546: 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,

7980-501: The thick, heavy table absorbed most of the blast and this, along with the collapse of some of the hut's thin walls thus dissipating the shockwave, saved the Führer 's life. Even before the bomb detonated, Stauffenberg and his adjutant, Lieutenant Werner von Haeften , had already begun their departure for Berlin where they planned to take control of the country alongside their fellow conspirators. Their escape involved passing through various security zones that controlled all access around

8075-500: 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

8170-513: The war should be preserved and presented as a lesson, a warning... Exhibitions should explain the history, contextualise the place, but not completely overshadow it." In February 2023, the Srokowo Forest District officials announced that the renovation of the "Wilczy Szaniec" site had begun and is slated to be completed by the end of 2024. The project will include expanding and renovating the hotel and restaurant building, adding

8265-555: 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

8360-600: 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

8455-429: 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

8550-547: 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

8645-486: Was derived from Operation Valkyrie , a covert plan officially sanctioned by Hitler for the Reserve Army to take control and suppress any revolt in the country in the event of his untimely death, which the conspirators adapted to suit their purpose. Unfortunately for the conspirators, news soon arrived from the Wolf's Lair that Hitler was still alive. Upon hearing from Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels that Hitler

8740-403: Was devastated, four officers were injured and would later die of their wounds but Hitler was only slightly injured. This was due to the fact that one of the other officers present at the meeting had, for his own comfort, moved the briefcase from where it had been put by Stauffenberg close to Hitler and placed it against one of the legs of the solid oak table being used for the meeting. Consequently,

8835-492: 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

8930-465: Was indeed alive, as well as speaking to the Führer himself, Major Otto Ernst Remer , in command of the Reserve Army's troops in Berlin still loyal to the regime, was fully convinced of Hitler's survival and he quickly re-established control of key government buildings and arrested the conspirators. That same evening, Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were summarily executed by gunshot outside

9025-509: Was made to kill Hitler at the Wolf's Lair . It was organized by a group of acting and retired army officers, as well as some civilians, who wanted to remove Hitler and establish a new democratic government in Germany that would negotiate a peaceful end to the war with the Allies before Germany's inevitable defeat, which had become apparent to both sides by then. However, the main challenge facing

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