168-602: West Berlin ( German : Berlin (West) or West-Berlin , German pronunciation: [ˈvɛstbɛʁˌliːn] ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War . Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1990, the territory was claimed by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany), despite being entirely surrounded by
336-465: 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
504-402: 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
672-468: A transit visa for a fee of 5 Western Deutsche Mark . For journeys between West Berlin and Poland or Czechoslovakia through East Germany, each traveller was also required to present a valid visa for the destination country. The transit routes for road travel connecting West Berlin to other destinations usually consisted of autobahns and other highways, marked by Transit signs. Transit travellers (German: Transitreisende ) were prohibited to leave
840-612: 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
1008-751: A "third" German jurisdiction, called an "independent political unit" ( German : selbständige politische Einheit ). On maps of East Berlin, West Berlin often did not appear as an adjacent urban area but as a monochrome terra incognita, sometimes showing the letters WB, meaning "Westberlin" ( German : Westberlin ) or overlaid with a legend or pictures. It was often labelled "Westberlin special political area" ( German : Besonderes politisches Gebiet Westberlin ). The Federal Republic of Germany issued West German passports to West Berliners on request that showed West Berlin as their place of residence. However, West Berliners could not use their passports for crossing East German borders and were denied entrance by any country of
1176-478: A bridge. They also cut off the electricity relied on by Berlin, using their control over the generating plants in the Soviet zone. Surface traffic from non-Soviet zones to Berlin was blockaded, leaving open only the air corridors. The Soviets rejected arguments that the occupation rights in the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin and the use of the supply routes during the previous three years had given Britain, France and
1344-810: A centre of education, research and culture. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the largest population of any city in Germany during the Cold War era. West Berlin was 160 km (100 mi) east and north of the inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors . It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945. The Berlin Wall , built in 1961, physically separated West Berlin from its East Berlin and East German surroundings until it fell in 1989. On 3 October 1990,
1512-477: A damaging impact on East Germany, as the drying up of coal and steel shipments seriously hindered industrial development in the Soviet zone. On 25 June, the Soviets stopped supplying food to the civilian population in the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin. Motor traffic from Berlin to the western zones was permitted, but this required a 23-kilometre (14 mi) detour to a ferry crossing because of alleged "repairs" to
1680-678: A day. The RAF was somewhat better prepared, since it had already moved some aircraft into the German area, and they expected to be able to supply about 400 tons a day. This was not nearly enough to move the approximately 5,000 total tons a day that would be needed, but these numbers could be increased as new aircraft arrived from the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. The RAF would be relied on to increase its numbers quickly. It could fly additional aircraft in from Britain in
1848-438: A force of tanks and trucks, the Soviets could not claim that cargo aircraft were a military threat. The airlift option critically depended on scale and effectiveness. If the supplies could not be flown in fast enough, Soviet help would eventually be needed to prevent starvation. Clay was told to take advice from General LeMay to see if an airlift was possible. "We can haul anything," LeMay responded, after initially taken aback by
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#17327657981012016-559: 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
2184-458: 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
2352-633: 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
2520-483: 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
2688-590: A second in Berlin- Frohnau , finished on 16 May 1980 with a height of 358 m (1,175 ft). This tower was demolished on 8 February 2009. West Berliners could travel to West Germany and all Western and non-aligned states at all times, except during the Berlin Blockade by the Soviet Union (24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949) when there were restrictions on passenger flight capacity imposed by
2856-626: A single hop, bringing the RAF fleet to about 150 Dakotas and 40 of the larger Avro Yorks with a 10-ton payload . With this fleet, the British contribution was expected to rise to 750 tons a day in the short term, albeit at the cost of suspending all air traffic except for the airlift to Berlin. For a longer-term operation, the US would have to add additional aircraft as soon as possible, and those would have to be as large as possible while still able to fly into
3024-642: A strong, allied Germany to assist in the rebuilding of the West European economy. To coordinate the economies of the British and United States occupation zones, these were combined on 1 January 1947 into what was referred to as the Bizone (renamed the Trizone when France joined on 1 August 1948). After March 1946 the British zonal advisory board ( Zonenbeirat ) was established, with representatives of
3192-537: A time the Americans and British continued to supply the city by air as they were worried that the Soviets would resume the blockade and were only trying to disrupt western supply lines. The Berlin Airlift officially ended on 30 September 1949 after fifteen months. The US Air Force had delivered 1,783,573 tons (76.4% of total) and the RAF 541,937 tons (23.3% of total), totalling 2,334,374 tons, nearly two-thirds of which
3360-601: 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
3528-612: 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
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#17327657981013696-558: 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
3864-478: 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
4032-430: 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
4200-535: 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
4368-611: 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
4536-565: 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
4704-571: Is no practicability in maintaining our position in Berlin and it must not be evaluated on that basis... We are convinced that our remaining in Berlin is essential to our prestige in Germany and in Europe. Whether for good or bad, it has become a symbol of the American intent. Believing that Britain, France, and the United States had little option other than to acquiesce, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany celebrated
4872-435: 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
5040-597: 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
5208-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
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5376-525: 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
5544-578: 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
5712-485: 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
5880-689: 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
6048-639: 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
6216-738: The Benelux nations, met twice in London ( London 6-Power Conference ) in the first half of 1948 to discuss the future of Germany, going ahead despite Soviet threats to ignore any resulting decisions. Eventually the London Agreement on German External Debts , also known as the London Debt Agreement ( Londoner Schuldenabkommen ), was concluded. Under the London Debts Agreement of 1953, the repayable amount
6384-700: The Berlin Airlift . In May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade, and West Berlin as a separate city with its own jurisdiction was maintained. Following the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between East and West Berlin resumed. This was temporary until talks were resumed. In 1952, the East German government began sealing its borders, further isolating West Berlin. As a direct result, electrical grids were separated and phone lines were cut. The Volkspolizei and Soviet military personnel also continued
6552-956: The Bundestag in Bonn by 22 non-voting delegates chosen by the House of Representatives. Similarly, the Senate (the city's executive) sent four non-voting delegates to the Bundesrat . In addition, when the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held in 1979, West Berlin's three members were instead indirectly elected by the House of Representatives. However, as West German citizens , West Berliners were able to stand for election in West Germany. For example, Social Democrat Willy Brandt , who eventually became Chancellor,
6720-598: The Deutsche Mark would be introduced, but the Soviets refused to permit its use as legal tender in Berlin. The Allies had already transported 250,000,000 Deutsche marks into the city and it quickly became the standard currency in all four sectors. The day after the 18 June 1948 announcement of the new Deutsche Mark , Soviet guards halted all passenger trains and traffic on the autobahn to Berlin, delayed Western and German freight shipments and required that all water transport secure special Soviet permission. On 21 June,
6888-537: 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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7056-544: The Eastern Bloc , since governments of these countries held the view that West Germany was not authorized to issue legal papers for West Berliners. Since West Berlin was not a sovereign state, it did not issue passports. Instead, West Berliners were issued with "auxiliary identity cards" by the West Berlin authorities. These differed visually from the regular West German identity cards, with green bindings instead of
7224-480: 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
7392-637: The Federal Republic of Germany . The West German Federal Government, as well as the governments of most western nations, considered East Berlin to be a "separate entity" from East Germany, and while the Western Allies later opened embassies in East Berlin, they recognised the city only as the seat of government of the GDR, not as its capital . Communist countries, however, did not recognise West Berlin as part of West Germany and usually described it as
7560-628: The German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany). The legality of this claim was contested by the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries. However, West Berlin de facto aligned itself politically with the FRG from May 1949 and was thereafter treated as a de facto city-state of that country. After 1949, it was directly or indirectly represented in the institutions of the FRG, and most of its residents were citizens of
7728-522: 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
7896-746: 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
8064-609: The Oder-Neisse line , into four temporary occupation zones each one controlled by one of the four occupying Allied powers : the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union (thus re-affirming principles laid out earlier by the Yalta Conference ). These zones were located roughly around the then-current locations of the allied armies. As the seat of the Allied Control Council , Berlin
8232-666: 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
8400-491: The Socialist Unity Party ("SED") , claiming at the time that it would not have a Marxist–Leninist or Soviet orientation. The SED leaders then called for the "establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic regime, a parliamentary democratic republic" while the Soviet Military Administration suppressed all other political activities. Factories, equipment, technicians, managers and skilled personnel were removed to
8568-437: The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies ' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control . The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche Mark from West Berlin . The Western Allies organised the Berlin Airlift (German: Berliner Luftbrücke , lit. "Berlin Air Bridge") from 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949 to carry supplies to
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#17327657981018736-427: 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
8904-422: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
9072-400: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
9240-432: The de facto 11th state of West Germany and was depicted on maps published in the West as being a part of West Germany. There was freedom of movement (to the extent allowed by geography) between West Berlin and West Germany . There were no separate immigration regulations for West Berlin, all immigration rules for West Germany being followed in West Berlin. West German entry visas issued to visitors were stamped with "for
9408-408: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
9576-502: The 98,000 American troops in West Germany in March 1948, only 31,000 were combat forces, and only one reserve division was immediately available in the United States. Soviet military forces in the Soviet sector that surrounded Berlin totaled 1.5 million. The two United States regiments in Berlin could have provided little resistance against a Soviet attack. Because of the imbalance, US war plans were based on using hundreds of atomic bombs, but only about 50 Fat Man -specification bombs,
9744-433: The Americans and British were greatly outnumbered because of the postwar scaling back of their armies. The United States, like other Western countries, had disbanded most of its troops and was largely inferior in the European theatre. The entire United States Army had been reduced to 552,000 men by February 1948. Military forces in the western sectors of Berlin numbered only 8,973 Americans, 7,606 British and 6,100 French. Of
9912-431: The Basic Law will only apply to the extent necessary to prevent a conflict between this Law and the Berlin Constitution.... Thus, civic liberties and personal rights (except for the privacy of telecommunications) guaranteed by the Basic Law were also valid in West Berlin. In addition, West German federal statutes could only take effect in West Berlin with the approval of the city's legislature. The ambiguous legal status of
10080-496: The Berlin airports. Only one aircraft type was suitable, the four-engined C-54 Skymaster and its US Navy equivalent, the R5D, of which the US military had approximately 565, with 268 Air Force and Navy Skymasters in MATS , 168 in the troop carrier groups, and 80 Navy R5Ds in miscellaneous commands. Planners calculated that including C-54s already ordered to Germany and drawing on those flying with civilian carriers, 447 Skymasters could be available for an "extreme emergency". Given
10248-401: The British or American sectors after 1945, so that parts of West Berlin came to be surrounded by East Germany Furthermore, the Gatow/Staaken exchange in August 1945 resulted in the geographically western half of Berlin-Staaken, which was located in the western outskirts of the city, becoming de jure Soviet occupied. However, the de facto administration remained with the Borough of Spandau in
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#173276579810110416-464: The British sector. Therefore, all inhabitants of Staaken could vote in West Berlin's city state elections in 1948 and 1950. On 1 February 1951, East German Volkspolizei surprised the people of western Staaken by occupying the area and ended its administration by the Spandau Borough; instead, western Staaken became an exclave of the Soviet occupied borough Berlin-Mitte in the city centre. However, on 1 June 1952, western Staaken's de facto administration
10584-419: The British sector: In the French sector: West Berlin's border was identical to the municipal boundary of Berlin as defined in the Greater Berlin Act of 1920 and amended in 1938, and the border between the Soviet sector and the French, British, and American sectors respectively, which followed the boundaries of Berlin administrative boroughs as defined in the same years. Another amendment was added in 1945 at
10752-439: The East German government, border guards would calculate the travel duration from the time of entry and exit of the transit route. Excessive time spent for transit travel could arouse their suspicion and prompt questioning or additional checking by the border guards. Western coaches could stop only at dedicated service areas since the East German government was concerned that East Germans might potentially use coaches to escape into
10920-458: The Eastern zone must withdraw, thus preventing the use of navigation beacons to mark air routes. On 20 April, the Soviets demanded that all barges obtain clearance before entering the Soviet zone. Creation of an economically stable western Germany required reform of the unstable Reichsmark German currency introduced after the 1920s German inflation . The Soviets continued the debasing of the Reichsmark, which had undergone severe inflation during
11088-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
11256-421: The FRG. West Berlin was formally controlled by the Western Allies and entirely surrounded by East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great symbolic significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners an "island of freedom ." It was heavily subsidized by West Germany as a "showcase of the West." A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its distinctly cosmopolitan character, and as
11424-454: The Federal Republic of Germany, including the State of Berlin", in German " für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland einschl. [einschließlich] des Landes Berlin ", prompting complaints from the Soviet Union. However, this wording remained on the visas throughout the rest of the entire period of West Berlin's existence. West Berlin remained under military occupation until 3 October 1990, the day of unification of East Germany, East and West Berlin with
11592-427: The Federation. We interpret the effect of Articles 23 and 144 (2) of the Basic Law as constituting acceptance of our previous request that while Berlin may not be accorded voting membership in the Bundestag or Bundesrat nor be governed by the Federation she may, nevertheless, designate a small number of representatives to the meetings of those legislative bodies. Consequently, West Berliners were indirectly represented in
11760-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
11928-423: The GDR), replacing the formerly used term Demokratisches Berlin , or simply "Berlin", by East Germany, and "Berlin (Ost)" by the West German Federal government. Other names used by West German media included "Ost-Berlin", "Ostberlin", or "Ostsektor." These different naming conventions for the divided parts of Berlin, when followed by individuals, governments, or media, commonly indicated their political leanings, with
12096-483: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
12264-451: 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
12432-681: 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
12600-655: 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
12768-1033: 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 ), 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
12936-518: 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
13104-441: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! On 9 November 1989, the Wall was opened, and the two parts of the city were once again physically—though at this point not legally—united. The Two Plus Four Treaty , signed by the two German states and the four wartime allies, paved the way for German reunification and an end to
13272-524: The Soviet Union. In a June 1945 meeting, Stalin informed German communist leaders that he expected to slowly undermine the British position within their occupation zone, that the United States would withdraw within a year or two and that nothing would then stand in the way of a united Germany under communist control within the Soviet orbit. Stalin and other leaders told visiting Bulgarian and Yugoslavian delegations in early 1946 that Germany must be both Soviet and communist. A further factor contributing to
13440-481: The Soviet Union. In response, the Soviets started a public relations campaign against American policy and began to obstruct the administrative work of all four zones of occupation. Until the blockade began in 1948, the Truman Administration had not decided whether American forces should remain in West Berlin after the establishment of a West German government, planned for 1949. Berlin quickly became
13608-401: The Soviets also informally allowed road and rail access between West Berlin and the western parts of Germany (see section on traffic). At first, this arrangement was intended to be of a temporary administrative nature, with all parties declaring that Germany and Berlin would soon be reunited. However, as the relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union soured and the Cold War began,
13776-466: The Soviets and the other allied powers. Internal Soviet reports in April stated that "Our control and restrictive measures have dealt a strong blow to the prestige of the Americans and British in Germany" and that the Americans have "admitted" that the idea of an airlift would be too expensive. On 9 April, Soviet officials demanded that American military personnel maintaining communication equipment in
13944-547: The Soviets would accept the offer because East Germany would lose important industry, but hoped that making the proposal would reduce tensions between the western and eastern blocs, and perhaps hurt relations between the USSR and East Germany if they disagreed on accepting the offer. While the Kennedy administration seriously considered the idea, it did not make the proposal to the Soviet Union. NATO also took an increased interest in
14112-561: The Sun . British transports, including Handley Page Haltons and Short Sunderlands , flew as well. At the height of the airlift, one plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation. A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 40 Britons and 31 Americans , mostly due to non-flying accidents. The Berlin Blockade served to highlight
14280-410: The United States a legal claim to use of the highways, tunnels, railroads, and canals. Relying on Soviet goodwill after the war, Britain, France, and the United States had never negotiated an agreement with the Soviets to guarantee these land-based rights of access to Berlin through the Soviet zone. At the time, West Berlin had an estimated 36 days worth of food, and 45 days worth of coal. Militarily,
14448-481: The Wall was built, East Germany wanted to control Western Allied patrols upon entering or leaving East Berlin, a practice that the Western Allies regarded as unacceptable. After protests to the Soviets, the patrols continued uncontrolled on both sides, with the tacit agreement that the western Allies would not use their patrolling privileges for helping Easterners to flee to the West. In many ways, West Berlin functioned as
14616-508: The West. On 1 September 1951, East Germany, because of a shortage in foreign currencies , started to levy road tolls on cars using the transit routes. At first, the toll amounted to 10 Ostmark per passenger car and 10 to 50 for trucks, depending on size. Ostmarks had to be exchanged into Deutsche Mark at a rate of 1:1. On 30 March 1955, East Germany raised the toll for passenger cars to 30 Deutsche Marks, but after West German protests, in June of
14784-405: The Western Allies' occupation of West Berlin. On 3 October 1990—the day Germany was officially reunified—East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin, which then joined the enlarged Federal Republic as a city-state along the lines of the existing West German city-states of Bremen and Hamburg . Walter Momper , the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in
14952-423: The administration of four Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union , and France) until a German government "acceptable to all parties" could be established. The territory of Germany, as it existed in 1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern Germany thus creating the former eastern territories of Germany . The remaining territory would be divided into four zones, each administered by one of
15120-431: The airlift. Travelling to and from West Berlin by road or train always required passing through East German border checks, since West Berlin was an enclave surrounded by East Germany and East Berlin. On 2 October 1967, six years after the Wall was constructed, tram tracks in West Berlin were removed because the authorities wanted to promote car usage, meaning that the tram system remaining today runs almost entirely within
15288-518: The beginning of the blockade. General Clay felt that the Soviets were bluffing about Berlin since they would not want to be viewed as starting a Third World War . He believed that Stalin did not want a war and that Soviet actions were aimed at exerting military and political pressure on the West to obtain concessions, relying on the West's prudence and unwillingness to provoke a war. General Curtis LeMay , commander of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), reportedly favored an aggressive response to
15456-431: The blockade was that there had never been a formal agreement guaranteeing rail and road access to Berlin through the Soviet zone. At the end of the war, western leaders had relied on Soviet goodwill to provide them with access. At that time, the western allies assumed that the Soviets' refusal to grant any cargo access other than one rail line, limited to ten trains per day, was temporary, but the Soviets refused expansion to
15624-413: The blockade, in which his B-29s with fighter escort would approach Soviet air bases while ground troops attempted to reach Berlin; Washington vetoed the plan. Although the ground routes had never been negotiated, the same was not true of the air. On 30 November 1945, it had been agreed in writing that there would be three twenty-mile-wide air corridors providing free access to Berlin. Additionally, unlike
15792-642: The border between the British sector of Berlin (ceding West-Staaken ) and the Soviet zone (ceding the Seeburg Salient ) so that the Wehrmacht airfield at Berlin-Gatow became part of the British sector and the airfield at Berlin-Staaken became part of the Soviet sector. The resulting borderline was further complicated with a lot of geographical oddities, including a number of exclaves and enclaves that Greater Berlin had inside some neighbouring municipalities since 1920, all of which happened to become part of
15960-535: The centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung using "Ost-Berlin" and the centre-left Süddeutsche Zeitung using "Ostberlin." After the Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer suggested to U.S. President John F. Kennedy that the United States propose a swap of West Berlin with Thuringia and parts of Saxony and Mecklenburg ; the city's population would have been relocated to West Germany. Adenauer did not believe that
16128-472: The circulation in Berlin exclusively of the currency of the Soviet occupation zone." The Soviets launched a massive propaganda campaign condemning Britain, the United States and France by radio, newspaper and loudspeaker. The Soviets conducted well-advertised military maneuvers just outside the city. Rumors of a potential occupation by Soviet troops spread quickly. German communists demonstrated, rioted and attacked pro-West German leaders attending meetings for
16296-451: The city, then still legally styled as Greater Berlin (although technically only comprising the western sectors), meant that West Berliners were not eligible to vote in federal elections. In their notification of permission of 12 May 1949 the three western military governors for Germany explained their proviso in No. 4, as follows: A third reservation concerns the participation of Greater Berlin in
16464-462: The commanders-in-chief rejected a bill, it did not become law in West Berlin; this, for example, was the case with West German laws on military duty. West Berlin was run by the elected Governing Mayor and Senate seated at Rathaus Schöneberg . The Governing Mayor and Senators (ministers) had to be approved by the Western Allies and thus derived their authority from the occupying forces, not from their electoral mandate. The Soviets unilaterally declared
16632-554: The competing ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe. It played a major role in aligning West Berlin with the United States and Britain as the major protecting powers, and in drawing West Germany into the NATO orbit several years later in 1955. From 17 July to 2 August 1945, the victorious Allies reached the Potsdam Agreement on the fate of postwar Europe, calling for the division of defeated Germany, west of
16800-666: The crisis broke out. He had been the commander of the US China Burma India Theater in 1944–45 and he had a detailed knowledge of the previously largest airlift—the World War II American airlift from India over the Hump of the Himalayas to China. His endorsement of the airlift option gave it a major boost. The British and Americans agreed to start a joint operation without delay; the US action
16968-466: The day Germany was officially reunified , East and West Berlin united, joined the Federal Republic as a Stadtstaat (city-state) and eventually became the capital of Germany again. The London Protocol of 1944 and the Potsdam Agreement established the legal framework for the occupation of Germany in the wake of World War II. According to these agreements, Germany would be formally under
17136-589: The day the Deutsche Mark was introduced, the Soviet military halted a United States military supply train to Berlin and sent it back to western Germany. On 22 June, the Soviets announced that they would introduce the East German mark in their zone. That same day, a Soviet representative told the other three occupying powers that "We are warning both you and the population of Berlin that we shall apply economic and administrative sanctions that will lead to
17304-406: The defining features of the city. The Western Allies remained the ultimate political authorities in West Berlin. All legislation of the House of Representatives, whether of the West Berlin legislature or adopted federal law, only applied under the proviso of confirmation by the three Western Allied commanders-in-chief. If they approved a bill, it was enacted as part of West Berlin's statutory law. If
17472-430: 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
17640-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
17808-519: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
17976-636: The establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) on 23 May and of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on 7 October. Under Article 127 of the Basic Law (or constitution) of the Federal Republic, provision was made for federal laws to be extended to Greater Berlin (as Berlin was called during the 1920 expansion of its municipal boundaries ) as well as Baden , Rhineland-Palatinate and Württemberg-Hohenzollern within one year of its promulgation. However, because
18144-465: The extension of the Marshall Plan to Germany, finalised the economic merger of the western occupation zones in Germany and agreed upon the establishment of a federal system of government for them. After a 9 March meeting between Stalin and his military advisers, a secret memorandum was sent to Molotov on 12 March 1948, outlining a plan to force the policy of the western allies into line with
18312-502: The feasibility assessment made by the British, an airlift appeared to be the best course of action. One remaining concern was the population of Berlin. Clay called in Ernst Reuter , the mayor-elect of Berlin, accompanied by his aide, Willy Brandt . Clay told Reuter: Look, I am ready to try an airlift. I can't guarantee it will work. I am sure that even at its best, people are going to be cold and people are going to be hungry. And if
18480-427: The focal point of both US and Soviet efforts to re-align Europe to their respective visions. As Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov noted, "What happens to Berlin, happens to Germany; what happens to Germany, happens to Europe." Berlin had suffered enormous damage; its prewar population of 4.3 million people was reduced to 2.8 million. After harsh treatment, forced emigration, political repression and
18648-577: The former East Berlin. As there were no dedicated walled-off-road corridors between West Germany and West Berlin under West German jurisdiction, travellers needed to pass through East Germany. A valid passport was required for citizens of West Germany and other western nationals to be produced at East German border checks. West Berliners could get admission only through their identity cards (see above). For travel from West Berlin to Denmark, Sweden and West Germany via dedicated East German transit routes (German: Transitstrecke ), East German border guards issued
18816-505: The four allied countries. Berlin, which was surrounded by the Soviet zone of occupation —newly established in most of Middle Germany —would be similarly divided, with the Western Allies occupying an enclave consisting of the western parts of the city. According to the agreement, the occupation of Berlin could end only as a result of a quadripartite agreement. The Western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and
18984-410: The four-power control machinery had become unworkable. For the city of Berlin, however, this was an indication for a major crisis. On 25 March 1948, the Soviets issued orders restricting Western military and passenger traffic between the American, British and French occupation zones and Berlin. These new measures began on 1 April along with an announcement that no cargo could leave Berlin by rail without
19152-640: The grey standard, they did not show the "Federal Eagle" or coat of arms , and contained no indications as to the issuing State. However, they did have a statement that the holder of the document was a German citizen. From 11 June 1968, East Germany made it mandatory that West Berlin and West German "transit passengers" obtain a transit visa , issued upon entering East Germany, because under its second constitution East Germany considered West Germans and West Berliners foreigners. Since identity cards had no pages to stamp visas, issuers of East German visas stamped their visas onto separate leaflets which were loosely stuck into
19320-435: 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,
19488-481: The identity cards, which, until the mid-1980s, were little booklets. Although the West German government subsidized visa fees, they were still payable by individual travellers. In order to enter visa-requiring Western countries, such as the US, West Berliners commonly used West German passports. However, for countries which did not require stamped visas for entry, including Switzerland, Austria, and many members of
19656-401: The inclusion of the western Allied provision according to which Art. 1, clauses 2 and 3, were deferred for the time being; the clauses became valid law only on 3 October 1990 (the day of Germany's unification). It stated: Article 87 is interpreted as meaning that during the transitional period Berlin shall possess none of the attributes of a twelfth Land. The provision of this Article concerning
19824-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
19992-470: The inquiry, "Can you haul coal?" When American forces consulted Britain's Royal Air Force about a possible joint airlift, they learned the RAF was already running an airlift in support of British troops in Berlin. General Clay's counterpart, General Sir Brian Robertson , was ready with some concrete numbers. During the Little Lift in April 1948, British Air Commodore Reginald Waite had calculated
20160-582: The interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. West Berlin comprised the following boroughs ( Bezirke ): In the American sector: In
20328-412: The joint administration of Germany and Berlin broke down. Soon, Soviet-occupied Berlin and western-occupied Berlin had separate city administrations. In 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade . The West responded by using its air corridors for supplying their part of the city with food and other goods through
20496-491: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Berlin Blockade American-allied victory The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War . During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany ,
20664-402: 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
20832-415: The municipal government in the Soviet sector. On 24 June, the Soviets severed land and water connections between the non-Soviet zones and Berlin. That same day, they halted all rail and barge traffic in and out of Berlin. The West answered by introducing a counter-blockade, stopping all rail traffic into East Germany from the British and US zones. Over the following months, this counter-blockade would have
21000-425: The next 75 days, while the United States continued supplying its military forces by using cargo aircraft. Some 20 flights a day continued through June, building up stocks of food against future Soviet actions, so that by the time the blockade began at the end of June, at least 18 days' supply per major food type, and in some types, much more, had been stockpiled that provided time to build up the ensuing airlift. At
21168-653: 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
21336-663: The occupation of Berlin could be ended only by a quadripartite agreement, Berlin remained an occupied territory under the formal sovereignty of the allies. Hence, the Basic Law was not fully applicable to West Berlin. On 4 August 1950, the House of Representatives , the city's legislature, passed a new constitution, declaring Berlin to be a state of the Federal Republic and the provisions of the Basic Law as binding law superior to Berlin state law (Article 1, clauses 2 and 3). However, that became statutory law only on 1 September and only with
21504-495: The occupation of East Berlin at an end along with the rest of East Germany. This move was, however, not recognised by the Western Allies, who continued to view all of Berlin as a jointly occupied territory belonging to neither of the two German states. This view was supported by the continued practice of patrols of all four sectors by soldiers of all four occupying powers. Thus, occasionally Western Allied soldiers were on patrol in East Berlin as were Soviet soldiers in West Berlin. After
21672-460: The only version available to the US military, existed in mid-1948. In March 1948, only 35 " Silverplate " atomic-capable Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers—just over half of the 65 Silverplate specification B-29 aircraft built through the end of 1947—and a few trained flight and assembly crews were available. Three B-29 groups arrived in Europe in July and August 1948. Despite the intention to signal
21840-595: The over two million people of Berlin. Additionally, for heat and power, 3,475 tons of coal, diesel and petrol were also required daily. The postwar demobilisation left the US forces in Europe with only two groups of C-47 Skytrain transports (the military version of the Douglas DC-3 , which the British called the "Dakota"), nominally 96 aircraft, each of which could carry about 3.5 tons of cargo. LeMay believed that "with an all-out effort" of 100 daily round trips these would be able to haul about 300 tons of supplies
22008-469: The particularly harsh winter of 1945–1946, Germans in the Soviet-controlled zone were hostile to Soviet endeavours. Local elections in 1946 resulted in a massive anti-communist protest vote, especially in the Soviet sector of Berlin. Berlin's citizens overwhelmingly elected non-Communist members to its city government. American planners had privately decided during the war that it would need
22176-530: The people of Berlin won't stand that, it will fail. And I don't want to go into this unless I have your assurance that the people will be heavily in approval. Reuter, although skeptical, assured Clay that Berlin would make all the necessary sacrifices and that the Berliners would support his actions. General Albert Wedemeyer , the US Army chief of plans and operations, was in Europe on an inspection tour when
22344-408: The people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city and the population. American and British air forces flew over Berlin more than 250,000 times, dropping necessities such as fuel and food, with the original plan being to lift 3,475 tons of supplies daily. By the spring of 1949, that number was often met twofold, with the peak daily delivery totalling 12,941 tons . Among these
22512-438: The permission of the Soviet commander. Each train and truck was to be searched by the Soviet authorities. On 2 April, General Clay ordered a halt to all military trains and required that supplies to the military garrison be transported by air, in what was dubbed the "Little Lift." The Soviets eased their restrictions on Allied military trains on 10 April 1948, but continued periodically to interrupt rail and road traffic during
22680-608: The process of blocking all the roads leading away from the city, resulting in several armed standoffs and at least one skirmish with the French Gendarmerie and the Bundesgrenzschutz that June. However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall . From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with
22848-462: 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
23016-576: The resources required to support the entire city. Based on a minimum daily ration of 1,990 kilocalories (July 1948), the American military government set a total of daily supplies needed at 646 tons of flour and wheat, 125 tons of cereal, 64 tons of fat, 109 tons of meat and fish, 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes, 180 tons of sugar, 11 tons of coffee, 19 tons of powdered milk, 5 tons of whole milk for children, 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking, 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables, 38 tons of salt and 10 tons of cheese. In all, 1,534 tons were required each day to feed
23184-488: The same time, Soviet military aircraft began to violate West Berlin airspace and would harass, or what the military called "buzz", flights in and out of West Berlin. On 5 April, a Soviet Air Force Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter collided with a British European Airways Vickers Viking 1B airliner near RAF Gatow airfield , killing all aboard both aircraft. Later dubbed the Gatow air disaster , this event exacerbated tensions between
23352-650: The same year, it changed it back to the previous rate. 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 the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and
23520-490: The short code 0372. Conversely, those made to West Berlin from East Berlin only required the short code 849. In order to reduce eastern wiretapping of telecommunications between West Berlin and West Germany, microwave radio relay connections were built, which transmitted telephone calls between antenna towers in West Germany and West Berlin by radio. Two such towers were built, one antenna in Berlin- Wannsee and later
23688-406: The specific issue related to West Berlin, and drafted plans to ensure to defend the city against an eventual attack from the East. A tripartite planning group known as LIVE OAK , working together with NATO, was entrusted with potential military responses to any crisis. On 26 June 1963, President Kennedy visited West Berlin. On his triumphant tour, cheered by hundred of thousands of West Berliners in
23856-621: The states in the US zone to form a co-ordinating body, the so-called council of states ( Länderrat ), with the power to legislate for the entire US zone. It created its own central bodies called joint interstate committees ( Ausschüsse ) headed by a secretariat seated in Stuttgart . While the British and Soviet central administrations were allied institutions, these US zone committees were not OMGUS subdivisions, but instead were autonomous bodies of German self-rule under OMGUS supervision. Representatives of these three governments, along with
24024-546: 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,
24192-536: The states, the central offices, political parties, trade unions, and consumer organisations. As indicated by its name, the zonal advisory board had no legislative power, but was merely advisory. The Control Commission for Germany – British Element made all decisions with its legislative power. In reaction to the Soviet and British advances, in October 1945 the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) encouraged
24360-491: The status of West Berlin. While many restrictions remained in place, it also made it easier for West Berliners to travel to East Germany and it simplified the regulations for Germans travelling along the autobahn transit routes. At the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan provided a challenge to the then Soviet leader: General Secretary Gorbachev , if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for
24528-662: The streets, he stopped at the Congress Hall, near the Brandenburg Gate , and at Checkpoint Charlie , before delivering at West Berlin's city hall a speech, which became famous for its phrase " Ich bin ein Berliner " and a hallmark of America's solidarity with the city. The Four Power Agreement on Berlin (September 1971) and the Transit Agreement (May 1972) helped to significantly ease tensions over
24696-467: The then European Economic Community , including the United Kingdom , West Berlin identity cards were also acceptable for entry. Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. As of 2017, Berlin was home to at least 178,000 Turkish and Turkish German residents, making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey. West Berlin
24864-500: 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
25032-495: The threat of the West's ability to retaliate with nuclear weapons if necessary, the Soviets possibly knew that none of the bombers were atomic-capable. The first Silverplate bombers only arrived in Europe near the end of the crisis in April 1949. General Lucius D. Clay , in charge of the US Occupation Zone in Germany, summed up the reasons for not retreating in a cable on 13 June 1948, to Washington, D.C.: There
25200-1351: The transit routes, and occasional traffic checkpoints would check for violators. There were four transit routes between West Berlin and West Germany: The latter three routes used autobahns built during the Nazi era. They left West Berlin at Checkpoint Dreilinden , also called Checkpoint Bravo (W)/ Potsdam -Drewitz (E). Transit routes to Poland were via today's A 11 to Nadrensee -Pomellen (East Germany, GDR)/ Kołbaskowo (Kolbitzow) (PL), eastwards via today's A 12 to Frankfurt upon Oder (GDR)/ Słubice (PL), or southeastwards via today's A 13 and A 15 to Forst in Lusatia/Baršć (GDR)/ Zasieki (Berge) (PL). Additional routes led to Denmark and Sweden by ferry between Warnemünde (GDR) and Gedser (DK) and by ferry between Sassnitz (GDR) and Rønne (DK) or Trelleborg (S). Routes to Czechoslovakia were via Schmilka (GDR)/ Hřensko (Herrnskretschen) (ČSSR) and via Fürstenau (a part of today's Geising ) (GDR)/ Cínovec (Cinvald/Böhmisch Zinnwald) (ČSSR). The transit routes were also used for East German domestic traffic. This meant that transit passengers could potentially meet with East Germans and East Berliners at restaurants at motorway rest stops. Since such meetings were deemed illegal by
25368-399: The various additional routes that were later proposed. The Soviets also granted only three air corridors for access to Berlin from Hamburg , Bückeburg , and Frankfurt . In 1946 the Soviets stopped delivering agricultural goods from their zone in eastern Germany, and the American commander, Lucius D. Clay , responded by stopping shipments of dismantled industries from western Germany to
25536-401: The war, by excessive printing, resulting in many Germans using cigarettes as a de facto currency or for bartering. The Soviets opposed western plans for a reform. They interpreted the new currency as an unjustified, unilateral decision, and responded by cutting all land links between West Berlin and West Germany. The Soviets believed that the only currency that should be allowed to circulate
25704-500: The western occupying powers. Most Westerners called the Western sectors "Berlin" unless further distinction was necessary. The West German Federal government officially called West Berlin "Berlin (West)", although it also used the hyphenated "West-Berlin", whereas the East German government commonly referred to it as "Westberlin." Starting from 31 May 1961, East Berlin was officially called Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR (Berlin, Capital of
25872-660: The wishes of the Soviet government by "regulating" access to Berlin. The Allied Control Council (ACC) met for the last time on 20 March 1948, when Vasily Sokolovsky demanded to know the outcome of the London Conference and, on being told by negotiators that they had not yet heard the final results from their governments, he said, "I see no sense in continuing this meeting, and I declare it adjourned." The entire Soviet delegation rose and walked out. Truman later noted, for most of Germany, this act merely formalised what had been an obvious fact for some time, namely, that
26040-555: 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
26208-600: 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
26376-429: 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
26544-440: Was also a destination for many people fleeing East Germany both before and after the construction of the Berlin Wall. As many immigrants from East Germany did not intend to stay in Berlin, flights – the only option for those people to reach West Germany without coming into contact with East German authorities – were subsidized by the West German government despite being operated only by companies registered in and owned by nationals of
26712-477: Was also divided into four occupation zones, despite the city's location, 100 miles (160 km) inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of the city, while Soviet troops controlled the eastern sector. In the eastern zone, the Soviet authorities forcibly unified the Communist Party of Germany and Social Democratic Party (SPD) in
26880-547: 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
27048-417: Was coal, on 278,228 flights to Berlin. In addition Canadian , Australian , New Zealand and South African air crews assisted the RAF during the blockade. The French also conducted flights, but only to provide supplies for their military garrison. American C-47 and C-54 transport airplanes, together, flew over 92,000,000 miles (148,000,000 km) in the process, almost the distance from Earth to
27216-472: Was completely integrated with West Germany's, using the same postal code system. West Berlin was also integrated into the West German telephone network, using the same international dialling code as West Germany, +49 , with the area code 0311, later changed to 030 . Unlike West Germany, from where calls to East Berlin were made using the prefix 00372 (international access code 00, East German country code 37, area code 2), calls from West Berlin required only
27384-429: Was elected via his party's list of candidates. The West German government considered all West Berliners as well as all citizens of the GDR to be citizens of West Germany. Male residents of West Berlin were exempt from the Federal Republic's compulsory military service. This exemption made the city a popular destination for West German young people, which resulted in a flourishing counterculture , which in turn became one of
27552-492: 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
27720-409: Was placed with neighbouring East German Falkensee in the East German district Nauen . West Berlin had its own postal administration first called Deutsche Post Berlin (1947–1955) and then Deutsche Bundespost Berlin , separate from West Germany's Deutsche Bundespost , and issuing its own postage stamps until 1990. However, the separation was merely symbolic; in reality, West Berlin's postal service
27888-426: Was reduced by 50% to about 15 billion marks and stretched out over 30 years, and compared to the fast-growing German economy were of minor impact. In response to the announcement of the first of these meetings, in late January 1948, the Soviets began stopping British and American trains to Berlin to check passenger identities. As outlined in an announcement on 7 March 1948, all of the governments present approved
28056-492: Was the currency that they issued themselves. Anticipating the introduction of a new currency by the other countries in the non-Soviet zones, the Soviet Union in May 1948 directed its military to introduce its own new currency and to permit only the Soviet currency to be used in their sector of Berlin if the other countries brought in a different currency there. On 18 June the United States, Britain and France announced that on 21 June
28224-422: Was the work of the later concurrent Operation Little Vittles in which candy-dropping aircraft dubbed " raisin bombers " generated much goodwill among German children. Having initially concluded there was no way the airlift could work, the Soviets found its continued success an increasing embarrassment. On 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin, due to economic issues in East Berlin, although for
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