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96-542: Vysoké Mýto ( Czech pronunciation: [ˈvɪsokɛː ˈmiːto] ; German : Hohenmaut , also Hohenmauth ) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic . It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Its town square is the largest example of its type in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone . Vysoké Mýto

192-465: 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

288-516: A dowry town administered by Elizabeth Richeza of Poland . Thanks to its location on a busy mercantile road it soon became rich. During the Hussite Wars , the town was occupied several times. Most of the German population left the town and Czech citizens became the majority. After the wars, it became royal town of King Sigismund , who donated it to his wife Barbara of Cilli and it became again

384-402: 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

480-612: 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

576-587: A dowry town. Vysoké Mýto was devastated by fires between 1461 and 1517. Thanks to its wealth, the town recovered and new buildings were building, including stone houses on the square, the new town hall, and the Church of the Holy Trinity. In the 16th century, the town prospered and crafts developed. Cloth and knives were exported abroad. The prosperity ended with the Thirty Years' War and several fires in

672-559: 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

768-458: 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

864-709: A number of relatives, allies and vassals in Germany, such as the Margraviate of Brandenburg — and spiritual principalities, including the Archbishopric of Salzburg and the Patriarchate of Aquileia . After the death of Konradin in 1268 he was an heir of the House of Hohenstaufen 's claim to the imperial crown. However, he did not raise this claim, remaining content with informal influence in Germany. In 1267 he

960-696: 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

1056-668: A precursor of modern civil law. In the country, Ottokar's introduction of the Law of Emphyteusis into the Czech law is sometimes interpreted as "Germanization". In fact it was creative, for it freed subjects from feudal obligations, except for rent — and tax, if such was levied. Free selling and leaving of estates could also be bought and soon became common. Thus, Ottokar can be reckoned an early Bohemian ruler who furthered Bohemian rights in medieval times. This change of legal environment in Bohemia

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1152-566: A prison for his son Wenceslaus II of Bohemia for short time after Ottokar's death. The castle housed Bohemian legal records Zemské desky and many spiritual and temporal treasures during the destructive civil strife of the Hussite wars (1419–1434) in Bohemia. It was conquered in 1620, during the 30 Years' War , but by then it was long deserted, and in that state was defended by rebelling subjects against an Imperial army. Before his conflict with Rudolf of Habsburg , Ottokar exacted influence over

1248-483: 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

1344-717: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and

1440-564: Is a large cathedral from the second half of the 13th century. It was reconstructed after the fire in the 16th century, and the near Renaissance belfry was erected in 1585. The current appearance of the church is result of purist restoration from the late 19th century. Nowadays the premises of the belfry are used by the Town Gallery. The Church of the Holy Trinity was built in the Renaissance style with Gothic elements in 1543. Most of

1536-601: 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

1632-612: 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

1728-558: 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

1824-478: 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

1920-430: 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

2016-558: Is considered one of the greatest kings of Bohemia, along with Charles IV . He was a founder of many new towns (about 30 — not only in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, but also in Austria and Styria) and incorporated many existing settlements through civic charters, giving them new privileges. He was a strong proponent of trade, law and order. Furthermore, he instituted open immigration policies through which skilled German-speaking immigrants settled in major cities throughout his domains. As noted,

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2112-475: 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

2208-611: 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

2304-565: 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

2400-438: Is made up of the town parts of Choceňské Předměstí, Litomyšlské Předměstí, Pražské Předměstí and Vysoké Mýto-Město, and the villages of Brteč, Domoradice, Knířov, Lhůta, Svařeň and Vanice. The predecessor of the town was a small settlement by a trade route called Mýto (literally ' toll '). After a new town was founded, it adopted the privilege of collecting the toll. The old settlement was renamed to Staré Mýto ("Old Toll") and

2496-435: 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

2592-597: 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

2688-401: 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

2784-525: 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

2880-530: Is the largest square of its type in the Czech Republic. The Old Town Hall from 1433 is one of the oldest stone buildings in the town. It was rebuilt several times, last in 1828 in the Empire style . Today it houses the tourist information centre, the Town Gallery and an exposition on the manufacture of car bodies. In the middle of the square is a Baroque Marian column from 1714. The Church of Saint Lawrence

2976-578: 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

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3072-485: 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

3168-689: 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

3264-639: 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

3360-537: 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

3456-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language

3552-522: 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

3648-746: 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

3744-756: The Imperial ban and besieged his Hofburg residence in Vienna , while a rebellion led by the Vítkovci noble Záviš of Falkenstein disrupted the Bohemian lands. This compelled Přemysl Ottokar in November 1276 to sign a new treaty by which he gave up all claims to Austria and the neighboring duchies, retaining for himself only Bohemia and Moravia. Ottokar's son Wenceslaus became betrothed to Rudolf's daughter Judith . There followed an uneasy peace. Two years later,

3840-666: 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

3936-676: 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

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4032-550: 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

4128-690: The Teutonic Order , was named in his honour and later became the capital of the Duchy of Prussia . After a few years of peace the conflict with Hungary resumed: Ottokar defeated the Hungarians in July 1260 at the Battle of Kressenbrunn , ending years of disputes over Styria with Béla IV. Béla now ceded Styria back to Ottokar, and his claim to those territories was formally recognized by Richard of Cornwall , then king of Germany and nominal ruler of all

4224-513: 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

4320-469: 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

4416-422: The 18th century. During the 19th century, new development occurred, and the town became a cultural centre. A Czech-language theatre was established in 1825, the first public library in the region was established in 1839, and the town museum was founded in 1871. At the end of the 19th century, Vysoké Mýto was industrialized and two big engineering and machine-building companies were founded. Until 1918, Vysoké Mýto

4512-461: The Bohemian chancellor Philip of Spanheim , who would later become a rival for the rule of the Duchy of Carinthia. When his brother Vladislaus died in 1247, Ottokar suddenly became the heir to the Bohemian throne. According to popular oral tradition, he was profoundly shocked by his brother's death and did not involve himself in politics, becoming focused on hunting and drinking. His father appointed

4608-939: The Bohemian king made a last attempt to recover his lost lands by force. Přemysl Ottokar again found allies in Bavaria, Brandenburg and Poland . He collected a large army to meet the forces of Rudolf and his ally King Ladislaus IV of Hungary in the Battle on the Marchfeld on 26 August 1278, where he was defeated and killed. Rudolf had his body laid out in state at the Minorites Church in Vienna. (In 1297 Ottokar's mortal remains were finally transferred to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.) His 6-year-old son Wenceslaus II succeeded him as King of Bohemia. On 11 February 1252, Přemysl Ottokar II married Margaret of Austria . Margaret

4704-723: 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

4800-748: 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

4896-465: The German lands. This peace agreement was also sealed by a royal marriage. Ottokar ended his marriage to Margaret and married Béla's young granddaughter Kunigunda of Halych , who became the mother of his children. The youngest of them became his only legitimate son, Wenceslaus II . During the Imperial Imperial interregnum of 1250 to 1273, Ottokar could increase his personal influence while Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso of Castile jostled to attain

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4992-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of

5088-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c.  1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of

5184-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by

5280-406: The Imperial dignity. In 1266 he occupied the Egerland in north-west Bohemia, and in 1268 he signed an inheritance treaty with the Sponheim duke Ulrich III of Carinthia , succeeding him in Carinthia , Carniola and the Windic March the next year. In 1272 he also acquired Friuli . His rule was once again contested by the Hungarians on the field of battle. After another victory , Ottokar became

5376-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are

5472-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

5568-423: The Jews could from then on claim support of any royal officer. Ottokar followed with a systematic policy of strengthening his domains by building fortifications. Besides supporting towns, he built many fortresses himself — Zvíkov Castle , Křivoklát Castle or Bezděz Castle in Bohemia, and the famed Hofburg Palace in Vienna — and also induced his vassals to build castles. A sign of rising strength of Bohemia, it

5664-503: The Leitha River . King Wenceslaus had initially attempted to acquire Austria by marrying his heir, Vladislaus, to the last duke's niece Gertrude of Babenberg . That marriage came to an end after half a year with Vladislaus's death in January 1247, and in 1248 Gertrude married the Zähringen margrave Herman VI of Baden . Herman, rejected by the Austrian nobility, could not establish his rule. Wenceslaus used this as pretext to invade Austria when Herman died in 1250 — according to some sources,

5760-408: 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

5856-419: The Pardubice Region. The I/35 road (part of the European route E442 ), which replaces the unfinished section of the D35 motorway from Olomouc to the Hradec Králové Region , passes through the town. Vysoké Mýto lies on a railway line heading from Litomyšl to Choceň . The town's football club is SK Vysoké Mýto. It plays in lower amateur tiers. The quadrangle square named Přemysla Otakara II. Square

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5952-409: The Pope to adopt a similar policy. At a convention of the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg in 1274, Rudolf decreed that all Imperial lands that had changed hands since the death of the last Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II must be returned to the crown. This would have deprived Ottokar not only of the Egerland, but also of the Austrian, Styrian, and Carinthian duchies. In 1275 Rudolf placed Ottokar under

6048-526: The Romans - for himself. However, his election bid was unsuccessful and Count William II of Holland , the German anti-king since 1247, was generally recognised. Feeling threatened by Ottokar's growing regional power beyond the Leitha River, his cousin King Béla IV of Hungary challenged the young king. Béla formed a loose alliance with the Wittelsbach duke Otto II of Bavaria and tried to install his own son Stephen as Duke of Styria , which since 1192 had been ruled in personal union with Austria under

6144-430: 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

6240-404: 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

6336-435: 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

6432-422: The estates called upon him to restore order. Wenceslaus released Přemysl Ottokar very soon and in 1251 again made him Margrave of Moravia and installed him, with the approval of the Austrian nobles, as governor of Austria. The same year Ottokar entered Austria, where the estates acclaimed him as Duke. To legitimize his position, Přemysl Ottokar married the late Duke Frederick II's sister Margaret of Babenberg , who

6528-451: The historic East Prussian city of Königsberg ( King's Mountain ) was named in his honor as a tribute to his support of the Teutonic Knights in their war with the pagan Old Prussians . As Czech traditional law was different from that of his other domains, many principles introduced during his reign formed core of the Czech law for the following centuries. From his time stems the oldest preserved source of Czech law, Zemské desky , and also

6624-435: 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,

6720-417: 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

6816-527: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Ottokar II of Bohemia With Ottokar's rule, the Přemyslids reached the peak of their power in the Holy Roman Empire . His expectations of the imperial crown, however, were never fulfilled. Ottokar was the second son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (reigned 1230–1253). Through his mother, Kunigunde , daughter of Philip of Swabia , he

6912-649: The most powerful king within the Empire. After Richard of Cornwall died in April 1272 and Pope Gregory X rejected the claims raised by Alfonso of Castile, a new election for the Imperial German throne took place in 1273. However, the Bohemian king again failed to win the Imperial crown, as the electors voted for the "little count" Rudolf of Habsburg , Ottokar's last and finally victorious rival. Přemysl Ottokar refused to acknowledge Rudolf's election, and urged

7008-454: 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

7104-571: The new heir as Margrave of Moravia , and Ottokar took up residence in Brno , where he was occupied with the reconstruction of the Moravian lands devastated by Mongol raids of 1242. In 1248, some discontented nobles enticed him into leading a rebellion against his father King Wenceslaus. During this rebellion he was elected "the younger King" ( mladší král ) on 31 July 1248 and temporarily expelled his father from Prague Castle . Přemysl Ottokar II held

7200-466: The new town was called Vysoké Mýto ("High Toll"), probably referring to its location above the old settlement. Vysoké Mýto is located about 27 kilometres (17 mi) southeast of Pardubice . It lies in the Svitavy Uplands . The highest point is at 436 m (1,430 ft) above sea level. The Loučná River flows through the town. The first written mention of Vysoké Mýto is from 1265. It

7296-653: 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

7392-401: The oldest written Czech communal law, recorded in the founding deeds of the respective towns. By supporting the city of Jihlava (German: Iglau) with its mines, he laid foundation of the silver wealth of later Bohemian kings. Privileges of civic charters usually excluded the towns from obedience to the traditional courts held by members of nobility. This can be seen as a step towards equality and

7488-462: 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

7584-546: 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,

7680-482: The terms of the Georgenberg Pact of 1186. Papal mediation settled the conflict : the parties agreed that Ottokar would yield large parts of Styria to Béla in exchange for recognition of his right to the remainder of Austria. Subsequently, King Ottokar II led the two crusade expeditions against the pagan Old Prussians (1254–1255 and 1268). Königsberg (now Kaliningrad , Russia), founded in 1255 by

7776-500: 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

7872-407: The title of King of Bohemia until November 1249. However, Pope Innocent IV excommunicated Ottokar, whereafter Wenceslaus finally managed to defeat the rebels and imprisoned his son at Přimda Castle. Father and son eventually reconciled to assist the king's aim of acquiring the neighbouring Duchy of Austria , where the last Babenberg duke, Frederick II had been killed in the 1246 Battle of

7968-546: The town fortifications from the 14th century were demolished in the 18th century. Some fragments are preserved to this day, including the Prague Gate and Litomyšl Gate. The tower of the Prague Gate is open to the public as a lookout tower. The Vysoké Mýto Regional Museum , which was founded in 1871, is the oldest town museum in the country. Vysoké Mýto is twinned with: German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

8064-555: 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

8160-600: 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

8256-517: Was 26 years older than he, and the couple's childless marriage ended with an annulment. On 25 October 1261, Ottokar married Kunigunda of Slavonia . They probably had four children: Ottokar also had two extramarital sons and daughters. The most important was his firstborn, Nicholas . He was never accepted as heir apparent to the Bohemian crown by the sitting pope, but was given the Duchy of Opava as fief in 1269. Other illegitimate children include John, provost of Vyšehrad Chapter . Přemysl Ottokar

8352-429: 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

8448-561: Was also a reaction to the Mongol raids of the 13th century (see Béla IV of Hungary ). Conflict for the title of ownership to these fortified places built by members of nobility was probably the source of an uprising in 1276, which cost Ottokar the Austrian lands, and two years later (in an attempt for reconquest) his life. Some of the fortresses built by Ottokar were for centuries the strongest in Bohemia. Ironically, Bezděz Castle served as

8544-547: 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

8640-520: Was appointed protector of the royal domains (of the Holy Roman Empire ) east of the Rhine by the German king, Richard of Cornwall . He held this office till 1273. Ottokar is a significant figure in history and legend. In the Divine Comedy by Dante , Ottokar is seen outside the gates of Purgatory, in amiable companionship with his imperial rival Rudolf. He is also the protagonist of a tragedy by

8736-492: 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

8832-400: Was founded shortly before this year by King Ottokar II as one of the trading centres on the trade route from Bohemia to Moravia , and was inhabited by German settlers. The town square and the network of streets were built in a regular shape, which is preserved to this day. Stone walls with three gates were gradually built around the whole town. In the early 14th century, Vysoké Mýto became

8928-542: Was his senior by 30 years and the widow of the Hohenstaufen king Henry (VII) of Germany . Their marriage took place on 11 February 1252 at Hainburg . In 1253, King Wenceslaus died and Přemysl Ottokar succeeded his father as King of Bohemia. After the death of the German King Konrad IV in 1254 while his son Conradin was still a minor, Ottokar also hoped to obtain the Imperial dignity - as King of

9024-475: Was introduced by systematic founding of villages chartered under this law. He issued also a general privilege to the Jews (1254), which established principles of integration of the Jews into the Czech society until 1848. The Jews were now eligible for various positions, such as servants of crown, thereby being somewhat less subject to discrimination. Instead of being able to claim only the support of individual lords,

9120-483: Was part of Austria-Hungary , head of the district of the same name, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia . The most important employer in the town is Iveco Czech Republic and its Iveco Bus factory (previously Karosa ), which produces buses under the brands Irisbus Crossway , Irisbus Arway and Iveco Urbanway. With more than 3,000 employees, Iveco Czech Republic is the largest industrial company in

9216-534: Was related to the Holy Roman Emperors of the Hohenstaufen dynasty , which became extinct in the male line upon the execution of King Conradin of Sicily in 1268. Named after his grandfather King Přemysl Ottokar I , he was originally educated for the role of an ecclesiastical administrator, while his elder brother Vladislaus was designated heir of the Bohemian kingdom . He was possibly educated by

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