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119-420: The Schmidt–Rubin rifles were a series of Swiss Army service rifles in use between 1889 and 1958. They are distinguished by the straight-pull bolt action invented by Rudolf Schmidt and use Eduard Rubin 's GP90 7.5×53.5 and GP11 7.5×55 Schmidt–Rubin rifle cartridge. The Model 1889 was the first in the series of Schmidt–Rubin rifles that served Switzerland from 1889 to 1958. The rifle takes its name from

238-465: 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

357-698: A neutral country , Switzerland's Armed Forces do not take part in armed conflicts in other countries. However, over the years, the Swiss Armed Forces have been part of several peacekeeping missions around the world. From 1996 to 2001, the Swiss Armed Forces were present in Bosnia and Herzegovina with headquarters in Sarajevo . Their mission, as part of the Swiss Peacekeeping Missions, was to provide logistic and medical support to

476-581: A search and rescue role. During the Second World War Switzerland fielded the Type 41 class of patrol boats, armed with the 24 mm Type 41 anti-tank rifle —not a personal weapon at 74 kg (163 lb), and later replaced by a 20mm auto-cannon—and machine guns. Nine units were commissioned between 1941 and 1944. These boats were upgraded in 1964, notably receiving radars, radios and modern armament, and were kept in service into

595-402: 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

714-612: 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

833-507: A 3% additional annual income tax until the age of 37 unless they are affected by a disability . Conscripts found to be sufficiently unfit for regular military service, but not for exemption, take part in civil protection , where they may be called on to assist the police, fire or health departments, as well as natural disaster relief and crowd control during demonstrations or events with large attendance. Almost 20% of all conscripts were found unfit for military or civilian service in 2008;

952-516: A call for a short rifle that would replace the unpopular Model 1893 Mannlicher straight pull action carbine. The 99/00 short rifle was meant to be used by artillery and other rear-echelon troops. Design began in February 1900, and production began in 1901 and lasted for 10 years (18,750 were made). It was issued to fortress troops, artillerymen, bicycle troops, and balloon companies. The model 99/00 short rifle can be fitted with Model 1889/92 bayonet and

1071-419: A force of some 33,000 men. The cantonal armies were converted into the federal army ( Bundesheer ) with the constitution of 1848. From this time, it was illegal for the individual cantons to declare war or to sign capitulations or peace agreements. Paragraph 13 explicitly prohibited the federation from sustaining a standing army , and the cantons were allowed a maximum standing force of 300 each (not including

1190-559: 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

1309-491: A march covering 100 kilometres (62 mi) in 24 hours. After promotion to lieutenant, platoon leaders return to their recruit schools, where they take charge of a recruit school platoon for 18 weeks. There were about 15,000 officers and 29,000 NCOs in the Swiss Armed Forces in 2021. Those of higher rank serve for longer each year; a private may serve 365 days over 30 years, while a high-ranking officer may serve 2,000 days before retiring. Each promotion requires more time, which

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1428-458: 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

1547-696: 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

1666-796: 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

1785-483: 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

1904-712: A shorter rifle, so the Swiss designed the Model 1911 carbine, smaller and lighter than the rifle, and still very accurate. It became a favorite of the Swiss Army, and its popularity contributed to the design of its successor the K31. Production of the K11 carbine included conversion of the model 1900 and 1905 short rifles to the newer specifications; the earlier short rifles are rarely found in their original state. The K11 rifle and carbine were

2023-430: A traditional bolt action, which requires the user to lift the bolt handle to unlock the action before pulling the bolt back. The rifle is roughly musket length with a free-floating barrel , 12-round magazine, and wood stock that extends almost to the tip of the barrel. The Schmidt–Rubin 1889 was an advanced weapon for its time, and one of the first rifles to use copper-jacketed ammunition as its standard ammunition. Most of

2142-454: A volunteer. During this time, Jews were not considered to be Swiss citizens. Following the introduction of Jewish corporations in 1813, they were given separate documentation for military enlistment. A special rule in 1816 demanded that the Jews should pay an equipment contribution of 1000 francs per year (400 francs in 1808). From 1852 onwards, Jews served in the army like other Swiss citizens, and

2261-601: 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

2380-612: 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

2499-558: 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

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2618-478: 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

2737-430: 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

2856-535: 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

2975-611: 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

3094-535: Is known as "paying your rank". This describes the mechanism of a soldier fulfilling their rank's minimal service time after being promoted into said rank. Companies subsidize military training by continuing to pay their employees, who list their ranks and responsibilities on their résumés. In January 2023, the Swiss Armed Forces began integrating Muslim and Jewish chaplains into the service. The army's chaplaincy had only been open to Catholics and Protestants until then. New insignia have been created for military jackets:

3213-565: 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

3332-435: 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

3451-597: 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

3570-401: 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

3689-525: 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

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3808-578: 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

3927-485: 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

4046-689: 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

4165-639: 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

4284-558: The CIA in Central and Eastern Europe . The Swiss government did not officially confirm the existence of the report, but started a judiciary procedure for leakage of secret documents against the newspaper on 9 January 2006. The maritime branch of the Army maintains a flotilla of military patrol boats to secure several sizeable lakes that span Switzerland's borders. These boats also serve in

4403-537: 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

4522-480: 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

4641-625: The Federal Assembly elects a full General ( OF-9 ) as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces ( Oberbefehlshaber der Armee ). The rank is distinct and particular, as it is associated exclusively with wartime fighting or a national crisis due to war among Switzerland's neighbouring countries. Under the " Armee 61 " structure, the Army was organised into Field Army Corps 1 , 2 , and 4, and Mountain Army Corps 3. This structure

4760-522: 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

4879-746: 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

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4998-690: 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 the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as

5117-644: The Islamic crescent for Muslims and the Tablets of Stone for Jews. Switzerland has mandatory military service for all able-bodied male citizens , who are conscripted when they reach the age of majority , though women may volunteer for any position. Since 1996, conscripts who are found to be sufficiently fit for regular military service, but who object for reasons of conscience, can apply for civilian service . This service consists of various kinds of social services, such as reconstructing cultural sites, helping

5236-564: The Landjäger corps, a kind of police force). Paragraph 18 declared the "obligation" of every Swiss citizen to serve in the federal army if conscripted ( Wehrpflicht ), setting its size at 3% of the population plus a reserve of one and one half that number, amounting to a total force of some 80,000. The first complete mobilization , under the command of Hans Herzog , was triggered by the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. In 1875,

5355-666: 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

5474-569: The Onyx intelligence gathering system, similar to but much smaller than the international Echelon system. The Onyx system was launched in 2000 in order to monitor both civil and military communications, such as telephone , fax or Internet traffic carried by satellite . It was completed in late 2005 and currently consists of three interception sites, all based in Switzerland. In a way similar to Echelon, Onyx uses lists of keywords to filter

5593-483: The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), protection duties and humanitarian demining. The mission was named SHQSU, standing for Swiss Headquarters Support Unit to BiH. It was composed of 50 to 55 elite Swiss soldiers under contract for six to 12 months. None of the active soldiers were armed during the duration of the mission. The Swiss soldiers were recognised among the other armies present on

5712-599: The Patrouillenboot 80's successor, to the flotilla and these boats's manufacturer designation as Watercat 1250 Patrol; all ships of this class will be named for astronomical objects . The prime role of the Swiss Armed Forces is homeland defence. Switzerland is not part of any multinational war-fighting structure, but selected armed forces members and units do take part in international missions. After World War II, Switzerland began building homes with 40 cm-thick concrete ceilings that might survive firebombing of

5831-676: 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

5950-550: 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

6069-513: 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

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6188-469: 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

6307-433: The 18-week duration of the recruit school, with the exception of those who volunteer for officer school—they leave after 7 weeks of service as squad leaders—while those who volunteer for higher NCO school leave after 12 weeks of service as squad leaders. Officer candidates complete a 15-week course to prepare them for their role as platoon leaders ( Zugführer , Chef de section , Caposezione ), which traditionally culminates in

6426-516: The 1980s, the last being decommissioned in late 1983. The force utilises later the Aquarius -class ( Patrouillenboot 80) riverine patrol boats , which are operated by Motorboat Company 10 of the Corps of Engineers and which patrol lakes Geneva , Lucerne , Lugano , Maggiore and Constance . In June 2019 Finnish shipbuilder Marine Alutech delivered the first four of 14 Patrouillenboot 16,

6545-503: The 20th century rising further to some 1.5 million, the second largest armed force per capita after the Israel Defense Forces . Prior to the revised constitution, Jews in Switzerland were excluded from the army, with various exceptions and special conditions through the years. In 1808, the laws of mandatory military service were particularly strict for Jews , who, unlike Christians , could not opt to be replaced by

6664-426: The 89/96 action could easily handle. The model 89/96 rifles were modernized by changing the three-groove rifled barrel to a new 4-groove type, adding a pistol grip to the stock, changing the magazine to the 6-round type used in the 1900 short rifle, and modernizing the sights. This also streamlined the appearance of the rifles. Because more rifles were needed than were available, the model 1911 rifle, with slight changes,

6783-463: The 96/11 rifle by a curved buttplate and by a stock with an integral semi-pistol grip. It uses a graduated tangent sight which begins at 300 meters. The 1911 and 96/11 rifles were made with excellent craftsmanship, and were exceptionally accurate. As Switzerland remained neutral through both world wars, remaining rifles are typically in far better condition than other European rifles of the time. Support troops, cavalry, and certain other units required

6902-498: The Armed Forces ), of which 9,163 are professionals, with the rest being conscripts or volunteers. Women, for whom military service is voluntary, numbered 929: less than 1% of the total, with over 25% thereof being officers. The numbers had increased by 2021. Once in service, women have the same rights and duties as their male colleagues, and they can join all services, including combat units. Recruits in multi-lingual Switzerland are usually instructed in their native language, except that

7021-550: The Army in 1996, the Air Force has been downsizing; it now has a strength of approximately 270 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and is moving towards a smaller, more professional force. The primary front-line air-defence fleet consists of 30 F/A-18 Hornets (34 aircraft were originally purchased, with three F/A-18D and one F/A-18C lost in crashes) organized into three squadrons (11, 17 and 18) along with 53 F-5 Tiger IIs (98 F-5E and 12 F-5F originally purchased). In October 2008,

7140-539: The Army with the cantons by co-ordinating territorial tasks inside their sector and are immediately responsible for the security of their regions, depending only on the decisions of the Federal Council . The Swiss Air Force has been traditionally a militia-based service, including its pilots, with an inventory of approximately 456 aircraft whose lengthy service lives (many for more than 30 years) overlapped several eras. However, beginning with its separation from

7259-519: The Assembly voted to increase spending by 1.4 billion Swiss francs by 2030, or at least 1% of the country's GDP. The government planned to spend up to 50 billion Swiss francs on defense through the early 2030s. In 2024, the Armed Forces was projected to face significant funding shortfalls. As of 1 March 2017, the Swiss Armed Forces consist of 120,496 people on active duty (in Switzerland called Angehöriger der Armee , shortly AdA , engl.: Member of

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7378-764: The Cold War the military expected that any invasion would likely come from the northeast, as the Soviet Union associated the country with NATO despite its stated neutrality. The Swiss government thought that the aim of an invasion would be to control the economically important transport routes through the Swiss Alps , namely the Gotthard , the Simplon and Great St. Bernard passes, because Switzerland does not possess any significant natural resources. Operating from

7497-614: 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

7616-414: 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

7735-417: 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

7854-399: 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

7973-623: 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

8092-547: 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

8211-408: 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

8330-406: The Model 1906 bayonet. Most of the 99/00 and later 1905 short rifles were converted to model K11 carbines when the GP11 cartridge was adopted; very few unconverted rifles remain. The Schmidt–Rubin 1896/11 rifle, or the Model 96/11, was a Swiss upgrade to the 89/96 rifles they had, to use the more powerful cartridge adopted as the GP11 . The GP11 cartridge operated at a higher chamber pressure, which

8449-403: The NATO Partnership for Peace programme. The regulations of the Swiss militia system stipulate that the soldiers keep their own personal equipment, including all personally assigned weapons, at home or in an armoury; until 2007 this also included ammunition. Compulsory military service applies to all male Swiss citizens, with women serving voluntarily. Males usually receive initial orders at

8568-583: The Swiss Air Force gained two operational fighter jets ready to scramble 24/7. The difficulty of defending Swiss airspace is illustrated by the mountainous character and the small size of the country; the maximum extension of Switzerland is 348 km, a distance that can be flown in a little over 20 minutes by commercial aircraft. Furthermore, Switzerland's policy of neutrality means that they are unlikely to be deployed elsewhere (except for training exercises). The Swiss military department maintains

8687-643: The Swiss Armed Forces are led by the Chief of the Armed Forces ( Chef der Armee ), who reports to the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport and to the Swiss Federal Council as a whole. The current Chief of the Armed Forces is Lieutenant-General ( Korpskommandant ) Thomas Süssli . Lt-Gen Süssli replaced Lieutenant-General ( Korpskommandant ) Philippe Rebord on 1 January 2020. In times of crisis or war,

8806-640: The Swiss Hornet fleet reached the 50,000 flight hours milestone. In 2017, the Swiss Hornet fleet reached the 100,000 flight hours milestone as well as 20 years of flight operations. Previously, the Swiss Air Force did not maintain 24/7 operational readiness status in peacetime, owing to the limited budget and staff available. The Swiss Air Force worked on extending the operational times in 2016, aiming to be maintaining readiness for two armed jet fighters round-the-clock by 2020. On 31 December 2020,

8925-643: The age of 18 for military conscription eligibility screening. About two-thirds of young Swiss men are found suitable for service, while alternative service exists for those found unsuitable. Annually, approximately 20,000 persons undergo basic training for 18 weeks (23 weeks for special forces). In 2003, the reform "Army XXI" replaced the previous model "Army 95" and was adopted by popular vote, reducing manpower from 400,000 to about 200,000 personnel, with 120,000 receiving periodic military training and 80,000 reservists who have completed their total military training requirements. A further reform effective in 2018 heralded

9044-455: The armed forces altogether. A notable referendum on the subject was held on 26 November 1989 and, although defeated, did see a significant percentage of the voters in favour of such an initiative. However, a similar referendum, called for before, but held shortly after the 11 September attacks in 2001 in the US, was defeated by over 77% of voters. In 1989, the status of the army as a national icon

9163-425: The army was called in to crush a strike of workers at the Gotthard tunnel . Four workers were killed and 13 were severely wounded. Paragraph 19 of the revised constitution of 1874 extended the definition of the federal army to every able-bodied male citizen, which would have swollen the size of the army, had it not been replaced by later revisions, from under 150,000 to more than 700,000, with population growth during

9282-491: The army's dissolution in late 2001 received a mere 21.9% support. Nevertheless, the army was shrunk again in 2004, to 220,000 men ("Armee XXI"), including the reserves . In 2016, the Swiss Federal Assembly voted to further reduce the army from 140,000 men to 100,000 men, reducing the time of basic training from 21 weeks to 18, but also to increase the military budget by 2.4 billion Swiss francs . In 2022,

9401-485: The army's reputation, leading to persistent calls for its abolition among left-wing politicians. In both the 1918 and the 1932 incidents, the troops deployed were consciously selected from rural regions such as the Berner Oberland , fanning the enmity between the traditionally conservative rural population and the urban working class. The third complete mobilization of the army took place during World War II under

9520-467: The bullet. The paper patch helped prevent lead fouling of the bore. In 1923, long after the discontinuation of the Model 1889, the GP11/23 7.5×54.5mm round was produced without the paper patching instead using a full jacket around the bullet. The Model 1889 was eventually replaced by its successor models, including the Model 1896, Model 96/11, Model 1911, Model 1911 carbine. The Schmidt–Rubin Model 1889/96

9639-497: The bullets used in Europe at the time, except for the Mle 1886 Lebel rifle metal-jacketed 8mm bullet, were around .45 caliber, as opposed to the revolutionary .308 caliber of the GP11 7.5×53.5mm round designed by Col. Rubin in 1882. The round was "paper patched": the bullet was surrounded by a piece of paper, covering the exposed lead shank of the bullet while a steel cap covered the nose of

9758-471: The caverns. However, a significant part of these fortifications was dismantled between the 1980s and during the "Army 95" reformation. The most important fortifications are located at Saint-Maurice , Gotthard Pass area and Sargans . The fortification on the west side of the Rhône at Saint-Maurice has not been used by the army since the beginning of the 1990s. The east side (Savatan) is still in use. During

9877-478: The civilian engineer who designed the bridge plans the demolition as a military officer. Hidden guns are aimed to prevent enemy forces from attempting to rebuild. Permanent fortifications were established in the Alps , as bases from which to retake the fertile valleys after a potential invasion. They include underground air bases that are adjacent to normal runways; the aircraft, crew and supporting material are housed in

9996-633: The command of Henri Guisan (see also Switzerland during the World Wars ). The Patrouille des Glaciers race, created to test the abilities of soldiers, was created during the war. In the 1960s and 1970s, the armed forces were organised according to the "Armee 61" structure. Horse mounted cavalry (specifically dragoons ) were retained for combat roles until 1973, and were the last non-ceremonial horse cavalry in Europe, as were bicycle infantry battalions until 2001. Since 1989, there have been several attempts to curb military activity or even abolish

10115-410: The constitution of 1874 removed all remaining discriminatory measures. A major manoeuvre commanded in 1912 by Ulrich Wille , a reputed Germanophile , convinced visiting European heads of state, in particular Kaiser Wilhelm II , of the efficacy and determination of Swiss defences. Wille was subsequently put in command of the second complete mobilization in 1914, and Switzerland escaped invasion in

10234-426: The country running in case of emergencies. Every family or rental agency has to pay a replacement tax to support these shelters, or alternatively own a personal shelter in their place of residence; many private shelters serve as wine cellars and closets. Thousands of tunnels, highways, railroads, and bridges are built with tank traps and primed with demolition charges to be used against invading forces; often,

10353-401: The country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are conscripts or volunteers aged 19 to 34 (in some cases up to 50). Because of Switzerland's long history of neutrality , the Swiss Armed Forces have not been involved in foreign wars since the early 19th century, but do participate in international peacekeeping missions . Switzerland is part of

10472-519: The course of World War I . Wille also ordered the suppression of the 1918 general strike ( Landesstreik ) with military force. Three workers were killed, and a rather larger number of soldiers died of the Spanish flu during mobilization. In 1932, the army was called to suppress an anti-fascist demonstration in Geneva. The troops shot dead 13 demonstrators, wounding another 65. This incident long damaged

10591-412: The designer of its action, Colonel Rudolf Schmidt, and the designer of its ammunition, Colonel Eduard Rubin. Production of the rifle began in 1891. The straight-pull bolt action allows the user to pull the bolt straight back to unlock the action, cock the striker, extract, and eject the spent cartridge in one motion, and then push the bolt forward to chamber a round and lock the action. This is as opposed to

10710-429: The details, which were not complex but required time to retool. The rifle system was adopted in 1896. When the cartridge was modified in 1911 to increase the velocity of the bullet, the 1896 bolt system was used. Almost all the model 89/96 rifles were converted to 96/11; only a few remain in the original configuration, most of them private series rifles rather than military issue. The Schmidt–Rubin Model 1897 cadet rifle

10829-535: 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

10948-456: 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

11067-519: 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

11186-475: The elderly and other activities removed from military connotations. Civilian service lasts 340 days, 50% longer than a soldier's regular army service. People determined unfit for service, where fitness is defined as "satisfying physical, intellectual and psychological requirements for military service or civil protection service and being capable of accomplishing these services without harming oneself or others", are exempted from service, but pay 11 installments of

11305-601: The field by their distinctive yellow beret. The SHQSU is not the same as the more publicized Swisscoy , which is the Swiss Army Mission to Kosovo. In its first military deployment since 1815, Switzerland deployed 31 soldiers to Afghanistan in 2003, and two Swiss officers had worked with German troops. Swiss forces were withdrawn in February 2008. Switzerland is part of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), which

11424-435: 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,

11543-481: 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

11662-673: The intercepted content for information of interest. On 8 January 2006 the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick (Sunday edition of the Blick newspaper) published a secret report produced by the Swiss government using data intercepted by Onyx. The report described a fax sent by the Egyptian department of Foreign Affairs to the Egyptian Embassy in London , and described the existence of secret detention facilities ( black sites ) run by

11781-468: The last of the Vogelsgang/Rebholz weapons produced. Other models include: Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces ( German : Schweizer Armee ; French : Armée suisse ; Italian : Esercito svizzero ; Romansh : Armada svizra ; lit.   ' Swiss Army ' ) are the military and security force of Switzerland , consisting of land and air service branches. Under

11900-402: 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

12019-653: 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

12138-462: 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

12257-447: The rate is generally higher in urban cantons such as Zurich and Geneva than in rural ones. Swiss citizens living abroad are generally exempted from conscription in peacetime. Dual citizenship does not grant exemption. On 22 September 2013, a referendum was held that aimed to abolish conscription in Switzerland. With a turnout of 47% on this particular question, over 73% voted against eliminating conscription. In peacetime,

12376-620: The reduction of forces to 100,000 members. The land component of the Swiss Armed Forces originated from the cantonal troops of the Old Swiss Confederacy , called upon in cases of external threats by the Tagsatzung or by the canton in distress. In the federal treaty of 1815, the Tagsatzung prescribed cantonal troops to put a contingent of 2% of the population of each canton at the federation's disposition, amounting to

12495-622: The small number of Romansh -speaking recruits are instructed in German. In contrast to most other comparable armed forces, officers are generally not career regulars. Under the most recent army reform, all soldiers complete a full recruit school of 18 weeks. During the initial 18-week training period, recruits may volunteer for consideration to continue with NCO training. After the completion of NCO training, individuals are promoted to sergeant and integrated into platoons at recruit schools as squad leaders ( Gruppenchefs , Chefs de Groupe , Capogruppi ). Squad leaders support their platoon commanders for

12614-546: 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,

12733-500: 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

12852-501: The type that destroyed Hamburg and Dresden . In the 1960s they began constructing radiation and blast shelters that could survive one to three bars (100–300 kPa) of pressure from a nuclear explosion. Building codes require blast shelters, which are said to be able to accommodate 114% of the Swiss population. Small towns have large underground parking garages that can serve as sealed community shelters. There are also hospitals and command centres in such shelters, aimed at keeping

12971-555: 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

13090-600: 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

13209-429: 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

13328-547: 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

13447-511: Was created to monitor the armistice between North and South Korea . Since the responsibilities of the NNSC have been much reduced over the past few years, only five people are still part of the Swiss delegation, which is located near the Korean DMZ . German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in

13566-492: 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

13685-473: Was intended as a replacement for the earlier Vetterli rifles . The Model 97 rifles were single-shot, using the bolt mechanism of the Schmidt–Rubin Model 89/96 rifle. It was to use a reduced-power GP90 7.5×53.5mm cartridge, for cadets. The rifles' sights were graduated both for the light and the standard loads. Approximately 7,900 cadet rifles were made. The model 1899/1900 short rifle was an answer to

13804-598: Was put into production. Almost all of the 127,000-plus model 89/96 rifles were converted to the 96/11 specifications. An improvement over the original 1889 version of the Schmidt–Rubin rifle, the Swiss M1911 placed the locking lugs in the middle of the bolt, rather than at the rear, strengthening the action and allowing a more powerful cartridge, the Gewehrpatrone 11 or GP 11 to be used. It is distinguished from

13923-446: Was shaken by a popular initiative aiming at its complete dissolution (see: Group for a Switzerland without an Army ) receiving 35.6% support. This triggered a series of reforms and, in 1995, the number of troops was reduced to 400,000 ("Armee 95"). Article 58.1 of the 1999 constitution repeats that the army is "in principle" organized as a militia, implicitly allowing a small number of professional soldiers. A second initiative aimed at

14042-541: Was superseded by the " Armee 95 " structure and thereafter the " Armee XXI " structure. Since the Army XXI reform in 2004, the basic structure of the Army has been reorganised in the following units: infantry brigades (2 and 5); mountain infantry brigades (9 and 12); armoured brigades (1 and 11). Additionally two large reserve brigades (Infantry Brigade 7 and Mountain Brigade 10) exist. Four territorial divisions link

14161-405: Was the replacement for the 1889. The biggest change was moving the locking lugs from the rear to the front of the bolt sleeve, allowing the receiver to be slightly shortened. The change also allowed the bolt and receiver to handle more pressure. Colonel Schmidt was asked to do this for the model 1889, but refused, saying that it was not possible. Colonel Vogelsgang and his assistant Rebholz worked out

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