108-538: The Alster Northern Railway ( German : Alsternordbahn ) or ANB was a non-electrified, single-tracked branch line in northern Germany. It linked the stations of Ochsenzoll in Hamburg-Langenhorn with Ulzburg Süd in the district of Segeberg in Schleswig-Holstein . The northern part of the route to Norderstedt Mitte is used today by AKN Railway on behalf to VGN Norderstedt ( HVV Line A 2) and
216-460: 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
324-402: 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
432-587: 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
540-556: 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
648-479: A multitude of smaller acquisitions such as the transport and logistics divisions of RAG AG . In Sweden, where Deutsche Bahn was unable to acquire its chosen target, the company instead focused on establishing collaborative ventures. At the end of the 2000s, Railion was therefore able to not only offer connections across large stretches of Europe running from north to south, but reliably serve rail route that run from west to east as well. Despite this expansion into
756-453: 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
864-622: A partner of the European Xrail Alliance [ de ] , represented by its subsidiary DB Schenker Rail (now DB Cargo). Ever since it was established, the alliance has focused on the objective of making single wagonload transport, namely freight trains with wagons used by different clients, a more competitive alternative to lorry transport. Xrail also aims to achieve more customer-friendly service, efficiency and punctuality in cross-border transport, for example with its universal booking system, Xrail Capacity Booking (XCB). Within
972-679: 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
1080-475: 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
1188-418: A significant decline. One of the primary factors behind this decline was the economic slump that had followed the global economic and financial crisis . The company initially responded to this negative development by introducing a more flexible price structure. It aimed to use a combination of block trains for large clients and bookings of single wagons to establish a fixed timetable that would in turn increase
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#17330861694701296-639: Is Richard Lutz (manager) [ de ] , who has been the CEO of Deutsche Bahn since 2017. The vice-chairman is Martin Burkert, a member of the board of the German Railway and Transport Union [ de ] (EVG). Claus Weselsky, chairman of the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL), is another member of the supervisory board, which therefore contains representatives from the two leading trade unions for
1404-688: 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
1512-580: 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
1620-596: 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
1728-546: 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
1836-472: 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
1944-430: 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
2052-442: Is entitled to carry out all activities deemed to serve the specified business purpose either directly or indirectly. This includes the establishment and management of companies and the acquisition of other companies. DB Cargo AG has a share capital of 256,007,000,000 euros, which is divided into 51,201,400 no-par value bearer shares . When it transferred the assets and liabilities of its former freight transport division as part of
2160-520: 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
2268-595: 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
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#17330861694702376-559: 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
2484-546: Is mostly double-tracked. Since 1996 the southern section is part of the Hamburg U-Bahn network ( Line U 1 ) on behalf to VGN. It is doubled throughout and electrified at 750 V DC via a third rail . The description Alster Northern Railway ( Alsternordbahn ) is still commonly used for this route. The name originates from the river Alster which flows into the river Elbe in Hamburg . The proposal for an Alster Northern Railway
2592-435: 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
2700-587: 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
2808-401: 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
2916-510: 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
3024-403: Is the gradual optimisation of train drivers' productivity. The current changes being implemented at DB Cargo form part of the strategy to strengthen Deutsche Bahn in its entirety that was launched in 2019. During the global outbreak of the novel respiratory disease COVID-19 , which hindered cross-border logistics due to limitations in the area of passenger and goods transport , the company
3132-566: 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
3240-481: 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
3348-673: 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
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3456-627: 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
3564-579: The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine have challenged the company and driven changes. Within the context of the battle against climate change , however, the role of DB Cargo is also thought to be increasingly important, as the company offers transport options that are entirely carbon neutral . However, the company has been criticised for a lack of investment into both its rolling stock and infrastructure, and thus constraining its performance. In late 2019, Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta took on
3672-522: 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
3780-565: The European Commission (EC) conducted an investigation into the allegedly unfair provision of state aid to DB Cargo from the German government. Limited amounts of state aid, such as to offset the abnormal economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , have been approved by the EC in the past. Single wagonload transport have played a special role in the economic development of DB Cargo and
3888-417: 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
3996-839: The Federal Republic of Germany . The Board of Management of DB Cargo AG is composed of at least two people, one of whom is responsible for staff-related and social matters in connection with employees. Otherwise, the Supervisory Board determines the number and identities of the members of the Board of Management The current Members of the DB Cargo AG Board of Management are Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta ( Chairwoman ), Ursula Biernert (Human Resources), Thorsten Dieter (Service), Ralf Günter Kloß (Production), Martina Niemann (Finance/Controlling) and Pierre Timmermans (Sales). The percentage of women on
4104-464: The German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BWVI). Although the wagons used by DB Cargo have generally become older in recent years, they have also increased in size so that they can transport larger quantities of goods. As of 2020, the majority of freight is still being transported by road, DB Cargo stands to gain from the increased interest in its services due to
4212-514: 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
4320-724: 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
4428-644: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
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4536-640: 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
4644-536: 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
4752-503: 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
4860-440: The noise pollution generated by the movement of its freight trains. Another area of investment by the company has been the addition of state-of-the-art sensors and telematics, which has reportedly been responsible for improvements in its competitiveness. Seeking to progress developments in this area, between 2016 and 2019, DB Cargo played a leading role in the "Innovative Freight Wagons " research project conducted on behalf of
4968-462: 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
5076-689: The timber and building materials trades. DB Cargo is also active on an international level. Its global operations particularly focus on transport between Europe and Asia, where the company has an extensive network. Its service portfolio also includes related services such as the sale and rental of locomotives and wagons. In the 2018 business year, DB Cargo transported more than 255 million tonnes of goods in 2,686 traction units and 82,895 goods wagons . Leased or hired materials are factored into these totals. The company provided its services on around 4,200 sidings belonging to clients in Germany, Denmark, Italy,
5184-623: The (northern) Alster Northern Railway is operated by the AKN as line A 2. Trains generally run daily between 5 am and 1 am every 20 minutes. Services are thinned out after 11 pm and on Sundays to every 40 minutes. In the Monday-to-Friday peaks between 6 am and 9 am and between 4 pm and 6 pm there is a 10-minute interval service. There is a night service on weekends. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
5292-576: The ANB sold its rolling stock in the same year. Meanwhile, the line — now called the A 2 by Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (Hamburg Transport Association) — was shortened with the gradual extension of the U-Bahn line U 1 to Garstedt in 1969 and to Norderstedt Mitte in 1996. The line was duplicated between 1992 and 1996, using the Norderstedt industrial railway ( Norderstedter Industriebahn , NIB) which had run parallel to
5400-493: The A 2 line with diesel-electric two-car multiple units (LHB VTA), with four DMUs being the property of VGN. Freight has operated only since 20 October 1971 and only on the northern part of the line, since the connection from the Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke (Hamburg Electricity Works) was put into operation. Since 1 January 2004, it has been operated by DB Schenker Rail . Today, the passenger traffic on
5508-616: The Deutsche Bahn Group, DB Cargo is mainly responsible for the following subsidiary and sister companies , all of which are directly involved in the domain of rail freight transport: These are joined by further companies that have special responsibilities in areas such as sales, transporting dangerous goods and combining traffic flows: The service catalogue of DB Cargo consists of a wide variety of basic, additional and special services. The company's core products particularly include block train and single wagonload transport services,
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#17330861694705616-714: 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
5724-718: 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
5832-475: 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
5940-581: The German railway company Deutsche Bahn (the DB Group) both inside Germany and on a global level. DB Cargo has a registered office in Mainz and a further administrative office in Frankfurt am Main . The company was founded as DB Cargo AG on 1 January 1999 under the second stage of liberalisation reform of the German railway system (Bahnreform) underway around this time. Initial operations were primarily focused on
6048-447: 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
6156-530: The German transport and logistics market. As the competitive environment with other European providers became increasingly challenging in the late 1990s, Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Dutch state-owned rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) announced plans to merge their rail freight transport activities in 1998. Together, DB Cargo and NS Cargo reached revenues of around 6.9 billion Deutsche Mark (3.5 billion euros) and had roughly 50,000 employees. Their amalgamation
6264-623: 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
6372-547: 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
6480-644: 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
6588-408: 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
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#17330861694706696-430: The Netherlands and Switzerland. It transported goods along a route network covering a total of 33,000 kilometres in Germany and, according to calculations by the German Federal Office for Goods Transport [ de ] (BAG), achieved an average punctuality rate of 72.9% when providing these services. During 2019, DB Cargo was reportedly operating at a loss. Critics have accused Deutsche Bahn of having neglected
6804-480: The acquisition of Schenker AG in the early 2000s, the company was restructured again and adopted the DB Schenker Rail branding. During 2016, to indicate its core focus on rail freight transportation, the company was once more rebranded as DB Cargo AG ; this naming scheme has been progressively replicated across the majority of its international subsidiaries as well. The services provided by DB Cargo include both block train and single wagonload transport services,
6912-438: The board exceeds the average value of other German companies. The supervisory board of DB Cargo AG has 20 members. It is composed of shareholder and employee representatives in equal measure, who are elected according to the regulations of the German Stock Corporation Act [ de ] and German Codetermination Act [ de ] . The supervisory board currently has six female and 14 male members. Its chairman
7020-430: The capacity utilisation of its trains. Other measures considered included the closure of numerous freight railway stations in order to reduce fixed costs, and efforts to reduce staff headcount at all levels of the business. News of these cost reduction measures was quickly met with sharp criticism by various trade unions ; their opposition included demands that the approach be abandoned immediately, and accusations of
7128-401: The combination of rail and road, and carbon-neutral transport, for example for Audi . The latter is becoming increasingly important given that rail transport currently has the lowest carbon emissions of all carriers and also achieved the largest savings in recent years (1995–2015). The company additionally offers a wide range of industry solutions, for example for the chemicals industry and
7236-405: The company's mismanagement. Following several months of negotiations, the Deutsche Bahn Group and its works council finally agreed on a restructuring programme for DB Cargo during February 2007. Under this programme, the previously proposed across-the-board job cuts that year were avoided, instead, the new approach aimed for the gradual reduction of headcount over a period of several years. On
7344-430: 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
7452-404: 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
7560-435: 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
7668-489: The entity's rail freight transport division structured under public law into a private enterprise company. Accordingly, on 1 January 1999, the company DB Cargo AG was ultimately founded to undertake these operations. The headquarters of DB Cargo AG were established in Mainz. At first, DB Cargo solely focused on its domestic activities. Accordingly, the Deutsche Bahn Group produced investment plans that directed billions in its subsidiary in order to improve its position in
7776-544: The expectation that rail freight transport will play an essential role in achieving climate targets. Within this context and based on expert opinions, in September 2019, the German Federal Government announced plans to transfer millions of lorry trips from road to rail, although similar attempts made in previous years had reportedly achieved little progress. One of the main measures planned towards achieving this aim
7884-447: The general objective pursued by Deutsche Bahn was to better cover the entire transport chain with all transportation means and routes. Over the years that followed, however, this approach mainly resulted in a shift of its freight transport activities away from the rails and towards the road network instead. The company realised that it needed to improve the links between its rail and road transport in particular, and securing acquisitions
7992-435: 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,
8100-474: 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
8208-452: The integrated rail system of the DB Group. According to media reports, DB Cargo reduced its fleet size by nearly one half in the 2000s and 2010s. The remaining locomotives were increasingly replaced by multi-system models that can also be used in the international rail network. Furthermore, the company also equipped its inventory of wagons with whisper brakes, which had reportedly halved
8316-403: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . DB Schenker Rail DB Cargo (previously known as Railion and DB Schenker Rail ) is an international transport and logistics company . It is responsible for all of the rail freight transport activities of
8424-430: The latter of which have been abandoned by many of the company's rivals. Based on the number of kilometres travelled, DB Cargo is the market leader in both Germany and Europe, although its transport services have been in decline for several years. Seeking to reverse this decline, a more flexible price structure was adopted alongside various cost-cutting measures in 2016. During the early 2020s, major global events such as
8532-494: The main line between Ulzburg Süd and Friedrichsgabe since 1973, and now ends as a single track in Norderstedt Mitte station (opened in 1996), where there is a cross-platform transfer to the U-Bahn. In 1992, the infrastructure was transferred to Verkehrsgesellschaft Norderstedt (Norderstedt transport company, VGN), a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Norderstedt , the Norderstedt municipal utility. AKN continues to operate traffic on
8640-402: 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
8748-656: The necessary maintenance work on, and the modernisation of, DB Cargo's infrastructure ; claims have also been made that the comparably high average age of its locomotives and wagons is a prime example of this problem. In September 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) responded to criticism by the German Federal Court of Auditors regarding the company's lack of investments by arguing that DB Cargo and other segments had yet to exhaust their full potential. During mid 2022,
8856-559: The needs of a large scale military conflict in Eastern Europe. DB Cargo AG, a public limited company under German law, acts as a holding company for the operational entities. Its corporate purpose covers rail and road services for the transportation of all kinds of goods and the procurement and operation of stationary and mobile means of transport such as locomotives , railcars , wagons and other containers . Its articles of association also cover related services. The holding company
8964-630: 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
9072-503: The north to the Hamburg-Altona–Neumünster railway (AKN) at Ulzburg Süd. In Ochsenzoll there was neither a connection to the now closed Deutsche Bundesbahn freight railway to Ohlsdorf nor to the U-Bahn tracks. The line was managed from the beginning by the AKN and it also supplied the staff. It was initially (until 1967) operated with new battery electric multiple units from MaK and from 1956 with MAN railbuses . From
9180-584: The organisation was open to the incorporation of further partners. While the European Commission and European Parliament aimed to promote competition among providers, the providers themselves instead opted to foster cooperation. During 2001, the Danish state-owned rail company Danske Statsbaner (DSB) opted to merge its rail freight transport activities into the joint venture, becoming its third partner and received shares totalling 2% in Railion in return, thus decreasing
9288-436: The other Railion companies solely focused on freight forwarding while Stinnes and Schenker took on central tasks in the fields of rail freight transport and sales. By consolidating all of its transport and logistics activities, Deutsche Bahn also aimed to achieve growth in the freight transport domain. The company adjusted its image to reflect this aim and as a result, DB Cargo was renamed Railion Deutschland . At this point,
9396-406: The outset, the railcars were equipped with FM radio facilities. This was the first VHF train radio in Germany. The few passing places on the single track line were fitted at that time with relapse switches , so that a low-cost train control system could be carried out with little manpower. In 1981, the ANB was taken over by the AKN, which had already supplied rolling stock from 1977 onwards, and
9504-462: 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
9612-439: The rai freight sectors of several neighbouring nations, the presence of effective competition to provide freight services had reportedly made a negative impact on the company's economic development by May 2005. Recognising the company's unfavourable financial position, Deutsche Bahn opted to respond by enacting numerous cost-saving measures; these were credited with a significant improvement in Railion's circumstances. During 2010,
9720-573: The rail freight market within Germany; however, during early 2000, the company was reorganised under the Railion holding company as part of a merger between DB Cargo and the Dutch state-owned rail company Nederlanse Spoorwegen 's rail freight operations. This new structure was designed for the cooperation, and incorporation, of future partnerships with other rail freight companies; between 2004 and 2009, Railion expanded its operations into Italy , Switzerland , and Poland , typically via acquisitions. Following
9828-607: The rail freight transport crisis was initially deemed to have been largely resolved. During early 2003, Deutsche Bahn transferred its share in Railion to the Stinnes AG [ de ] (which later became DB Mobility Logistics ). After the successful acquisition of the then-listed logistics company Stinnes , including its freight forwarding subsidiary Schenker AG , a restructuring of responsibilities took place within Deutsche Bahn. Subsequently, DB Cargo, NS Cargo and most of
9936-478: The rail industry in Germany. The business operations of DB Cargo are divided into three regions: Germany, Central Europe and Western & Eastern Europe . The German company DB Cargo AG is responsible for both operational services in the field of rail freight transport in Germany and central functions such as production, sales, finance and human resources for the entire DB Cargo Group. During 2010, Deutsche Bahn joined several other railway companies in becoming
10044-401: The role of CEO of DB Cargo. At the end of the 1990s, the operational business of Deutsche Bahn was reorganised into five legally independent joint-stock companies . This measure formed part of the second stage of the German rail reform. Within the scope of this restructuring, a precursor company was initially established in 1997, which had the purpose of facilitating a transformation of
10152-410: The spin-off for the establishment of a new company, Deutsche Bahn AG acquired all of the company's shares and is therefore the sole shareholder of DB Cargo AG. A control and profit-and-loss-transfer agreement is in place between the parent company and subsidiary . DB Cargo AG is included in the consolidated financial statement of Deutsche Bahn. The company Deutsche Bahn AG is in turn wholly owned by
10260-468: The stake of Deutsche Bahn in the venture to 92%. The cooperation between DB, NS and DSB has reportedly played an essential role in Deutsche Bahn's long-term strategy for expansion in other European countries. This strategy covered not only state-owned rail companies but also the acquisition of private sector rivals, for example in Italy (2004), Switzerland (2007) and Poland (2009). These were joined by
10368-541: 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,
10476-496: 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
10584-527: The whole, the company retained its ambition to grow its freight transport activities. To reflect the company's focus on its core business activities in the domain of rail freight transport, it was again renamed, adopting the DB Cargo AG designation in early 2016. The name was also readopted for its most important German and international subsidiaries and continues to apply in the present day. Accordingly, DB Cargo and DB Schenker are equal sister companies within
10692-543: 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
10800-579: 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
10908-429: 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
11016-541: Was able to secure its transport operations successfully. DB Cargo provided additional capacities for transporting supplies for the population, especially food and hygiene products. The running of large special freight services, such as the "Pasta Express" from Italy, attracted considerable media attention. Shortly after the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , DB Cargo started hauling aid from across Europe to Ukraine ; however, military officials have issued warnings that DB Cargo lacks sufficient capacity to meet
11124-530: 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
11232-485: 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
11340-400: Was no connecting line from there to Ulzburg and Henstedt (now Henstedt-Ulzburg ). The Alster Northern Railway was opened on 17 May 1953. Though it was initially planned as a simple tramway or the like, it was built as a standard gauge light railway to EBO standards and was thus the first newly built railway line in the Federal Republic of Germany . The tracks were, and are, only attached to
11448-447: Was one way to do so. In 2009, Deutsche Bahn abandoned the Railion brand and instead chose to consolidate all of its rail freight transport activities under the name DB Schenker Rail. At the time, its organisational structure remained unchanged. Media reports, however, already began to speculate about a stock market launch of the newly formed DB Schenker division. During the 2010s, the business operations of DB Schenker Rail experienced
11556-601: Was put forward by the civil engineer Heinrich Lönnies ("The Lion of Norderstedt") to implement the axis concept that the Hamburg architect and urban designer Fritz Schumacher had introduced in the 1920s. This provided for the Langenhorn–Kaltenkirchen area to be developed as an extension of the axis formed by the Hamburg U-Bahn line, which was operated by the Hamburger Hochbahn , but only as far as Ochsenzoll. There
11664-408: Was the first ever cross-border rail merger, in which Deutsche Bahn retained its majority share of 94%. A financial holding company , Railion GmbH , was created for this new company, and commenced operations during early 2000. The successful creation and launch of Railion laid the foundation for the establishment of a leading European transport and logistics company. Specifically, from the onset,
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