98-567: The Ibiza affair ( German : Ibiza-Affäre ), also known as Ibiza-gate , was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache , the former vice chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), as well as Johann Gudenus , formerly a deputy leader of the Freedom Party. The scandal was triggered on 17 May 2019 by the publication of a secretly recorded video, which
196-460: 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
294-402: 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
392-587: 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
490-560: A caretaker government was appointed. The election was set for 29 September. In 2020, a partial transcript of an as of yet unreleased portion of the video was published by the public prosecutor's office. Strache claimed the new material showed he never committed illegal activity, though he was later convicted of corruption. On 17 May 2019, Der Spiegel and the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that in 2017, Strache and Freedom Party member Johann Gudenus had been offered electoral support by
588-556: 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
686-886: A highly controversial figure before the Ibiza affair, especially due to the BVT affair in 2018. He served as the General Secretary of the Interior under Kickl, and is known for his close ties with the minister. As Director General for the Public Security, Goldgruber would directly oversee all of federal law enforcement in Austria . The same day, President Van der Bellen declined to confirm the appointment of Goldgruber. Experts believe that Kickl appointed Goldgruber as Director General to expand his party's influence over Austrian law enforcement and, since this
784-431: A legislative election as early as possible. On 19 May, following a meeting with Kurz, Alexander Van der Bellen said the country's parties needed to "rebuild trust" with the electorate as soon as possible and advocated holding the election at the beginning of September. On 20 May 2019, at 18:00 CEST , Chancellor Kurz stated in a press conference that he requested President Alexander Van der Bellen to dismiss Minister of
882-481: A major shareholder of the construction company Strabag , would no longer receive commissions from the government. In the video, Strache is recorded to have said he wanted to "build a media landscape like Orbán ". The meeting in the villa was set up by Gudenus, who had several previous meetings with the woman in Vienna ; Gudenus also provided some of the translation during the meeting as he speaks Russian. At some point of
980-453: 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
1078-679: 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
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#17328559003061176-408: A press conference, Rendi-Wagner reaffirmed her condemnation of the intents and plans of Strache and Gudenus showcased in the video. She also stated that the simple resignation of both politicians would not suffice, it would need "complete clarification" of the case and new elections. A few hours after the video tapes were published, Werner Kogler , leader of The Greens and the party's frontrunner to
1274-475: 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
1372-440: A television talkshow about the way they had been shown excerpts of the material by the informant. During their second meeting with the source, some polarization technology was used, so that they had to use specially coated glasses to be able to see the material on a laptop the informant had provided. Both papers involved, Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung , said they had not paid for the video. The highly professional setup of
1470-447: A woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch named Igor Makarov . The source of the allegations was a video secretly recorded at a rented villa on Ibiza in July 2017, which apparently shows Strache agreeing to offer the woman assistance in acquiring business contracts in Austria in exchange for rendering support in the upcoming October 2017 election in Austria . Five people took part in
1568-412: Is a non-cabinet position, Goldgruber would remain in office even after the end of the first Kurz government. The Freedom Party had already announced jointly withdrawing all their ministers if Kurz dared to propose the dismissal of Kickl. Kurz responded that he would fill the ministerial posts with experts and top functionaries if the Freedom Party did so. The resignation of all remaining FPÖ ministers in
1666-580: 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
1764-596: 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
1862-546: 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
1960-472: 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
2058-430: 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
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#17328559003062156-520: 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
2254-595: 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
2352-559: 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
2450-435: 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
2548-587: 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
2646-401: 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
2744-422: Is slated to convene on 19 May and officially appoint Hofer acting and designated party leader. At the press conference, Strache portrayed the recording of the video as an illegal and immoral act by the press and announced that he would take any legal action possible against the organizers, recorders and publishers of the video. However, he later admitted and recognized his wrongdoing. Furthermore, Strache wished for
2842-510: 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
2940-750: 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 a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ),
3038-566: 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
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3136-481: 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
3234-673: 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
3332-627: 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
3430-557: 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
3528-522: 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
3626-673: The European People's Party in the European Parliament Manfred Weber stated that "I've said it for a long time and I've said it many times [...], left and right wing extremists and populists are not a solution." Social Democratic Party leader Andrea Nahles stated that "there must be new elections in Austria. A simple resignation by FPÖ leader Strache is insufficient." Alliance 90/The Greens leader Annalena Baerbock states that "This outrageous scandal shows that right-wing populists despise our values like freedom of
3724-417: 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
3822-550: The European elections 2019 , said the affair was "a case for the prosecutor". On 18 May 2019, one day after the videos' release, he joined thousands of protesters on Ballhausplatz , demanding new elections. Following Strache's resignation, Kogler further called for the dismissal of the Interior Minister, Herbert Kickl. On 17 May 2019, NEOS party leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger described the scandal as "unacceptable" and called for
3920-514: 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
4018-663: The Hofburg Palace in Vienna after Strache resigned on 18 May. On 30 May, taking advantage of the popularity, the Vengaboys themselves went to Vienna to do an improvised street concert at Ballhausplatz singing the tune. Russian Turkmen -born businessman Igor Makarov , who the woman on the Ibiza video claimed was her uncle, made a statement published by the Russian edition of Forbes on 18 May 2019. He said he had no relation or connection to
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4116-724: 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
4214-644: 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
4312-640: 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
4410-536: 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
4508-461: The Süddeutsche Zeitung of showing selectively edited material. Shortly after the scandal broke out, the 1999 " We're Going to Ibiza " song by Dutch pop group Vengaboys gained popularity in Austria, with comedian Jan Böhmermann reported to have posted a YouTube link to the song's music video on Twitter on 19 May 2019. The song was chanted by the people who came to Heldenplatz in front of
4606-503: 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
4704-462: 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
4802-628: The 'party of the little man'. But the façade does not even reach Ibiza. While chatting with Russian oligarchs, the true face of the FPÖ emerges: the party of the rich, corrupt and brazen." Alternative for Germany party leader Jörg Meuthen stated that "The FPÖ is a close partner to us. We will not stab the Austrian party in the back because of a singular affair." President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble speculated that an intelligence agency
4900-589: The 2017 Austrian election. Silberstein was accused in Austria of having used methods of negative campaigning in support of the SPÖ in the 2017 election. However, Silberstein denied any involvement in the Ibiza video and accused Kurz of trying to distract from the scandal itself. Austrian writer and historian Doron Rabinovici criticized Kurz for "entirely irresponsibly" invoking antisemitic stereotypes. German tabloid Bild speculated that Austrian lawyer Ramin Mirfakhrai, who
4998-714: 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
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#17328559003065096-574: The FPÖ in the Kurz administration. Minister of Foreign Affairs Karin Kneissl was appointed by the FPÖ but was not a member of the party. JETZT announced a vote of no confidence against the government, scheduled to take place on 27 May. The former Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) said: "Who gives confidence gets confidence. Who gives no confidence gets no confidence." This implied that
5194-515: The FPÖ with positive news coverage in return for government contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hinted at corrupt political practices involving other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere. The scandal caused the collapse of the Austrian governing coalition on 18 May 2019 and the announcement of an early election . In a no-confidence vote on 27 May, Sebastian Kurz was voted out of office as Austrian chancellor by Parliament , and on 28 May
5292-478: The FPÖ would vote against the Kurz government in the motion. The FPÖ formally claimed, however, that Kickl's words were taken out of context and that the party had not yet made a decision on the confidence vote. On 27 May SPÖ entered a motion of no confidence against the government. FPÖ later announced its support for the motion. The National Council passed the motion without a count, as the President determined there
5390-718: 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
5488-417: 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
5586-399: 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
5684-623: 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
5782-420: The Interior Herbert Kickl . Kickl was among the most controversial politicians of the Freedom Party and would, as Interior Minister, have headed the investigation of the Ibiza affair. Furthermore, Kurz alleged that Kickl did not take the circumstances seriously after he appointed Peter Goldgruber the Director General for the Public Security following the revelation of the scandal. Goldgruber had already been
5880-547: 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
5978-456: The Kurz government was reported on 20 May 2019, after the Chancellor's move against Herbert Kickl became public. A spokesperson for the FPÖ pointed out a party conference decision which stated that if the Chancellor moved against Kickl, all ministers would resign. In addition to Kickl, Minister of Social Affairs Beate Hartinger-Klein , Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology Norbert Hofer and Minister of Defence Mario Kunasek represented
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#17328559003066076-408: 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
6174-403: The Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and leader of the opposition Pamela Rendi-Wagner called for the immediate resignation of Strache and Gudenus. The next day, she asked for Chancellor Kurz to advise President Alexander Van der Bellen to dismiss Strache. Later that day, she summoned a special meeting of the National Council and asked for Strache and Gudenus to be held accountable there. At
6272-444: The alleged Russian Jane Doe . Julian Hessenthaler continues to be in custody. In August 2020, the public prosecutor's office received an additional 5 minutes of video footage which appeared to relieve Strache from some of the accusations. In the uncut video, Strache had refused the decoy's offer and doing anything illegal. Similarly, Johann Gudenus had stated "we are not doing anything illegal, period". Strache accused Der Spiegel and
6370-562: The apparent trap , the amount of time and money expended on preparing and realising it, made Germany's Die Welt wonder who might have been behind this operation meant to create what the newspaper referred to as Kompromat (incriminating material to be used at the right moment to undermine one's enemy), which had been held back for two years and made public days before the European Parliament election to be held in May 2019 . Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung linked Germany's political activist group, Zentrum für Politische Schönheit , to
6468-506: The conversation in the footage, Strache said he had contacts with Israelis who opposed left-wing politics in Israel, and that he had been invited to China to promote business between Austria and China. Strache appears to have said that the companies Glock Ges.m.b.H. and Novomatic , and investors Heidi Horten and René Benko , had made large donations to both the FPÖ and the ÖVP using nonprofit associations, allegations that all have denied. Strache also said that Hans Peter Haselsteiner ,
6566-462: The creation of the video, in view of its prior activity as well as the suspicious behaviour on Twitter , the group being the first to follow a new account that was the first to tweet about the initial publication of the video's content. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pointed out the similarities to methods used by Israeli election adviser Tal Silberstein [ de ] who had been detained for questioning on money-laundering charges in Israel before
6664-465: The crisis within the Austrian government nor would it be his job to fix it. Asked about the contents of the video, Juncker said the idea of offering a country to others on a silver platter would go against his patriotic sensibilities. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It
6762-430: 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
6860-404: 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
6958-435: 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
7056-413: The events that led to the resignation of Heinz-Christian Strache. On 25 May 2019, Russian media reported that Russian actress and TV presenter Lera Kudryavtseva intended to file a suit against the Austrian daily Österreich for mentioning her name and using her photo in the newspaper's publication that suggested she might have been the Russian woman in the Ibiza video. On 17 May 2019, Chairwoman of
7154-569: The first Kurz government to remain. Shortly after Strache announced his resignation, Gudenus also announced his withdrawal from all political posts. On 18 May 2019, at 19:45 CEST , Chancellor Kurz delivered an official statement at a press conference in the Chancellery . In the statement, Kurz praised the cooperation between the two parties but stated "enough is enough" and thereby ended the current coalition government ; he also said he had requested that President Alexander Van der Bellen initiate
7252-586: The footage, according to Der Spiegel , Strache told the putative investor that he had visited Russia on many occasions and that he had had meetings with advisers of Russia's president Vladimir Putin with a view to forging a "strategic collaboration". He agreed to the woman's suggestion that she might help his party in the 2017 election by buying the mass-circulation tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung ; Strache further suggested that she donate funds through their party associations that would be difficult to audit. During
7350-435: 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,
7448-474: 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
7546-471: The meeting, Gudenus says to the suspicious Strache: "No, it's not a trap". Johann Gudenus stated in a later interview that the person who made the first contact to the potential niece of a Russian oligarch, and who was also present at the first meeting on 24 March 2017, was an attorney from Vienna . According to the interview, the man also confirmed the identities of the woman and her German accomplice to Gudenus. The attorney himself refused to give information to
7644-499: 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
7742-630: 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
7840-456: The office of Vice-Chancellor at 11:00 CEST that day, shortly before attending the press conference. Kurz accepted the withdrawal and responded that he would advise President Alexander Van der Bellen to formally dismiss Strache. Strache nominated Norbert Hofer , who is Infrastructure and Traffic Minister as well as deputy chairman of the Freedom Party, as his successor for the office of Vice-Chancellor and party leader. The Freedom Party presidium
7938-525: The press and the rule of law and are working to systematically erode democracy." Free Democratic Party leader Christian Lindner said "Strache's video confirms serious concerns. The decision of Chancellor Kurz is consistent and correct. The AfD had found itself a kindred spirit. Will it now distance itself from the FPÖ?" Leader of the Left Bernd Riexinger stated that "The Austrian right wingers surrounding Strache like to portray themselves as
8036-486: The press, pointing to attorney–client privilege and requesting not to be named in publications. Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung , which obtained and analysed parts of the video (over six hours), maintain that they did not know the identity and motives of those who made the video and provided it to them. On 22 May 2019, the two responsible journalists of the Süddeutsche Zeitung , Pulitzer prize winning journalists Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier , spoke on
8134-462: 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
8232-514: The resignation of Strache, the whole Cabinet , and asked for new elections. Chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stated that right-wing populists in Europe, in no matter which country, are willing to sell their country's interests for their own well-being. "Even if it's just for a sandwich. These people can not be allowed to assume any responsibility in Europe." Leader of
8330-541: 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,
8428-496: 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
8526-544: The video for €600,000 in Krugerrand coins to an organisation based in Germany. According to the research, the role of the Russian oligarch's niece was played by a Bosnian agricultural student, specially cast for the job. On 18 May 2019 at noon CEST , Strache announced his resignation as Vice-Chancellor of Austria and Chairman of the Freedom Party at a press conference. He said that he offered Chancellor Kurz his resignation from
8624-539: The videotaped meeting, according to the German news outlets, which had examined parts of the tape but had not released the full recordings available to them. Those persons included Heinz-Christian Strache ; a woman who said she was the niece of a Russian oligarch; an interpreter (who came with her); another Freedom Party official, Johann Gudenus , who appears to have set up the meeting; and Gudenus's wife, Tajana (née Tajčić). The persons spoke in English, German, and Russian. In
8722-445: The woman on the video, and added that he was an only child. Makarov is now "using all lawful means to establish who was behind the illegal use of [his] name." Tajana Gudenus, Johann Gudenus 's wife who comes from a Serbian family that left Croatia for Banja Luka in 1992, made a statement through her lawyers on 22 May 2019. She stated she was not responsible for the collapse of the Austrian government, nor did she in any way influence
8820-543: 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
8918-579: 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
9016-429: 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
9114-542: Was a majority in favour of the no-confidence vote. Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen dismissed Kurz soon after and replaced him with Vice-chancellor Hartwig Löger . The President later dissolved the Council and called a snap election , which was held in September 2019. At the public prosecutor's office in Vienna, Strache filed a complaint against attorney Ramin Mirfakhrai, private investigator Julian Hessenthaler, and
9212-530: 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
9310-511: Was behind the shooting and the publication of the video. Schäuble was quoted saying "Did someone think they could blackmail him?" and "Has someone already been blackmailing him for the last two years?" He concluded that "this smells like an intelligence agency". President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said on May 21 that he considered the events to be an internal affair of Austria. He neither triggered
9408-620: Was born in Tehran , and Julian Hessenthaler, an Austrian private investigator with a dummy address in Munich, were behind this operation. Later in May 2019 Ramin Mirfakhrai via his attorney Richard Soyer stated in a press release that he had commissioned the video. Journalistic research by the Kronen Zeitung indicated that "attorney M." had been looking for a potential buyer for two years, before finally selling
9506-500: Was commissioned by Iranian -born lawyer Ramin Mirfakhrai ( Persian : رامین میرفخرایی ), of a meeting in Ibiza , Spain in July 2017, which shows then opposition politicians Strache and Gudenus discussing their party's underhanded practices and intentions. In the video, both politicians appeared receptive to proposals by a woman calling herself Alyona Makarova, who was posing as a niece of Russian businessman Igor Makarov , discussing providing
9604-485: 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
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