In politics , a diet ( / ˈ d aɪ . ə t / DY -ət ) is a formal deliberative assembly . The term is used historically for deliberative assemblies such as the German Imperial Diet (the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire ), as well as a designation for modern-day legislative bodies of certain countries and states such as the National Diet of Japan , or the German Bundestag , the Federal Diet.
102-580: The Kingdom of Württemberg ( German : Königreich Württemberg [ˌkøːnɪkʁaɪç ˈvʏʁtəmbɛʁk] ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg . The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg , which existed from 1803 to 1806. The borders of the Kingdom of Württemberg, as defined in 1813, lay between 47°34' and 49°35' north and 8°15' and 10°30' east. The greatest distance north to south
204-512: A civil list (annual grant) equivalent to 103,227 pounds sterling in the early 20th century. The kingdom possessed a centuries-old bicameral legislature known generally in English as the Estates of Württemberg . The upper chamber ( German : Standesherren ) comprised: The lower house ( German : Abgeordnetenhaus ) had 92 members: The king appointed the president of the upper chamber; after 1874,
306-460: 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
408-402: 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
510-587: 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
612-632: A factory. Ooidal iron ore (Bohnerz aus Eisenroggenstein) was found. After the Franco-Prussian War , the mining was stopped. The main minerals of industrial importance found in the kingdom were salt and iron. The salt industry came to prominence at the beginning of the 19th century. The iron industry had greater antiquity, but the lack of coal slowed its development. Other minerals included granite, limestone, ironstone, and fireclay. Textile manufacturers produced linen, woolen, and cotton fabrics, particularly at Esslingen and Göppingen , and paper making
714-578: A general superintendent or prelate from each of six principal towns. The synod consisted of a representative council including both lay and clerical members. The Catholic Church in the kingdom was led by the Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart , who answered to the Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau . Politically, it obeyed a Catholic council that was appointed by the government. A state-appointed council ( Oberkirchenbehörde ) regulated Judaism after 1828, forming
816-556: 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
918-785: A keen split between the parties, but the Prime Minister Karl von Weizsäcker stayed in office until the change in the constitution of the German Empire under Prince Maximilian of Baden 's chancellorship in October 1918 compelled the Württemberg Government to give way, and the Weizsäcker Ministry resigned. The kingdom ended with the abdication of William II in November, but the political system experienced no further convulsions of
1020-513: A long history of producing red wines , growing different varieties from those grown in other German wine regions. The Württemberg wine region centred on the valley of the Neckar and several of its tributaries, the Rems , Enz , Kocher , and Jagst . The Mohrenköpfle is the traditional swine. On the orders of King William I, masked pigs were imported from Central China in 1820/21, to improve pig breeding in
1122-453: 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
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#17328807935751224-661: A peace in August 1866. Württemberg paid an indemnity of 8,000,000 gulden, and concluded a secret offensive and defensive treaty with its conqueror. Württemberg was a party to the 1864 Geneva Convention and the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868 . The end of the struggle against Prussia allowed a renewal of democratic agitation in Württemberg, but this had achieved no tangible results when the war broke out in 1870. Although Württemberg had continued to be antagonistic to Prussia,
1326-679: 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
1428-461: A privy council, consisting of the ministers and some nominated councillors ( German : wirkliche Staatsräte ), who advised the sovereign. The judges of a special supreme court of justice, called the State Tribunal ( German : Staatsgerichtshof ) functioned as the guardians of the constitution. This court was partly elected by the chambers and partly appointed by the king. Each of the chambers had
1530-475: 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
1632-534: A serious character, with a constitution that resembled those of the other German states . Authority over the churches resided with the king. So long as he belonged to the Evangelical State Church in Württemberg , the king was its guardian. The Protestant Church was controlled (under the Minister of Religion and Education) by a consistory and a synod . The consistory comprised a president, 9 councilors, and
1734-524: 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
1836-596: 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
1938-546: 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
2040-472: 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
2142-430: 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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#17328807935752244-520: 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
2346-595: 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
2448-559: 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
2550-435: 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
2652-587: 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
2754-401: 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
2856-510: 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
2958-566: 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
3060-481: 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
3162-673: 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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3264-527: The Gulden . From 1857, the Vereinsthaler was introduced alongside it, and from 1873 onwards, both were replaced by the gold Mark . The state revenue for 1909–1910 totalled an estimated amount equivalent at the time to £4,840,520, nearly balanced by expenditure. About one-third of the revenue derived from railways, forests, and mines, about £1,400,000 from direct taxation, and the remainder from indirect taxes,
3366-627: 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
3468-967: The Danube district. The people of the north-west represent Alemannic stock, those of the north-east Franconian , and those of the centre and south Swabian . The Kingdom’s civil service employed families and individuals who remained prominent in German public life after 1918. These included the Weizsäcker family , the von Neuraths and the von Stauffenbergs , and individuals such as Matthias Erzberger and Friedrich von Payer . In 1910, there were 506,061 people working in agriculture; 432,114 had industrial occupations; and 100,109 were in trade and commerce. The largest towns included Stuttgart (with Cannstatt), Ulm , Heilbronn , Esslingen am Neckar , Reutlingen , Ludwigsburg , Göppingen , Schwäbisch Gmünd , Tübingen , Tuttlingen , and Ravensburg . The territory of Württemberg
3570-620: The Duke of Württemberg (1754–1816; succeeded: 1797), assumed the title of King Frederick I on 1 January 1806. He abrogated the constitution, and united Old and New Württemberg. Subsequently, he placed the property of the church under government control, and greatly extended the borders of the kingdom by the process of mediatisation . In 1806, Frederick joined the Confederation of the Rhine and received further territory with 160,000 inhabitants. Later, by
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
3774-473: 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
3876-514: 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
3978-672: 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
4080-1109: The Imperial Diet assemblies of the Holy Roman Empire : After the Second Peace of Thorn of 1466, a German-language Prussian diet Landtag was held in the lands of Royal Prussia , a province of Poland in personal union with the king of Poland . The Croatian word for a legislative assembly is sabor (from the verb sabrati se , "to assemble"); in historic contexts it is often translated with "diet" in English, as in "the Diet of Dalmatia " ( Dalmatinski sabor ), "the Croatian Diet" ( Hrvatski sabor ), "the Hungarian-Croatian Diet" ( Ugarsko-hrvatski sabor ), or Diet of Bosnia ( Bosansko-hercegovački sabor ). The Diet of Hungary , customarily called together every three years in Székesfehérvár , Buda or Pressburg ,
4182-474: The Imperial German Army . For the next 10 years, Württemberg enthusiastically supported the new order. Many important reforms ensued, especially in the area of finance, but a proposal to unify the railway system with that of the rest of Germany failed. After reductions in taxation in 1889, changes to the constitution were considered. Charles wished to strengthen the conservative element in the chambers, but
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4284-530: The Mauser factory at Oberndorf am Neckar ), scientific and artistic appliances, pianos (at Stuttgart), organs and other musical instruments, photographic apparatus, clocks (in the Black Forest ), electrical apparatus, and gold and silver goods. Chemical works, potteries, cabinet-making workshops, sugar factories, breweries, and distilleries operated throughout the kingdom. Hydropower and petrol largely compensated for
4386-644: 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
4488-606: The Peace of Vienna of October 1809, about 110,000 more people came under his rule. In return for these favours, Frederick joined French Emperor Napoleon in his campaigns against Prussia , Austria , and Russia . Of the 16,000 of his subjects who marched to Moscow, only a few hundred returned. After the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Frederick deserted the French emperor and, by a treaty with Metternich at Fulda in November 1813, he secured
4590-640: 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
4692-536: 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
4794-454: 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
4896-462: 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
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
5100-718: 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
5202-417: 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
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#17328807935755304-399: 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
5406-623: 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
5508-422: The Greek διαιτησία (= arbitration), or transcribing Classical Greek δίαιτα diaita , meaning "way of living", and hence also "diet", "regular (daily) work". Through a false etymology , reflected in the spelling change replacing ae with e , the word "diet" came to be associated with Latin dies , "day". It came to be used in postclassical Europe in the sense of "an assembly" because of its use for
5610-547: 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
5712-477: The Israelite Religious Community of Württemberg ( German : Israelitische Religionsgemeinschaft Württembergs ). The kingdom claimed universal literacy (reading and writing) among citizens over the age of 10 years. Higher education institutions included the University of Tübingen , the Stuttgart University of Technology , the veterinary college, and the commercial college at Stuttgart, and the agricultural college of Hohenheim . Gymnasia and other schools existed in
5814-757: The Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
5916-420: The Kingdom of Württemberg. This crossbreeding with the "Chinese pigs" was particularly successful within the stocks of domestic pigs in the Hohenlohe region and the area around the town of Schwäbisch Hall. To help people to help themselves, Württemberg planted an alley of trees.( Dienstbarkeit on private ground). The tree farms of William I and the Brüdergemeinde delivered for free. In former times, iron ore
6018-408: 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
6120-479: The United Kingdom. King William abdicated on 30 November 1918, following Germany's defeat in the First World War, ending a dynasty that had lasted 837 years. The kingdom was replaced with the Free People's State of Württemberg . After World War II, Württemberg was divided between the American and French occupation zones and became part of two new states: Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern . These two states merged with South Baden in 1952 to become
6222-469: The commotion that ensued, Frederick died on 30 October 1816. Frederick was succeeded by his son, William I (1781–1864; succeeded: 1816), who after much discussion, granted a new constitution in September 1819. This constitution (with subsequent modifications) remained in force until 1918. The desire for greater political freedom did not entirely fade under the constitution of 1819, and after 1830, some transitory unrest occurred. A period of quiet set in and
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#17328807935756324-448: The competition between Austria and Prussia for supremacy in Germany, William had consistently taken the Austrian side and the new king continued this policy. In 1866, Württemberg took up arms on behalf of Austria in the Austro-Prussian War , but three weeks after the Battle of Königgrätz (3 July 1866), the allies suffered a comprehensive defeat at the Battle of Tauberbischofsheim . The Prussians occupied northern Württemberg and negotiated
6426-421: The condition of the kingdom, and its education, agriculture, trade, and economy improved. Both in public and in private matters, William's frugality helped to repair the country's shattered finances. The inclusion of Württemberg in the German Zollverein and the construction of railways fostered trade. The revolutionary movement of 1848 did not leave Württemberg untouched, although no violence took place in
6528-410: The confirmation of his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory. Meanwhile, his troops marched into France with the allies. In 1815, the king joined the German Confederation , but the Congress of Vienna made no change to the extent of his lands. In the same year, he laid before the representatives of his people the outline of a new constitution , but they rejected it, and in the midst of
6630-430: 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
6732-404: 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
6834-435: 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
6936-431: The first car manufacturer, incorporated his business in 1900 as Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft , and its successor company Mercedes-Benz always had plants near Stuttgart. At Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance , Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin constructed airships from 1897 until his death in 1917. In 1907, the kingdom had 2,000 km (1,200 mi) of railways, of which all except 256 km (159 mi) belonged to
7038-435: 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,
7140-417: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
7242-501: The king and his ministers succeeded in assembling a servile diet that surrendered the privileges gained since 1848. In this way, the authorities restored the constitution of 1819 and power passed into bureaucratic hands. A concordat with the papacy proved almost the last act of William's long reign, but the diet repudiated the agreement. In July 1864, Charles I (1823–1891; succeeded: 1864) succeeded his father William as king and almost at once had to face considerable difficulties. In
7344-431: The kingdom shared in the national enthusiasm that swept over Germany. The Army of Württemberg played a creditable part in the Battle of Wörth and in other operations of the war. In 1871, Württemberg became a member of the new German Empire , but retained control of its own post office , telegraphs , and railways. It also had certain special privileges with regard to taxation and maintained its army autonomously within
7446-512: The lack of coal, and liquid carbonic acid was produced from natural gas springs beside the Eyach , a tributary of the Neckar. The kingdom's principal exports included cattle, cereals, wood, pianos, salt, oil, leather, cotton and linen fabrics, beer, wine, and spirits. Commerce centred on the cities of Stuttgart , Ulm , Heilbronn , and Friedrichshafen . Stuttgart boasted an extensive book trade. The kingdom had creative inventors; Gottlieb Daimler ,
7548-472: The larger towns, while every commune had a primary school. Numerous schools and colleges existed for women. Württemberg also had a school of viticulture . The education system was improved in 1909. Under the terms of a military convention of 25 November 1870, the troops of Württemberg formed the XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps of the Imperial German Army . Until 1873, the kingdom and some neighbouring states used
7650-407: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Diet (assembly) The term (also in the nutritional sense) might be derived from Medieval Latin dieta , meaning both "parliamentary assembly" and "daily food allowance", from earlier Latin diaeta , possibly from
7752-445: The laws of 1874, 1876, and 1879 effected only a slight amount of change. When King Charles died suddenly on 6 October 1891, he was succeeded by his nephew, William II (1848–1921; succeeded: 1891), who continued Charles' policies. Constitutional discussions continued and the election of 1895 returned a powerful party of democrats. William had no sons, nor had his only Protestant kinsman, Duke Nicholas (1833–1903). Consequently, power
7854-584: The lower chamber elected its own chairman. Members of each house had to be over 25 years of age. Württemberg parliamentary terms lasted six years and all male citizens over 25 had the right to vote in the ballots. The highest executive power rested in the hands of the Ministry of State ( German : Staatsministerium ), consisting of six ministers: justice , foreign affairs (with the royal household, railways, posts and telegraphs), interior , public worship and education , war , and finance . The kingdom also had
7956-576: The modern German state of Baden-Württemberg within the Federal Republic of Germany . The Kingdom of Württemberg functioned as a constitutional monarchy within the German Empire , with four votes in the Federal Council ( German : Bundesrat ) and 17 in the Imperial Diet ( German : Reichstag ). The constitution rested on a law of 1819, amended in 1868, 1874, and 1906. The king received
8058-450: 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
8160-630: 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
8262-485: The post office and sundry items. In 1909, the public debt amounted to £29,285,335, of which more than £27,000,000 resulted from railway construction. Of the expenditure, over £900,000 went towards public worship and education, and over £1,200,000 went in interest and debt repayment. The kingdom contributed £660,000 to the treasury of the German Empire. Population statistics for Württemberg's four departments ( Kreise ) for 1900 and 1905 appear below: Settlement density
8364-462: 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
8466-601: The rest of Germany. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and
8568-493: The right to impeach ministers. The nation comprised four departments or districts ( German : Kreise ), subdivided into 64 divisions ( German : Oberamtsbezirke ), each under a "head man" ( German : Oberamtmann ) assisted by a local council ( German : Amtsversammlung ). Each department was headed by its own government ( German : Regierung ). Between 1900 and 1910, the political history of Württemberg centred on constitutional and educational questions. The constitution
8670-525: The state. Navigable waterways included the Neckar, the Schussen, Lake Constance, and the Danube downstream from Ulm. The kingdom had fairly good quality roads, the oldest of them of Roman construction. Württemberg, like Bavaria , retained the control of its own postal and telegraph service following the foundation of the new German Empire in 1871. In 1904, the Württemberg railway system integrated with that of
8772-541: 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,
8874-425: The territory. William had to dismiss Johannes Schlayer (1792–1860) and his other ministers, and appoint men with more liberal ideas, proponents of a united Germany . William proclaimed a democratic constitution, but as soon as the movement had spent its force, he dismissed the liberal ministers, and in October 1849, Schlayer and his associates returned to power. In 1851, by interfering with popular electoral rights,
8976-496: 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
9078-580: The work of an assembly meeting on a daily basis or a given day of the time period, and hence for the assembly itself. The association with dies is reflected in the German language 's use of Tagung (meeting) and -tag , meaning "day", as in Montag —Monday, and also "parliament", "council", or other legislative chamber, as in Bundestag or Reichstag for national parliaments, and Landtag for regional assemblies. In this sense, it commonly refers to
9180-543: 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
9282-579: 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
9384-531: Was 225 kilometres (140 mi) and the greatest east to west was 160 km (99 mi). The border had a total length of 1,800 km (1,100 mi) and the total area of the state was 19,508 km (7,532 sq mi). The kingdom had borders with Bavaria on the east and south, with Baden in the north, west, and south. The southern part surrounded the Prussian province of Hohenzollern on most of its sides and touched on Lake Constance . Frederick III,
9486-429: 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
9588-743: Was also called "Diéta" in the Habsburg Empire before the 1848 revolution . The Riksdag of the Estates was the diet of the four estates of Sweden , from the 15th century until 1866. The Diet of Finland was the successor to the Riksdag of the Estates in the Grand Duchy of Finland , from 1809 to 1906. The Swiss legislature was the Tagsatzung (French: Diète ) before the Federal Assembly replaced it in
9690-530: 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
9792-464: Was concentrated in the Neckar valley from Esslingen northward. The overall rate of population increase from 1900 to 1905 amounted to 1.22% per year. About 8.5% of births were out of wedlock . Classified according to religion around 1905, about 69% of the population professed Protestantism, 30% Roman Catholicism, and about 0.5% Judaism. Protestants predominated in the Neckar district and Roman Catholics in
9894-481: Was due to pass to a Roman Catholic branch of the family, raising difficulties concerning the relations between church and state. As of 1910, the heir to the throne was Duke Albert (born 1865) of the Altshausen family. An older Catholic line, that of the Duke of Urach , was bypassed as a result of a morganatic marriage contracted in 1800. A Protestant morganatic line included Mary of Teck , who married George V of
9996-485: 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
10098-552: Was largely agricultural; of its 19,508 square kilometres (7,532 sq mi), 44.9% comprised agricultural land and gardens, 1.1% vineyards, 17.9% meadows and pastures, and 30.8% forests. It possessed rich meadowlands, cornfields, orchards, gardens, and hills covered with vines. The chief agricultural products were oats, spelt , rye, wheat, barley and hops, peas and beans, maize, fruit (chiefly cherries and apples), beets, and tobacco, as well as dairy and garden produce. Livestock included cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses. Württemberg has
10200-881: Was mined on the Heuberg. The buttress wood was bought in Truchtelfingen and used by Lautlingen miners at the Hörnle area. In Oberdigisheim Geppert in 1738 SHW-Ludwigsthal produced iron ore. From an old 3.5 km mine in an ooidal iron ore seam (Doggererzflöz) in Weilheim is wood in the Tuttlinger Fruchtkasten. Steel was produced in Tuttlingen by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal, which produces now iron brakes. had
10302-480: Was prominent in Ravensburg , Heilbronn , and throughout Lower Swabia . Assisted by the government, manufacturing industries developed rapidly during the later years of the 19th century, notably metal working, especially branches that required skilled workmanship. Particular importance attached to iron and steel goods, locomotives (for which Esslingen enjoyed a good reputation), machinery, cars, bicycles, small arms (in
10404-686: Was revised in 1906 when Württemberg introduced, before any other German state, the proportional system of election for the Second Chamber of the Diet. The result of the elections of 1906 was such that the two Liberal parties on the one side and the Catholic Centre and the Conservatives on the other were equally strong, so that the Social Democrats held the balance. Subsequent political changes resulted in
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