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97-502: * distance from downtown Meine is situated north of Braunschweig , between the Harz and the Lüneburg Heath. The Mittellandkanal is crossing the community area. Administratively it belongs to the district of Gifhorn . Meine is situated at the German highway 4 and around 7 km to the north of the interchange Brunswick North ( A2 / A391 ). Other bigger towns nearby are: Wolfsburg , Salzgitter , Wolfenbüttel , Gifhorn , Peine and Celle . The first documentary mentioning of Meine

194-623: A coalition government . An uprising in Braunschweig in 1919, led by the communist Spartacus League , was defeated when Freikorps troops under Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker took over the city on order of the German Minister of Defence, Gustav Noske . An MSPD-led government was subsequently established; in December 1921, a new constitution was approved for the Free State of Brunswick , now

291-711: A parliamentary republic within the Weimar Republic , again with Braunschweig as its capital. After the Landtag election of 1930, Brunswick became the second state in Germany where the Nazis participated in government, when the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) formed a coalition government with several conservative and right-wing parties. With the support of Dietrich Klagges , Brunswick's minister of

388-665: A socialist workers' council forced Duke Ernest Augustus to abdicate. On 10 November, the council proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Brunswick under one-party government by the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD); however, the subsequent Landtag election on 22 December 1918 was won by the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD), and the USPD and MSPD formed

485-538: A 15 kilometer radius. Braunschweig's urban area makes it a bigger city compared to others with a similar size e.g. Aachen , Wiesbaden or Gelsenkirchen , and since the urban area is not significantly smaller than Hanover , it makes itself an important and major city in Lower Saxony . Companies like New Yorker , Salzgitter AG , Jägermeister , Siemens , Bosch , Volkswagen , Nordzucker , Continental , Kosatec  [ de ] and others are headquartered or have

582-471: A branch in this area. Information about the Urban Agglomeration in 2024 : Population : 401,234 Area size: 585.16 Population Density : 690 people per square kilometer Migration background percentage : 44.6% Largest cities, districts and towns : Braunschweig , Salzgitter , Kreis Wolfenbüttel , Lehrte , Kreis Cremlingen , Kreis Gifhorn , Vechelde , Lengede The population of

679-416: A dialect of German or even Dutch has been a point of contention. Although Low German is mostly regarded as an independent language linguistics offers no simple, generally accepted criterion to decide the question. Scholarly arguments have been put forward for classifying Low German as a German dialect. As stated above, the arguments are not linguistic but rather sociopolitical and revolve mainly around

776-409: A following among the more rurally oriented inhabitants, launching Low Saxon as a sub-culture. They inspired contemporary dialect artists and rock bands, such as Daniël Lohues  [ nl ] , Mooi Wark  [ Nl ] , Jovink en de Voederbietels  [ Nl ] , Hádiejan  [ Nl ] Nonetheless, the position of the language is vulnerable according to UNESCO. Low Saxon

873-418: A higher migration percentage compared to its city due to industrialization and other major factors since 2011. One of the largest Vietnamese, Cameroonian and Tunisian populations in Germany are located in the surroundings and within Braunschweig. These are the biggest nationalities in the urban area ( these include the citizens with a migration background and a second passport ): Braunschweig's climate

970-607: A language for its computer desktop environment, as does the GNOME Desktop Project. Open-source software has been translated into Low German; this used to be coordinated via a page on SourceForge, but as of 2015, the most active project is that of KDE. In the early 20th century, scholars in the Netherlands argued that speaking dialects hindered language acquisition, and it was therefore strongly discouraged. As education improved, and mass communication became more widespread,

1067-662: A lion, his heraldic animal, erected in front of the castle. The lion subsequently became the city's landmark. Henry the Lion became so powerful that he dared to refuse military aid to the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa , which led to his banishment in 1182. Henry went into exile in England. He had previously established ties to the English crown in 1168, through his marriage to King Henry II of England 's daughter Matilda , sister of Richard

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1164-578: A low degree of mutual intelligibility . Eastern Low German and Plautdietsch are classified as part of Greater East Low German, while Eastphalian, Westphalic, and the North Low Saxon languages, German Northern Low Saxon and Gronings, are classified as part of West Low German. Low German has been recognized by the Netherlands and by Germany (since 1999) as a regional language according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . Within

1261-540: A new grammar school called Philipp Melanchthon Gymnasium was opened in Meine. The headmaster is Stephan Oelker. Meine is by the majority Protestant . It forms an evangelic Parish together with the villages Meine, Abbesbüttel, Wedelheine, Wedesbüttel, Grassel, Gravenhorst, Ohnhorst, Meinholz, Martinsbüttel as well as the village of Vordorf . The catholic church is the Saint Andrew church, built in 1971. The council of

1358-571: A part of western Lithuania , and the German communities in Estonia and Latvia, most notably their Hanseatic cities. German speakers in this area fled the Red Army or were forcibly expelled after the border changes at the end of World War II. The language was also formerly spoken in the outer areas of what is now the city-state of Berlin , but in the course of urbanisation and national centralisation in that city,

1455-419: A strong cultural and historical value and was the native language of students in northern Germany, it had a place in the classroom. On the other hand, High German was considered the language of education, science, and national unity, and since schools promoted these values, High German was seen as the best candidate for the language of instruction. Initially, regional languages and dialects were thought to limit

1552-633: Is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands . The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. Low German is most closely related to Frisian and English , with which it forms the North Sea Germanic group of the West Germanic languages. Like Dutch , it has historically been spoken north of

1649-455: Is a West Germanic language . It is documented from the 9th century until the 12th century, when it evolved into Middle Low German . It was spoken on the north-west coast of Germany by Saxon peoples . It is closely related to Old Anglo-Frisian ( Old Frisian , Old English ), partially participating in the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law . Only a few texts survive, predominantly in baptismal vows

1746-569: Is a city in Lower Saxony , Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker , which connects it to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser . In 2016, it had a population of 250,704 and in 2024, it has a population of 272,417. A powerful and influential centre of commerce in medieval Germany, Brunswick was a member of the Hanseatic League from

1843-598: Is a distinction between the German and the Dutch Low Saxon/Low German situation. After mass education in Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries, the slow decline which Low German had been experiencing since the end of the Hanseatic League turned into a free fall. The decision to exclude Low German in formal education was not without controversy, however. On one hand, proponents of Low German advocated that since it had

1940-566: Is a part of the continental West Germanic dialect continuum . To the West, it blends into the Low Franconian languages , including Dutch . A distinguishing feature between the Low Franconian varieties and Low German varieties is the plural of the verbs. Low German varieties have a common verbal plural ending, whereas Low Franconian varieties have a different form for the second person plural. This

2037-532: Is classified as oceanic ( Köppen : Cfb ; Trewartha : Dobk ). The average annual temperature in Braunschweig is 9.9 °C (49.8 °F). The average annual rainfall is 614.8 mm (24.20 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 18.7 °C (65.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around 1.8 °C (35.2 °F). The Braunschweig weather station has recorded

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2134-524: Is complicated in that in most Low Franconian varieties, including standard Dutch , the original second-person plural form has replaced the singular. Some dialects, including again standard Dutch, innovated a new second-person plural form in the last few centuries, using the other plural forms as the source. To the South, Low German blends into the High German dialects of Central German that have been affected by

2231-490: Is due in part to the grouping stretching mainly across two different countries and to it being a collection of varieties rather than a standardised language. There are different uses of the term "Low German": In Germany, native speakers of Low German call their language Platt , Plattdütsch , Plattdüütsch , Plattdütsk , Plattdüütsk , Plattduitsk (South-Westphalian), Plattduitsch (Eastphalian), Plattdietsch (Low Prussian), or Nedderdüütsch . In

2328-833: Is final devoicing of obstruents, as exemplified by the words 'good' and 'wind' below. This is a characteristic of Dutch and German as well and involves positional neutralization of voicing contrast in the coda position for obstruents (i.e. t = d at the end of a syllable.) This is not used in English except in the Yorkshire dialect , where there is a process known as Yorkshire assimilation . For instance: water [wɒtɜ, ˈwatɜ, ˈwætɜ] , later [ˈlɒːtɜ, ˈlaːtɜ, ˈlæːtɜ] , bit [bɪt] , dish [dis, diʃ] , ship [ʃɪp, skɪp, sxɪp] , pull [pʊl] , good [ɡou̯t, ɣɑu̯t, ɣuːt] , clock [klɔk] , sail [sɑi̯l] , he [hɛi̯, hɑi̯, hi(j)] , storm [stoːrm] , wind [vɪˑnt] , grass [ɡras, ɣras] , hold [hoˑʊl(t)] , old [oˑʊl(t)] . The table below shows

2425-512: Is most closely related to Old Frisian and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) . The Low German dialects spoken in the Netherlands are mostly referred to as Low Saxon , those spoken in northwestern Germany ( Lower Saxony , Westphalia , Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg , Bremen , and Saxony-Anhalt west of the Elbe ) as either Low German or Low Saxon, and those spoken in northeastern Germany ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Brandenburg , and Saxony-Anhalt east of

2522-734: Is spoken in the Western hemisphere, including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Belize, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. In some of these countries, the language is part of the Mennonite religion and culture. There are Mennonite communities in Ontario , Saskatchewan , Alberta , British Columbia , Manitoba , Kansas and Minnesota which use Low German in their religious services and communities. These Mennonites are descended from primarily Dutch settlers that had initially settled in

2619-596: Is still spoken more widely than in Northern Germany. Efforts are made in Germany and in the Netherlands to protect Low German as a regional language . As with the Anglo-Frisian and North Germanic languages , Low German has not been influenced by the High German consonant shift except for old /ð/ having shifted to /d/ . Therefore, a lot of Low German words sound similar to their English counterparts. One feature that does distinguish Low German from English generally

2716-409: Is still visible in the names of settlements and physiogeographical features. It has been estimated that Low German has approximately 2–5 million speakers in Germany, primarily Northern Germany (ranging from well to very well), and 2.15 million in the Netherlands (ranging from reasonable to very well). It has been estimated that Low German has approximately two to five million speakers (depending on

2813-466: Is tenuous in many places, and has died out in many places where assimilation has occurred. Members and friends of the Historical Society of North German Settlements in western New York ( Bergholz, New York ), a community of Lutherans who trace their immigration from Pomerania in the 1840s, hold quarterly "Plattdeutsch lunch" events, where remaining speakers of the language gather to share and preserve

2910-613: Is that it comes from Brand , or burning, indicating a place which developed after the landscape was cleared through burning. The city was first mentioned in documents from the St. Magni Church from 1031, which give the city's name as Brunesguik . Up to the 12th century, Brunswick was ruled by the Saxon noble family of the Brunonids ; then, through marriage, the town fell to the House of Welf . In 1142, Henry

3007-545: Is the 2nd largest city in Lower Saxony . Braunschweig is considered as one of the oldest cities in Germany, founded in 1031 by Henry the Lion . Braunschweig first reached its peak of over 100,000 in 1890. In the 1960s and 1970s industrialization boomed in Braunschweig due to automobile and other companies coming to Braunschweig and surrounding cities like Wolfsburg and Salzgitter . Braunschweig's population reached its highest peak of population in 1975 with population of about 273,000. Braunschweig's population started to decline in

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3104-482: Is unknown. Piera Sonnino (1922–1999), an Italian author, writes of her imprisonment in Braunschweig in her book, This Has Happened , published in English in 2006 by MacMillan Palgrave. The Allied air raid on October 15, 1944, destroyed most of the city's churches, and the Altstadt (old town), the largest homogeneous ensemble of half-timbered houses in Germany. 100 out of 800 half-timbered houses survived as well as

3201-553: The Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses , while forms of High German (of which Standard German is a standardized example) have historically been spoken south of those lines. Like Frisian, English, Dutch and the North Germanic languages , Low German has not undergone the High German consonant shift , as opposed to Standard High German , which is based on High German dialects . Low German evolved from Old Saxon (Old Low German) , which

3298-630: The Congress of Vienna in 1815, Brunswick was made capital of the re-established independent Duchy of Brunswick , later a constituent state of the German Empire from 1871. In the aftermath of the July Revolution in 1830, in Brunswick duke Charles II was forced to abdicate. His absolutist governing style had previously alienated the nobility and bourgeoisie , while the lower classes were disaffected by

3395-694: The Grüne Moschee in Wolfenbüttel, Fatih Moschee Salzgitter and the Albanischer-Kulturverein in Gifhorn. A total of 84,994 of Braunschweig's residents, including citizens with second passport , had a migration background in 2023 (31.2% of the total population). Weststadt has the highest migration percentage being 63%. Majority of the ethnic groups come from Asia, Africa and Eastern European nations. Among those, 39,785 were non-German citizens (15%);

3492-766: The High German consonant shift . The division is usually drawn at the Benrath line that traces the maken – machen isogloss . To the East, it abuts the Kashubian language (the only remnant of the Pomeranian language ) and, since the expulsion of nearly all Germans from the Polish part of Pomerania following the Second World War, also by the Polish language . East Pomeranian and Central Pomeranian are dialects of Low German. To

3589-528: The Iron Curtain . The city lost its historically strong economic ties to what was then East Germany ; for decades, economic growth remained, on average, below the rest of the country while unemployment was above-average for West Germany. On 28 February 1974, as part of a district reform in Lower Saxony, the rural district of Braunschweig , which had surrounded the city, was disestablished. The major part of

3686-551: The Italian ones (with only Venetian communities in areas of highly Venetian presence conserving Talian , and other Italian languages and dialects fading out elsewhere). The language grouping of Low German is referred to, in the language itself as well as in its umbrella languages of German and Dutch, in several different ways, ranging from official names such as Niederdeutsche and Nederduits to more general characterisations such as "dialect". The proliferation of names or characterisations

3783-465: The Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , who ruled over one of the subdivisions of Brunswick-Lüneburg, finally moved their Residenz out of the city and to the nearby town of Wolfenbüttel in 1432. The Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel did not regain control over the city until the late 17th century, when Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg , took the city by siege. In the 18th century Brunswick

3880-601: The Vistula delta region of Prussia in the 16th and 17th centuries before moving to newly acquired Russian territories in Ukraine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and then to the Americas in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The types of Low German spoken in these communities and in the Midwest region of the United States have diverged since emigration. The survival of the language

3977-458: The palatalization and assibilation of / k / (compare palatalized forms such as English cheese , Frisian tsiis to non-palatalized forms such as Low German Kees or Kaise , Dutch kaas , German Käse but Low German Sever/Sebber while German Käfer ) However, since Anglo-Frisian features occur in Low German and especially in its older language stages, there is a tendency to prefer

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4074-510: The zoological garden Arche Noah Zoo Braunschweig and the nearby Essehof Zoo . Braunschweig is made up of 19 boroughs (German: Stadtbezirke ), which themselves may consist of several quarters (German: Stadtteile ) each. The 19 boroughs, with their official numbers, are: The current mayor of Braunschweig is Thorsten Kornblum of the Social Democratic Party (SPD); he has been mayor since 2021. The most recent mayoral election

4171-510: The 13th until the 17th century. It was the capital city of three successive states: the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1269–1432, 1754–1807, and 1813–1814), the Duchy of Brunswick (1814–1918), and the Free State of Brunswick (1918–1946). Today, Brunswick is the second-largest city in Lower Saxony and a major centre of scientific research and development. The date and circumstances of

4268-462: The 1980s. In the 1990s - after the German reunification - it began to grow again as many East Germans moved there due to its close close proximity to former East Germany . Currently, Braunschweig has a strong focus on research and development. According to 2019 data, it has the highest R&D intensity (ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP ) in the entire EU and over 4% of all employed people are R&D personnel. In 2015, 91,785 people (or 36.3% of

4365-502: The BraWo Park's parking lot is today, held about 800 male prisoners, who were forced to work in the arms production at Büssing-NAG . After about 300 had died due to disease, hunger, and maltreatment over the course of just a few months, a further 200 were transferred to the infirmary of a nearby subcamp in early January 1945 in order to reduce the number of deaths. However, this was only effective to some degree, as another 80 bodies landed in

4462-521: The Elbe) mostly as Low German, not being part of Low Saxon. This is because northwestern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands were the area of settlement of the Saxons ( Old Saxony ), while Low German spread to northeastern Germany through eastward migration of Low German speakers into areas with an originally Slavic-speaking population. This area is known as Germania Slavica , where the former Slavic influence

4559-461: The German authorities and Nedersaksisch (Nether or Low Saxon) by the Dutch authorities. Plattdeutsch , Niederdeutsch and Platduits , Nedersaksisch are seen in linguistic texts from the German and Dutch linguistic communities respectively. In Danish it is called Plattysk , Nedertysk or, rarely, Lavtysk . Mennonite Low German is called Plautdietsch . "Low" refers to

4656-514: The Ingvaeonic classification instead of the Anglo-Frisian one, which also takes Low German into account. Because Old Saxon came under strong Old High German and Old Low Franconian influence early on and therefore lost many Ingvaeonic features that were to be found much more extensively in earlier language states. The question of whether today's Low German should be considered a separate language or

4753-510: The Lion of the House of Welf became duke of Saxony and made Braunschweig the capital of his state (which, from 1156 on, also included the Duchy of Bavaria ). He turned Dankwarderode Castle, the residence of the counts of Brunswick , into his own Pfalz and developed the city further to represent his authority. Under Henry's rule, the Cathedral of St. Blasius was built and he also had the statue of

4850-640: The Lionheart . However, Henry's son Otto , who regained influence and was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor , continued to foster the city's development. During the Middle Ages , Brunswick was an important center of trade, one of the economic and political centers in Northern Europe and a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th century to the middle of the 17th century. By the year 1600, Brunswick

4947-408: The Low German dialects of Denmark can be considered moribund at this time. Dialects of Low German are spoken in the northeastern area of the Netherlands ( Dutch Low Saxon ) by approximately 1.6 million speakers. These dialects are written with an unstandardized orthography based on Standard Dutch orthography. The position of the language is, according to UNESCO, vulnerable. Between 1995 and 2011

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5044-400: The Low Saxon dialects further declined, although decline has been greater in urban centres of the Low Saxon regions. When in 1975 dialect folk and rock bands such as Normaal and Boh Foi Toch  [ nl ] became successful with their overt disapproval of what they experienced as "misplaced Dutch snobbery" and the Western Dutch contempt for (speakers of) Low Saxon dialects, they gained

5141-413: The Municipality Meine consists of 23 councilmen and women: (Status: community election 11. September 2011 with a voter participation of 57,98%) Braunschweig Braunschweig ( German: [ˈbʁaʊnʃvaɪk] ) or Brunswick ( English: / ˈ b r ʌ n z w ɪ k / BRUN -zwik ; from Low German Brunswiek , local dialect: Bronswiek [ˈbrɔˑnsviːk] )

5238-523: The Netherlands, native speakers refer to their language as dialect , plat , Nedersaksisch , or the name of their village, town or district. Officially, Low German is called niederdeutsche Sprache or plattdeutsche Sprache (Nether or Low German language), Niederdeutsch or Plattdeutsch (Nether or Low German) in High German by the German authorities, nedderdüütsche Spraak (Nether or Low German language), Nedderdüütsch or Plattdüütsch (Nether or Low German) in Low German by

5335-423: The North and Northwest, it abuts the Danish and the Frisian languages . In Germany, Low German has replaced the Danish and Frisian languages in many regions. Saterland Frisian is the only remnant of East Frisian language and is surrounded by Low German, as are the few remaining North Frisian varieties, and the Low German dialects of those regions have influences from Frisian substrates. Most linguists classify

5432-433: The Saxons were required to perform at the behest of Charlemagne . The only literary texts preserved are Heliand and the Old Saxon Genesis . The Middle Low German language ( Mittelniederdeutsch ) is an ancestor of modern Low German. It was spoken from about 1100 to 1600. The neighbouring languages within the dialect continuum of the West Germanic languages were Middle Dutch in the West and Middle High German in

5529-415: The South, later substituted by Early New High German . Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League , spoken all around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea . It had a significant influence on the Scandinavian languages and other languages around the Baltic Sea. Based on the language of Lübeck , a standardized written language was developing, though it was never codified. There

5626-418: The acquiescence of the state government. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, several state institutions were placed in Braunschweig, including the Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt in Völkenrode , the Hitler Youth Academy for Youth Leadership , and the SS - Junkerschule Braunschweig . With the Reichswerke Hermann Göring in Salzgitter and the Stadt des KdF-Wagens , as well as several factories in

5723-403: The bad economic situation. During the night of 7–8 September 1830, the ducal palace in Brunswick was stormed by an angry mob, set on fire, and destroyed completely. Charles was succeeded by his brother William VIII . During William's reign, liberal reforms were made and Brunswick's parliament was strengthened. During the 19th century, industrialisation caused a rapid growth of population in

5820-465: The city itself (including Büssing and the Volkswagenwerk Braunschweig ), the Braunschweig region became one of the centres of the German arms industry . During the Second World War , Braunschweig was a sub-area headquarters of Wehrkreis XI (one of Germany's military districts), and was the garrison city of the 31st Infantry Division that took part in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, and France, largely being destroyed during its retreat following

5917-449: The city's crematory until the subcamp's closing in March 1945, when Büssing-NAG had to halt production due to severe bombing damages. Today the Gedenkstätte Schillstraße , located very close to the former premises of the subcamp, documents Braunschweig's history during the Third Reich . Büssing-NAG also had another subcamp in the nearby Vechelde , which held a further 400 male prisoners. The subcamp SS-Reitschule , named so as it

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6014-424: The city, eventually causing Brunswick to be for the first time significantly enlarged beyond its medieval fortifications and the River Oker. On 1 December 1838, the first section of the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway line connecting Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel opened as the first railway line in Northern Germany, operated by the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway . On 8 November 1918, at the end of World War I ,

6111-412: The city. Emilia Galotti by Lessing and Goethe 's Faust were performed for the first time in Brunswick. In 1806, the city was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and became part of the short-lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. The exiled Duke Frederick William raised a volunteer corps, the Black Brunswickers , who fought the French in several battles. After

6208-456: The definition of 'native speaker') in Germany, primarily in Northern Germany. Variants of Low German are spoken in most parts of Northern Germany , for instance in the states of Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , Hamburg , Bremen , Schleswig-Holstein , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Saxony-Anhalt , and Brandenburg . Small portions of northern Hesse and northern Thuringia are traditionally Low Saxon-speaking too. Historically, Low German

6305-406: The dialect. Mennonite colonies in Paraguay, Belize, and Chihuahua , Mexico, have made Low German a "co-official language" of the community. East Pomeranian is also spoken in parts of southern and southeastern Brazil, in the latter especially in the state of Espírito Santo , being official in five municipalities, and spoken among its ethnically European migrants elsewhere, primarily in

6402-541: The dialects of Low German together with English and Frisian as the North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic languages. However, most exclude Low German from the group often called Anglo-Frisian languages because some distinctive features of that group of languages are only partially preserved in Low German, for instance the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (some dialects have us , os for "us" whereas others have uns , ons ), and because other distinctive features almost do not occur in Low German at all, for instance

6499-401: The fact that Low German has no official standard form or use in sophisticated media. The situation of Low German may thus be considered a "pseudo-dialectized abstand language " (" scheindialektisierte Abstandsprache "). In contrast, Old Saxon and Middle Low German are generally considered separate languages in their own right. Since Low German has strongly declined since the 18th century,

6596-600: The flat plains and coastal area of the northern European lowlands , contrasted with the mountainous areas of central and southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where High German (Highland German) is spoken. The colloquial term Platt denotes both Low German dialects and any non- standard Western variety of German ; this use is chiefly found in northern and Western Germany and is not considered to be linguistically correct. The ISO 639-2 language code for Low German has been nds ( niedersächsisch or nedersaksisch, neddersassisch ) since May 2000. Low German

6693-451: The following extreme values: Parks and gardens in the city include the botanical garden Botanischer Garten der Technischen Universität Braunschweig , founded in 1840 by Johann Heinrich Blasius , the Bürgerpark , the Löwenwall with an obelisk from 1825, the Prinz-Albrecht-Park , and the Inselwallpark . Other parks and recreation areas are Stadtpark , Westpark , Theaterpark , Museumpark , Heidbergsee , Südsee , Ölpersee ,

6790-590: The following table lists up the largest minority groups, including citizens with a migration background from a specific nation or region: The estimated migration population in 2025 is 95,961 (35% of 274,233). The urban agglomeration area of Braunschweig is approximately 400,000 in 2024, making it one of the largest regiopolis after Mannheim and Bonn in Germany and the largest one in Lower Saxony . This area includes Wolfenbüttel , Meine , Salzgitter-Thiede , Salzgitter-Lebenstedt , Weddel , Sickte , Timmerlah , Lengede and other towns and regions within

6887-420: The former district was incorporated into the city of Braunschweig, increasing its population by roughly 52,000 people. In the 1990s, efforts increased to reconstruct historic buildings that had been destroyed in the air raid. The façade of the Braunschweiger Schloss was rebuilt, and buildings such as the Alte Waage (originally built in 1534) now stand again. Braunschweig has a population of 250,000 and

6984-485: The functional limits of the language that may still be cited as objective criteria for a mere dialect (such as the virtually complete absence from legal and administrative contexts, schools, the media, etc.). At the request of Schleswig-Holstein , the German government has declared Low German as a regional language . German offices in Schleswig-Holstein are obliged to accept and handle applications in Low German on

7081-764: The home, but not in formal schooling. In their opinion, it simply did not match the nationally unifying power of High German. As a result, while Low German literature was deemed worthy of being taught in school, High German was chosen as the language of scholarly instruction. With High German the language of education and Low German the language of the home and daily life, a stable diglossia developed in Northern Germany. Various Low German dialects are understood by 10 million people, but many fewer are native speakers . Total users of Low German (nds) are approximately 2.5 million, with 300,000 native speakers in Brazil and 1,000 in Germany as of 2016. The KDE project supports Low German (nds) as

7178-439: The intellectual ability of their speakers. When historical linguists illustrated the archaic character of certain features and constructions of Low German, this was seen as a sign of its "backwardness". It was not until the efforts of proponents such as Klaus Groth that this impression changed. Groth's publications demonstrated that Low German was a valuable language in its own right, and he was able to convince others that Low German

7275-507: The interior, the NSDAP organized a large SA rally in Braunschweig. On 17–18 October 1931, 100,000 SA stormtroopers marched through the city; street fights between Nazis, socialists, and communists left several dead or injured. On 25 February 1932, the state of Brunswick granted Adolf Hitler German citizenship to allow him to run in the 1932 German presidential election . In Braunschweig, Nazis carried out several attacks on political enemies, with

7372-568: The invasion of Russia. In this period, thousands of Eastern workers were brought to the city as forced labor , and in the 1943–1945 period at least 360 children taken away from such workers died in the Entbindungsheim für Ostarbeiterinnen ("Maternity Ward for Eastern Workers"). In 1944, two subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp were established in Braunschweig. The subcamp Schillstraße or Büssing-NAG/Schillstraße , located where

7469-619: The language has vanished (the Berlin dialect itself is a northern outpost of High German , though it has some Low German features). Today, there are still speakers outside Germany to be found in the coastal areas of present-day Poland (minority of ethnic German East Pomeranian speakers who were not expelled from Pomerania , as well as the regions around Braniewo ). In the Southern Jutland region of Denmark there may still be some Low German speakers in some German minority communities, but

7566-446: The most important places and streets, preserved in 5 areas of the old town. The city's cathedral, which had been converted to a Nationale Weihestätte (national shrine) by the Nazi government, still stood. About 10% of the inner city survived Allied bombing and remain to represent its distinctive architecture. The cathedral was restored to its function as a Protestant church. Outside

7663-488: The nationalism of their ancestors, being more likely to accept marriages of its members with Brazilians of origins other than a Germanic Central European one than to assimilate with Brazilians of Swiss , Austrian , Czech , and non-East Pomeranian-speaking German and Prussian heritage – that were much more numerous immigrants to both Brazilian regions (and whose language almost faded out in the latter, due to assimilation and internal migration) , by themselves less numerous than

7760-609: The numbers of parent speakers dropped from 34% in 1995 to 15% in 2011. Numbers of child speakers dropped from 8% to 2% in the same period. According to a 2005 study 53% speak Low Saxon or Low Saxon and Dutch at home and 71% could speak it in the researched area. The total number of speakers is estimated at 1.7 million speakers. There are speakers in the Dutch north and eastern provinces of Groningen , Drenthe , Stellingwerf (part of Friesland ), Overijssel , Gelderland , Utrecht and Flevoland , in several dialect groups per province. There are also immigrant communities where Low German

7857-431: The official terminology defined in the charter, this status would not be available to a dialect of an official language (as per article 1a), and hence not to Low German in Germany if it were considered a dialect of German. Advocates of the promotion of Low German have expressed considerable hope that this political development will at once lend legitimacy to their claim that Low German is a separate language, and help mitigate

7954-619: The old town city centre large historic quarters remain like Östliches Ringgebiet with its Gründerzeit architecture. Politically, after the war, the Free State of Brunswick was dissolved by the Allied occupying authorities , Braunschweig ceased to be a capital, and most of its lands were incorporated in the newly formed state of Lower Saxony . During the Cold War , Braunschweig, then part of West Germany , suffered economically due to its proximity to

8051-508: The perceived similarities with High German or Dutch may often be direct adaptations from the dominating standard language, resulting in a growing inability by speakers to speak correctly what was once Low German proper. Others have argued for the independence of today's Low German dialects, taken as continuous outflow of the Old Saxon and Middle Low German tradition. Glottolog classifies six varieties of Low German as distinct languages based on

8148-469: The population) were Protestant and 34,604 (13.7%) people were Roman Catholic ; 126,379 people (50.0%) either adhered to other denominations or followed no religion. Roughly 17,000 Muslims (6.2% of the population) live in Braunschweig. Mosques like DMK Moschee , Fatih Moschee Braunschweig and cultural clubs are present throughout the city but mosque buildings with minerates have not been built in Braunschweig but can be seen in its urban area for example

8245-601: The relationship between Low German consonants which were unaffected by this chain shift and their equivalents in other West Germanic languages. Contemporary Swedish and Icelandic shown for comparison; Eastern and Western North Germanic languages, respectively. The table below shows the relationship between Low German consonants which were unaffected by this chain shift and their equivalents in other West Germanic languages. Contemporary Swedish and Icelandic shown for comparison; Eastern and Western North Germanic languages, respectively. Notes : Like English and Frisian, Low German

8342-486: The same footing as Standard High German applications. The Bundesgerichtshof ruled in a case that this was even to be done at the patent office in Munich , in a non–Low German region , when the applicant then had to pay the charge for a translator, because applications in Low German are considered not to be written in the German language. Old Saxon ( Altsächsisch ), also known as Old Low German ( Altniederdeutsch ),

8439-562: The states of Rio de Janeiro and Rondônia . East Pomeranian-speaking regions of Southern Brazil are often assimilated into the general German Brazilian population and culture, for example celebrating the Oktoberfest , and there can even be a language shift from it to Riograndenser Hunsrückisch in some areas. In Espírito Santo , nevertheless, Pomeranian Brazilians are more often proud of their language, and particular religious traditions and culture, and not uncommonly inheriting

8536-456: The town's foundation are unknown. Tradition maintains that Brunswick was created through the merger of two settlements, one founded by Brun(o) , a Saxon count who died in 880, on one side of the River Oker – the legend gives the year 861 for the foundation – and the other the settlement of a legendary Count Dankward , after whom Dankwarderode Castle (the "Castle of Dankward's clearing"), which

8633-419: The urban area with a migration background is 178,998 in 2023, making it 44.6% of the population. This makes the agglomeration one of the most diverse in Germany and the most in Lower Saxony . The city is unique because unlike most cities with migrant populations concentrated inside the city itself, higher number of migrant populations are also found in surrounding areas. Braunschweig's urban agglomeration has

8730-556: Was also spoken in formerly German parts of Poland (e.g., Pomerania and Silesia ), as well as in East Prussia and the Baltic provinces (modern Estonia and Latvia . The Baltic Germans spoke a distinct Low German dialect, which has influenced the vocabulary and phonetics of both Estonian and Latvian. The historical sprachraum of Low German also included contemporary northern Poland, East Prussia (the modern Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia),

8827-560: Was held on 12 September 2021, with a runoff held on 26 September, and the results were as follows: The Braunschweig city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 12 September 2021, and the results were as follows: Braunschweig's city centre is mostly a car-free pedestrian zone . Low German language [REDACTED]   Germany [REDACTED]   Bolivia (70,000) [REDACTED]   Paraguay (30,000) Low German

8924-585: Was in the year 1007. In former times the village was known as Meynum . It is expected that Meine is much older and it may have been erected during the Saxon Wars by troops of Charles the Great . From 11th century on, Meine was a frontier town between the Bishopric of Hildesheim and the Bishopric of Halberstadt . The latest significant upturn started with the construction of a Sugar beet factory in 1883. On 18 August 2011

9021-490: Was located on the former premises of the SS-Junker School 's riding school, held approximately 800 prisoners, all female, who were tasked with clearing away rubble. This subcamp was commissioned by the city of Braunschweig. Although it was only open for two months - from December 1944 until February 1945, there were at least 17 deaths and a transfer of about 50 prisoners to a nearby subcamp's infirmary. The number of survivors

9118-653: Was not only a political, but also a cultural centre. Influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment , dukes like Anthony Ulrich and Charles I became patrons of the arts and sciences. In 1745, Charles I founded the Collegium Carolinum , predecessor of the Brunswick University of Technology , and in 1753 he moved the ducal residence back to Brunswick. With this he attracted poets and thinkers such as Lessing , Leisewitz , and Jakob Mauvillon to his court and

9215-509: Was reconstructed in the 19th century, is named. The town's original name of Brunswik may be a combination of the name Bruno and Low German wik (related to the Latin vicus ), a place where merchants rested and stored their goods. The town's name, therefore, may indicate a resting place, consistent with its location by a ford across the Oker River. An alternative explanation of the city's name

9312-400: Was suitable for literary arts and was a national treasure worth keeping. Through the works of advocates like Groth, both proponents and opponents of Low German in formal education saw the language's innate value as the cultural and historical language of northern Germany. Nevertheless, opponents claimed that it should simply remain a spoken and informal language to be used on the street and in

9409-574: Was the seventh largest city in Germany. Although formally one of the residences of the rulers of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire , Brunswick was de facto ruled independently by a powerful class of patricians and the guilds throughout much of the Late Middle Ages and the Early modern period . Because of the growing power of Brunswick's burghers ,

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