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116-643: Pirna is located in the vicinity of the Sandstone Mountains in the upper Elbe valley , where two nearby tributaries, Wesenitz from the north and Gottleuba from the south, flow into the Elbe . It is also called the "gate to the Saxon Switzerland " ( Ger: Tor zur Sächsischen Schweiz ). The Saxon wine region ( Ger: Sächsische Weinstraße ), which was established in 1992, stretches from Pirna via Pillnitz , Dresden , and Meissen to Diesbar-Seußlitz . Pirna

232-460: 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

348-565: A mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic , with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side. In both countries, core parts of the mountain range have been declared a national park. The name derives from the sandstone which was carved by erosion. The river Elbe breaks through

464-402: 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

580-587: 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

696-502: A district quite worth seeing with shops, bars and cafes, as well as other cultural offerings (including the Tom-Pauls-Theater). The renovation of the old town repeatedly brought historical features to light. During the renovation of a house on the market square, for example, an approx. 500-year-old wall painting was uncovered that shows a "wrong" type of wild animal hunting - animals hunting and devouring humans - and which, according to

812-556: 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

928-453: 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

1044-632: A part of the large mental asylum within Sonnenstein Castle was converted into a euthanasia killing center: the Sonnenstein Nazi Death Institute . It was a testing ground for initial development of certain methods, later generally adopted and refined for usage associated with the Final Solution . A gas chamber and crematorium were installed in the cellar of the former men's sanitary (building C 16). A high brick-wall on two sides of

1160-679: 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

1276-483: A result of long-term tectonic stresses on the entire sandstone platform of the mountain range. This network of clefts runs through the sandstone beds in a relatively regular way, but in different directions in two regions of the range. Subsequent weathering processes of very different forms and simultaneous complex deposition (leaching, frost and salt wedging , wind , solution weathering with sintering as well as biogenic and microbial effects) have further changed

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1392-423: A result of the climatic influences of the ice ages. The mineral composition of the sandstone beds has a direct effect on the morphology of the terrain. The fine-grained form with clayey-silty cement between the quartz grains causes banks and slopes with terracing. The beds of sandstone with siliceous cement are typically the basis of the formation of rock faces and crags. Small variations in the cement composition of

1508-475: 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

1624-650: A rock face or when dressing the rough blocks of stone. The sandstone of this region is a sought-after building material used for example, for imposing city edifices such as the Church of Our Lady in Dresden . Large parts of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains are under statutory protection. In Germany there is the national park region of Saxon Switzerland, which consists two elements: Saxon Switzerland National Park itself, founded in 1990 and covered an area of 93 km²; and

1740-618: A very large mental hospital in Castle Sonnenstein. But when on September 14, 1813, French troops occupied the Sonnenstein, they forced the evacuation of 275 patients, seized supplies and tore the roof trusses out to remove a fire threat. In September 1813, emperor Napoleon temporarily lived at the Marienhaus, located at the market. Until Dresden 's surrender on November 11 the French defended

1856-580: 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

1972-596: 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

2088-546: 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

2204-472: 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

2320-430: 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

2436-594: Is formed by sandstones, planers and other rocks as well as basal conglomerates of older origin. Several erosion relics from Reinhardtsgrimma through Dippoldiswalde and the Tharandt Forest to Siebenlehn form isolated examples south of Dresden. They are mainly characterised by sandstones. On the Bohemian side the sandstone beds continue and form part of the North Bohemian Cretaceous. The chalk sediments of

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2552-520: 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

2668-549: 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

2784-559: 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

2900-1377: Is located southeast of Dresden . Neighboring municipalities are Bad Gottleuba-Berggießhübel (town), Bahretal , Dohma , Dohna (town), Dürrröhrsdorf-Dittersbach , Heidenau (town), Königstein (town), Lohmen , Stadt Wehlen (town), and Struppen . The regiolect spoken in Pirna is Südostmeißenisch , which is part of the Upper Saxon German group of regiolects . ⎈ Samo’s Empire 631-658 [REDACTED] Margraviate of Meissen 1233-1293 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Bohemia 1293-1405 [REDACTED]   Electorate of Saxony 1405-1485 [REDACTED] Albertine Duchy of Saxony 1485-1547 [REDACTED]   Electorate of Saxony 1547-1697 [REDACTED] Poland - Saxony 1697-1706 [REDACTED]   Electorate of Saxony 1706-1709 [REDACTED] Poland - Saxony 1709-1763 [REDACTED]   Electorate of Saxony 1763-1806 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Saxony 1806-1918 [REDACTED]   German Empire 1871-1918 [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic 1918-1933 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1933-1945 [REDACTED]   Allied-occupied Germany 1945-1949 [REDACTED]   East Germany 1949-1990 [REDACTED] 1990-present Tools made of flint from

3016-435: 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

3132-587: 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

3248-401: 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

3364-510: 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

3480-928: Is the Děčínský Sněžník in Bohemian Switzerland on the left bank of the river in Bohemian Switzerland north of Děčín. The mountain range links the Ore Mountains in the west with the Lusatian Highlands range of the Sudetes in the east. Saxon Switzerland and the Zittau Mountains of the Lusatian Mountains form the Saxon-Bohemian Chalk Sandstone Region . The most striking characteristic of this deeply dissected rocky mountain range

3596-538: Is the extraordinary variety of terrain within the smallest area. Unique amongst the Central European Uplands are the constant changes between plains , ravines , table mountains and rocky regions with undeveloped areas of forest. This diversity is ecologically significant. The variety of different locations, each with its own conditions in terms of soil and microclimate , has produced an enormous richness of species . The numbers of ferns and mosses alone

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3712-750: 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 ),

3828-566: 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

3944-481: 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

4060-548: Is unmatched by any other of the German central uplands . The occurrence of Elbe sandstones and hence the Elbe Sandstone Mountains themselves is related to widespread deposition by a former sea in the Upper Cretaceous epoch. On the Saxon side of the border the term "Elbe Valley Cretaceous" is used, referring to a region stretching from Meißen - Oberau in the northwest through Dresden and Pirna into Saxon Switzerland, and which

4176-673: 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

4292-627: 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

4408-501: 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

4524-642: The Dresden S-Bahn and the Dresden to Prague railway, is located to the west of the town centre, and is the junction point for the line to Neustadt in Sachsen and Sebnitz . Besides the town's main station, it is also served by Obervogelgesang , Pirna-Copitz and Pirna-Copitz Nord stations. Pirna is also a stop for the Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt ships, including historic paddle steamers , operating on

4640-522: 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

4756-417: 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

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4872-514: 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

4988-724: 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

5104-569: The Königstein Fortress , Pravčická brána , the Schrammsteine , Pfaffenstein , and the valleys of the Kirnitzsch and Kamenice rivers. There are some 14,000 climbing routes via which mountain climbers can conquer 1100 free-standing peaks. Visitors can experience the natural scenes on the asphalt Elbe cycle path, or on board a steam paddleboat that is part of the oldest fleet of its kind in

5220-419: The Lusatian Mountains was shaped and affected by intense volcanism ; but individual intrusions of magma also forced their way through the sandstone platform of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. The most striking evidence of this phase in the earth's history are the conical basaltic hills of Růžovský vrch , Cottaer Spitzberg and Raumberg , but also Großer and Kleiner Winterberg . At its southwestern edge

5336-644: 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

5452-648: The Perun cult, covered up by a fanciful, German-language notion about the town's name ("pear" is Birne in German , which sounds rather like "Pirna" Latin : "Pyrus" ). With the conquest of the Slavic communities and the founding of the Mark by the Germans ( Henry the Fowler founded the castle of Meissen in 929), settlement in the Pirna area is again verifiable. The castle in Pirna, which

5568-626: The Prussians , who had invaded without declaring war, to the levels between Königstein Fortress and Sonnenstein Castle and capitulated there on October 16, two days after Sonnenstein surrendered . In 1758, Austrian troops and the Imperial Army besieged the fortress. A Kattundruck manufactory for cotton printing opened as the first of its kind in 1774. In 1811 the physician Ernst Gottlob Pienitz opened

5684-427: 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

5800-422: 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

5916-400: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and   Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German

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6032-442: The Zittau Basin are counted as part of the latter due to their regional-geological relationships. The sedimentary sequences of the Cretaceous sea continue across a wide area of the Czech Republic to Moravia. Together these beds form the Saxon-Bohemian Cretaceous Zone. In Czech geological circles, the Elbe Valley Cretaceous is described as the foothills of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. The eroded sandstone landscape of this region

6148-408: 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

6264-495: The protected area surrounding it that was founded in 1956 and covers 287 km². The German part of the range was also designated in May 2006 as one of the 77 most important national geotopes in Germany by the Academy of Geosciences in Hanover. In the Bohemian part of the range there has been a protected landscape area in the northeastern region since 1972 called the Elbe Sandstone Protected Landscape Area with an area of 324 km . In 2000, Bohemian Switzerland National Park

6380-458: The Elbe Sandstone Mountains are the furrows with parallel ridges between them ( grykes and clints ) that look like cart ruts and which are particularly common, as well as extensive cave systems. They are occasionally described by the term pseudokarst . The application of the concept to several erosion formations in the sandstone of this mountain range is however contentious. Czech geologists have identified in quartzite-cemented sandstone areas in

6496-472: The Elbe between Dresden and the Czech border. Local and regional bus services are operated by the Regionalverkehr Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge . Pirna is twinned with: Elbe Sandstone Mountains The Elbe Sandstone Mountains , also called the Elbe Sandstone Highlands ( German : Elbsandsteingebirge , pronounced [ɛlpˈz̥antʃtaɪnɡəˌbɪʁɡə] ; Czech : Děčinská vrchovina , pronounced [ˈɟɛtʃɪnskaː ˈvr̩xovɪna] ), are

6612-413: The Elbe made the deepest incision. Later the Lusatian granodiorite was uplifted over the 600 metre thick sandstone slab along the Lusatian Fault and pushed it downwards until it fractured. This northern boundary of the sandstone deposit lies roughly along the line Pillnitz – Hohnstein – Hinterhermsdorf – Krásná Lípa . In the Tertiary period, the adjacent region of the Central Bohemian Uplands and

6728-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In

6844-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of

6960-417: 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

7076-399: 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

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7192-623: 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

7308-420: The Germanic tribes in the Elbe Valley, who had lived in the area for a couple of centuries from the 4th century BC on. The name Pirna derives from the Sorbian phrase, na pernem , meaning on the hard (stone) and is also related to the Slavic deity Perun , whose cult was present in all Slavic and Baltic territories. The representation of a pear tree in the coat of arms was a later cryptic representation of

7424-547: 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

7540-408: 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

7656-414: The Saxon State Office for Monument Protection, is unique in this form in Saxony. In addition, valuable wooden beam ceilings were exposed in numerous houses. In August 2002, the town suffered great damage during the widespread flooding in Europe , reaching its apex on 16 August. Two factors greatly worsened the effect: First, the large earthen structure supporting the railway line acted as a dam, retaining

7772-408: The beginning of the 1990s with intensive funding from the urban development funding programs. In the meantime, over 90% of the 300 buildings in the historic old town have been renovated. The number of inhabitants in the redevelopment area of the old town has doubled since the end of the 1990s, from almost 1,000 to almost 2,000 (as of 2013). The market square and the surrounding alleys have developed into

7888-511: The bridge over the Elbe. Though there were only strategic targets most of the over 200 dead were civilians. During the existence of the GDR and its economic model, a so-called planned economy , people mostly worked in publicly owned enterprises : Among other things, Pirna 014 turbines for the 152 jet aircraft developed in the GDR were built at VEB Strömungsmaschinen. All these businesses did not continue to exist for long after reunification, because they were not competitive. The Elbe river

8004-458: The complex shielded it from outside view. Four buildings were located inside this brick-wall shielding. They were used as offices, living rooms for the personnel, etc. Sleeping quarters for the men responsible for incinerating the bodies were provided in the attic of building C 16. It is possible that other sections of the buildings were also used by Action T4 . From end of June 1940 until September 1942, approximately 15,000 persons were killed in

8120-431: The description Quader Sandstone.". Quader is German for an ashlar or block of stone, hence the name "Square Sandstone" is also used in English. The term Quader Sandstone Mountains or Square Sandstone Mountains , introduced by Hanns Bruno Geinitz in 1849, is an historical, geological term for similar sandstone deposits, but was also used in connection with the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. The fissures were formed as

8236-430: 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

8352-452: 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

8468-507: 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

8584-481: The end futile, the town was greatly devastated. About 600 people were murdered ( Pirnaisches Elend , lit. "Misery of Pirna"). In around 1670, based upon recent military developments, the Sonnenstein fortress was built. Only the powerful stonework still exists today. In 1707, Pirna had debts that related to the Great Northern War of more than 100,000 Thalers . On August 29, 1756, the small Saxon army fled before

8700-467: The engineer battalions 12 and 5 of the Royal Saxon field artillery regiment No. 64 were billeted on Rottwerndorfer Straße. In 1922/23, the town incorporated several municipalities including Posta , Niedervogelgesang , Obervogelgesang , Copitz , Hinterjessen , Neundorf , Zuschendorf , Rottwerndorf and Zehista . The population totaled about 30,000 inhabitants. From early 1940 until end of June 1942,

8816-464: The fall of the Berlin Wall . The de-industrialization in the course of German reunification , unprecedented in the history of the town, was formative. The immediate transition to a market economy led to the shutdown of a considerable part of the structure-determining industrial companies. In the three largest factories of silk, fluid machinery and cellulose fiber alone, more than 5,000 jobs were lost by

8932-484: The formation of sandstone beds. Its stratification is characterized by variations in the horizontal structure (deposits of clay minerals, grain sizes of quartz, differences in the grain-cement) as well as a typical but fairly small fossil presence and variably porous strata. After the Cretaceous sea had retreated ( marine regression ), the surface of the land was shaped by weathering influences and watercourses, of which

9048-595: The fortress. Only in February 1814 the hospital for the mentally ill was able to open again. In 1837, steamship travel began on the upper Elbe. A few years later, in 1848, a railway line connecting Dresden and Pirna opened. In 1880, the first section of the Sekundärbahn -type railway line from Pirna to Gottleuba, the Gottleuba Valley railway was opened. The line was closed in 1976. In 1894, another railway line opened

9164-423: The greatest cretaceous sandstone erosion complex in Europe. Human-induced changes caused by nearly 1,000 years of continual sandstone quarrying have also contributed in parts of the sandstone highlands to the appearance of the landscape today. The fissures (called Loose by the quarrymen) played an important role here, because they provided in effect natural divisions in the rock that were helpful when demolishing

9280-435: 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,

9396-474: 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

9512-569: The late Paleolithic (about 12,000-8000 BC), at the end of the last ice age , are evidence for the earliest human settlement in the area. Later on, people belonging to the Linear Pottery culture , who farmed grain and cattle, lived here during the Neolithic (5500-4000 BC) because of a good climate and Loess soil. Around 600 AD a Slavic group called the Sorbs , who were fishermen and farmers, succeeded

9628-601: The market square and the so-called Kern’sche Haus in the Burgstraße . When in 1989 the Teufelserkerhaus was to be torn down as part of demolition measures in the old town, public demonstrations happened with people shouting “Save Pirna”. From this circle, the Kuratorium Altstadt (literally Old Town Board of Trustees ) was formed, which provided outstanding services during the period of reconstruction which began after

9744-493: The mid-1990s as a result of closure and liquidation by the Treuhandanstalt . It is true that new jobs were created in the service industry; however, these alone could not compensate for such a huge loss. The establishment of new jobs in the manufacturing industry turned out to be difficult, not least because of the lack of a federal highway connection. The reconstruction of the inner town has been advanced considerably since

9860-450: 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

9976-474: The mountain range in a steep and narrow valley. The Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland national parks, known also as Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland, are located within the territory of Elbe Sandstone Mountains. The Elbe Sandstone Mountains extend on both sides of the Elbe from the Saxon town of Pirna in the northwest toward Bohemian Děčín in the southeast. Their highest peak with 723 m (2,372 ft)

10092-449: The nature of the rock surface. For example, collapse caves , small hole-like cavities ( honeycomb weathering ) with hourglass-shaped pillars, chimneys , crevices and mighty, rugged rock faces. Many morphological formations in the rocky landscape of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains are suspected to have been formed as a consequence of karstification . Important indicators of such processes in the polygenetic and polymorphic erosion landscape of

10208-630: 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

10324-501: The northern part of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, karst features in the shape of spherical caverns and cave formations. According to them, these emerged as a result of solution processes by water in complex interactions with iron compounds from neighbouring or intrusive magmatic-volcanic rocks. The variation in relief in these sandstone regions is explained on the basis of these processes. The Elbe Sandstone Mountains are

10440-462: 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

10556-457: The rock can have a visible impact on the landscape. Elbe Sandstone gets its characteristic cuboid appearance from its thick horizontal strata ( massive bedding ) and its vertical fissures . In 1839 Bernhard Cotta wrote about this in his comments on the geognostic map : "Vertical fissures and cracks cut through, often virtually at right angles, the horizontal layers and, as a result, parallelepiped bodies are formed, that have given rise to

10672-483: The sandstone landscape is a result of the subsequent chemical and physical erosion and biological processes acting on the rocks formed from those sands laid down during the Cretaceous Period. The inlets of a Cretaceous sea, together with marine currents, carried away sand over a very long period of time into a shallow zone of the sea and then the diagenetic processes at differing pressure regimes resulted in

10788-516: The sandstone plate was uplifted by over 200 metres at the Karsdorf Fault , whereby the slab was tilted even more and increased the gradient of the Elbe River. The water masses cut valleys into the rock with their streambeds and contributed in places to the formation of the rock faces. Over time the gradients reduced, the streambed of the Elbe widened out and changed its course time and again, partly as

10904-543: The scope of the mass murder by involuntary euthanasia program and the Sonderbehandlung Action 14f13 . The personnel list consisted of about 100 persons. One third of them were reassigned to the extermination camps in occupied Poland, because of their recent experiences in deception, killing, gassing and incinerating of people. There, they were trained by the detachments responsible for organized killing in camps like Treblinka . These killings ceased after pressure

11020-643: The second round. In 2017, Hanke was re-elected with 60.5% of the vote in the first round. In December 2023, Tim Lochner was elected Mayor of Prina. Lochner is independent of a party, but was nominated as a candidate by the right-wing party AfD . It is the first mayor of a city with more than 20,000 inhabitants to be appointed by the AfD. Villages and other municipalities that were incorporated into Pirna: Change of population (from 1960, all figures for December 31) : 1834 until 1946 1950 until 1997 1998 until 2003 1 October 29 2 August 31 Pirna station , on

11136-541: 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,

11252-509: The strategically important castle was upgraded to a fortress by Maurice, Elector of Saxony . Three years later, it withstood the siege by elector John Frederick, Elector of Saxony in the Schmalkaldic War . On April 23, 1639, the town was invaded by Swedish troops under the commander in chief of the Swedish army , Johan Banér . During the five-month long siege of the fortress, which was in

11368-496: 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

11484-457: The water built up height and thus pressure equally on both sides. Whilst international media mainly concentrated on the impact upon Dresden the impact upon Pirna was proportionately much worse. Schöna and Bad Schandau were also affected heavily. In July 2005, Pirna finally received federal highway access via its own connection, when a section from Dresden to Pirna of the Bundesautobahn 17

11600-414: The water. The mayor in Pirna is elected every seven years. Markus Ulbig (CDU) held this position from 2001 to 2009. He was last confirmed in office on June 8, 2008 with 64.87 percent of the vote. Ulbig was appointed Saxon Interior Minister and the post went to the non-party mayor Christian Flörke. In January 2010 there were new elections in which Klaus-Peter Hanke ( Free Voters ) was elected with 60% in

11716-463: The waters both longer and higher on the towns' side. Second, all the shop-fronts which had been renovated post-unification were practically all kind of sealed in terms of water-tightness: the floodwaters rose outside whilst the shops themselves stayed dry inside; but when reaching certain critical points, the weight of the water then suddenly destroyed these shop-fronts when the windows broke. Ironically, older "leaky" shopfronts did not suffer this fate, as

11832-543: 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

11948-642: The world. The Elbe Sandstone Mountains have numerous facilities for cure and rehabilitation. The discovery of ferrous and sulphurous sources in Bad Schandau in 1730 led to its development as a health resort and the building of swimming baths . 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

12064-579: 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

12180-429: 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

12296-530: 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

12412-650: Was completed. The extension to the Czech border was opened to traffic in December 2006. The inner town and the areas close to the Elbe in Pirna were again affected by severe flooding by the Elbe in June 2013, while still being severe, it failed to meet the record levels of the 2002 flood: The water level of the Elbe reached a height of 9.66 metres (31.7 ft) (2002: 10.58 metres (34.7 ft)). By June 5, 2013, around 7,700 people had to be evacuated, and about 1000 buildings were affected by

12528-485: 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

12644-471: Was established with an area of 79 km , bringing around 700 km of the range under protection as a natural and cultural landscape. The Elbe Sandstone mountains have been a popular destination for tourists for more than 200 years, and for climbers for more than 100 years. It is also a popular recreation area for the nearby Saxon capital Dresden . Places of interest include the Bastei cliffs near Rathen ,

12760-465: Was exerted on the authorities by the local population. During August and September 1942, the Sonnenstein killing center was closed and incriminating installations such as gas chamber installations and crematorium ovens dismantled. After October 1942, the buildings were used as a military hospital. This part of the town's history was largely unrecognized in Germany until 1989, but after the regime change which

12876-495: Was formed from depositions that accumulated on the bottom of the sea millions of years ago. Large rivers carried sand and other eroded debris into the Cretaceous sea. Rough quartz sand, clay and fine marl sank and became lithified layer by layer. A compact sandstone sequence developed, about 20 x 30 kilometres wide and up to 600 metres thick dating to the lower Cenomanian to Santonian stages . The tremendous variety of shapes in

12992-578: Was happening during this period, efforts to remember these catastrophic events began. In June 2000 a permanent exhibition opened, and today a small plaque at the base of Sonnenstein Castle together with the Sonnenstein Memorial provide remembrance. At the end of the war several air raids took place mainly targeting the railway station in Pirna and the Děčín–Dresden Railway . The air raid on April 19, 1945, destroyed all railway tracks and also

13108-410: Was heavily polluted by industry wastewater, especially from the cellulose fiber factory; swimming in the river was no longer possible without dangers to health. In the mid-1980s, around 1,700 un-renovated apartments stood empty in Pirna, 400 of them in the old town. Individual particularly badly dilapidated houses were demolished in the period that followed, for example a house on the southeast corner of

13224-415: Was mentioned for the first time in 1269, probably already existed in the 11th century. In the context of the second Eastern German colonization the town was founded by Henry III , Margrave of Meissen . The streets are aligned from east to west and north to south forming a chessboard-like system. Only the streets east of the church are not aligned in this form, caused by the nearby Burgberg . In 1233, Pirna

13340-610: Was mentioned officially for the first time in a document. In 1293, King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia acquired both town and castle from the Bishop of Meissen . Therefore Pirna belonged to Bohemia until 1405. In 1502, the construction of the new church was begun under Meister Peter Ulrich von Pirna. With the introduction of the Reformation into Saxony in 1539, Anton Lauterbach , a friend of Martin Luther , became pastor and superintendent. In 1544

13456-572: Was the Pirna–Großcotta railway , connecting Pirna with the Lohmgrund , a major location of Saxonian sandstone quarries. It closed in 1999. Pirna became an industrial town in 1862 with the building of factories. Mechanical engineering, glass, cellulose and rayon production also expanded. In 1875, the sandstone Elbbrücke was completed. During the First World War Pirna became a garrison and

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