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147-715: The first ancestors of the Transylvanian 'Saxons' originally stemmed from Flanders , Hainaut , Brabant , Liège , Zeeland , Moselle, Lorraine , and Luxembourg , then situated in the north-western territories of the Holy Roman Empire around the 1140s and 1150s. Alongside the Baltic Germans from Estonia and Latvia and the Zipser Germans (also sometimes known or referred to as Zipser Saxons ) from Zips , northeastern Slovakia , as well as Maramureș and Bucovina ,

294-426: A One Standard German Axiom is a defining feature of Germanistik. Outside of Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol, local dialects tend to be used mainly in informal situations or at home and in dialect literature, but more recently, a resurgence of German dialects has appeared in mass media. In German, Standard German is generally called Hochdeutsch , reflecting the fact that its phonetics are largely those of

441-568: A written language developed over a process of several hundred years in which writers tried to write in a way that was understood in the largest area. Martin Luther's translation of the Bible in 1522 (New Testament, Old Testament 1534) was an important development towards an early standardization of written German. Luther based his translation largely on the already developed language of the Saxon chancery, which

588-670: A French attempt at annexation (1300–1302), finally defeating the French in the Battle of the Golden Spurs (11 July 1302), near Kortrijk . Two years later, the uprising was defeated and Flanders indirectly remained part of the French Crown. Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, due to widespread European population decline following the Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during

735-533: A bigger territory, and this is critical to the evolution of modern terminology. Once the Counts of Flanders (who were also Dukes of Burgundy) expanded their regional power to create the bigger entity, now referred to by historians as the Burgundian Netherlands , "Flanders", along with Latin "Belgium", were the first two common names to describe this regional block. With the breakaway of the northern Netherlands in

882-648: A coalition of his party (N-VA) with Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) and Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (Open VLD). The area of the Flemish Community is represented on the maps above, including the area of the Brussels-Capital Region (hatched on the relevant map). Roughly, the Flemish Community exercises competences originally oriented towards the individuals of the Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education , and

1029-724: A devout Catholic and self-proclaimed protector of the Counter-Reformation , suppressed Calvinism in Flanders, Brabant and Holland (what is now approximately Belgian Limburg was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and was Catholic de facto ). In 1566, the wave of iconoclasm known as the Beeldenstorm was a prelude to religious war between Catholics and Protestants, especially the Anabaptists. The Beeldenstorm started in what

1176-536: A fortress on a hill near the town during the early 13th century. However, throughout the passing of time, demographically, their numbers gradually dwindled and had been subsequently assimilated in the local medieval Wallachian and Moldavian cultures by the overwhelming Romanian ethnic majority. Along with the largely Hungarian -Transylvanian nobility and the Székelys , the Transylvanian Saxons were members of

1323-530: A hyphen after their stems. Words that are written with capital letters in Standard German are nouns. English has taken many loanwords from German, often without any change of spelling (aside from frequently eliminating umlauts and not capitalizing nouns ): The Duden is the de facto official dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880. The Duden

1470-532: A minor alternative theory suggests settlement in Transylvania. In the context of medieval Transylvania, the term Saxon was used to denote a nobleman's title and not necessarily someone who was German-speaking. In these regards, the Saxon title could have been awarded to someone who was a non-native German speaker as well. Not all Transylvanian Saxon settlers were German-speaking given the fact that they also stemmed from

1617-666: A result, today only approximately 12,000 Saxons remain in Romania. Nowadays, the vast majority of Transylvanian Saxons live in either Germany or Austria. Nonetheless, a sizable Transylvanian Saxon population also resides today in North America, most notably in the United States (specifically in Idaho , Ohio , and Colorado as well as in Canada, southern Ontario more precisely). On the history of

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1764-496: A series of state reforms . In practice, the Flemish Community and Region together form a single body, with its own parliament and government , as the Community legally absorbed the competences of the Region. The parliament is a directly elected legislative body composed of 124 representatives. The government consists of up to 11 members and is presided by a Minister-President , currently Geert Bourgeois ( New Flemish Alliance ) leading

1911-546: A term for the language Dutch, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly common to refer exclusively to the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium as "Flanders". Belgium divided itself into official French- and Dutch-speaking parts starting in the early '60s. Today Flanders extends over the northern part of Belgium, including not only the Dutch-speaking Belgian parts of the medieval Duchy of Brabant , which

2058-480: Is 100 years since our children left") when a group of 130 children from the town of Hamelin (German: Hameln ), in present-day Lower Saxony , were led away from their hometown by a piper (who may be a folk memory of a lokator ) is that this related to an emigration event as part of the Ostsiedlung (i.e. Eastern settlement). The destination is usually supposed to have been Prignitz , Uckermark , and Pomerania , but

2205-608: Is Dutch. The area of today's Flanders has figured prominently in European history since the Middle Ages . The original County of Flanders stretched around AD 900 from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary and expanded from there. This county also still corresponds roughly with the modern-day Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, along with neighbouring parts of France and

2352-477: Is a pluricentric Dachsprache with currently three codified (or standardised) specific national varieties: German Standard German , Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German . Regarding the spelling and punctuation, a recommended standard is published by the Council for German Orthography which represents the governments of all majority and minority German-speaking countries and dependencies. Adherence

2499-535: Is an officially bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. Flanders also has exclaves of its own: Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the north consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. Not including Brussels, there are five present-day Flemish provinces : Antwerp , East Flanders , Flemish Brabant , Limburg and West Flanders . The official language

2646-633: Is close to Luxembourgish . Nowadays, organisations representing the Transylvanian Saxons exist in Romania , Germany, Austria , Canada, and the United States (in the latter case most notably 'Alliance of Transylvanian Saxons'). Other smaller communities of Transylvanian Saxons can be found in South Africa and Australia as well as South America (for example in Argentina ). The legal foundation of their settlement in southern, southeastern, and northeastern Transylvania

2793-448: Is generally used in radio and television as well as in German learning materials for non-natives and at least aspirationally by language teachers. The accent is documented in reference works such as Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (German Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria Krech et al., Duden 6 Das Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6, The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max Mangold and

2940-604: Is now French Flanders , with open-air sermons ( Dutch : hagepreken ) that spread through the Low Countries, first to Antwerp and Ghent, and from there further east and north. Subsequently, Philip II of Spain sent the Duke of Alba to the Provinces to repress the revolt. Alba recaptured the southern part of the Provinces, who signed the Union of Atrecht , which meant that they would accept

3087-420: Is obligatory for government institutions, including schools. Regarding the pronunciation, although there is no official standards body, there is a long-standing de facto standard pronunciation ( Bühnendeutsch ), most commonly used in formal speech and teaching materials. It is similar to the formal German spoken in and around Hanover . Adherence to those standards by private individuals and companies, including

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3234-501: Is preserved in dialect literature and scholarly descriptions. It can thus be argued that it is the spread of Standard German as a language taught at school that defines the German Sprachraum , which was thus a political decision, rather than a direct consequence of dialect geography . That allowed areas with dialects with very little mutual intelligibility to participate in the same cultural sphere. Some linguists claim today that

3381-668: Is remembered by Flemish organizations during the yearly Yser pilgrimage in Diksmuide at the monument of the Yser Tower . During the interbellum and World War II , several right-wing fascist and/or national-socialistic parties emerged in Belgium. Since these parties were promised more rights for the Flemings by the German government during World War II, many of them collaborated with the Nazi regime. After

3528-630: Is the Austrian counterpart to the German Duden and contains a number of terms unique to Austrian German or more frequently used or differently pronounced there. A considerable amount of this "Austrian" vocabulary is also common in Southern Germany , especially Bavaria , and some of it is used in Switzerland as well. Since the 39th edition in 2001 the orthography of the ÖWB has been adjusted to

3675-413: Is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium . However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming , while the corresponding adjective is Flemish , which can also refer to

3822-462: Is therefore known that Suceava had a small yet influent and thriving community of Transylvanian Saxons in medieval times. The newly arrived Saxons outside the Carpathian arch in the emerging medieval Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia brought urbanisation, craftsmanship, trade, and the so-called German law , under which the local administrations of medieval Romanian towns had operated in

3969-441: Is updated regularly, with new editions appearing every four or five years. As of August 2017 , it was in its 27th edition and in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects such as loanwords , etymology , pronunciation , synonyms , and so forth. The first of these volumes, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (German Orthography), has long been the prescriptive source for the spelling of Standard High German. The Duden had become

4116-591: The Weinland including the village of Nympz (Latin for Nemșa / Nimesch ) near Mediasch ( Romanian : Mediaș ). Allegedly, the term Saxon was applied to all Germans of these historical regions because the first German settlers who came to the Kingdom of Hungary were either poor miners or groups of convicts from Saxony. In 1211, King Andrew II of Hungary invited the Teutonic Knights to settle and defend

4263-684: The Burzenland in the southeastern corner of Transylvania. To guard the mountain passes of the Carpathians (German: Karpaten ) against the Cumans , the knights constructed numerous castles and towns, including the major city of Kronstadt ( Romanian : Brașov ). Alarmed by the knights' rapidly expanding power, in 1225 King Andrew II expelled the Teutonic Order from Transylvania permanently, which henceforth relocated to Prussia in 1226, although

4410-521: The Duden , in 1880. The first spelling codification by the Second Orthographic Conference of 1901 , based on Duden's work, came into effect in 1902. In 1944 there was a failed attempt at another reform; this was delayed on the order of Hitler and not taken up again after the end of World War II . In the following decades German spelling was essentially decided de facto by the editors of

4557-776: The Alps by 1560. Antwerp was the richest city in Europe at this time. According to Luc-Normand Tellier "It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the Americas ." Meanwhile, Protestantism had reached the Low Countries. Among the wealthy traders of Antwerp, the Lutheran beliefs of the German Hanseatic traders found appeal, perhaps partly for economic reasons. The spread of Protestantism in this city

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4704-609: The Catholic University of Leuven . As a result, several state reforms took place in the second half of the 20th century, which transformed the unitary Belgium into a federal state with communities, regions and language areas . This resulted also in the establishment of a Flemish Parliament and Government . During the 1970s, all major political parties split into a Dutch and French-speaking party. Several Flemish parties still advocate for more Flemish autonomy, some even for Flemish independence (see Partition of Belgium ), whereas

4851-515: The German spelling reform of 1996 . The dictionary is also officially used in the Italian province of South Tyrol . It is currently available in 44th edition, from 2022, and includes an online version with limited access. Several organisations promote the use and learning of the Standard German language. The government-backed Goethe-Institut , (named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ) aims to enhance

4998-593: The High German spoken in the southern uplands and the Alps (including Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein and parts of northern Italy as well as southern Germany ). The corresponding term Low German reflects the fact that these dialects belong to the lowlands stretching towards the North Sea . The widespread but mistaken impression that Hochdeutsch is so-called because it is perceived to be "good German" has led to use of

5145-682: The Kingdom of Romania , after the Transylvanian Saxons also voted for the union with the Romanian kingdom in February 1919. Consequently, the Transylvanian Saxons, together with other ethnic German sub-groups in then newly enlarged Kingdom of Romania (namely the Banat Swabians , Sathmar Swabians , Bessarabia Germans , Bukovina Germans , and Zipser Germans ), became part of that country's broader German minority . Today, relatively few still live in Romania, where

5292-543: The Modern Age , more specifically during the 19th century. Furthermore, Transylvanian Saxon intellectual Stephan Ludwig Roth also pleaded for a strengthening of the German element in Transylvania during the 19th century by means of subsequent waves of settlers stemming from contemporary Germany while at the same time firstly supporting the rights of the ethnic Romanians. Although the Teutonic Knights had left Transylvania,

5439-574: The Provisional Government (Dutch: Voorlopig Bewind ) proclaimed its independence, which was later confirmed by the National Congress that issued a new Liberal Constitution and declared the new state a Constitutional Monarchy , under the House of Saxe-Coburg . Flanders now became part of the Kingdom of Belgium, which was recognized by the major European Powers on 20 January 1831. The cessation

5586-562: The Reformation ). These fortified churches, or kirchenburgen as they are known in standard German, had defensive capacities in the event of a foreign attack on a rural Transylvanian Saxon community (e.g. extensive inner and outer walls and a fortified watch tower). Such an attack would often stem from the Cumans , for example, or from the Pechenegs . It was estimated that there are approximately 300 such villages with fortified churches built by

5733-533: The Roman empire the whole of Gallia Belgica became an administrative province. The future counties of Flanders and Brabant remained part of this province connected to what is now France, but in the east modern Limburg became part of the Rhine frontier province of Germania Inferior connected to what is now the Netherlands and Germany. Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior were the two most northerly continental provinces of

5880-751: The Roman empire . In the future county of Flanders, the main Belgic tribe in early Roman times was the Menapii , but also on the coast were the Marsacii and Morini . In the central part of modern Belgium were the Nervii , whose territory corresponded to medieval Brabant as well as French-speaking Hainaut. In the east was the large district of the Tungri which covered both French- and Dutch-speaking parts of eastern Belgium. The Tungri were understood to have links to Germanic tribes east of

6027-449: The Unio Trium Nationum (or 'Union of the Three Nations'), which was a charter signed in 1438. This agreement preserved a considerable degree of political rights for the three aforementioned groups but excluded the largely Hungarian and Romanian peasantry from political life in the principality. During the Protestant Reformation , most Transylvanian Saxons converted to Lutheranism . As the semi-independent Principality of Transylvania

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6174-402: The Westerscheldt river delta, was left with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was allowed to levy a toll on all traffic to Antwerp harbour until 1863. In 1873, Dutch became an official language in public secondary schools. In 1898, Dutch and French were declared equal languages in laws and Royal orders. In 1930, the first Flemish university was opened. The first official translation of

6321-425: The Zipser Saxons from present-day Spiš (German: Zips ), north-eastern Slovakia (as well as other historical regions of contemporary Romania, namely Maramureș and Bukovina ) given the fact they are two of the oldest ethnic German groups in non-native German-speaking Central and Eastern Europe. The first wave of settlement continued well until the end of the 13th century. Although the colonists came mostly from

6468-401: The early modern period , the term Flanders continued to be associated with the whole southern part of the Low Countries —the Southern , Spanish or Austrian Netherlands , which were the successors of the Burgundian state, and also predecessors of modern Belgium. The restriction of the term Flanders to the Germanic speaking part of the population occurred later. The term "Flemish" came to be

6615-467: The wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a sophisticated culture developed, with impressive art and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and the Franc of Bruges formed the Four Members , a form of parliament that exercised considerable power in Flanders. Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban communes were instrumental in defeating

6762-405: The 1980s, German has widely been considered a pluricentric language with the national standard varieties of German Standard German , Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German . These varieties of standard German differ above all in vocabulary , pragmatics and pronunciation , but in some instances also in grammar and, in only a handful of cases, in orthography . In formal writing,

6909-480: The Anglo-French Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and North Walsham in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the woolen industry. The County of Flanders started to take control of the neighbouring County of Brabant during the life of Louis II, Count of Flanders (1330–1384), who fought his sister-in-law Joanna, Duchess of Brabant for control of it. The entire area, straddling

7056-402: The Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967. Flanders (and Belgium as a whole) saw some of the greatest loss of life on the Western Front of the First World War , in particular from the three battles of Ypres . The war strengthened Flemish identity and consciousness. The occupying German authorities took several Flemish-friendly measures. The resulting suffering of the war

7203-511: The Brussels Region for economics affairs and by the Flemish Community for educational and cultural issues. Standard German Standard High German ( SHG ), less precisely Standard German or High German ( German : Standardhochdeutsch , Standarddeutsch , Hochdeutsch or, in Switzerland, Schriftdeutsch ), is the umbrella term for the standardized varieties of the German language , which are used in formal contexts and for communication between different dialect areas. German

7350-615: The Carpathian arch, and, implicitly, outside their then newly native lands across Transylvania starting in the mid and mid-late 12th century. Those areas pertained to the neighbouring and emerging Romanian medieval principalities of Moldavia (to the east) and Wallachia (to the south). In this particular process, they founded or co-founded major historical settlements on the territory of both aforementioned Romanian principalities such as Târgu Neamț (German: Niamtz ), Baia (German: Stadt Molde or Moldennmarkt ), Târgoviște (German: Tergowisch ), or Câmpulung (German: Langenau ). In

7497-414: The Duden dictionaries. After the war, this tradition was followed with two different centers: Mannheim in West Germany and Leipzig in East Germany . By the early 1950s, a few other publishing houses had begun to attack the Duden monopoly in the West by publishing their own dictionaries, which did not always conform to the "official" spellings prescribed by Duden. In response, the Ministers of Culture of

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7644-403: The Dutch-speaking community in the Brussels Region, grey on the map for it is not a part of the Flemish Region). Roughly, the Flemish Region is responsible for territorial issues in a broad sense, including economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. It supervises

7791-443: The Empire expanded the area of the Saxons further to the east. Settlers from the Hermannstadt region spread into the Hârtibaciu River valley (German: Harbachtal ) and to the foot of the Cibin (German: Zibin ) and Sebeș (German: Mühlbacher ) mountains. The latter region, centered around the town of Mühlbach ( Romanian : Sebeș ), was known as Unterwald . To the north of Hermannstadt they settled what they called

7938-426: The Flemish Region does not. The term "Flanders" has several main modern meanings: The name originally applied to the ancien régime territory called the County of Flanders , that existed from the 8th century (Latin Flandria ) until its absorption by the French First Republic . Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of what are now France and the Netherlands. However, the term came to be used for

8085-408: The Flemish Region must be mainly in the Dutch language. In Brussels, teaching is also done in French. When Julius Caesar conquered the area he described it as the less economically developed and more warlike part of Gallia Belgica . His informants told him that especially in the east, the tribes claimed ancestral connections and kinship with the "Germanic" peoples then east of the Rhine . Under

8232-418: The French speaking majority. This ultimately gave way to a rising feeling of cultural autonomy and even a sense of a nationalism. After World War II, the differences between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians became clear in a number of conflicts, such as the Royal Question , the question whether King Leopold III should return (which most Flemings supported but Walloons did not) and the use of Dutch in

8379-461: The French-speakers would like to keep the current state as it is. Recent governments (such as Verhofstadt I Government ) have transferred certain federal competences to the regional governments. On 13 December 2006, a spoof news broadcast by the Belgian Francophone public broadcasting station RTBF announced that Flanders had decided to declare independence from Belgium. The 2007 federal elections showed more support for Flemish autonomy, marking

8526-410: The German name for the Olt river, or the old land as in a word for word translation from German) or Hermannstadt Provinz , based around the picturesque well preserved medieval town of Hermannstadt , today's Sibiu . Additionally, the surrounding areas of the present-day town of Sibiu/Hermannstadt (former European Capital of Culture in 2007 alongside Luxembourg City ) were formed of marshlands in

8673-399: The High Middle Ages. Hence, taking in consideration the aforementioned regarding the Saxon title in high medieval Transylvania, the Transylvanian Saxons' ethnic consciousness subsequently solidified after the first waves of settlers from Western Europe arrived in the region and was further reinforced or revitalised with new waves of settlers from central and southern present-day Germany during

8820-458: The High Middle Ages. This is further hinted but also highlighted in the coat of arms of the town of Sibiu/Hermannstadt ( Latin : Cibinium ) by the water lily included therein. These German settlers were invited by Géza II . Although the primary reason for Géza II 's invitation was border defence, similar to employing the Szeklers against foreign invaders in the east of Transylvania, Germans were also sought for their mining expertise as well as

8967-571: The Hungarian monarchs. Consequently, they had to pay yearly tax to the king and provide military contributions to the royal army in case of danger of attack from abroad. Otherwise, they enjoyed suzerainty ; even Hungarians could not settle down in the Saxon territories. The territory colonized by Germans covered an area of about 30,000 km (10,000 sq. mi.). The region was called Royal Lands or Saxon Lands (German: Königsboden ; Hungarian : Királyföld or Szászföld ; Romanian : Pământul crăiesc ; Latin : Terra Saxonum or Fundus Regius ). During

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9114-436: The Hungarian nobility, with Transylvanian Saxon intellectuals pleading for the Latinity of the Romanian language and the Romanian people. They were subsequently allied with the Transylvanian Romanians and thus sided with the Austrian Empire in the context of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 . After 1918 and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary , in the wake of the Treaty of Trianon (signed in 1920), Transylvania united with

9261-424: The Low Countries as the Seventeen Provinces (or Spanish Netherlands in its broad sense) as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and from France. In 1556 Charles V abdicated due to ill health (he suffered from crippling gout ). Spain and the Seventeen Provinces went to his son, Philip II of Spain . Over the first half of the 16th century Antwerp grew to become the second-largest European city north of

9408-403: The Netherlands. In this period, cities such as Ghent and Bruges of the historic County of Flanders, and later Antwerp of the Duchy of Brabant made it one of the richest and most urbanised parts of Europe, trading, and weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in

9555-399: The Rhine. Another notable group were the Toxandrians who appear to have lived in the Kempen region, in the northern parts of both the Nervian and Tungrian districts, probably stretching into the modern Netherlands. The Roman administrative districts ( civitates ) of the Menapii, Nervii and Tungri therefore corresponded roughly with the medieval counties of Flanders, Brabant and Loon , and

9702-473: The Roman populations of northern France and the Frankish populations beyond the forest areas. The County of Flanders was a feudal fief in West Francia . The first certain Count in the comital family, Baldwin I of Flanders , is first reported in a document of 862, when he eloped with a daughter of his king Charles the Bald . The region developed as a medieval economic power with a large degree of political autonomy. While its trading cities remained strong, it

9849-448: The Saxon colonists remained, and the king allowed them to retain the rights and obligations included within the Diploma Andreanum of 1224 by Hungarian King Andrew II . This document conferred upon the German population of the territory between Drăușeni (German: Draas , Romanian : Drăușeni ) and Orăștie (German: Broos , Romanian : Orăștie ) both administrative and religious autonomy and defined their obligations towards

9996-596: The Saxons in Transylvania during the Middle Ages. The majority of them are still in very good to relatively good shape to this day, after further consolidation and renovation based on European funds or Norwegian grants (for example in Alma Vii or Laslea ), but also based on foreign donations. Nevertheless, there also some still left in ruin or decay, since the vast majority of the Saxons in their respective villages left them deserted during either before 1989 and after 1989 while emigrating for Western Europe or North America. The Transylvanian Saxons also colonized areas outside

10143-403: The Saxons in northeastern Transylvania). The initial waves of Transylvanian Saxons were referred to as hospites flandrenses et teutonici or primi hospites regni in Latin, literally "the Flemish and Teutonic guests" or "the first guests of the kingdom" (i.e. of the former Kingdom of Hungary ). For centuries, the main tasks of the Transylvanian Saxons during the High Middle Ages were to protect

10290-587: The Saxons led to Transylvania being known in German as Siebenbürgen and Septem Castra or Septem Castrensis in Latin , referring to seven of the fortified towns (see Historical names of Transylvania ), most likely: Other potential candidates for this list include: Other notable urban Saxon settlements include: In addition to fortifying their towns over the passing of time, the Transylvanian Saxons also had to fortify their villages by building their fortified churches (the Transylvanian Saxons were initially strongly Roman Catholic then Evangelical Lutheran after

10437-453: The Sibiu (German: Hermannstadt ) area. Moreover, under the title of Schultheiß (German: Șoltuz ), ethnic Germans were even briefly in charge of some of these Romanian settlements during the High Middle Ages . Additionally, German potters and merchants were also present in the former Moldavian capital of Suceava at the end of the 14th century. Historically, the town of Suceava has also been known in Old High German as Sedschopff . It

10584-677: The Silva Carbonaria, and eventually pushed through it under Chlodio . They had kings in each Roman district ( civitas ). In the meantime, the Franks contributed to the Roman military. The first Merovingian king Childeric I was king of the Franks within the military of Gaul. He became leader of the administration of Belgica Secunda , which included the civitas of the Menapii (the future county of Flanders). From there, his son Clovis I managed to conquer both

10731-534: The Southern Netherlands since King Philip II of Spain left them in 1559. In 1794, the French Republican Army started using Antwerp as the northernmost naval port of France. The following year, France officially annexed Flanders as the départements of Lys , Escaut , Deux-Nèthes , Meuse-Inférieure and Dyle . Obligatory (French) army service for all men aged 16–25 years was a main reason for

10878-540: The Spanish government on condition of more freedom. But the northern part of the provinces signed the Union of Utrecht and settled in 1581 the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands . Spanish troops quickly started fighting the rebels, and the Spanish armies conquered the important trading cities of Bruges and Ghent. Antwerp, which was then the most important port in the world, also had to be conquered. But before

11025-409: The Standard German varieties must not be confused with the variation of the local German dialects . Even though the Standard German varieties are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. All varieties of Standard German are based on the common tradition of the written German language, whereas the local dialects have their own historical roots that go further back than

11172-585: The Transylvanian Saxons are one of the three eldest German-speaking and ethnic German groups of the German diaspora in Central-Eastern Europe , having continuously been living there since the High Middle Ages onwards. The Transylvanian Saxons are part of the broader group of Romanian Germans as well, being the eldest and one of the most important of all the constituent sub-groups of this ethnic community. Their native dialect, Transylvanian Saxon

11319-434: The Transylvanian Saxons, former federal German president and professor doctor Theodor Heuss ( FDP ) stated, namely: "...their history is a piece of German history as a whole..." . The initial phase of German settlement in Transylvania began in the mid and mid-late 12th century, with colonists travelling to and residing in what would later become known in standard German as Altland (i.e. Țara Oltului in Romanian, after

11466-634: The Transylvanian context, of the terms Lutheran and Saxon, with the Lutheran Church in Transylvania being de facto a "Volkskirche", i.e. the "national church" of the Transylvanian Saxons (or the people's church of the Saxons). The Mongol invasion of 1241–42 devastated much of the Kingdom of Hungary. Although the Saxons did their best to resist and even tried to valiantly fight back the Mongol invaders, their resistance

11613-569: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands . William I started rapid industrialisation of the southern parts of the Kingdom. But the political system failed to forge a true union between the north and south. Most of the southern bourgeoisie was Roman Catholic and French-speaking, while the north was mainly Protestant and Dutch-speaking. In 1815, the Dutch Senate was reinstated (Dutch: Eerste Kamer der Staaten Generaal ). The nobility, mainly coming from

11760-570: The ability to develop the region's economy. Most colonists to this area came from Luxembourg ( Luxembourgish : Lëtzebuerg ) and the Moselle River region (see for instance Medardus de Nympz , former knight and founder of the fortified village of Niemesch/Nemșa in Moșna ). A second phase of German settlement during the early 13th century consisted of settlers primarily stemming from the Rhineland region,

11907-830: The ancient boundary of France and the Holy Roman Empire, later passed to Philip the Bold in 1384, the Duke of Burgundy , with his capital in Brussels . The titles were eventually more clearly united under his grandson Philip the Good (1396 – 1467). This large Duchy passed in 1477 to the Habsburg dynasty, and in 1556 to the kings of Spain. Western and southern districts of Flanders were confirmed under French rule under successive treaties of 1659 (Artois), 1668 and 1678 . The County of Loon, approximately

12054-481: The arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy . Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution , but this occurred mainly in French-speaking Wallonia. In the second half of the 20th century, and due to massive national investments in port infrastructure, Flanders' economy modernised rapidly, and today Flanders and Brussels are much wealthier than Wallonia, being among

12201-563: The beginning. In the medieval towns situated in the highlands of the Principality of Moldavia (or what would later become Bukovina starting in the Modern Age ), namely Suceava or Câmpulung Moldovenesc (German: Kimpolung ), the type of German town law which operated there was the Magdeburg law . Furthermore, the Teutonic Knights were also present in Siret (German: Sereth ) where they built

12348-592: The bible of the Standard High German language, being the definitive set of rules regarding grammar, spelling, and usage of Standard High German. The Österreichisches Wörterbuch ("Austrian Dictionary"), abbreviated ÖWB , is the official dictionary of the Standard High German language in the Republic of Austria . It is edited by a group of linguists under the authority of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (German: Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur ). It

12495-635: The case of the first settlement (i.e. Târgu Neamț), they could have been equally helped in establishing it by the Teutonic Knights . Saxons in Wallachia also settled in Râmnic (i.e. present-day Râmnicu Vâlcea ) and Pitești (German: Pitesk ). Saxon colonization in Moldavia had likely occurred through a crossing from the Bistrița area eastward and northward whereas Saxon colonization in Wallachia had likely occurred from

12642-479: The clear winners in Flanders, and N-VA became even the largest party in Flanders and Belgium during the 2010 federal elections , followed by the longest-ever government formation after which the Di Rupo I Government was formed excluding N-VA. Eight parties agreed on a sixth state reform which aim to solve the disputes between Flemings and French-speakers. However, the 2012 provincial and municipal elections continued

12789-554: The collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area, or more generally the Belgian variant of Standard Dutch. Most Flemings live within the Flemish Region , which is a federal state within Belgium with its own elected government. However, like Belgium itself, the official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels , which lies within the Brussels-Capital Region , not the Flemish Region, and

12936-906: The colonists remained in Burzenland . The Kingdom of Hungary's medieval eastern borders were therefore defended in the northeast by the Nösnerland Saxons, in the east by the Hungarian border guard tribe of the Székelys, in the southeast by the castles built by the Teutonic Knights and Burzenland Saxons and in the south by the Altland Saxons. A common interpretation of the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin , dated to 26 June 1284 and recorded in Hamelin records that (the earliest of such records dating from 1384: "It

13083-508: The contemporary Low Countries (i.e. aside from Luxembourg, also contemporary Netherlands and Belgium ) and from modern day France as well. Additionally, it is equally important to mention the fact that the family name 'Sas' or 'Sasu' in Romanian and 'Szász' respectively in Hungarian could denote both an ethnic lineage as well as a social liaison to the Saxon title awarded in Transylvania during

13230-485: The corresponding official institution, the Flemish Community ), or the geographical area, one of the three institutional regions in Belgium, namely the Flemish Region . In the history of art and other fields, the adjectives Flemish and Netherlandish are commonly used to designate all the artistic production in this area before about 1580, after which it refers specifically to the southern Netherlands. For example,

13377-499: The difference between British and American English. The pronouncing dictionary of the Duden dictionary group codifies the standard pronunciation for German Standard German and allows for a small number of divergences; for example, the string "äh" has two authorized pronunciations, /ɛː/ and /eː/. Some regions see only the first as correct, and others use only the second; Duden now recognizes both as correct. Standardized High German pronunciation

13524-625: The differences are small; in regards to the spoken language, the different varieties of Standard German are easily recognized by most speakers. These three national standards (German, Austrian and Swiss) have each been adopted by other German-speaking countries and communities as their standard form of German. The German standard is applied in Luxembourg , Belgium , and Namibia while the Swiss standard has been adopted in Liechtenstein . The variation of

13671-479: The easternmost frontiers of the former Kingdom of Hungary against certain invading migratory Asiatic peoples, to bring more agriculture to the region, to instil Central European culture, enhance trade, and boost urbanisation and overall economic development. In the process of fortifying the borders of the Kingdom of Hungary to the east, they were early on helped by the Teutonic Knights . Later on, they had to further strengthen their hometowns and rural settlements against

13818-654: The effects of industrial stagnation and Spanish-Dutch and Franco-Austrian conflict. The Southern Netherlands suffered severely under the Franco-Dutch War , Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession . But under the reign of Empress Maria-Theresia, these lands again flourished economically. Influenced by the Enlightenment , the Austrian Emperor Joseph II was the first sovereign who had been in

13965-563: The expanding Ottoman Empire which posed a major threat from the south. The rural settlements were more protected with a series of fortified churches known as 'kirchenburgen' in standard German . An alternative term for them in standard German is also ' wehrkirchen ' (i.e. fortified churches). During the Modern Age, they favoured more and more the Romanians for the latter to obtain increased and rightful political, social, and cultural rights before

14112-462: The federal states in West Germany officially declared the Duden spellings to be binding as of November 1955 ("Duden-Monopol" or "Dudenmonopol", "Duden-Privileg" or "Dudenprivileg"). The orthography reform of 1996 was based on an international agreement signed by the governments of the German -speaking countries Germany , Austria , Liechtenstein and Switzerland ; but acceptance of the reform

14259-685: The following territorial extent, as depicted in the maps below: Along with the Teutonic Order, other religious organizations important to the development of German communities were the Cistercian abbeys of Igrisch (Igriș) in the Banat region respectively Kerz (Cârța) in Fogaraschland (Țara Făgărașului). The earliest religious organization of the Saxons was the Provostship of Hermannstadt (now Sibiu ), founded 20 December 1191. In its early years, it included

14406-613: The knowledge of German culture and language within Europe and the rest of the world. This is done by holding exhibitions and conferences with German-related themes, and providing training and guidance in the learning and use of the German language. For example, the Goethe-Institut teaches the Goethe-Zertifikat German language qualification. The German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle provides radio and television broadcasts in Standard German and 30 other languages across

14553-443: The letter ß because it contains a long vowel, even though that letter occurs at the end of a syllable. The logic of this change is that an 'ß' is a single letter whereas 'ss' are two letters, so the same distinction applies as (for example) between the words den and denn . This is a selection of cognates in both English and Standard German. Instead of the usual infinitive ending -en , Standard German verbs are indicated by

14700-616: The majority of residents there are French speaking. The powers of the Flemish Government in Brussels are limited mainly to Flemish culture and education. Geographically, Flanders is mainly flat, and incorporates the whole coast of Belgium on the North Sea . It borders the French department of Nord to the south-west near the coast, the Dutch provinces of Zeeland , North Brabant and Limburg to

14847-732: The modern Flemish province of Limburg, remained independent of France, forming a part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège until the French Revolution, but surrounded by the Burgundians, and under their influence. In 1500, Charles V was born in Ghent . He inherited the Seventeen Provinces (1506), Spain (1516) with its colonies and in 1519 was elected Holy Roman Emperor . Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 , which established

14994-569: The modern Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders (Menapii), Brabant and Antwerp (the northern Nervii), and Belgian Limburg (part of the Tungri). Brabant appears to have been separated from the Tungri by a relatively unpopulated forest area, the Silva Carbonaria , forming a natural boundary between northeast and southwest Belgium. Linguistically, the tribes in this area were under Celtic influence in

15141-601: The modern Transylvanian Saxons originally came from the contemporary Low Countries (more specifically the regions of Flanders , Hainaut , Brabant , Liège , or Zeeland ) as well as the Moselle and Lorraine river valleys, and Luxembourg as well, then situated in the north-western territories of the Holy Roman Empire around the 1140s. Further or subsequent waves of German colonists in Transylvania also stemmed from more southern regions of present-day Germany such as Thuringia or even Bavaria (the latter particularly valid for

15288-448: The north and east, and the Walloon provinces of Hainaut , Walloon Brabant and Liège to the south. Despite accounting for only 45% of Belgium's territory, more than half the population lives there – 6,821,770 (or 58%) out of 11,763,650 Belgian inhabitants, as of January 2024. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated at 501/km (1,300/sq mi). The Brussels Region

15435-420: The print and audio-visual media, is voluntary. Austrian German has had standard pronunciation exceptions since 1904 ( Luick's österreichische Bühnenaussprache). In Switzerland, no such official pronunciation codex exists, yet most Standard Swiss German speakers are markedly different sounding from Hanover-type phonetic targets. Standard German originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region but as

15582-748: The provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility companies. The number of Dutch-speaking Flemish people in the Capital Region is estimated to be between 11% and 15% (official figures do not exist as there is no language census and no official subnationality). According to a survey conducted by the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Louvain-la-Neuve and published in June 2006, 51% of respondents from Brussels claimed to be bilingual, even if they do not have Dutch as their first language. They are governed by

15729-400: The reform, some newspapers, such as Die Zeit , Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung , created their own in-house orthographies. After 10 years, without any intervention by the federal parliament, a major revision of the spelling reform was installed in 2006 because there were disagreements regarding capitalization and splitting of German words. Also revised were

15876-509: The reign of King Géza II of Hungary (1141–1162). For several consecutive centuries, the main task of these medieval German-speaking settlers (as that of the Szeklers for example in the east of Transylvania) was to defend the southern, southeastern, and northeastern borders of the then Kingdom of Hungary against foreign invaders stemming most notably from Central Asia and even far East Asia (e.g. Cumans , Pechenegs , Mongols , and Tatars ). At

16023-477: The reign of Hungarian King Charles I (probably 1325–1329; also referred to as Charles Robert d'Anjou ), the Saxons were organized in the Saxon Chairs (or seats) as follows: The territorial extent of the aforementioned Saxon seats can be clearly seen in depth in the maps from the gallery below: Aside from the Saxon seats, there had also been two districts, namely Bistritz/Bistrița and Kronstadt/Brașov, which had

16170-512: The rest of Northern Germany. Standard High German is written in the Latin alphabet . In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with an umlaut mark , namely ä , ö and ü , as well as the Eszett or scharfes s (sharp s): ß . In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, ss is used instead of ß . A first step to standardisation, although non-prescriptive, of Early New High German

16317-578: The revolt was defeated, a war between Spain and England broke out, forcing Spanish troops to halt their advance. On 17 August 1585, Antwerp fell. This ended the Eighty Years' War for the (from now on) Southern Netherlands . The United Provinces (the Northern Netherlands) fought on until 1648 – the Peace of Westphalia . During the war with England, the rebels from the north, strengthened by refugees from

16464-544: The river Scheldt , effectively cutting Antwerp off from its trade routes. The fall of Antwerp to the Spanish and the closing of the Scheldt caused considerable emigration. Many Calvinist merchants of Antwerp and other Flemish cities left Flanders and migrated north. Many of them settled in Amsterdam , which was a smaller port, important only in the Baltic trade . The Flemish exiles helped to rapidly transform Amsterdam into one of

16611-452: The rules governing punctuation marks. The most noticeable change was probably in the use of the letter ß , called scharfes s ( Sharp S ) or Eszett (pronounced ess-tsett , coming from ſz). Traditionally, this letter was used in three situations: Examples are Füße , paßt , and daß . Currently, only the first rule is in effect, making the reformed spellings Füße , passt , and dass . The word Fuß 'foot' has

16758-404: The same time, the Saxons were also charged with developing agriculture and introducing Central European culture. Later on, the Saxons needed to further fortify both their rural and urban settlements against invading Ottomans (or against the invading and expanding Ottoman Empire ). The Saxons in northeastern Transylvania were also in charge of mining. They can be perceived as being quite related to

16905-404: The second last official census (carried out in 2011) indicated 36,042 Germans, out of which only 11,400 were of Transylvanian Saxon descent. As per the latest Romanian census conducted in 2022, they are even fewer, as other sub-groups of the entire German community in Romania as well. The colonization of Transylvania by ethnic Germans later collectively known as Transylvanian Saxons began under

17052-475: The south, and Germanic influence in the east, but there is disagreement about what languages were spoken locally (apart from Vulgar Latin ), and there may even have been an intermediate " Nordwestblock " language related to both. By the first century AD, Germanic languages appear to have become prevalent in the area of the Tungri. As Roman influence waned, Frankish populations settled in the Tungiran area east of

17199-666: The south, became more and more estranged from their northern colleagues. Resentment grew between the Roman Catholics from the south and the Protestants from the north, and also between the powerful liberal bourgeoisie from the south and their more moderate colleagues from the north. On 25 August 1830 (after the showing of the opera ' La Muette de Portici ' of Daniel Auber in Brussels) the Belgian Revolution sparked. On 4 October 1830,

17346-616: The south, started a campaign to reclaim areas lost to Philip II 's Spanish troops. They conquered a considerable part of Brabant (the later North Brabant of the Netherlands), and the south bank of the Scheldt estuary ( Zeelandic Flanders ), before being stopped by Spanish troops. The front at the end of this war stabilized and became the border between present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch (as they later became known) had managed to reclaim enough of Spanish-controlled Flanders to close off

17493-476: The south-eastern region of Transylvania still has one of the highest density of existing fortified churches from the 13th to 16th centuries as more than 150 villages in the area count various types of fortified churches in good shape, seven of them being included in the UNESCO World Heritage under the name of Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania . The rapid expansion of cities populated by

17640-429: The southern Low Countries , and the Moselle region, with others from Thuringia , Bavaria, and even from France . A settlement in northeastern Transylvania was centered on the town of Nösen , the later Bistritz ( Romanian : Bistrița ), located on the Bistrița River . The surrounding area became known as the Nösnerland . That area was important for mining in the Middle Ages. Continued immigration from

17787-447: The start of the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis . All the political parties that advocated a significant increase of Flemish autonomy gained votes as well as seats in the Belgian federal parliament . This was especially the case for Christian Democratic and Flemish and New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (who had participated on a shared electoral list ). The trend continued during the 2009 regional elections , where CD&V and N-VA were

17934-535: The supposedly less judgmental Standarddeutsch ("Standard German"), deutsche Standardsprache ("German standard language"). On the other hand, the "standard" written languages of Switzerland and Austria have each been codified as standards distinct from that used in Germany. For this reason, "Hochdeutsch" or "High German", originally a mere geographic designation, applies unproblematically to Swiss Standard German and Austrian German as well as to German Standard German and may be preferred for that reason. Since

18081-581: The term "Flemish Primitives", now outdated in English but used in French, Dutch and other languages, is a synonym for " Early Netherlandish painting ", and it is not uncommon to see Mosan art categorized as Flemish art. In music the Franco-Flemish School is also known as the Dutch School . Within this Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, French has never ceased to be spoken by some citizens, and Jewish groups have been speaking Yiddish in Antwerp for centuries. Regardless of nationality or linguistic background, according to Belgian Law education in schools located in

18228-407: The territories of Hermannstadt, Leschkirch (Nocrich), and Groß-Schenk (Cincu), the areas that were colonized the earliest by ethnic Germans in the region. Under the influence of Johannes Honterus , the great majority of the Transylvanian Saxons embraced the new creed of Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation . The first superintendent of the Saxons Evangelical Church, Paul Wiener ,

18375-416: The territory of present-day Romania en masse during and after World War II, relocating initially to Austria, then predominantly to southern Germany (especially in Bavaria ). The process of emigration continued during communist rule in Romania. After the collapse of the Ceaușescu regime in 1989 and the fall of the East German communist government, many of them continued to emigrate to unified Germany. As

18522-431: The training materials at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) and Deutschlandfunk (Radio Germany). It is an invented accent, rather than one radiating from any particular German-speaking city. It is often said that the people of Hannover speak German with an accent that comes closest to the standard of the Duden dictionaries, but the claim is debatable, particularly since it may apply equally well to

18669-481: The trend of N-VA becoming the biggest party in Flanders. However, sociological studies show no parallel between the rise of nationalist parties and popular support for their agenda. Instead, a recent study revealed a majority in favour of returning regional competences to the federal level. Both the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region are constitutional institutions of the Kingdom of Belgium, exercising certain powers within their jurisdiction, granted following

18816-437: The unification of the written language, and in the case of Low German, belong to a different language entirely. In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties according to situation. However, there are two (or three) exceptions: While the three principal national varieties are recognized as three distinct standards, the differences are few, perhaps comparable to

18963-486: The uprising against the French in 1798, known as the Boerenkrijg ( Peasants' War ), with the heaviest fighting in the Campine area. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo in Brabant , the Congress of Vienna (1815) gave sovereignty over the Austrian Netherlands – Belgium minus the East Cantons and Luxembourg – to the United Netherlands (Dutch: Verenigde Nederlanden ) under Prince William I of Orange Nassau, making him William I of

19110-405: The use of the language. Extensions to personal matters less directly associated with language comprise sports, health policy (curative and preventive medicine), and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.) The area of the Flemish Region is represented on the maps above. It has a population of more than 6 million (excluding

19257-430: The war, collaborators (or people who were Zwart , "Black" during the war) were prosecuted and punished, among them many Flemish nationalists whose main political goal had been the emancipation of Flanders. As a result, until today Flemish nationalism is often associated with right-wing. Flemish nationalism is however a direct consequence of the events of the years prior to the first World War, in which many were oppressed by

19404-403: The wealthiest regions in Europe and the world. In accordance with late 20th century Belgian state reforms , Flanders was made into two political entities: the Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest ) and the Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap ). These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a broader cultural mandate, covers Brussels, whereas

19551-622: The western Holy Roman Empire , they came to be collectively referred to as ' Saxons ' because of Germans working for the royal Hungarian chancellery . Gradually, the type of medieval German once spoken by these settlers, craftsmen, guardsmen, miners, and various other workers became locally known as Såksesch (i.e. Transylvanian Saxon ; in its longest form Siweberjesch-Såksesch ) and remains, still to this day, very closely related to Luxembourgish with which it shares many lexical similarities. The Transylvanian Saxon population has been steadily decreasing since World War II as they started leaving

19698-646: The world's most important ports. This is why the exodus is sometimes described as " creating a new Antwerp ". Flanders and Brabant, went into a period of relative decline from the time of the Thirty Years' War . In the Northern Netherlands, the mass emigration from Flanders and Brabant became an important driving force behind the Dutch Golden Age . Although arts remained relatively impressive for another century with Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck , Flanders lost its former economic and intellectual power under Spanish, Austrian, and French rule. Heavy taxation and rigid imperial political control compounded

19845-492: Was aided by the presence of an Augustinian cloister (founded 1514) in the St. Andries quarter. Luther, an Augustinian himself, had taught some of the monks, and his works were in print by 1518. The first Lutheran martyrs came from Antwerp. The Reformation resulted in consecutive but overlapping waves of reform: a Lutheran, followed by a militant Anabaptist , then a Mennonite , and finally a Calvinistic movement. These movements existed independently of each other. Philip II ,

19992-423: Was almost entirely a written language. People in Northern Germany who spoke mainly Low Saxon dialects , which were very different from Standard German, learned it more or less as a foreign language. However, the Northern pronunciation (of Standard German) later became considered standard and spread southward. In some regions such as around Hanover , the local dialect has completely died out as spoken language but

20139-418: Was elected by Saxon pastors at a synod on 6 February 1553. Almost all became Lutheran Protestants , with very few Calvinists , while other minor segments of the Transylvanian Saxon society remained staunchly Catholic (of Latin Church , more specifically) or were converted to Catholicism later on. Nonetheless, one of the consequences of the Reformation was the emergence of an almost perfect equivalence, in

20286-550: Was eventually turned down by the Mongols and many of their settlements were destroyed or ruined in the process. After the Mongols retreated from Transylvania, in the event of another invasion, many Transylvanian towns were fortified with stone castles and an emphasis was put on developing towns economically. In the Middle Ages, approximately 300 villages were defended by the Kirchenburgen , or fortified churches with massive walls and watch towers. Although many of these fortified churches have fallen into either decay or ruin, nowadays

20433-452: Was introduced by the Luther Bible of 1534. In consequence, the written language of the chancery of Saxony-Wittenberg rose in importance in the course of the 17th century so much so that it was used in texts such as the 1665 revision of the Zürich Bible . The First Orthographical Conference convened in 1876 by order of the government of Prussia , but failed. Konrad Duden published the first edition of his dictionary, later simply known as

20580-415: Was key in the development of German writing and standardization of the language. Similarly to Luther, Gottsched based his manual on the Central German variant of the Upper Saxon area. Over the course of the mid-18th century and onward, a written standard then began to emerge and be widely accepted in German-speaking areas, thus ending the period of Early New High German . Until about 1800, Standard German

20727-489: Was limited and led to public controversy and considerable dispute. The states ( Bundesländer ) of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria refused to accept it. At one point, the dispute reached the highest court, which quickly dismissed it, claiming that the states had to decide for themselves and that only in schools could the reform be made the official rule – everybody else could continue writing as they had learned it. While, as of 2004 , most German print media followed

20874-408: Was more widely understood than other dialects and as a Central German dialect, was felt to be "halfway" between the dialects of the north and south. Luther drew principally on Eastern Upper and East Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German . Later in 1748, a grammar manual by Johann Christoph Gottsched , Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst ,

21021-444: Was officially stipulated within the Diploma Andreanum (German: Der Goldener Freibrief der Siebenbürger Sachsen , The Golden Charter of the Transylvanian Saxons , Romanian : Bula de aur a sașilor transilvăneni ) issued by King Andrew II of Hungary which allocated them the royal land ( Romanian : Pământul crăiesc or Pământul regal ) under local autonomy known as Königsboden or Fundus Regius in Latin . The ancestors of

21168-617: Was one of the most religiously tolerant states in Europe at the time, the Saxons were allowed to practice their own religion (meaning that they enjoyed religious autonomy). However, the Habsburgs still promoted Roman Catholicism to the Saxons during the Counter-Reformation . Currently in Romania, about 60% of ethnic Germans reported being Roman Catholic and 40% Protestant (see Religion in Romania ). Flanders Flanders ( / ˈ f l ɑː n d ər z / FLAHN -dərz or / ˈ f l æ n d ər z / FLAN -dərz ; Dutch : Vlaanderen [ˈvlaːndərə(n)] )

21315-423: Was recognized by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands on 19 April 1839. In 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the splitting up of the two countries. Belgium was confirmed as an independent state by the Treaty of London of 1839, but deprived of the eastern half of Limburg (now Dutch Limburg), and the Eastern half of Luxembourg (now the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg). Sovereignty over Zeelandic Flanders , south of

21462-453: Was united with Flanders since the Middle Ages, but also Belgian Limburg , which corresponds closely to the medieval County of Loon , and was never under Burgundian control. The ambiguity between this wider cultural area and that of the county or province still remains in discussions about the region. In most present-day contexts however, the term Flanders is taken to refer to either the political, social, cultural, and linguistic community (and

21609-409: Was weakened and divided when districts fell under direct French royal rule in the late 12th century. The remaining parts of Flanders came under the rule of the counts of neighbouring imperial Hainaut under Baldwin V of Hainaut in 1191. During the late Middle Ages , Flanders's trading towns (notably Ghent , Bruges and Ypres ) made it one of the richest and most urbanized parts of Europe, weaving

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