Germany
110-501: Vaassen ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvaːsə(n)] ; Low German : Vaossen ) is one of four villages in the Dutch municipality of Epe . Vaassen is situated between Apeldoorn and Zwolle , on the eastern edge of the Veluwe in the province of Gelderland . Vaassen was an independent municipality up to 1 January 1818, when it merged with Epe. The earliest signs of residents in this area are
220-585: A Prussian province ; after 1919 Brunswick became a free state). Historically a close tie existed between the royal house of Hanover ( Electorate of Hanover ) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as a result of their personal union in the 18th century (the personal union was dissolved when Victoria became the Queen of the United Kingdom in 1837 because Hanover did not allow female rulers). West of
330-514: A Lower Saxon Constituency Association ( Wahlkreisverband IX (Niedersachsen) ). This indicates that at that time the western administrations of the Prussian Province of Hanover and the state of Oldenburg were perceived as being "Lower Saxon". The forerunners of today's state of Lower Saxony were lands that were geographically and, to some extent, institutionally interrelated from very early on. The County of Schaumburg (not to be confused with
440-416: A dialect of German or even Dutch has been a point of contention. Although Low German is mostly regarded as an independent language linguistics offers no simple, generally accepted criterion to decide the question. Scholarly arguments have been put forward for classifying Low German as a German dialect. As stated above, the arguments are not linguistic but rather sociopolitical and revolve mainly around
550-409: A following among the more rurally oriented inhabitants, launching Low Saxon as a sub-culture. They inspired contemporary dialect artists and rock bands, such as Daniël Lohues [ nl ] , Mooi Wark [ Nl ] , Jovink en de Voederbietels [ Nl ] , Hádiejan [ Nl ] Nonetheless, the position of the language is vulnerable according to UNESCO. Low Saxon
660-607: A language for its computer desktop environment, as does the GNOME Desktop Project. Open-source software has been translated into Low German; this used to be coordinated via a page on SourceForge, but as of 2015, the most active project is that of KDE. In the early 20th century, scholars in the Netherlands argued that speaking dialects hindered language acquisition, and it was therefore strongly discouraged. As education improved, and mass communication became more widespread,
770-578: A low degree of mutual intelligibility . Eastern Low German and Plautdietsch are classified as part of Greater East Low German, while Eastphalian, Westphalic, and the North Low Saxon languages, German Northern Low Saxon and Gronings, are classified as part of West Low German. Low German has been recognized by the Netherlands and by Germany (since 1999) as a regional language according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . Within
880-461: A number of areas to the east, for example, in what is now west and north Saxony-Anhalt. The land of the Saxons was divided into about 60 Gaue . The Frisians had not moved into this region; for centuries they preserved their independence in the most northwesterly region of the present-day Lower Saxon territory. The original language of the folk in the area of Old Saxony was West Low German , one of
990-571: A part of western Lithuania , and the German communities in Estonia and Latvia, most notably their Hanseatic cities. German speakers in this area fled the Red Army or were forcibly expelled after the border changes at the end of World War II. The language was also formerly spoken in the outer areas of what is now the city-state of Berlin , but in the course of urbanisation and national centralisation in that city,
1100-419: A strong cultural and historical value and was the native language of students in northern Germany, it had a place in the classroom. On the other hand, High German was considered the language of education, science, and national unity, and since schools promoted these values, High German was seen as the best candidate for the language of instruction. Initially, regional languages and dialects were thought to limit
1210-499: Is a German state ( Land ) in northwestern Germany . It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,614 km (18,384 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany . In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, though by declining numbers of people. Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise)
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#17330844829801320-633: Is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands . The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. Low German is most closely related to Frisian and English , with which it forms the North Sea Germanic group of the West Germanic languages. Like Dutch , it has historically been spoken north of
1430-455: Is a West Germanic language . It is documented from the 9th century until the 12th century, when it evolved into Middle Low German . It was spoken on the north-west coast of Germany by Saxon peoples . It is closely related to Old Anglo-Frisian ( Old Frisian , Old English ), partially participating in the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law . Only a few texts survive, predominantly in baptismal vows
1540-650: Is a depression near Freepsum in East Frisia. The state's economy, population, and infrastructure are centred on the cities and towns of Hanover, Stadthagen, Celle, Braunschweig, Wolfsburg , Hildesheim, and Salzgitter. Together with Göttingen in southern Lower Saxony, they form the core of the Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region . Lower Saxony has clear regional divisions that manifest themselves geographically, as well as historically and culturally. In
1650-656: Is a distinction between the German and the Dutch Low Saxon/Low German situation. After mass education in Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries, the slow decline which Low German had been experiencing since the end of the Hanseatic League turned into a free fall. The decision to exclude Low German in formal education was not without controversy, however. On one hand, proponents of Low German advocated that since it had
1760-566: Is a part of the continental West Germanic dialect continuum . To the West, it blends into the Low Franconian languages , including Dutch . A distinguishing feature between the Low Franconian varieties and Low German varieties is the plural of the verbs. Low German varieties have a common verbal plural ending, whereas Low Franconian varieties have a different form for the second person plural. This
1870-524: Is complicated in that in most Low Franconian varieties, including standard Dutch , the original second-person plural form has replaced the singular. Some dialects, including again standard Dutch, innovated a new second-person plural form in the last few centuries, using the other plural forms as the source. To the South, Low German blends into the High German dialects of Central German that have been affected by
1980-490: Is due in part to the grouping stretching mainly across two different countries and to it being a collection of varieties rather than a standardised language. There are different uses of the term "Low German": In Germany, native speakers of Low German call their language Platt , Plattdütsch , Plattdüütsch , Plattdütsk , Plattdüütsk , Plattduitsk (South-Westphalian), Plattduitsch (Eastphalian), Plattdietsch (Low Prussian), or Nedderdüütsch . In
2090-883: Is final devoicing of obstruents, as exemplified by the words 'good' and 'wind' below. This is a characteristic of Dutch and German as well and involves positional neutralization of voicing contrast in the coda position for obstruents (i.e. t = d at the end of a syllable.) This is not used in English except in the Yorkshire dialect , where there is a process known as Yorkshire assimilation . For instance: water [wɒtɜ, ˈwatɜ, ˈwætɜ] , later [ˈlɒːtɜ, ˈlaːtɜ, ˈlæːtɜ] , bit [bɪt] , dish [dis, diʃ] , ship [ʃɪp, skɪp, sxɪp] , pull [pʊl] , good [ɡou̯t, ɣɑu̯t, ɣuːt] , clock [klɔk] , sail [sɑi̯l] , he [hɛi̯, hɑi̯, hi(j)] , storm [stoːrm] , wind [vɪˑnt] , grass [ɡras, ɣras] , hold [hoˑʊl(t)] , old [oˑʊl(t)] . The table below shows
2200-512: Is most closely related to Old Frisian and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) . The Low German dialects spoken in the Netherlands are mostly referred to as Low Saxon , those spoken in northwestern Germany ( Lower Saxony , Westphalia , Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg , Bremen , and Saxony-Anhalt west of the Elbe ) as either Low German or Low Saxon, and those spoken in northeastern Germany ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Brandenburg , and Saxony-Anhalt east of
2310-438: Is often recognized as a North Sea Germanic language and therefore has so-called Ingvaonisms. However, these are not distributed equally regionally everywhere. Some dialects have more and others fewer of these features, while some only occur in older forms of language and only leave relics in modern Low German. in plural forms of verbs with the auxiliary verb "shall" dative and accusative Lower Saxony Lower Saxony
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#17330844829802420-734: Is spoken in the Western hemisphere, including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Belize, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. In some of these countries, the language is part of the Mennonite religion and culture. There are Mennonite communities in Ontario , Saskatchewan , Alberta , British Columbia , Manitoba , Kansas and Minnesota which use Low German in their religious services and communities. These Mennonites are descended from primarily Dutch settlers that had initially settled in
2530-646: Is still spoken more widely than in Northern Germany. Efforts are made in Germany and in the Netherlands to protect Low German as a regional language . As with the Anglo-Frisian and North Germanic languages , Low German has not been influenced by the High German consonant shift except for old /ð/ having shifted to /d/ . Therefore, a lot of Low German words sound similar to their English counterparts. One feature that does distinguish Low German from English generally
2640-409: Is still visible in the names of settlements and physiogeographical features. It has been estimated that Low German has approximately 2–5 million speakers in Germany, primarily Northern Germany (ranging from well to very well), and 2.15 million in the Netherlands (ranging from reasonable to very well). It has been estimated that Low German has approximately two to five million speakers (depending on
2750-466: Is tenuous in many places, and has died out in many places where assimilation has occurred. Members and friends of the Historical Society of North German Settlements in western New York ( Bergholz, New York ), a community of Lutherans who trace their immigration from Pomerania in the 1840s, hold quarterly "Plattdeutsch lunch" events, where remaining speakers of the language gather to share and preserve
2860-553: The Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses , while forms of High German (of which Standard German is a standardized example) have historically been spoken south of those lines. Like Frisian, English, Dutch and the North Germanic languages , Low German has not undergone the High German consonant shift , as opposed to Standard High German , which is based on High German dialects . Low German evolved from Old Saxon (Old Low German) , which
2970-728: The British Zone of Occupation . On 23 August 1946, the British Military Government issued Ordinance No. 46 "Concerning the dissolution of the provinces of the former state of Prussia in the British Zone and their reconstitution as independent states" , which initially established the State of Hanover on the territory of the former Prussian Province of Hanover. Its minister president, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf , had already suggested in June 1945
3080-766: The High German consonant shift . The division is usually drawn at the Benrath line that traces the maken – machen isogloss . To the East, it abuts the Kashubian language (the only remnant of the Pomeranian language ) and, since the expulsion of nearly all Germans from the Polish part of Pomerania following the Second World War, also by the Polish language . East Pomeranian and Central Pomeranian are dialects of Low German. To
3190-551: The Italian ones (with only Venetian communities in areas of highly Venetian presence conserving Talian , and other Italian languages and dialects fading out elsewhere). The language grouping of Low German is referred to, in the language itself as well as in its umbrella languages of German and Dutch, in several different ways, ranging from official names such as Niederdeutsche and Nederduits to more general characterisations such as "dialect". The proliferation of names or characterisations
3300-455: The Nazi Party seized power in 1933, they quickly transformed Germany into a highly centralized state and divided the entire Third Reich into Gaue which largely superseded (but did not outright replace) Germany's traditional federal system. Nevertheless, some changes to the old state and provincial borders were made in 1937, notably including the city of Cuxhaven being fully integrated into
3410-671: The North Sea , the states of Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Brandenburg , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia , Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia , and the Netherlands . Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen , the other its seaport , Bremerhaven (which is a semi-exclave , as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland . The state's largest cities are
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3520-601: The Vistula delta region of Prussia in the 16th and 17th centuries before moving to newly acquired Russian territories in Ukraine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and then to the Americas in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The types of Low German spoken in these communities and in the Midwest region of the United States have diverged since emigration. The survival of the language
3630-533: The district of Tecklenburg and the state of Lippe . Kopf's plan was ultimately based on a draft for the reform of the German Empire from the late 1920s by Georg Schnath and Kurt Brüning. The strong Welf connotations of this draft, according to Thomas Vogtherr, did not simplify the development of a Lower Saxon identity after 1946. An alternative model, proposed by politicians in Oldenburg and Brunswick, envisaged
3740-428: The north temperate zone of central Europe that is affected by prevailing Westerlies and is located in a transition zone between the maritime climate of Western Europe and the continental climate of Eastern Europe . This transition is clearly noticeable within the state: whilst the northwest experiences an Atlantic (North Sea coastal) to Sub-Atlantic climate, with comparatively low variations in temperature during
3850-458: The palatalization and assibilation of / k / (compare palatalized forms such as English cheese , Frisian tsiis to non-palatalized forms such as Low German Kees or Kaise , Dutch kaas , German Käse but Low German Sever/Sebber while German Käfer ) However, since Anglo-Frisian features occur in Low German and especially in its older language stages, there is a tendency to prefer
3960-432: The "Constituency Association of Lower Saxony" in 1920. In a lecture on 14 September 2007, Dietmar von Reeken described the emergence of a "Lower Saxony consciousness" in the 19th century, the geographical basis of which was used to invent a territorial construct: the resulting local heritage societies ( Heimatvereine ) and their associated magazines routinely used the terms "Lower Saxony" or "Lower Saxon" in their names. At
4070-461: The 1930s, a real Lower Saxony did not yet exist, but there were a plethora of institutions that would have called themselves "Lower Saxon". The motives and arguments in the disputes between "Lower Saxony" and "Westphalia" were very similar on both sides: economic interests, political aims, cultural interests and historical aspects. After the Second World War most of Northwest Germany lay within
4180-504: The Elbe downstream Hamburg are known as the Altes Land (Old Country). Due to its gentle local climate and fertile soil, it is the state's largest area of fruit farming, its chief produce being apples . Most of the state's territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover , and the state of Lower Saxony has adopted the coat of arms and other symbols of the former kingdom. It was created by
4290-521: The Elbe) mostly as Low German, not being part of Low Saxon. This is because northwestern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands were the area of settlement of the Saxons ( Old Saxony ), while Low German spread to northeastern Germany through eastward migration of Low German speakers into areas with an originally Slavic-speaking population. This area is known as Germania Slavica , where the former Slavic influence
4400-461: The German authorities and Nedersaksisch (Nether or Low Saxon) by the Dutch authorities. Plattdeutsch , Niederdeutsch and Platduits , Nedersaksisch are seen in linguistic texts from the German and Dutch linguistic communities respectively. In Danish it is called Plattysk , Nedertysk or, rarely, Lavtysk . Mennonite Low German is called Plautdietsch . "Low" refers to
4510-514: The Ingvaeonic classification instead of the Anglo-Frisian one, which also takes Low German into account. Because Old Saxon came under strong Old High German and Old Low Franconian influence early on and therefore lost many Ingvaeonic features that were to be found much more extensively in earlier language states. The question of whether today's Low German should be considered a separate language or
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4620-408: The Low German dialects of Denmark can be considered moribund at this time. Dialects of Low German are spoken in the northeastern area of the Netherlands ( Dutch Low Saxon ) by approximately 1.6 million speakers. These dialects are written with an unstandardized orthography based on Standard Dutch orthography. The position of the language is, according to UNESCO, vulnerable. Between 1995 and 2011
4730-508: The Low Saxon dialects further declined, although decline has been greater in urban centres of the Low Saxon regions. When in 1975 dialect folk and rock bands such as Normaal and Boh Foi Toch [ nl ] became successful with their overt disapproval of what they experienced as "misplaced Dutch snobbery" and the Western Dutch contempt for (speakers of) Low Saxon dialects, they gained
4840-577: The Netherlands, native speakers refer to their language as dialect , plat , Nedersaksisch , or the name of their village, town or district. Officially, Low German is called niederdeutsche Sprache or plattdeutsche Sprache (Nether or Low German language), Niederdeutsch or Plattdeutsch (Nether or Low German) in High German by the German authorities, nedderdüütsche Spraak (Nether or Low German language), Nedderdüütsch or Plattdüütsch (Nether or Low German) in Low German by
4950-617: The North and Northwest, it abuts the Danish and the Frisian languages . In Germany, Low German has replaced the Danish and Frisian languages in many regions. Saterland Frisian is the only remnant of East Frisian language and is surrounded by Low German, as are the few remaining North Frisian varieties, and the Low German dialects of those regions have influences from Frisian substrates. Most linguists classify
5060-617: The Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe) around the towns of Rinteln and Hessisch Oldendorf did indeed belong to the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau until 1932, a province that also included large parts of the present state of Hesse, including the cities of Kassel , Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main ; but in 1932 the County of Schaumburg became part of the Prussian Province of Hanover. When
5170-612: The Prussian Province of Hanover under the Greater Hamburg Act . The effect of this Nazi-era change was that in 1946, after the Third Reich had collapsed and when state of Lower Saxony was founded, only four states needed to be merged. With the exception of Bremen and the areas that were ceded to the Soviet Occupation Zone in 1945, all those areas allocated to the new state of Lower Saxony in 1946, had already been merged into
5280-647: The River Hunte a "de-Westphalianising process" began in 1815. After the Congress of Vienna the territories of the later administrative regions ( Regierungsbezirke ) of Osnabrück and Aurich transferred to the Kingdom of Hanover. The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe retained state autonomy. Nevertheless, the entire Weser-Ems region (including the city of Bremen ) were grouped in 1920 into
5390-540: The Saxon peoples left their homeland in Holstein about the 3rd century and pushed southwards over the Elbe , where they expanded into the sparsely populated regions in the rest of the lowlands, in present-day Northwest Germany and the northeastern part of what is now the Netherlands . From about the 7th century the Saxons had occupied a settlement area that roughly corresponds to the present state of Lower Saxony, of Westphalia and
5500-547: The Saxons were required to perform at the behest of Charlemagne . The only literary texts preserved are Heliand and the Old Saxon Genesis . The Middle Low German language ( Mittelniederdeutsch ) is an ancestor of modern Low German. It was spoken from about 1100 to 1600. The neighbouring languages within the dialect continuum of the West Germanic languages were Middle Dutch in the West and Middle High German in
5610-574: The South, later substituted by Early New High German . Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League , spoken all around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea . It had a significant influence on the Scandinavian languages and other languages around the Baltic Sea. Based on the language of Lübeck , a standardized written language was developing, though it was never codified. There
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#17330844829805720-427: The Weser-Ems region was placed under the rule of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The word Niedersachsen was first used before 1300 in a Dutch rhyming chronicle ( Reimchronik ). From the 14th century it referred to the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (as opposed to Saxe-Wittenberg ). On the creation of the imperial circles in 1500, a Lower Saxon Circle was distinguished from a Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle . The latter included
5830-563: The area of Helmstedt. The highest levels of precipitation are experienced in the Harz because the Lower Saxon part forms the windward side of this mountain range against which orographic rain falls. The average annual temperature is 8 °C (46 °F); 7.5 °C (45.5 °F) in the Altes Land and 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) in the district of Cloppenburg . Lower Saxony is divided into 37 districts ( Landkreise or simply Kreise ): Furthermore, there are eight urban districts and two cities with special status: Between 1946 and 2004,
5940-480: The burial mounds and "Celtic Fields" (square fields surrounded by small earthen walls, dating from the Iron Age) northwest of Vaassen in the Veluwe, between the Elburgerweg and Gortelseweg. There is a large complex (about 76 acres) of these fields in Vaassen, around Gortelseweg. The German inhabitants were farmers and lived there during the Roman era. They inhabited wooden huts and lived from agriculture, livestock, cultivation of herbs, and hunting deer and boar. The town
6050-432: The coast East Frisia . The state is dominated by several large northwards-flowing rivers, including the Ems , Weser , Aller , and the Elbe. The highest point in Lower Saxony is the Wurmberg (971 metres or 3,186 feet) in the Harz. Most of the significant hills and mountains are found in the southeastern part of the state. The lowest point in the state, at about 2.5 metres or 8 feet 2 inches below sea level,
6160-422: The course of the year and a surplus water budget, the climate towards the southeast is increasingly affected by the Continent. This is clearly shown by greater temperature variations between the summer and winter halves of the year and in lower and more variable amounts of precipitation across the year. This sub-continental effect is most sharply seen in the Wendland, in the Weser Uplands (Hamelin to Göttingen) and in
6270-456: The definition of 'native speaker') in Germany, primarily in Northern Germany. Variants of Low German are spoken in most parts of Northern Germany , for instance in the states of Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , Hamburg , Bremen , Schleswig-Holstein , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Saxony-Anhalt , and Brandenburg . Small portions of northern Hesse and northern Thuringia are traditionally Low Saxon-speaking too. Historically, Low German
6380-406: The dialect. Mennonite colonies in Paraguay, Belize, and Chihuahua , Mexico, have made Low German a "co-official language" of the community. East Pomeranian is also spoken in parts of southern and southeastern Brazil, in the latter especially in the state of Espírito Santo , being official in five municipalities, and spoken among its ethnically European migrants elsewhere, primarily in
6490-541: The dialects of Low German together with English and Frisian as the North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic languages. However, most exclude Low German from the group often called Anglo-Frisian languages because some distinctive features of that group of languages are only partially preserved in Low German, for instance the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (some dialects have us , os for "us" whereas others have uns , ons ), and because other distinctive features almost do not occur in Low German at all, for instance
6600-436: The division of the British occupation zone into three large states proved to be capable of gaining a majority. Because this division of their occupation zone into relatively large states also met the interests of the British, on 8 November 1946 Regulation No. 55 of the British military government was issued, by which the State of Lower Saxony with its capital Hanover were founded, backdated to 1 November 1946. The state
6710-435: The enclave area. To the southeast, the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands . The northeast and west of the state, which form roughly three-quarters of its land area, belong to the North German Plain, while the south is in the Lower Saxon Hills , including the Weser Uplands , Leine Uplands , Schaumburg Land , Brunswick Land , Untereichsfeld , Elm , and Lappwald . In
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#17330844829806820-405: The end of the 1920s in the context of discussions about a reform of the Reich, and promoted by the expanding local heritage movement ( Heimatbewegung ), a 25-year conflict started between "Lower Saxony" and "Westphalia". The supporters of this dispute were administrative officials and politicians, but regionally focussed scientists of various disciplines were supposed to have fuelled the arguments. In
6930-401: The fact that Low German has no official standard form or use in sophisticated media. The situation of Low German may thus be considered a "pseudo-dialectized abstand language " (" scheindialektisierte Abstandsprache "). In contrast, Old Saxon and Middle Low German are generally considered separate languages in their own right. Since Low German has strongly declined since the 18th century,
7040-600: The flat plains and coastal area of the northern European lowlands , contrasted with the mountainous areas of central and southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where High German (Highland German) is spoken. The colloquial term Platt denotes both Low German dialects and any non- standard Western variety of German ; this use is chiefly found in northern and Western Germany and is not considered to be linguistically correct. The ISO 639-2 language code for Low German has been nds ( niedersächsisch or nedersaksisch, neddersassisch ) since May 2000. Low German
7150-410: The following territories that, in whole or in part, belong today to the state of Lower Saxony: the Bishopric of Osnabrück , the Bishopric of Münster , the County of Bentheim , the County of Hoya , the Principality of East Frisia , the Principality of Verden , the County of Diepholz , the County of Oldenburg , the County of Schaumburg and the County of Spiegelberg . At the same time a distinction
7260-459: The formation of a state of Lower Saxony, that was to include the largest possible region in the middle of the British Zone. In addition to the regions that actually became Lower Saxony subsequently, Kopf asked, in a memorandum dated April 1946, for the inclusion of the former Prussian district of Minden-Ravensberg (i.e. the Westphalian city of Bielefeld as well as the Westphalian districts of Minden , Lübbecke , Bielefeld , Herford and Halle ),
7370-404: The former Hanoverian president ( Regierungspräsident ) as their first minister-president. Kopf led a five-party coalition, whose basic task was to rebuild a state afflicted by the war's rigours. Kopf's cabinet had to organise an improvement of food supplies and the reconstruction of the cities and towns destroyed by Allied air raids during the war years. Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf remained – interrupted by
7480-437: The foundation of the independent state of "Weser-Ems", that would be formed from the state of Oldenburg, the Hanseatic City of Bremen and the administrative regions of Aurich and Osnabrück. Several representatives of the state of Oldenburg even demanded the inclusion of the Hanoverian districts of Diepholz , Syke , Osterholz-Scharmbeck and Wesermünde in the proposed state of "Weser-Ems". Likewise an enlarged State of Brunswick
7590-422: The four administrative regions or governorates ( Regierungsbezirke ), into which Lower Saxony had been hitherto divided, were dissolved. These were the governorates of Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg and Weser-Ems. The largest towns in Lower Saxony as of 31 December 2017: The name of Saxony derives from that of the Germanic confederation of tribes called the Saxons . Before the late medieval period, there
7700-424: The functional limits of the language that may still be cited as objective criteria for a mere dialect (such as the virtually complete absence from legal and administrative contexts, schools, the media, etc.). At the request of Schleswig-Holstein , the German government has declared Low German as a regional language . German offices in Schleswig-Holstein are obliged to accept and handle applications in Low German on
7810-679: The government regarding housing led to the evacuation of the Moluccans from this dwelling place. Today there is still a considerable Moluccan community in Vaassen. Vaassen's most remarkable historical building is the 16th century Cannenburgh Castle , once home to the knight Maarten van Rossum . Berkenoord, Berkenoord II, The Oosterhof, Heggerenk, Oranjebuurt, Transvaalbuurt, Vogelbuurt, Industriewijk, Vulcanusbuurt and Vossenhoek. De Hegge, De Jonas , Geerstraat, Hafkamp, Kortenbroek, 't Laar, Niersen, Vaassense Broek and De Uulenberg. Low German [REDACTED] Bolivia (70,000) [REDACTED] Paraguay (30,000) Low German
7920-764: The home, but not in formal schooling. In their opinion, it simply did not match the nationally unifying power of High German. As a result, while Low German literature was deemed worthy of being taught in school, High German was chosen as the language of scholarly instruction. With High German the language of education and Low German the language of the home and daily life, a stable diglossia developed in Northern Germany. Various Low German dialects are understood by 10 million people, but many fewer are native speakers . Total users of Low German (nds) are approximately 2.5 million, with 300,000 native speakers in Brazil and 1,000 in Germany as of 2016. The KDE project supports Low German (nds) as
8030-439: The intellectual ability of their speakers. When historical linguists illustrated the archaic character of certain features and constructions of Low German, this was seen as a sign of its "backwardness". It was not until the efforts of proponents such as Klaus Groth that this impression changed. Groth's publications demonstrated that Low German was a valuable language in its own right, and he was able to convince others that Low German
8140-619: The language has vanished (the Berlin dialect itself is a northern outpost of High German , though it has some Low German features). Today, there are still speakers outside Germany to be found in the coastal areas of present-day Poland (minority of ethnic German East Pomeranian speakers who were not expelled from Pomerania , as well as the regions around Braniewo ). In the Southern Jutland region of Denmark there may still be some Low German speakers in some German minority communities, but
8250-539: The main transport artery to West Berlin and, from 1945 to 1990 was the busiest European border crossing point. Of economic significance for the state was the Volkswagen concern, that restarted the production of civilian vehicles in 1945, initially under British management, and in 1949 transferred into the ownership of the newly founded country of West Germany and state of Lower Saxony. Overall, Lower Saxony, with its large tracts of rural countryside and few urban centres,
8360-676: The medieval, Welf estates of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg . All the Welf princes called themselves dukes "of Brunswick and Lüneburg" despite often ruling parts of a duchy that was forever being divided and reunited as various Welf lines multiplied or died out. Two major principalities survived east of the Weser after the Napoleonic Wars: the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick (after 1866 Hanover became
8470-522: The merger of the State of Hanover with three smaller states on 1 November 1946. Lower Saxony has a natural boundary in the north in the North Sea and the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe , although parts of the city of Hamburg lie south of the Elbe. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave entirely surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a cooperative body for
8580-488: The nationalism of their ancestors, being more likely to accept marriages of its members with Brazilians of origins other than a Germanic Central European one than to assimilate with Brazilians of Swiss , Austrian , Czech , and non-East Pomeranian-speaking German and Prussian heritage – that were much more numerous immigrants to both Brazilian regions (and whose language almost faded out in the latter, due to assimilation and internal migration) , by themselves less numerous than
8690-439: The new Lower Saxon constitution entered force, replacing the "Provisional Lower Saxon Constitution" of 1951. It enables referendums and plebiscites and establishes environmental protection as a fundamental state principle. The former Hanoverian Amt Neuhaus with its parishes of Dellien, Haar, Kaarßen, Neuhaus (Elbe), Stapel, Sückau, Sumte and Tripkau as well as the villages of Neu Bleckede, Neu Wendischthun and Stiepelse in
8800-585: The northeast of Lower Saxony is the Lüneburg Heath. The heath is dominated by the poor, sandy soils of the geest , whilst in the central-east and southeast in the loess börde zone , productive soils with high natural fertility occur. Under these conditions—with loam and sand -containing soils—the land is well-developed agriculturally . In the west lie the County of Bentheim , Osnabrück Land , Emsland , Oldenburg Land , Ammerland , Oldenburg Münsterland , and on
8910-667: The northern and eastern border of North Rhine-Westphalia has largely been identical with that of the Prussian Province of Westphalia . Only the Free State of Lippe was not incorporated into North Rhine-Westphalia until January 1947. With that the majority of the regions left of the Upper Weser became North Rhine-Westphalian. In the end, at the meeting of the Zone Advisory Board on 20 September 1946, Kopf's proposal with regard to
9020-860: The northern parts of the Central Uplands : the Weser Uplands and the Harz Mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills , a range of low ridges. The region in the northeast, the Lüneburg Heath ( Lüneburger Heide ), is the largest heathland area of Germany. In the Middle Ages, the town of Lüneburg was wealthy due to salt-mining and the salt trade. To the north the Elbe valley separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , and Brandenburg. The left banks of
9130-609: The numbers of parent speakers dropped from 34% in 1995 to 15% in 2011. Numbers of child speakers dropped from 8% to 2% in the same period. According to a 2005 study 53% speak Low Saxon or Low Saxon and Dutch at home and 71% could speak it in the researched area. The total number of speakers is estimated at 1.7 million speakers. There are speakers in the Dutch north and eastern provinces of Groningen , Drenthe , Stellingwerf (part of Friesland ), Overijssel , Gelderland , Utrecht and Flevoland , in several dialect groups per province. There are also immigrant communities where Low German
9240-431: The official terminology defined in the charter, this status would not be available to a dialect of an official language (as per article 1a), and hence not to Low German in Germany if it were considered a dialect of German. Advocates of the promotion of Low German have expressed considerable hope that this political development will at once lend legitimacy to their claim that Low German is a separate language, and help mitigate
9350-508: The parish of Teldau and the historic Hanoverian region in the forest district of Bohldamm in the parish of Garlitz transferred with effect from 30 June 1993 from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to Lower Saxony ( Lüneburg district ). From these parishes the new municipality of Amt Neuhaus was created on 1 October 1993. In 1998 Gerhard Glogowski succeeded Gerhard Schröder who became Federal Chancellor. Because he had been linked with various scandals in his home city of Brunswick, he resigned in 1999 and
9460-508: The perceived similarities with High German or Dutch may often be direct adaptations from the dominating standard language, resulting in a growing inability by speakers to speak correctly what was once Low German proper. Others have argued for the independence of today's Low German dialects, taken as continuous outflow of the Old Saxon and Middle Low German tradition. Glottolog classifies six varieties of Low German as distinct languages based on
9570-437: The regions listed here are part of other, larger regions, that are also included in the list. Just under 20% of the land area of Lower Saxony is designated as nature parks, i.e.: Dümmer , Elbhöhen-Wendland , Elm-Lappwald , Harz , Lüneburger Heide , Münden , Terra.vita , Solling-Vogler , Lake Steinhude , Südheide , Weser Uplands , Wildeshausen Geest , Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen . Lower Saxony falls climatically into
9680-474: The regions that used to be independent, especially the heartlands of the former states of Brunswick , Hanover , Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe , a marked local regional awareness exists. By contrast, the areas surrounding the Hanseatic cities of Bremen and Hamburg are much more oriented towards those centres. Sometimes, overlaps and transition areas happen between the various regions of Lower Saxony. Several of
9790-601: The relationship between Low German consonants which were unaffected by this chain shift and their equivalents in other West Germanic languages. Contemporary Swedish and Icelandic shown for comparison; Eastern and Western North Germanic languages, respectively. The table below shows the relationship between Low German consonants which were unaffected by this chain shift and their equivalents in other West Germanic languages. Contemporary Swedish and Icelandic shown for comparison; Eastern and Western North Germanic languages, respectively. Notes : Like English and Frisian, Low German
9900-486: The same footing as Standard High German applications. The Bundesgerichtshof ruled in a case that this was even to be done at the patent office in Munich , in a non–Low German region , when the applicant then had to pay the charge for a translator, because applications in Low German are considered not to be written in the German language. Old Saxon ( Altsächsisch ), also known as Old Low German ( Altniederdeutsch ),
10010-576: The seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland , an economically emerging but rather sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plain , is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland . Towards the south and southwest lie
10120-494: The so-called Baron line between Apeldoorn and Zwolle . In 1950 the station was closed because the line was discontinued. The former railway station is still in existence, but is now used as a dwelling. Vaassen is characterized by a centuries-long coexistence of Protestant and Roman Catholic populations. In the 1950s, groups of Moluccans were housed in Vaassen. Berkenoord Camp was used for housing. On 14 October 1976, friction with
10230-412: The state capital Hanover , Braunschweig (Brunswick), Oldenburg , Osnabrück , Wolfsburg , Göttingen , Salzgitter , Hildesheim , mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg and Lüneburg. Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas. The northwestern area of the state, on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and
10340-487: The state's districts and independent towns were grouped into eight regions, with a different status for two regions ( Verwaltungsbezirke ), comprising the formerly free states of Brunswick and Oldenburg. In 1978 these regions were merged into four governorates ( Regierungsbezirke ). In 2005 the Bezirksregierungen (regional governments) were again split into separate bodies. 1946–1978: 1978–2004: On 1 January 2005
10450-562: The states of Rio de Janeiro and Rondônia . East Pomeranian-speaking regions of Southern Brazil are often assimilated into the general German Brazilian population and culture, for example celebrating the Oktoberfest , and there can even be a language shift from it to Riograndenser Hunsrückisch in some areas. In Espírito Santo , nevertheless, Pomeranian Brazilians are more often proud of their language, and particular religious traditions and culture, and not uncommonly inheriting
10560-481: The successor to Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf. He was replaced in 1970 by Alfred Kubel . The arguments about the Gorleben Nuclear Waste Repository , that began during the time in office of minister president Ernst Albrecht (1976–1990), have played an important role in state and federal politics since the end of the 1970s. In 1990 Gerhard Schröder entered the office of minister-president. On 1 June 1993,
10670-479: The time in office of Heinrich Hellwege (1955–1959) – as the head of government in Lower Saxony until 1961. The greatest problem facing the first state government in the immediate post-war years was the challenge of integrating hundreds of thousands of refugees from Germany's former territories in the east (such as Silesia and East Prussia ), which had been annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union . Lower Saxony
10780-492: The varieties of language in the Low German dialect group. The establishment of permanent boundaries between what later became Lower Saxony and Westphalia began in the 12th century. In 1260, in a treaty between the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg the lands claimed by the two territories were separated from each other. The border ran along the Weser to a point north of Nienburg. The northern part of
10890-634: Was a single Duchy of Saxony . The term "Lower Saxony" was used after the dissolution of the stem duchy in the late 13th century to distinguish the parts of the former duchy ruled by the House of Welf from the Electorate of Saxony on one hand, and from the Duchy of Westphalia on the other. The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to the Germanic tribe of Saxons . During the Migration Period some of
11000-556: Was also spoken in formerly German parts of Poland (e.g., Pomerania and Silesia ), as well as in East Prussia and the Baltic provinces (modern Estonia and Latvia . The Baltic Germans spoke a distinct Low German dialect, which has influenced the vocabulary and phonetics of both Estonian and Latvian. The historical sprachraum of Low German also included contemporary northern Poland, East Prussia (the modern Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia),
11110-526: Was at the western end of the direct escape route from East Prussia and had the longest border with the Soviet Zone. On 3 October 1950 Lower Saxony took over the sponsorship of the very large number of refugees from Silesia . In 1950 there was still a shortage of 730,000 homes according to official figures. During the period when Germany was divided, the Lower Saxon border crossing at Helmstedt found itself on
11220-624: Was formed by a merger of the Free States of Brunswick , of Oldenburg and of Schaumburg-Lippe with the previously formed State of Hanover. But there were exceptions: The demands of Dutch politicians that the Netherlands should be given the German regions east of the Dutch-German border as war reparations , were roundly rejected at the London Conference of 26 March 1949. In fact only about 1.3 km (0.50 sq mi) of west Lower Saxony
11330-477: Was made with the eastern part of the old Saxon lands from the central German principalities later called Upper Saxony for dynastic reasons. The close historical links between the domains of the Lower Saxon Circle now in modern Lower Saxony survived for centuries especially from a dynastic point of view. The majority of historic territories whose land now lies within Lower Saxony were sub-principalities of
11440-468: Was mentioned for the first time in a certificate from the Codex Laureshamnensis of the monastery of Lorschin in the year 891 or 892, when someone called Brunhilde gave a farmhouse and the church to Lorsch. The name Vaassen derives from "Fasna", an old word for a specific rough type of grass. From 2 September 1887 up to 8 October 1950 there was a railway station in Vaassen. The station was part of
11550-411: Was one of the industrially weaker regions of the federal republic for a long time. In 1960, 20% of the working population worked on the land. In the rest of the federal territory the figure was just 14%. Even in economically prosperous times the jobless totals in Lower Saxony are constantly higher than the federal average. In 1961 Georg Diederichs took office as the minister president of Lower Saxony as
11660-525: Was proposed in the southeast to include the Regierungsbezirk of Hildesheim and the district of Gifhorn . Had this plan come to fruition, the territory of the present Lower Saxony would have consisted of three states of roughly equal size. The district council of Vechta protested on 12 June 1946 against being incorporated into the metropolitan area of Hanover ( Großraum Hannover ). If the State of Oldenburg
11770-454: Was replaced by Sigmar Gabriel . From 2003 to his election as Federal President in 2010 Christian Wulff was minister president in Lower Saxony. The Osnabrücker headed a CDU-led coalition with the FDP as does his successor, David McAllister . After the elections on 20 January 2013 McAllister was deselected . At the end of 2014, there were almost 571,000 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony. At
11880-400: Was suitable for literary arts and was a national treasure worth keeping. Through the works of advocates like Groth, both proponents and opponents of Low German in formal education saw the language's innate value as the cultural and historical language of northern Germany. Nevertheless, opponents claimed that it should simply remain a spoken and informal language to be used on the street and in
11990-469: Was to be dissolved, Vechta District would much rather be included in the Westphalian region. Particularly in the districts where there was a political Catholicism the notion was widespread, that Oldenburg Münsterland and the Regierungsbezirk of Osnabrück should be part of a newly formed State of Westphalia. Since the foundation of the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hanover on 23 August 1946
12100-541: Was transferred to the Netherlands, in 1949. → see main article Dutch annexation of German territory after World War II The first Lower Saxon parliament or Landtag met on 9 December 1946. It was not elected; rather it was established by the British Occupation Administration (a so-called "appointed parliament"). That same day the parliament elected the Social Democrat , Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf ,
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