37.823, Reviews: Deutsch in Europa: Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften (eds.) (2025)

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Subject: 37.823, Reviews: Deutsch in Europa: Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften (eds.) (2025)

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Date: 28-Feb-2026
From: Luca Melchior [luca.melchior at aau.at]
Subject: Applied Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics: Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften (eds.) (2025)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-3843

Title: Deutsch in Europa
Subtitle: Vielfalt, Sprachnormen und Sprachgebrauch. Vierter Bericht
zur Lage der deutschen Sprache. Herausgegeben von der Deutschen
Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung und der Union der deutschen
Akademien der Wissenschaften
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG
           http://www.narr.de/
Book URL: https://www.narr.de/deutsch-in-europa-1352-1/

Editor(s): Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Union der
deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften

Reviewer: Luca Melchior

SUMMARY
As the editors of the present volume explain, the aim of the
publication is to address a set of questions concerning the German
language in Europe: Where in Europe is German spoken? How did this
come about? What is the status of the German language in Europe? How
does it interact with other languages? How does German fit into a
multilingual repertoire? How can the vitality of German be assessed?
[9] These questions are approached in two distinct ways: the first
part of the volume presents fifteen concise ‘country profiles’ of the
German language in various European countries where it is spoken
either as a majority or minority language (with or without legal
recognition), offering a perspective grounded in national contexts;
the second part comprises six thematic contributions that explore
broader issues not tied to individual nation-states.
Following the foreword (“Geleitwort”) by Ingo Schulze (President of
the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung) and Christoph
Markschies (President of the Union der deutschen Akademien der
Wissenschaften) [7], and the introduction (“Einleitung”) by the
editors Christa Dürscheid and Rita Franceschini [9–20], the first
section begins with the country overviews, arranged alphabetically
from Belgium (“Belgien”) to Hungary (“Ungarn”). As noted, the status
of German varies significantly across countries. While in Germany,
German functions as the official language – more de facto than de jure
– and is often, albeit inaccurately, regarded as the German language
par excellence (not only in folk linguistic discourses), in Poland, it
may serve as a supporting language (“język pomocniczy”,
“Hilfssprache”) only in municipalities where at least 20% of the
population belongs to the German-speaking minority.
In the first chapter, "Deutsch in Belgien" (Robert Möller [23–29]),
the focus is on dialectal fragmentation and the question of whether an
East Belgian Standard German exists. The author acknowledges the
vitality of the German language within the German-speaking community
but criticizes the absence of a German-language university offering a
broad range of subjects. As in each of the following country chapters,
the text concludes with a table summarizing key sociolinguistic
indicators: number and percentage of speakers, legal and institutional
status, role in the education system, degree of elaboration, position
in the individual language repertoire (e.g. first, second, or residual
language (“erinnerte Sprache”)), relationship to the standard
language, orientation toward the standard, vitality and
intergenerational transmission, media presence, domains of use,
visibility in public space, prevailing attitudes, language
identification, and literary use.
The second chapter, "Deutsch in Dänemark" (Klaus Geyer [30–39]),
focuses more closely on German associations and the language ecology
within the German minority. Here, German is predominantly used as a
second language, and the variety spoken in Northern Schleswig
(Nordschleswigdeutsch) shows features of language contact, including
interference in phraseology, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. The chapter
concludes with information on the role of German in the Danish
education system and its significance in the tourism sector.
In "Deutsch in Deutschland" (Christa Dürscheid [40–46]), the chapter
explores language ideologies and attitudes, especially those related
to regional variation in language use and the widespread perception
that the High German variety spoken in northern Germany is normative
or exemplary.
In "Deutsch in Frankreich" (Pascale Erhart [47–54]), the author
describes a situation in which German has no legal recognition and is
treated merely as a foreign language. Nevertheless, German dialects
are spoken in Alsace. Speakers distinguish between the dialects they
use and standard German, which they regard as an external language.
The author emphasizes that terms such as German-speaking minority or
native speakers of German are often perceived as inappropriate or even
offensive, as most speakers do not identify as German.
A more complex picture emerges in "Deutsch in Italien" (Stefan Rabanus
[55–63]). In South Tyrol, German is an official language and, in its
local dialect, the first language of the majority population. The
author notes a strong orientation toward the standard variety used in
Germany, with limited interest in pluricentric perspectives. While no
grammatical or phonological influence from Italian is observed, there
are numerous lexical borrowings and calques. The situation of several
so-called German language islands in northern Italy is also discussed.
These communities exhibit both conservative and innovative features,
the latter often resulting from long-term contact with Romance
varieties. The speakers of these dialects generally lack exposure to
the German standard and do not consider it normative. Rabanus
questions whether legal protection measures alone can ensure language
vitality. He also notes a decline in interest in learning German as a
foreign language. However, this decline appears less pronounced,
possibly due to Germany’s attractiveness as a labor market.
Finally, in "Deutsch in Liechtenstein" (Karina Frick [64–69]), the use
of dialect in everyday communication is described, with strong
identity functions attributed to the various regional forms. A
diglossic situation is outlined in which the standard language is
reserved for limited domains such as the Catholic Church, legal
proceedings, and parliamentary debate. The only setting in which
standard German is also used orally is the educational system, where
Liechtenstein’s standard variety shares many features with Swiss
Standard German. Caroline Döhmer and Peter Gilles note in their
chapter “Deutsch in Luxemburg” [70–77] a marginalization of the use of
German in the Grand Duchy, mainly due to the rapid spread of
Luxembourgish in digitally mediated communication since the 2000s.
However, German remains the language of literacy in primary schools,
and a plurilingual university offers courses in English, French,
German, and Luxembourgish. On the labor market, German plays a
secondary role compared to French, and its visibility in the
linguistic landscape is limited.
Agnes Kim, Wolfgang Koppensteiner, and Alexandra N. Lenz initially
focus in their “Deutsch in Österreich” [78–86] on some features of the
Austrian standard variety, although they see its use as limited to
highly official and supra-regional communicative contexts. They
provide an overview of the dialectal fragmentation of the country,
highlight the legal recognition of six minority languages
(“Volksgruppensprachen”), but omit the recognition of Austrian Sign
Language. They also observe a discursive shift in which high German
proficiency is increasingly regarded as a sign of integration among
migrants.
Helmut Glück, in his chapter “Deutsch in Polen” [87–94], explains that
following Poland’s denial of a German-speaking population between 1960
and 1989, the status of German as a recognized minority language was
granted in 1990. Even without meeting the 5% threshold, the German
minority is politically represented in parliament. In municipalities
where at least 20% of the population is German-speaking, German holds
the status of a ‘supporting language’. The author focuses on
education, where German is taught as a minority language. There are
several cultural, social, and political organizations with close ties
to Germany that support German-medium educational institutions,
organize teacher training, and provide teaching materials.
Approximately 200 schools offer German as a minority language subject.
Today, the German-speaking population is concentrated in Silesia, and
traditional dialects are spoken only by older generations alongside
Polish as a first language. Media offerings are limited but present.
German-language toponymic signs can be introduced in municipalities
with at least 20% German speakers, although these signs are
occasionally vandalized.
Ruxandra Cosma, in her chapter “Deutsch in Rumänien” [95–108],
characterizes unity and diversity as defining features of Romania’s
German-speaking population. The various German-speaking groups—without
shared history and with different dialectal backgrounds—are
collectively referred to as “Rumäniendeutsche”. The term
“Rumäniendeutsch” also denotes a supra-regional, primarily written
standard variety, based on the German standard but featuring some
unique traits. It is also learned and spoken as a foreign language by
Romanian speakers. Cosma’s contribution focuses on dialectal features,
contact-induced phenomena, the Romanian German standard, and
colloquial forms (“Umgangssprache”). In the final section, the chapter
discusses the place of German in the education system and highlights
the sustained interest in learning German—whether as a minority,
second, or foreign language.
Helmut Glück also authored the chapter “Deutsch in Russland”
[109–114], offering a historical and dialectological overview and
discussing the appeal of (standard) German in the Russian education
system.
Rita Franceschini, one of the editors of the volume, also authored the
chapter “Deutsch in der Schweiz” [115–121]. Her contribution focuses
on the functions and importance of dialects and on contrastive
features of Swiss Standard German. In the final part of the chapter,
she critically reflects on Switzerland’s idealized plurilingual image
and also mentions non-official minority languages such as Jenisch and
Yiddish, as well as migrant languages.
Helmut Glück’s final contribution to the volume, “Deutsch in
Tschechien” [122–127], mirrors his chapters on Poland and Russia by
presenting a historical and dialectological account. He underlines the
literary impact of German-speaking Prague authors on German and
Austrian literature, while noting that Prague German has no longer
been spoken since 1945. The chapter concludes with an overview of
German-language media.
Khrystyna Dyakiv, in “Deutsch in der Ukraine” [128–135], assigns
German three distinct roles: as a minority language, as a historical
reference language from the Habsburg period, and as a foreign
language. Regarding the first, a generational shift has occurred from
local dialects to standard German, now spoken almost exclusively
during community events and in classrooms. As a historical reference
language, German has left lexical traces in Ukrainian, and old
inscriptions remain visible in the linguistic landscape. Many
Ukrainians learn German as their first or second foreign language in
school or university; there are also numerous job-related German
courses. The author observes a growing interest in and competence in
German following the Russian invasion in 2022.
The final chapter of this section, “Deutsch in Ungarn” by Elisabeth
Knipf-Komlósi [136–145], begins with a historical overview and then
addresses the generational language shift, in which German is now
primarily learned as a foreign language, often for purposes of
mobility. For the German minority, the language’s role as an identity
marker is diminishing, while cultural-symbolic identification is
gaining importance. Demographic data shows that only one-fifth of
those identifying with the German minority learned German as a first
language, and only 46% speak it at home or with friends. Most
German-speaking communities are located in western and southern
Hungary; German is one of thirteen recognized minorities.
Institutional and educational policy frameworks are relatively well
developed. The future of Hungarian-German culture will depend more on
multilingualism in schools, cultural organizations, and institutional
continuity than on traditional dialects.
The second part of the volume addresses supra-national topics. The
contribution by Claudia Maria Riehl, “Zur Entstehung deutschsprachiger
Gemeinschaften außerhalb deutschsprachiger Staaten: ein Überblick”
(“The emergence of German-speaking communities outside German-speaking
countries: an overview” [149–169]), provides an overview of various
settlement patterns in Eastern Europe from the Middle Ages to the
post-World War II period. It then focuses on the German-speaking
communities in Northern Italy, especially the Cimbri and the Walser
people. The statement that the German-speaking communities in the
(former) province of Udine border Austria [159] is inaccurate (Sauris
does not share a border with Austria) and potentially misleading, as
it may suggest close linguistic contact where none exists. The final
part of the chapter examines border minorities such as Alsace,
Silesia, and North Schleswig. The chapter “Deutsch in der Schule in
mehrsprachigen Konstellationen” (“German at school in multilingual
settings”, Stefan Rabanus and Pascale Erhart [171–228]) provides a
comparative analysis of the role of German in European contact
regions, where it functions not only as a foreign language but also as
a minority or language of instruction. This systematic comparison
takes into account the overall situation, educational concepts,
teaching materials, teacher training, and supporting infrastructure
(including international programs and schools abroad). Key findings
include: German is more than just a foreign language in all regions
examined, though the proportion of first-language speakers varies
significantly. In teaching contexts, the standard variety based on
Germany is dominant; regional varieties play only a marginal role. A
West-East divide also becomes apparent: in Central and Eastern Europe,
the German minority exerts stronger structural and identity-related
influence on education systems, while in Western Europe, German is
primarily taught as a foreign language. The chapter “Sprache(n) und
Identität – Einstellungen zu Deutsch und seinen Varietäten”
(“Language(s) and identity – attitudes towards German and its
varieties”, Agnes Kim, Wolfgang Koppensteiner, Alexandra N. Lenz
[229–283]) analyzes language attitudes and identity constructions in
German-speaking areas outside Germany, including Austria, South Tyrol,
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Eastern Belgium. The
emphasis is on German as a pluricentric language and on the
relationship between standard language and dialect in both internal
and external multilingual contexts. The chapter “Sprachkontakt und
Mehrsprachigkeitskonstellationen” (“Language contact and
constellations of plurilingualism” [285–323]) shifts the focus to
language use in multilingual settings and to communicative
manifestations of multicompetence in different sociolinguistic
contexts. While regions such as South Tyrol, Transylvania, Alsace,
Lorraine, the Danube Swabian areas of Hungary, Upper Silesia, and
Transcarpathia—despite their differences—share comparable
characteristics that permit cross-regional comparison, the case of the
Cimbri and other linguistic islands in Northern Italy stands out due
to its distinctiveness.
Stephan Elspaß, Elvira Glaser, Stefan Kleiner, and Robert Möller, in
their chapter “Sprachliche Phänomene: Norm und Variation im
Gebrauchsstandard” (“Linguistic phenomena: norms and variation in
standard usage” [323–367]), examine variation in lexicon,
morphosyntax, and phonology. Although they also adopt a pluricentric
perspective, their primary approach—especially as advocated by Elspaß
(cf. Elspaß 2025)—is an areal one. The final chapter, “Die Vitalität
des Deutschen in Europa” (“The vitality of German in Europe”, Ludwig
M. Eichinger and Albrecht Plewnia [369–396]), concludes that, compared
to other European languages, German is a fully viable and functionally
differentiated language. Its strengths lie in standardization, state
support, literary complexity, and economic significance. Outside the
core German-speaking area, its vitality varies considerably, from
institutionally stabilized minority settings to pragmatically
motivated foreign language contexts.
The volume concludes with a comprehensive bibliography and a
collection of links to language atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias,
grammar books, overviews, handbooks, online resources, and statistical
offices, as well as a glossary of selected technical terms and short
biographies of the authors.
EVALUATION
This volume is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to our
understanding of the current situation of German in Europe, offering
an accurate and comprehensive overview. The national portraits exhibit
a rather heterogeneous structure, which is certainly due to the
differing sociolinguistic conditions of German in the various
countries examined, but also partly reflects the individual scholarly
interests of the respective authors. The resulting limited
comparability is mitigated by the synoptic tables, which facilitate
cross-national comparisons despite the varying status and functions of
German. However, this comes at the expense of analytical depth and
complexity.
The contributions in the second part of the volume move beyond a
strictly national perspective, addressing central themes such as
education and multilingual practices from a broader, more comparative
standpoint. The use of certain terms, such as “Hochdeutsch” or
“Standardeutsch”, is inconsistent across all chapters, partly due to
the difficulty of clearly defining the concepts they represent, which
may impede access for non-specialist readers. Some of the concepts
employed in the volume, such as “Sprachinsel” ('language island'),
have been the subject of scholarly criticism (see Wildfeuer 2017), so
a more explicit conceptual framework would have been desirable.
A more fundamental question remains: what constitutes “German”? This
question is particularly difficult to answer in the case of the
varieties spoken in northern Italy, which Italian legislation (Law
482/1999 on minority language protection) refers to as “Germanic”
rather than “German”. From a ‘genealogical’ perspective, they
undeniably belong to the Bavarian and Alemannic dialect groups.
However, as the respective chapters make clear, they have been
disconnected from the wider German-speaking world for centuries. These
varieties have evolved in close contact with Romance dialects,
borrowing not only lexically, but also (morpho-)syntactically. From a
sociolinguistic point of view, therefore, their classification within
the German variety space is highly problematic.
Despite this, the volume remains an important and valuable resource
for academic specialists and interested non-linguists alike, providing
insights into the diversity and complexity of German across the
European continent.
REFERENCES
Elspaß, Stephan. 2025. Pluriareal languages and the case of German. In
Pluricentricity and Pluriareality: Dialects, Variation, and Standards,
edited by Philipp Meer and Ryan Durgasingh, 15–44. Studies in Language
Variation 32. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.32.02els.
Legge 15 dicembre 1999, n. 482: Norme in materia di tutela delle
minoranze linguistiche storiche.
Wildfeuer, Alfred. 2017. Sprachinseln, Sprachsiedlungen,
Sprachminderheiten: Zur Bezeichnungsadäquatheit dieser und weiterer
Termini. In Bayerisch-österreichische Varietäten zu Beginn des 21.
Jahrhunderts – Dynamik, Struktur, Funktion, edited by Alexandra N.
Lenz, Ludwig Maximilian Breuer, Tim Kallenborn, Peter Ernst, Manfred
Michael Glauninger, and Franz Patocka, 373–387. Stuttgart: Franz
Steiner Verlag.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Luca Melchior studied German and Romanian studies in Udine, Rostock,
and Timișoara before completing a postgraduate master's in language
teaching in Venice. He earned a PhD in Romance linguistics, focusing
on migration linguistics, in Munich and Udine. From 2009 to 2018, he
was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Graz, later becoming a
professor of multilingualism research at the University of Klagenfurt
(2018-2021). He currently holds a professorship in German didactics at
the same university. His research interests include migration
linguistics, multilingualism, minority languages, sociolinguistics,
language teaching, lexicography, and the history of linguistics.



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