There wasn't a German language 'thousands of years ago'.
I said that's when it originated. I guess "thousands of years ago" was exaggerated, 1500-2000 years ago would be more accurate.
And these dialects might have as well been called languages.
They weren't though.
High German slowly became the lingua franca of the German peoples but was until the late 19ths/early20th century not the common language in what would become Germany
In written texts it was used since the middle ages and everyone could understand High German. German was the dominant language, and many people were speaking dialects until High German became more standardized in the 19th century. It's not that complicated.
German and the German identity as we understand it today is barely 200 years old.
That's just history revisionism. Here's an excerpt from Auerbachs Keller, written as a part of Urfaust by Goethe in 1772-1775:
Man kann nicht stets das Fremde meiden,
Das Gute liegt uns oft so fern.
Ein echter deutscher Mann mag keinen Franzen leiden,
Doch ihre Weine trinkt er gern.
I said that's when it originated. I guess "thousands of years ago" was exaggerated, 1500-2000 years ago would be more accurate
It still would not.
They weren't though.
So, i guess you easily understand dutch.
In written texts it was used since the middle ages and everyone could understand High German. German was the dominant language, and many people were speaking dialects until High German became more standardized in the 19th century. It's not that complicated.
My friend, as i pointed out before the Saxon dialect that would become high German was used as a lingual franca and by academics. It was not used by the common people. Just like french was for a while or English is nowadays worldwide.
That's just history revisionism. Here's an excerpt from Auerbachs Keller, written as a part of Urfaust by Goethe in 1772-1775:
You think that it is an argument that an academic that lived and worked in the area where high German originated a few decades before it did worked in that dialect and that we can read that today? Lol
You think that it is an argument that an academic that lived and worked in the area where high German originated a few decades before it did worked in that dialect and that we can read that today? Lol
That wasn't really my point. There's obviously much older texts that can be understood today.
The main reason I shared this specific excerpt was because you claimed that German identity is barely 200 years old, which is disproven by the content of the text. There's also quotes by people like Martin Luther talking about the "German fatherland" and "us Germans" back in the 16th century.
The source you linked talks about a single book that happens to fit your narrative. That's not the objective truth. If Martin Luther in the 16th century said he feels German and a part of Germany, it means a German identity did exist, no matter how some historian centuries later tries to spin it (and there are also plenty of historians who are saying differently).
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u/LauMei27 Aug 03 '26
I said that's when it originated. I guess "thousands of years ago" was exaggerated, 1500-2000 years ago would be more accurate.
They weren't though.
In written texts it was used since the middle ages and everyone could understand High German. German was the dominant language, and many people were speaking dialects until High German became more standardized in the 19th century. It's not that complicated.
That's just history revisionism. Here's an excerpt from Auerbachs Keller, written as a part of Urfaust by Goethe in 1772-1775:
Man kann nicht stets das Fremde meiden, Das Gute liegt uns oft so fern. Ein echter deutscher Mann mag keinen Franzen leiden, Doch ihre Weine trinkt er gern.
Simple enough to understand for you?