German orthography reform of 1944
Encyclopedia
The planned German spelling reform of 1944 was a failed attempt to amend German orthography. Although one million copies of the new rules were printed by 1944 for school use, the reform was never introduced. Their preparation was initiated by the Reich Education Minister Bernhard Rust and they were drawn up by Otto Basler
, Erich Gierach and Karl Reumuth.
Among the key changes were:
On the orders of Hitler, the introduction of the new rules in schools, which had been planned for the start of the 1944-45 school year, was postponed as it was considered "not important for the war effort." Otto Basler
produced a slightly revised version of the rulebook in 1948, but the innovations contained in it were not implemented.
Some of the proposed changes were included in the German spelling reform of 1996
.
Some of Rust's proposed spellings could be found in the dictionary up to the 1980s, such as the spelling Kautsch.
Otto Basler
Otto Basler was a German philologist.Basler studied German, Romance studies, English and History at the University of Freiburg. In World War I he was a reserve officer...
, Erich Gierach and Karl Reumuth.
Among the key changes were:
- optional changes to the spelling of words of foreign origin to remove non-German combinations, eg Filosof for Philosoph meaning philosopher
- the removal of the third consonant in all groups of three consecutive consonants resulting from the combination of two words, e.g. Sauerstoffflasche to Sauerstofflasche.
- division of words at the end of a line according to the spoken syllables (wa-rum, da-rüber, Fens-ter)
- the disappearance of the comma before main clauses introduced by und or oder.
On the orders of Hitler, the introduction of the new rules in schools, which had been planned for the start of the 1944-45 school year, was postponed as it was considered "not important for the war effort." Otto Basler
Otto Basler
Otto Basler was a German philologist.Basler studied German, Romance studies, English and History at the University of Freiburg. In World War I he was a reserve officer...
produced a slightly revised version of the rulebook in 1948, but the innovations contained in it were not implemented.
Some of the proposed changes were included in the German spelling reform of 1996
German spelling reform of 1996
The German orthography reform of 1996 was an attempt to simplify the spelling of the German language and thus to make it easier to learn, without substantially changing the rules familiar to all living users of the language....
.
Some of Rust's proposed spellings could be found in the dictionary up to the 1980s, such as the spelling Kautsch.
See also
- German spelling
- German spelling reform of 1996German spelling reform of 1996The German orthography reform of 1996 was an attempt to simplify the spelling of the German language and thus to make it easier to learn, without substantially changing the rules familiar to all living users of the language....
- Spelling reformSpelling reformMany languages have undergone spelling reform, where a deliberate, often officially sanctioned or mandated, change to spelling takes place. Proposals for such reform are also common....
- Otto BaslerOtto BaslerOtto Basler was a German philologist.Basler studied German, Romance studies, English and History at the University of Freiburg. In World War I he was a reserve officer...
- German Orthographic Conference of 1901German Orthographic Conference of 1901The Orthographic Conference of 1901 was a German spelling reform for the German Empire, it was largely based on the Prussian school spelling, but also based on the Orthographic Conference of 1876....