Origins
 
German is a member of the family of Germanic languages, forming the group of West Germanic languages after the High German consonant shift. It belongs to the same family as English and Dutch, being closer to the second, as English suffered significant influence from French in terms of vocabulary and various grammatical developments.
 
Official Language

German is the official language of Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, one of the official languages in Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg and also official at a regional level in 15 other countries, including Russia and some Baltic countries. It’s spoken by large groups of immigrants, mainly in Mexico, Brazil, the USA and Argentina. German is the official language of many organizations, and also one of the official tongues of the European Union.

Varieties

German linguists consider dialects as only the regional forms of Standard German. Known in German as !!!Hochdeutsch!!!, Standard German deviates depending on geographic distribution when it comes to vocabulary and pronunciation, mainly, but also in its grammar and even orthography sometimes. In a larger aspect, the emigrants' communities in Brazil, the USA, Mexico and Argentina speak varieties of German that largely differ from Standard German, and are considered varieties but not dialects.

Brief History

The first written documents in Old German as a western branch of the Germanic languages can be traced back to the 8th Century. Being a Germanic language, German deviated from English and Dutch after the High Germanic consonant shift, which formed the different branches within the family.

German existed for long Centuries with no unification attempts. It encompassed mainly the urban and commercial areas of the population on large territories from western to central Europe. German-speaking people were recognized as urban or commercial more than as a sign of national identity. The translation of the bible by Martin Luther in the16th Century was written in the so-called Standard German.

The greatest impact on unified German was exercised by the Hapsburg Empire. German was spoken and written all over the territory of the Empire for several Centuries. There are today communities in France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary which speak German as an inheritance from the times of the Empire.