Saxons, etc

Hi Neil,

But, my real question is: Is it not High German that is taught in school
regardless of where you live in Germany? Or another way of asking the
question is: Is Low German ever taught in German schools in lieu of high
German?? My ex wife was from Rheingau next to Wiesbaden. She always said
in those villages they spoke low German and in Wiesbaden many spoke High
German. From being there, I remember there was a difference. Altho that
was 50 years ago and I have forgotten most, I remember the word auf
Wiedersehen as an example, being pronounced different in Wiesbaden. The
difference was something like the difference of proper English vs midwest
English. I also was stationed in the very south of Germany and the
German spoken there was totally different than Rheingau.---Bob

HI Bob,

Yes, High German is the official language of Germany and that is what is
taught in school. In recent years there has been an effort to revive
interest in Low German and there are a few instances of Low German being
taught in some of schools in northern Germany, but this is only on a very
small scale. In our area, the German Lutherans that settled here in the
1840's and 50's built churches first and then schools. The main purpose of
the schools was to teach High German to the children, because that was the
language used in church, and because the children all spoke Low German at
home with their parents, they had to understand High German to take part in
Confirmation instructions.

Wiesbaden is a little too far south to be in the midst of Low German
speaking people. I imagine that what was spoken there was a dialect of High
German. There is a line from Aachen in the west to Frankfort o.d.Oder in
the east called the Benrath line. This line is the southern border of Low
German. Wiesbaden is considerably farther south. Here is an interesting
link that may help. http://www.actilingua.com/top/german_language.htm
Best wishes,
Neil