View source for Organization:Council for German Orthography

{{Short description|Main international body regulating German orthography}}
[[File:Legal status of German in Europe.svg|thumb|right|450px|
Legal statuses of German in Europe:
{{legend|#ffcc00|'''"German Sprachraum"''': German is (co-)official language and first language of the majority of the population}}
{{legend|#d98575|German is a co-official language, but not the first language of the majority of the population}}
{{legend|#7373d9|German (or a German dialect) is a legally recognised minority language <small>(Squares: Geographic distribution too dispersed/small for map scale)</small>}}
{{legend|#30efe3|German (or a variety of German) is spoken by a sizeable minority, but has no legal recognition}}]]

The '''{{lang|de|Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung}}''' ({{IPA-de|ˈʁaːt fyːɐ̯ ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈʁɛçtˌʃʁaɪbʊŋ}}, "'''Council for German Orthography'''" or "'''Council for German Spelling'''"<ref name=goethe>{{cite web|url=https://www.goethe.de/en/spr/mag/20802137.html|title=German Spelling Reform - Nearly a Culture War|last=Dittrich|first=Monika|date=July 2016|publisher=Goethe-Institut|accessdate=4 February 2018|archive-date=1 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401224510/https://www.goethe.de/en/spr/mag/20802137.html|url-status=live}}</ref>), or {{lang|de|RdR}}, is the main international body regulating [[Social:Standard German|Standard High German]] orthography.

With its seat being in [[Place:Mannheim|Mannheim]], {{wipe|Germany}}, the RdR was formed in 2004 as a successor to the ''{{lang|de|Zwischenstaatliche Kommission für deutsche Rechtschreibung}}'' ("Intergovernmental Commission for German Orthography") in order to include both supporters and opponents of the German orthography reform of 1996 (and subsequent reforms).<ref name=goethe/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rechtschreibrat.com/DOX/statut.pdf|title=Official statute of the Council for German Orthography|access-date=2024-01-19|archive-date=2022-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005164144/https://rechtschreibrat.com/DOX/statut.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Currently the RdR is composed of 41 members from those states and regions in the German Sprachraum:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rechtschreibrat.com/der-rat/ueber-den-rat/|title=Die Mitglieder|publisher=Council for German Orthography|language=de|accessdate=4 February 2018|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819154939/https://www.rechtschreibrat.com/der-rat/ueber-den-rat/|url-status=live}}</ref>

* {{flag|Germany}}: 18 councillors
* {{flag|Austria}}: 9 councillors
* {{flag|Switzerland}}: 9 councillors
* {{BE-DE}} (Belgium): 1 councillor
* {{flag|Liechtenstein}}: 1 councillor
* {{flag|South Tyrol}} (Italy): 1 councillor
* {{flag|Luxembourg}}: 1 observer (no voting right)

Despite having German as one of its official languages, Luxembourg, which was not involved in devising the reform of 1996, is not a full member of the council. The government of Luxembourg unilaterally adopted the reform.<ref>
{{Cite book|title=Deutsch in Luxemburg: Positionen, Funktionen und Bewertungen der deutschen Sprache|last=Scheer|first= Fabienne|date=2017|publisher=Narr Francke Attempto|isbn=9783823380979|location=Tuebingen, Germany|pages=416}}</ref> According to the duchy's largest newspaper, the ''{{lang|de|Luxemburger Wort}}'', Luxembourg does not perceive itself as a "German-speaking country" (the only national language is Luxembourgish) and thus had no right to take part in the council.<ref>''Luxemburger Wort'', 9 August 2004</ref> Despite this, Luxembourg takes part in the annual meetings of German-speaking countries.<ref>https://brf.be/regional/1117620/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006235241/https://brf.be/regional/1117620/ |date=2022-10-06 }} BTF.be - 14. Treffen deutschsprachiger Länder in Luxemburg (27.9.2017)</ref> Furthermore, Luxembourg participates in {{lang|fr|La Francophonie}} and has members in the {{lang|fr|[[Organization:Académie française|Académie française]]}}, despite [[Social:French language|French]] being only a co-official language, just like German.<ref>{{lang|fr|[http://www.francophonie.org/Carte-interactive-des-Etats-et.html Carte interactive des Etats et gouvernements membres], Organisation internationale de la Francophonie}}</ref>

The chairman of the ''{{lang|de|[[Organization:Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache|Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache]]}}'' ({{lang|de|GfdS}}) is a member of the council. In 2003, the RdR, the GfdS, the ''{{lang|de|Goethe-Institut}}'' and the Institute of the German Language, founded the German Language Council (''{{lang|de|Deutscher Sprachrat}}''), which was later also joined by the [[Organization:German Academic Exchange Service|German Academic Exchange Service]] (DAAD).

== See also ==
* German orthography

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==


[[Category:Language regulators]]

{{Sourceattribution|Council for German Orthography}}