The German Language

German is spoken by about 130 million people. It is the main language in Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. In German, the language is called Deutsch. German is known for its long words. Some German words are made by joining many smaller words together.

Fun German Words

German loves to make big words by sticking words together. For example, a glove in German is Handschuh, which means hand-shoe. A turtle is Schildkrote, which means shield-toad. These words can be very long. One of the longest German words has over 60 letters!

A map showing German and its cousin languages in Europe.
A map showing German and its cousin languages in Europe. (Original uploader and author was Hunef at en.wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons)

German History

German has been spoken for over a thousand years. Many famous scientists, writers, and musicians spoke German. Albert Einstein, Beethoven, and the Brothers Grimm all used this language. German uses a special letter called the eszett, which looks like this. It sounds like a double s.

Fun Facts

  • German has three words for 'the': der, die, and das.
  • The Brothers Grimm wrote fairy tales like Cinderella in German.
  • German and English are cousin languages and share many similar words.

Did You Know?

The longest German word ever used had 79 letters! It was the name of a law about cattle.