Because of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's long history before 1871 as a non-united region of distinct tribes and states, there are many widely varying names of Germany in different languages, more so than for any other European nation. For example, in the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

, the country is known as from the Old High German , in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

as ''Almania (ألمانيا),'' in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

as and in French as from the name of the Alamanni tribe, in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

as from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(although the German people are called ), in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

as from the

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...

''nemets'', and in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and Estonian as and respectively from the name of the Saxon tribe.

List of area names

In general, the names for Germany can be arranged in six main groups according to their origin: 1. From

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

''diutisc'' or similar *

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

: ''Duitsland'' *Chinese: (

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

: ''Déyìzhì''), commonly ( trad.) or ( simp.) (''Déguó''; "Dé" from , and "guó" means "country") *

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

: ''Tyskland'' *

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Duitsland'' * Faroese: ''Týskland'' *German: ''Deutschland'' * Icelandic: ''Þýskaland'' *Italian: ''Tedesco'' (meaning ''German'') *Japanese: (''Doitsu'') *

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where t ...

: ''Ubudage'' *

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: (''Dogil'') or (''Doichwillandeu'' – ''North Korea'') *

Lojban Lojban (pronounced ) is a logical, constructed, human language created by the Logical Language Group which aims to be syntactically unambigious. It succeeds the Loglan project. The Logical Language Group (LLG) began developing Lojban in 1987. ...

: ''dotygu'e'' * Low German/Low Saxon: ''Düütschland''/''Duutslaand'' *

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

: ''Däitschland'' *

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

: ''Teutonia'', ''regnum Teutonicum'' * Nahuatl: ''Teutōtitlan'' *

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''Tyskland'' *

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

: ''Duiska'' *

Northern Sotho Northern Sotho, or as an endonym, is a Sotho-Tswana language spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa. It is sometimes referred to as or , its main dialect, through synecdoche. According to the South African National Census o ...

: ''Tôitšhi'' *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Tyskland'' *

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: ' () * West Frisian: ''Dútslân'' *

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

: (''daytshland'') 2. From the

'' Germania'' * Acehnese: ''Jeureuman'' * Albanian: ''Gjermania'' *

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

: ''ܓܪܡܢ'' (''jerman'') *

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: (''Germania'') *

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: জার্মানি (''jarmani'') *

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

: Германия (''Germánija'') * Burmese: (''gyamani'') * Modern English: ''Germany'' * Esperanto: ''Germanio'' (also ''Germanujo'') * Friulian: ''Gjermanie'' *

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

: (''germania'') *

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: (''Germanía'') *

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

: (''jarmanī'') *

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

: ''Jamus'' *

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the H ...

: (''germánya'') * Hindustani: जर्मनी / جرمنی (''jarmanī'') *

Ido Ido () is a constructed language derived from Reformed Esperanto, and similarly designed with the goal of being a universal second language for people of diverse backgrounds. To function as an effective ''international auxiliary language'', I ...

: ''Germania'' *

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

:''جارمنی/jarmani *

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

: ''Jerman'' *

Interlingua Interlingua (; ISO 639 language codes ia, ina) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It ranks among the most widely used IALs and is t ...

: ''Germania'' *Irish: ''An Ghearmáin'' *Italian: ''Germania'' * Hawaiian: ''Kelemania'' *

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

: ಜರ್ಮನಿ (''jarmani'') * Lao: ເຢຍລະມັນ (''yīa la man'') *

: ''Germania'' * Macedonian: (') * Malay (incl.

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

and

): ''Jerman'' * Manx: ''Yn Ghermaan'' * Maltese: ''Ġermanja'' *

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

: ''Tiamana'' *

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: जर्मनी (''jarmanī'') * Marshallese: * Mongolian: (''German'') * Nauruan: ''Djermani'' * Nepali: जर्मनी (''jarmanī'') * Panjabi: ਜਰਮਨੀ (''jarmanī'') *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: ''Germania'' * Rumantsch: ''Germania'' *Russian: (''Germánija'') * Samoan: ''Siamani'' * Sardinian: ''Germania'' *

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

: ''A' Ghearmailt'' * Sicilian: ''Girmania'' * Sinhala: ජර්මනිය (''jarmaniya'') * Sundanese: ''Jerman'' * Swahili: ''Ujerumani'' * Tahitian: ''Heremani'' *

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: இடாய்ச்சுலாந்து (''idaichulandu''), செருமனி (''cerumani''), ஜெர்மனி (''jermani'') * Thai: เยอรมนี (''yəə-rá-má-nii''), เยอรมัน (''yəə-rá-man'') (adjective) * Tongan: ''Siamane'' *

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Alamanni tribe *Arabic: (ʾalmānyā'') * Asturian: ''Alemaña'' * Azerbaijani: ''Almaniya'' *

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''Alemania'' * Breton: ''Alamagn'' *

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: ''Alemanya'' * Cornish: ''Almayn'' *

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

: ''Alemanya'' *

Franco-Provençal Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...

: ''Alemagnes'' *French: ''Allemagne'' * Galician: ''Alemaña'' * Kazakh: (''Almanïya''), not used anymore or used very rarely, now using Russian "Германия". * Khmer: (''ʾaalləɨmɑng'') *

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

: ''Elmaniya'' *

: ''Alemannia'' * Mirandese: ''Almanha'' *

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

: ''Alemanha'' *

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

ᐋᓂᒫ (''aanimaa'') *

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: (ālmān'') *

Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly reg ...

: ''Almagna'' *

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Alemanha'' *

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

: ''Alimanya'' *Spanish: ''Alemania'' * Tajik: (''Olmon'') *

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

: ''Almania'' *

Tetum , nativename=Tetun , states= Indonesia East Timor , speakers=, mostly in Indonesia , date=2010–2011 , ref=e18 , speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor , familycolor=Austronesian , fam2=Malayo-Polynesian , fam3= Central–East ...

: ''Alemaña'' * Turkish: ''Almanya'' *

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: ''Yr Almaen'' (with preceding definite article) 4. From the name of the Saxon tribe * et, Saksamaa *

: ''Saksa'' * Livonian: ''Saksāmō'' *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

: ''Ssassitko temm'' * Veps: ''Saksanma'' *

Võro Võro may refer to: * Võro people, an ethnic group of Estonia * Võro language Võro ( vro, võro kiilʼ, link=no , et, võru keel) is a language belonging to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. Traditionally, it has been con ...

: ''S'aksamaa'' 5. From the

Protoslavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...

''němьcь'' * Belarusian: (''Njamjéččyna'') * Bosnian: ''Njemačka'' *

: (''Nemsko'') (obsolete colloquial) * Croatian: ''Njemačka'' *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: ''Německo'' * Hungarian: ''Németország'' * Kashubian: ''Miemieckô'' * Montenegrin: ''Njemačka'' * Ottoman Turkish: (''nemçe''), meaning all Austrian –

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

countries *

: ''Niemcy'' * Serbian: (''Nemačka'') * Silesian: ''Ńymcy'' * Slovak: ''Nemecko'' * Slovene: *

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

: ''Nimska'' *

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as "Wendish", is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, which is today part of Saxony. It is grouped in the West Slavic language branch, together ...

: ''Němska'' *

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: (''Niméččyna'') 6. From the name of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

*: ''Teutonisch Land'', ''Teutschland'' used in many areas until the 19th century (see Walhalla opening song) * Limburgish: ''Pruses'' (mostly in derogatory meaning) *informal

: ''Preisen'' *informal

Twents Tweants (Tweants pronunciation: ; nl, Twents ) is a group of non-standardised, closely related Westphalian, Dutch Low Saxon dialects, descending from Old Saxon. It is spoken daily by approximately 62% of the population of Twente, a region in t ...

: ''De Pruus'' * Silesian: ''Prusacy'' * Tahitian: ''Purutia'' (also ''Heremani'', see above) 7. Unclear origin *

Kursenieki The Kursenieki ( lv, kursenieki, kāpenieki, german: Kuren – 'Curonians'; lt, kuršiai; pl, Kuronowie pruscy – 'Prussian Curonians') are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit. "Kuršiai" refers only to inhabi ...

: ''Vāce Zėm'' * Latgalian: ''Vuoceja'' * Latvian: ''Vācija'' * Lithuanian: ''Vokietija'' * Samogitian: ''Vuokītėjė'' Other forms: *

Medieval Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Fall of Co ...

: ''Frángoi'', ''frangikós'' (for ''Germans'', ''German'') – after the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. * Medieval Hebrew: (Ashkenaz) – from biblical

Ashkenaz Ashkenaz ( he, ''ʾAškənāz'') in the Hebrew Bible is one of the descendants of Noah. Ashkenaz is the first son of Gomer, and a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. In rabbinic literature, the descendants of Ashkenaz were first ass ...

() was the son of Japheth and grandson of Noah. Ashkenaz is thought to be the ancestor of the Germans. *

: ''bawory'' or ''bawery'' (in older or dialectal use) – from the name of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. * Silesian: ''szwaby'' from Swabia, ''bambry'' used for German colonists from the area around Bamberg, ''krzyżacy'' (a derogative form of ''krzyżowcy'' – ''crusaders'') referring to

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, ''Rajch'' or ''Rajś'' resembling German pronunciation of ''

Reich ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...

''. *

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ''Suðrvegr'' – literally ''south way'' (

cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

), describing Germanic tribes which invaded continental Europe. *

: ''Ubudage'',

Kirundi Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a Bantu language spoken by some 9 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Rwanda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, as well as in Kenya. It is the official language of Burundi. K ...

: ''Ubudagi'' – thought to derive from the greeting ''guten Tag'' used by Germans during the colonial times, or from ''deutsch''. * Navajo: ("Metal Cap-wearer Land"), in reference to '' Stahlhelm''-wearing German soldiers. *

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: * Lakota, Iowa * Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County * La ...

: ("Bad Speaker Land"). * Plains Cree: ''pîwâpiskwastotininâhk'' ("Among the Steel Helmets") or ''mâyakwêsinâhk'' ("Among the Speakers of a Foreign/Strange Language") * Sudovian: ''miksiskai'',

Old Prussian Old Prussian was a Western Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid con ...

''miksiskāi'' (both for "German") – from ''miksît'' "to stammer". *

(slang of the communist period): ''Erefen'' from R.F.N. = F.R.G. (Federal Republic of Germany), *Polish (pre-Second World War slang): ''Rajch'' from German ''

Names from Diutisc

The name ''Deutschland'' and the other similar-sounding names above are derived from the

diutisc ' (in Medieval Latin, corresponding to Old English þēodisc, Old High German diutisc and other early Germanic reflexes of Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz, meaning "popular" or "of the people") was a term used in the early Middle Ages to refer to t ...

'', or similar variants from

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...

''*Þeudiskaz'' (

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''þeod''), which originally meant "of the people". This in turn comes from a Germanic word meaning "folk" (leading to

''diot'',

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

''diet''), and was used to differentiate between the speakers of Germanic languages and those who spoke Celtic or

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...

s. These words come from *''teuta'', the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

word for "people" ( Lithuanian and Latvian ''tauta'',

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

''tuath''). Also the Italian for "German", ''tedesco'' (local or archaic variants: ''todesco'', ''tudesco'', ''todisco''), comes from the same

root, although not the name for "Germany" (''Germania''). Also in the standardised Romansh language ''Germania'' is the normal name for Germany but in Sursilvan, Sutsilvan and

Surmiran Surmiran (Surmiran, Vallader, Sutsilvan, Rumantsch Grischun: ''surmiran''; Puter: ''surmiraun'') is a dialect of the Romansh language Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rum ...

it is commonly referred to as ''Tiaratudestga'', ''Tearatudestga'' and ''Tera tudestga'' respectively, with ''tiara/teara/tera'' meaning ''land''. French words ''thiois'', ''tudesque'', ''théotisque'' and ''Thiogne'' and Spanish ''tudesco''tudesco
in the '' Diccionario de la Real Academia Española''. The first sense refers to

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. share this etymology. The Germanic language which ''diutisc'' most likely comes from is West Frankish, a language which died out a long time ago and which there is hardly any written evidence for today. This was the Germanic dialect used in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, spoken by the

Western Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

, i.e. in the region which is now northern France. The word is only known from the Latin form ''

theodiscus ' (in Medieval Latin, corresponding to Old English þēodisc, Old High German diutisc and other early Germanic reflexes of Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz, meaning "popular" or "of the people") was a term used in the early Middle Ages to refer to t ...

''. Until the 8th century the Franks called their language ''frengisk''; however, when the Franks moved their political and cultural centre to the area where France now is, the term ''frengisk'' became ambiguous, as in the West Francian territory some Franks spoke Latin, some

vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...

and some ''theodisc''. For this reason a new word was needed to help differentiate between them. Thus the word ''theodisc'' evolved from the Germanic word ''theoda'' (the people) with the Latin suffix ''-iscus'', to mean "belonging to the people", i.e. the people's language. Sachsenspiegel die wahl des deutschen Königs

Sachsenspiegel die wahl des deutschen Königs

Eastern Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...

, roughly the area where Germany now is, it seems that the new word was taken on by the people only slowly, over the centuries: in central Eastern Francia the word ''frengisk'' was used for a lot longer, as there was no need for people to distinguish themselves from the distant Franks. The word ''diutsch'' and other variants were only used by people to describe themselves, at first as an alternative term, from about the 10th century. It was used, for example, in the

Sachsenspiegel The (; gml, Sassen Speyghel; modern nds, Sassenspegel; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing loc ...

, a legal code, written in Middle Low German in about 1220: '' Iewelk düdesch'' ''lant hevet sinen palenzgreven: sassen, beieren, vranken unde svaven'' (Every German land has its

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

: Saxony, Bavaria, Franken and Swabia). The Teutoni, a tribe with a name which probably came from the same root, did, through

, ultimately give birth to the English words "Teuton" (first found in 1530) for the adjective German, (as in the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

, a military religious order, and the Teutonic Cross) and "Teuton" (noun), attested from 1833. "Teuton" was also used for ''Teutonisch Land'' (land of the

Teutons The Teutons ( la, Teutones, , grc, Τεύτονες) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with ...

), its abbreviation ''Teutschland'' used in some areas until the 19th century and its currently used official variation ''Deutschland''. In the northern French language area (northern France,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), the neighboring Germanic dialects, areas and inhabitants of Flanders to Alsace are sometimes referred to as ''Thiois'', most likely still for the area between

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

and Aachen and for the traditional German speaking part of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

(''Lorraine Thioise''), The term is obsolete and derives from theodisc (see above).

Names from Germania

The name ''Germany'' and the other similar-sounding names above are all derived from the

'' Germania'', of the 3rd century BC, a word simply describing fertile land behind the ''

limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a ...

'' (frontier). It was likely the Gauls who first called the people who crossed east of the Rhine ''Germani'' (which the Romans adopted) as the original Germanic tribes did not refer to themselves as ''Germanus'' (singular) or ''Germani'' (plural). Julius Caesar was the first to use ''Germanus'' in writing when describing tribes in north-eastern Gaul in his ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'': he records that four northern Belgae, Belgic tribes, namely the Condrusi, Eburones, Caeraesi and Paemani, were collectively known as Germanic peoples, Germani. In AD 98, Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Tacitus wrote ''Germania (book), Germania'' (the Latin title was actually: ''De Origine et situ Germanorum''), an ethnographic work on the diverse set of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. Unlike Caesar, Tacitus claims that the name ''Germani'' was first applied to the Tungri tribe. The name ''Tungri'' is thought to be the endonym corresponding to the exonym ''Eburones''. 19th-century and early 20th-century historians speculated on whether the northern Belgae were Celts or Germanic tribes. Caesar claims that most of the northern Belgae were descended from tribes who had long ago crossed the Rhine from Germania. However many tribal names and personal names or titles recorded are identifiably Celtic languages, Celtic. It seems likely that the northern Belgae, due to their intense contact with the Gaulish south, were largely influenced by this southern culture. Tribal names were 'qualifications' and could have been translated or given by the Gauls and picked up by Caesar. Perhaps they were Germanic people who had adopted Gaulish titles or names. The Belgians were a political alliance of southern Celtic and northern Germanic tribes. In any case, the Romans were not precise in their ethnography of northern barbarians: by "German(ic)" Caesar meant "originating east of the Rhine". Tacitus wrote in his book ''Germania'': "The Treveri and Nervii take pride in their German origin, stating that this noble blood separates them from all comparison (with the Gauls) and the Gaulish laziness". The Oxford English Dictionary, OED2 records theories about the Celtic roots of the Latin word ''Germania'': one is ''gair'', neighbour (a theory of Johann Kaspar Zeuss, Johann Zeuss, a German historian and Celtic philologist) – in

''gair'' is "neighbour". Another theory is ''gairm'', battle-cry (put forward by Johann Wachter and Jacob Grimm, who was a philologist as well as collector and editor of fairy tales). Yet another theory is that the word comes from ''ger'', "spear"; however, Eric Partridge suggests ''*gar'' / ''gavin'', to shout (as Old Irish ''garim''), describing the Germanic tribesmen as noisy. He describes the ''ger'' theory as "obsolete". In English, the word "German" is first attested in 1520, replacing earlier uses of ''Alemanni, Almain'', ''Alman'' and ''Dutch people, Dutch''. In German, the word ''Germanen'' today refers to Germanic tribes, just like the Italian noun "Germani" (adjective: "germanici"), and the French adjective "''germanique''". The English noun "german" (as in "wikt:cousin-german, cousin-german") and the adjective "germane" are not connected to the name for the country, but come from the Latin ''germanus'', "siblings with the same parents or father", which has cognates in Catalan, ''germà'', and Spanish, ''hermano'', meaning "brother".

Names from Alemanni

The name ''Allemagne'' and the other similar-sounding names above are derived from the southern Germanic tribe, Germanic Alemanni, a Suebic tribe or confederation in today's Alsace, parts of Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland. Alemannic-Dialects-Map-English

In English, the name "Almain" or "Alman" was used for Germany and for the adjective German until the 16th century, with "German" first attested in 1520, used at first as an alternative then becoming a replacement, maybe inspired mainly by the need to differ them from the more and more independently acting Dutch. In Othello ii,3, (about 1603), for example, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses both "German" and "Almain" when Iago describes the drinking prowess of the English: :''I learned it in England, where, indeed, they are most potent in potting: your Dane, your German, and your swag-bellied Hollander—Drink, ho!—are nothing to your English. '' [...] ''Why, he drinks you, with facility, your Dane dead drunk; he sweats not to overthrow your Almain; he gives your Hollander a vomit, ere the next pottle can be filled.'' Andrew Boorde also mentions Germany in his '' Introduction to Knowledge'', c. 1547: :''The people of High Almain, they be rude and rusticall, and very boisterous in their speech, and humbly in their apparel .... they do feed grossly, and they will eat maggots as fast as we will eat comfits.'' Through this name, the English language has also been given the Allemande (a dance), the Almain rivet and probably the almond furnace, which is probably not really connected to the word "almond" (of Greek origin) but is a corruption of "Almain furnace". In modern German, ''Alemannisch'' (Alemannic German) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family, spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries. Among the indigenous peoples of North America of former French and British colonial areas, the word for "Germany" came primarily as a borrowing from either French or English. For example, in the Anishinaabe languages, three terms for "Germany" exist: ᐋᓂᒫ (''Aanimaa'', originally ''Aalimaanh'', from the French ''Allemagne''), ᑌᐦᒋᒪᓐ (''Dechiman'', from the English ''Dutchman'') and ᒣᐦᔭᑴᑦ (''Meyagwed'', Ojibwe for "foreign speaker" analogous to Slavic ''Némcy'' "Mutes" and Arab (ajam) ''mute''), of which ''Aanimaa'' is the most common of the terms to describe Germany.

Names from Saxon

The names ''Saksamaa'' and ''Saksa'' are derived from the name of the Germanic tribe of the Saxons. The word "Saxon", Proto-Germanic *''sakhsan'', is believed (a) to be derived from the word seax, meaning a variety of single-edged knife, knives: a Saxon was perhaps literally a swordsman, or (b) to be derived from the word "axe", the region axed between the valleys of the Elbe and Weser. In

and Estonian the words that historically applied to ancient Saxons changed their meaning over the centuries to denote the whole country of Germany and the Germans. In some Celtic languages the word for the English nationality is derived from Saxon, e.g., the Scottish term ''Sassenach'', the Breton terms ''Saoz, Saozon'', the Cornish language, Cornish terms ''Sows, Sowson'' and the

terms ''Sais, Saeson''. "Saxon" also led to the "-sex" ending in Wessex, Essex, Sussex, Middlesex, etc., and of course to "Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon". The Transylvanian Saxons arrived to Transylvania mainly from the Rhineland, not Saxony.

Names from Nemets

The Slavic exonym ''nemets'', ''nemtsy'' derives from Proto-Slavic ''němьcь'', pl. ''němьci'', 'the mutes, not able (to speak)' (from adjective ''němъ'' 'mute' and suffix ''-ьcь''). It may never have meant 'the mutes', but rather 'those who can't speak (like us), foreigners'. Fittingly, the Slavic exonym and endonym, autonym (Proto-Slavic ''*Slověninъ'') likely derives from ''slovo'', meaning 'word'. According to a theory, early Slavs would call themselves the 'speaking people' or the 'keepers of the words', as opposed to their Germanic neighbors, the 'mutes' (a similar idea lies behind Greek ''barbaros'' 'barbarian' and Arab Ajam, عجم (ajam), originally meaning 'mute'). At first, ''němьci'' may have been used for any non-Slav foreigners, later it was narrowed to just Germans. The plural form is used for the Germans instead of any specific country name, e.g. ''Niemcy'' in Polish and ''Ńymcy'' in Silesian dialect. In other languages, the country's name derives from the adjective ''němьcьska (zemja)'' meaning 'German (land)' (f.i. Czech ''Německo''). Belarusian (''Niamieččyna''), Bulgarian (''Nemtsiya'') and Ukrainian (''Nimecchyna'') are also from ''němьcь'' but with the addition of the suffix ''-ina''. According to another theory, ''Nemtsy'' may derive from the Rhine-based, Germanic tribe of Nemetes mentioned by Julius Caesar, Caesar and Tacitus. This etymology is dubious for phonological reasons, as ''nemetes'' could not become Slavic ''němьcь''. In Russian, the adjective for "German", ''nemetskiy'' (немецкий) comes from the same Slavic root while the name for the country is ''Germaniya'' (Германия). Likewise, in

the adjective is ''nemski'' (немски) and the country is ''Germaniya'' (Германия). Over time, the Slavic exonym was borrowed by some non-Slavic languages. The Hungarian name for Germany is ''Németország'' (from the stem Német-, lit. "Német land"). The popular Romanian name for German is ''neamț'', used alongside the official term, ''german'', which was borrowed from Latin. According to the Chinese ''History of Yuan'', the Mongols, Mongol commander Uriyangkhadai took part in the First Mongol invasion of Poland, invasion of Poland and Mongol incursions in the Holy Roman Empire, of the Holy Roman Empire, described as the land of the ''Nie-mi-sz'''. The Arabic name for Austria النمسا ''an-Nimsā'' or ''an-Namsā'' appeared during the Crusades era, another possibility is that the term could have been known early by Arabs in Al Andalus, the reason behind calling Austria ''an-Nimsā'', which should designate Germans is that Arabs considered Austria to be the nation of German people for a long time in the middle ages, on the other hand the Arabic name of "Germany", ''Germania'' or ''Allemania'', took its origin from the Latin names ''Germania'' or ''Alemanni'' respectively. Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish and

word for Austria, ''Nemçe'' (نمچه), is borrowed from the anterior Arabic name of Austria known throughout the Islamic world who considered Austria to be home of the Germans. The Austrian Empire as well was the biggest German-speaking country in the 16th to 17th centuries bordering on the Ottoman Empire.

Names from Baltic regions

In Latvian and Lithuanian the names ''Vācija'' and ''Vokietija'' contain the root vāca or vākiā. Lithuanian linguist Kazimieras Būga associated this with a reference to a Swedish tribe named Vagoths in a 6th-century chronicle (cf. finn. ''Vuojola'' and eston. ''Oju-/Ojamaa'', 'Gotland', both thought to be derived from the Baltic word; the ethnonym *vakja, used by the Votians, Votes (''vadja'') and the Sami people, Sami, in older sources (''vuowjos''), may also be related). So the word for ''German'' possibly comes from a name originally given by West Baltic tribes to the Vikings. Latvian linguist Konstantīns Karulis proposes that the word may be based on the Indo-European word ''*wek'' ("speak"), from which derive Old Prussian wackis ("war cry") or Latvian vēkšķis. Such names could have been used to describe neighbouring people whose language was incomprehensible to Baltic peoples.

Names in East Asia

In East Asia, the names have generally been imported directly from German "deutsch" or Dutch "duits" in various ways. The Chinese name is a phonetic approximation of the German proper adjective. The Vietnamese name is based on the Chinese name. The Japanese name is a phonetic approximation of the Dutch proper adjective. The Korean name is based on the Japanese name. This is explained in detail below: The common Chinese name 德国 (德國, ) is a combination of the short form of 德意志 (), which approximates the German pronunciation of ''Deutsch'' ‘German’, plus ''guó'' ‘country’. The Vietnamese name ''wikt:Đức, Đức'' is the Sino-Xenic pronunciations, Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation (''đức'' ) of the character that appears in the Chinese name. Japanese language (''doitsu'') is an approximation of the word meaning ‘German’. It was earlier written with the Sino-Japanese vocabulary, Sino-Japanese character compound (whose has since been Shinjitai, simplified to ), but has been largely superseded by the aforementioned katakana spelling . However, the character is still used in compounds, for example (''dokubun'') meaning ‘German literature’, or as an abbreviation, such as in (''Dokunichi kankei'', German-Japanese relations). The (South)

name ''Dogil'' () is the Korean pronunciation of the former Japanese name. The compound coined by the Japanese was adapted into Korean, so its characters 獨逸 are not pronounced ''do+itsu'' as in Japanese, but ''dok+il'' = ''Dogil''. Until the 1980s, South Korean primary textbooks adopted ''Doichillanteu'' () which approximates the German pronunciation of ''Deutschland''. The official North Korean name ''toich'willandŭ'' () approximates the German pronunciation of ''Deutschland''. Traditionally ''Dogil'' () had been used in North Korea until the 1990s. Use of the Chinese name (in its Korean pronunciation ''Deokguk'', ) is attested for the early 20th century. It is now uncommon.

Etymological history

The terminology for "Germany", the "German states" and "Germans" is complicated by the unusual history of Germany over the last 2000 years. This can cause confusion in German and English, as well in other languages. While the notion of ''Germans'' and ''Germany'' is older, it is only since 1871 that there has been a nation-state of Germany. Later political disagreements and the History of Germany since 1945, partition of Germany (1945–1990) have further made it difficult to use proper terminology. Starting with Charlemagne, the territory of modern Germany was within the realm of the

. It was a union of relatively independent rulers who each ruled their own territories. This empire was called in German ''Heiliges Römisches Reich'', with the addition from the late Middle Ages of ''Deutscher Nation'' (of (the) German nation), showing that the former idea of a universal realm had given way to a concentration on the German territories. In 19th- and 20th-century historiography, the Holy Roman Empire was often referred to as ''Deutsches Reich'', creating a link to the later nation state of 1871. Besides the official ''Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation'', common expressions are ''Altes Reich'' (the old Reich) and ''Römisch-Deutsches Kaiserreich'' (Roman-German Imperial Realm).

Pre-modern Germany (pre-1800)

Roman authors mentioned a number of tribes they called ''Germani''—the tribes did not themselves use the term. After 1500 these tribes were identified by linguists as belonging to a group of Germanic languages, Germanic language speakers (which include modern languages like German, English and Dutch). ''Germani'' (for the people) and ''Germania'' (for the area where they lived) became the common Latin words for Germans and Germany. Germans call themselves ''Deutsche'' (living in ''Deutschland''). ''Deutsch'' is an adjective (

*''theudisk-'') derived from Old High German languages, High German ''thiota, diota'' (Proto-Germanic *''theudō'') meaning "people", "nation", "folk". The word *''theudō'' is cognate with Proto-Celtic *''teutā'', whence the Celtic tribal name Teuton, later anachronistically applied to the Germans. The term was first used to designate the popular language as opposed to the language used by the religious and secular rulers who used Latin. In the Late Middle Ages, Late Medieval and Early Modern period, Germany and Germans were known as ''Almany'' and ''Almains'' in English, via Old French ''alemaigne'', ''alemans'' derived from the name of the Alamanni and Alemannia. These English terms were obsolete by the 19th century. At the time, the territory of modern Germany belonged to the realm of the

(the Roman Empire restored by the Christian king of Franks, Francony, Charlemagne). This feudal state became a union of relatively independent rulers who developed their own territories. Modernisation took place on the territorial level (such as Austria, Prussia, Saxony or Bremen), not on the level of the Empire.

1800–1871

The French emperor, Napoleon, forced the Emperor of Austria to step down as Holy Roman Emperor in 1806. Some of the German countries were then collected into the Confederation of the Rhine, which remained a military alliance under the "protection" of Napoleon, rather than consolidating into an actual confederation. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, these states created a German Confederation. Some member states, such as Prussia and Austria, had only a part of their territories included within the confederation, while other member states brought territories to the alliance that included people, like Poles and the Czechs, who did not speak German as their native tongue. In addition, there were also substantial German speaking populations that remained outside the confederation. In 1841 August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the song ''Deutschlandlied, Das Lied der Deutschen'', giving voice to the dreams of a unified Germany (''Deutschland über Alles'') to replace the alliance of independent states. In this era of emerging national movements, "Germany" was used only as a reference to a particular geographical area. In 1866/1867 Prussia and her allies left the German Confederation. After Austria was defeated in the German War of summer 1866, it acknowledged the dissolution of the confederation. Prussia was free to create a new alliance, called the North German Confederation. It became a federal state with its constitution of 1 July 1867. The remaining South German countries, with the exception of Austria and Liechtenstein, joined the country in 1870.

German Federation

The first nation state named "Germany" began in 1871; before that ''Germany'' referred to a geographical entity comprising many states, much as "the Balkans" is used today, or the term "America" was used by the founders of "the United States of America". In German constitutional history, the expressions ''Reich'' (reign, realm, empire) and ''Bund'' (federation, confederation) are somewhat interchangeable. Sometimes they even co-existed in the same constitution: for example in the German Empire (1871–1918) the parliament had the name ''Reichstag (German Empire), Reichstag'', the council of the representatives of the German states ''Bundesrat of Germany, Bundesrat''. When in 1870–71 the North German Confederation was transformed into the German Empire, the preamble said that the participating monarchs are creating ''einen ewigen Bund'' (an eternal confederation) which will have the name ''Deutsches Reich''. Due to the history of Germany, the principle of federalism is strong. Only the state of Hitler (1933–1945) and the state of the communists (East Germany, 1949–1990) were centralist states. As a result, the words ''Reich'' and ''Bund'' were used more frequently than in other countries, to distinguish between imperial or federal institutions and those at a subnational level. For example, a modern federal German minister is called ''Bundesminister'', in contrast to a ''Landesminister'' who holds office in a state such as Rhineland-Palatinate or Lower Saxony. As a result of the Hitler regime, and maybe also of Imperial Germany up to 1919, many Germans – especially those on the political left – have negative feelings about the word ''Reich''. ''Bund'' is another word also used in contexts other than politics. Many associations in Germany are federations or have a federalised structure and differentiate between a ''Bundesebene'' (federal/national level) and a ''Landesebene'' (level of the regional states), in a similar way to the political bodies. An example is the German Football Association ''Deutscher Fußballbund''. (The word ''Bundestrainer'', referring to the national football coach, does not refer to the Federal Republic, but to the Fußball''bund'' itself.) In other German speaking countries, the words ''Reich'' (Austria before 1918) and ''Bund'' (Austria since 1918, Switzerland) are used too. An organ named ''Bundesrat (disambiguation), Bundesrat'' exists in all three of them: in Switzerland it is the government and in Germany and Austria the house of regional representatives.

Greater Germany and "Großdeutsches Reich"

In the 19th century before 1871, Germans, for example in the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848–49, argued about what should become of Austria. Including Austria (at least the German-speaking parts) in a future German state was referred to as the ''Kleindeutschland and Großdeutschland, Greater German Solution'', while a German state without Austria was the ''Smaller German Solution''. In 1919, the Weimar Constitution postulated the inclusion of ''Deutsch-Österreich'' (the German-speaking parts of Austria), but the Allies of World War I, Western Allies objected to this. It was realised only in 1938 when Germany annexed Austria ''(Anschluss)''. National Socialist propaganda proclaimed the realisation of Kleindeutschland and Großdeutschland, Großdeutschland and, in 1943, the German Reich was officially renamed ''Großdeutsches Reich''. However, these expressions became neither common nor popular. In National Socialist propaganda, Austria was also called ''Ostmark (Austria), Ostmark''. After the ''Anschluss'', the previous territory of Germany was called ''Altreich (pre-1938 Nazi Germany), Altreich'' (old Reich).

German Empire and Weimar Republic of Germany, 1871–1945

The official name of the German state in 1871 became ''Deutsches Reich'', linking itself to the former ''Reich'' before 1806 and the rudimentary ''Reich'' of 1848/1849. This expression was commonly used in official papers and also on maps, while in other contexts ''Deutschland'' was more frequently used. Those Germans living within its boundaries were called ''Reichsdeutsche'', those outside were called ''Volksdeutsche'' (ethnic Germans). The latter expression referred mainly to the German minorities in Eastern Europe. Germans living abroad (for example in America) were and are called ''Auslandsdeutsche''. After the forced abdication of the Emperor in 1918, and the republic was declared, Germany was informally called the ''Deutsche Republik''. The official name of the state remained the same. The term Weimar Republic, after the city where the National Assembly gathered, came up in the 1920s, but was not commonly used until the 1950s. It became necessary to find an appropriate term for the Germany between 1871 and 1919: ''Kaiserliches Deutschland'' (Imperial Germany) or ''(Deutsches) Kaiserreich''.

Nazi Germany

After Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, the official name of the state was still the same. For a couple of years, Hitler used the expression ''Drittes Reich'' (Third Reich), which was introduced by writers in the last years of the republic. In fact, this was only a propaganda term and did not constitute a new state. Another propaganda term was ''Tausendjähriges Reich'' (Thousand years Reich). Later, Hitler renounced the term ''Drittes Reich'' (officially in June 1939), but it already had become popular among supporters and opponents and is still used in historiography (sometimes in quotation marks).Heinrich August Winkler: ''Der lange Weg nach Westen. Deutsche Geschichte 1933–1990'', Bonn 2004, p. 6/7. It later led to the name ''Zweites Reich'' (Second Empire) being used to refer to Germany between the years 1871 and 1919. Germany under Hitler's rule is most commonly called in English ''Nazi Germany'', ''Nazi'' being a colloquial abbreviation of ''Nationalsozialist''.

Germany divided 1945–1990

After the defeat in World War II, Germany was occupied by the troops of Britain, France, the United States and Soviet Union. Berlin was a case of its own, as it was situated on the territory of the Soviet zone but divided into four sectors. The western sectors were later called West Berlin, the other one East Berlin. The communists tended to consider the Soviet sector of Berlin as a part of GDR; West Berlin was, according to them, an independent political unit. In the GDR ''Westberlin'' was the preferred spelling to de-emphasize the relationship to ''Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR'' (the GDR capital). After 1945, ''Deutsches Reich'' was still used for a couple of years (in 1947, for instance, when the Social Democrats gathered in Nuremberg they called their rally ''Reichsparteitag''). In many contexts, the German people still called their country ''Germany'', even after two German states were created in 1949.

Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany, ''Bundesrepublik Deutschland'', established in 1949, saw itself as the same state founded in 1867/71 but ''Reich'' gave place to ''Bund''. For example, the ''Reichskanzler'' became the ''Bundeskanzler'', ''reichsdeutsch'' became ''bundesdeutsch'', ''Reichsbürger'' (citizen of the ''Reich'') became ''Bundesbürger''. Germany as a whole was called ''Deutschland als Ganzes'' or ''Gesamtdeutschland'', referring to Germany in the international borders of 1937 (before Hitler started to annex other countries). This resulted in ''all German'' (or ''pan germanique''—a chauvinist concept) aspirations. In 1969 the Federal Ministry for All German Affairs was renamed the Federal Ministry for Intra-German Relations. Until 1970, a number of expressions competed in the Federal Republic to designate the other German state (the communist German Democratic Republic). It was called ''Sowjetische Besatzungszone'' (SBZ, Soviet Zone of Occupation), ''Sowjetzone'', ''Ostzone'', ''Mitteldeutschland'' or ''Pankow'' (many GDR politicians lived or worked in Berlin-Pankow).

German Democratic Republic

DDR international vehicle registration oval

In 1949, the communists, protected by the Soviet Union, established the ''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'' (DDR, German Democratic Republic, GDR). This state was not considered to be a successor of the Reich, but, nevertheless, to represent all ''good Germans''. Rulers and inhabitants of GDR called their state simply DDR or ''unsere Republik'' (our republic). The GDR still supported the idea of a German nation and the need for reunification. The Federal Republic was often called ''Westdeutschland'' or the BRD. After 1970 the GDR called itself a "socialist state of German nation". Westerners called the GDR ''Sowjetische Besatzungszone'' (SBZ, Soviet Zone of Occupation), ''Sowjetzone'', ''Ostzone'', ''Mitteldeutschland'' or ''Pankow'' (the GDR government was in the Pankow district of Berlin).

Federal Republic of Germany 1990–present

In 1990 the ''German Democratic Republic'' ceased to exist. Five new federal states ("Bundesländer") were established and joined the "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (Federal Republic of Germany). East Berlin joined through merger with West Berlin; technically this was the sixth new federal state since West Berlin, although considered a de facto federal state, had the legal status of a Allied-occupied Germany, military occupation zone. The official name of the country is ''Federal Republic of Germany'' (Bundesrepublik Deutschland). The terms "Westdeutschland" and "Ostdeutschland" are still used for the western and the eastern parts of the German territory, respectively. HRR 1789 EN.png, The Holy Roman Empire, 1789 Deutscher Bund.png, German Confederation, 1815–1866 Karte_Deutsches_Reich,_Gliederung_der_oberen_Verwaltungsebenen_1900-01-01.png, Germany (Deutsches Reich), 1871–1918 Karte des Deutschen Reiches, Weimarer Republik-Drittes Reich 1919–1937.svg, Germany (Deutsches Reich), 1919–1937 NS administrative Gliederung 1944.png, Nazi Germany, 1944

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Why are there so many names for Germany, AKA Deutschland, Allemagne, etc.?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Names of Germany Country name etymology, Germany, names for History of Germany Geography of Germany German culture Lists of country names in various languages, Germany

List of area names

Names from Diutisc

Names from Germania

Names from Alemanni

Names from Saxon

Names from Nemets

Names from Baltic regions

Names in East Asia

Etymological history

Pre-modern Germany (pre-1800)

1800–1871

German Federation

Greater Germany and "Großdeutsches Reich"

German Empire and Weimar Republic of Germany, 1871–1945

Nazi Germany

Germany divided 1945–1990

Federal Republic of Germany

German Democratic Republic

Federal Republic of Germany 1990–present

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links