What Languages are Spoken in Germany

Although there are many dialects and regional languages, spoken in Germany, it still remains a country where people primarily speak German – about 92-95% of the population, which counts 83,000,000 people, uses it daily.

German originally derived from the West Germanic language and by the 6th century could be distinguished as a separate language.

There are 31 dialects which fall under two groups – High and Low German. High German dialects are spoken in southern and central regions, while Low German is native to northern parts.

· Danish. Spoken natively by 0,06% of the population, primarily in the northern part of Schleswig-Holstein state, near Denmark.

· Sorbian. These minority languages belong to the West Slavic group. 400,000 Germans can speak Upper Sorbian, while 10,000 Germans use Lower Sorbian, especially in Saxony (Sachsen) and Brandenburg states.

· Frisian. North Frisian is spoken by 10,000 Germans in Frisia – the coastal region of Germany and Netherlands near the North Sea. Saterland Frisian is spoken by 2,000 people, mostly in Saterland, Saxony.

· Romani. Native to Roma people, spoken by 85,000 of Germans. There is also a Sinte Romani variety, native to Sinti people.

Apart from German and its many dialects, another commonly used language in Germany is English. It is spoken by over 45,000,000 Germans, which equals about 56% of the entire population. However, a larger amount of English-speakers can be found in big cities such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, etc., as these cities are primary tourist destinations. Being the world’s lingua franca, English is often the first choice to be studied. Many people also need it for work. In these cases oftentimes German-English translation is required. If you need good German translations revises – we recommend you try this website.

French is another prominent language in Germany with over 12,000,000 speakers - approximately 14.88% of the population. Southern states of Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, Rheinland-Pfalz have common borders with France, which makes French one of the most spoken languages there. The French language is also commonly chosen as a second language for education.

Approximately 3,000,000 people in Germany speak the Russian language – which is about 3%. Despite Russia being geographically distanced, Russian arrived after the Soviet Union's dissolution and all throughout the 20th century. Statistics say that around 1,200,000 Russian speakers are immigrants from post-Soviet countries, ethnic Germans, Jews, which repatriated to Germany after living in various Russian-speaking countries.

Turkish is an immigrant language that is widely spoken – over 2,000,000 people (2.4% of Germans) speak it. Germany is home to many immigrants from across the world, but people of Turkish origin are noticeable ethnic minorities in Germany, as well as the biggest cluster of Turkish people outside Turkey.

The Polish language can often be heard in the northwest region of Germany in states that border Poland – Sachsen, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It total, over 1,100,000 German population can speak Polish – around 1.4%.

Like most other countries, especially those that have a long history and close connections with their neighboring nations, Germany ended up with a diverse population. Therefore, it is understandable how Germany got exposed to different languages and dialects, which allow us to trace its historical path and better understand its development.