How many German-speaking countries are there around the world?

78,3 percent of the world’s 95 million native German speakers live in Germany, but what about the other 21,7 percent? We look at where German is spoken, in the DACH region and beyond.

In how many countries do people speak German?

German is an official language in six countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. In the South Tyrol region of northern Italy, and the Opole Voivodeship and and Silesian Voivodeship regions of Poland, which respectively border Czechia and Slovakia, it is also an official language.

Due to the history of Germanic peoples in the Middle Ages, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German colonialism in Africa, the Nazis' attempt to conquer Europe, and mass migration to Latin America before, during and after the Second World War, German has a special legal status in many additional countries across the globe.

Image credit: Dan Komarcha / Shutterstock.com / A traditional German parade in Blumenau, Brazil

The origins of modern German

Germanic languages were first historically recorded in the 1st century BCE when Germanic language speakers came into contact with the Romans. When the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, a migrating Germanic tribe called the Franks conquered western and central Europe. 

In the 6th century, German would develop and in the 8th century, the Frankish Empire was expanded by Charlemagne and ruled by the Carolingian dynasty.

Image credit: jorisvo / Shutterstock.com / A stained glass depiction of Charlemagne in Cologne Cathedral

The Frankish and Carolingian Empire encompassed much of today’s France, Germany, northern Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, parts of Czechia and Denmark. The influence of the Franks and Carolingian Empire is the reason why German is an official language or has a special legal status in many of these countries today.

In the six countries where German is still an official language, let’s get into why, the statistics and demographics of German speakers, and how the type of German spoken in each country differs.

Germany

According to 2021 figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 80 percent of the 82,3 million people who live in Germany speak the language at home. Apart from German, Russian, Turkish and Polish are the three most-spoken languages.

50 percent of German speakers in Germany report speaking Hochdeutsch at home, and the other half speak a dialect, according to a survey by the Institüt für Deutsche Sprache. What’s is Hochdeutsch? Simply put, if you learnt German in a language course, Hochdeutsch is what you speak. 

Hochdeutsch can be a contentious term since it is often used in lieu of the term “accent-free German” but, of course, there is no such thing as accent-free; it is just that this accent has been decided as the standard and can be understood by everyone, including the Austrians and Swiss. Alongside Hochdeutsch there are four additional broad dialects, Niederdeutsch and Plattdeutsch (Low German), Mitteldeutsch (Middle German) and Oberdeutsch (Upper German).

It is difficult to put an exact figure on it, but within the broad dialects, there are around 20 different regional dialects, including Berlinerisch, Hessisch, Sächsisch, Badisch and Bairisch.

Austria

Austria is the “A” in the “DACH” region, the collective name for the German-speaking country group of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German is the official language in Austria, alongside the minority languages Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian.

While German is spoken in Austria, the country has its own version of “Hochdeutsch”, and “Hochösterreichisch” (High Austrian) is an official language which has had its own dictionary since 1951.

Distinguishing accents can be difficult for a non-native speaker, but Austrian German has a few big giveaways. Austrians tend to use “I” (pronounced “ee”) instead of “Ich”, "Januar" becomes "Jänner" and the Hochdeutsch diminutives “-chen” and “-lein” become “-erl” e.g “das Sackerl” (little bag) or "das Hunderl" (little dog). Fittingly, “ein bisschen” becomes “bissl”.

The Bairisch dialect is also spoken in Salzburg, since it lies so close to the border with Germany. Other cities have their own dialects, such as Wienerisch in Vienna and Vorarlbergerisch in the Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg.

Switzerland

Switzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh, with German being the most widely spoken. However, Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch) varies greatly from the German spoken in Munich or Berlin and “Swiss German” is an umbrella term which describes the 19 different dialects of the 26 Swiss cantons.

To understand why Swiss German and High German sound so different, we need to take a quick detour into the history of Germany. Until the 20th century, many residents of southern Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and western Tyrol in Austria spoke a Swiss-German-like dialect, which was mirrored in the alpine nation. 

Things changed shortly after Germany unified in 1871, with successive governments preferring to teach standardised German while shunning the use of regional dialects. This approach was never really adopted in Switzerland, meaning that as standard German homogenised into the language we know today, Swiss German and its hundreds of dialects remained stubbornly different.

Swiss German differs from Hochdeutsch in pronunciation ("Kind" (child) becomes "Chind"), grammar ("laufen" (to run) becomes "laufe"), suffixes ("Kätzchen" becomes "Chätzli") and in its common integration of French and Italian words, such as "Äxgüsi" (excuse me) or "Velo" (bike).

While many Swiss people write Swiss German down, each person still writes and spells words differently and High German is still the written language in most Swiss schools.

Image credit: GoldenFeniks / Shutterstock.com / A French, Flemish and German-language sign in Belgium

Belgium

Along with French and Dutch (Flemish) German is one of Belgium’s official languages, but is only spoken by around 1 percent of the population. Unsurprisingly, the 79.000-strong German-speaking population of Belgium lives in the Liège Province bordering the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, also known as the German-speaking Community.

In its recent history, Belgium was close to selling the region off to Germany in the 1920s for around 200 million gold marks. The deal was scrapped when the French government stepped in. The region would be seized by Germany during the Second World War but returned to Belgium following Nazi defeat in 1945. 

But it was not until 1960 that Belgium was officially divided into four linguistic areas, Flemish-speaking Flanders, French Wallonia, bilingual Brussels and the German-speaking east. Platt Ostbelgisch, also known as Moselle Fränkisch, can be heard in these regions, which may sound like the German spoken in Cologne, Düsseldorf or Trier. “Montag” becomes “Monisch”, “Sie” and “es” become “hot” and “gehen” becomes “jonn”, with a soft "J".

Luxembourg

While Luxembourgish, which sounds similar to Moselle Fränkisch, is the national language of Luxembourg, French and German are also official languages. The country has been bilingual in French and German since the 12th century and only in 1912 was Luxembourgish introduced in primary schools.

Today, 98 percent of Luxembourgers speak a high level of French and 78 speak a high level of German, the language which is used in most official settings, such as administration, in the media and by the police.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria and not to be confused with Luxembourg, is yet another country where the official language is German.

On a trip to Liechtenstein you will hear Alemannic (Allemanisch), a Hochdeutsch dialect group also spoken in parts of Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and the French region of Alsace. Listening to Allemanisch you’ll hear some similarities to Swiss-German, “Danke” may become “Merci vielmals”, “Tschüss” may become “Adje” and “schauen” becomes “luege”.

Provinces where German is an official language

There are three regions and territories outside of the DACH countries, Belgium, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein where German is an official language.

South Tyrol, Italy

South Tyrol (Südtirol) is a province of northeastern Italy bordering Switzerland and Austria. Nearly 70 percent of the South Tyrolean 511.750-strong population speaks German and may speak the South Tyrolean dialect in informal settings.

Learners of Hochdeutsch would recognise the southern Bavarian dialect when listening to South Tyrolean. “Manchmal” would become “oftramol”, “vielleicht” would be closer to the Italian, “magari” and “hallo” would become a mash-up with “ciao” to form “hoila”.

Image credit: steve estvanik / Shutterstock.com / People outside a cafe in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol

Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

Collectively, the German-speaking communes of the southern Polish provinces of Opole and Silesian Voivodeship, which border Czechia and Slovakia, are home to just 250.000 people.

Since 1945, the Silesian and Brieg-Grottkau dialects used in Opole and Silesian Voivodeship have been replaced by standard German in the provinces. Today, the German-speaking communes function bilingually with German and Polish and there are around five radio stations and newspapers which broadcast and publish in German.

Countries where German has a special legal status

German is an official language in six countries and three provinces. But historical relations mean that the language also has a “special legal status” in nine further countries, as far afield as Brazil.

German in Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania

Migration of the Germanic population during the Middle Ages, known as the Ostsiedlung, means that German has a special legal status in Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. 

In Czechia, the Bohemian and Moravian Germans would become known as the Sudenten Germans of the Sudentenland. The Sudentenland was annexed by Nazi Germany and, following their defeat, Czechia expelled most of its German-speaking population, meaning modern Sudenten Germans speak mostly Czech and/or Hochdeutsch. 

Germanic peoples emigrated to Hungary in three major waves, again during the Middle Ages, the Habsburg Empire and the 19th and 20th centuries. Like in Czechia, many were expelled following the Nazis’ defeat. According to 2022 figures, there are 142.551 German speakers in Hungary.

Image credit: BalkansCat / Shutterstock.com / The German National Theatre in Timișoara, Romania

Emigration to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th to 15th centuries also meant that Germanic people arrived in today’s Slovakia. While the term Carpathian Germans previously referred to Germans in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, it now predominantly refers to Slovakian Germans. Today, Slovakian-German dialects are threatened by extinction. Still, on a trip to the country, you’ll find a museum dedicated to Carpathian-German history and two German-language media outlets broadcasting and publishing in German.

Arriving from Luxembourg, Lorraine and Flanders during the 1140s and 1150s, the Transylvanian Saxons are the largest group of German speakers in modern Romania. Their German, known as Transylvanian Saxon, is similar to Luxembourgish, with Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis among a large group of notable Transylvanian Saxons in Romania. The Romanian city of Timișoara is also home to the German State Theatre Timișoara, the site where German-language theatre was first recorded in 1753.

The German language in Russia

Germans have a long history of emigration to Russia too. Today, thanks to the Volga Germans’ emigration during the 18th century, German remains a minority language in the Azovsky Nemetsky National District. 

The district’s first villages were founded by the Volga Germans in 1893 before Azovsky Nemetsky was established as a district in 1992. According to a 2007 census, nearly 60 percent of the district's population (22.246 people) are Germans.

German colonialism and language in Namibia

Now, reaching further afield to Namibia. Namibia was colonised by Germany between 1884 and 1915. During this period the country’s natural resources -gold, platinum, diamonds and other minerals - were exploited and a 1904 rebellion by the Herero and Namaqua people was suppressed by a genocide at the hands of the Germans.

In July 1915, Germany lost control of its South West African colonies to allied and South African forces, before having to give up all of its colonies as part of the Treaty of Versailles. While this history is largely absent in German classrooms, a trail is left behind in Namibia. Many buildings still bear German names and the “Namdeutsch” language is used across society. Around 31.000 of the 2,6 million Namibians speak German as their first language.

Image credit: Fotographie-Kuhlmann / Shutterstock.com / German street signs in Swakopmund, Namibia

German migration to Brazil

German people have been emigrating to Brazil for over 200 years, first as economic migrants filling jobs vacated by newly liberated enslaved people. Slavery ended in Brazil in 1888, but atrocities against indigenous peoples continued, as land was taken and redistributed to Germans in a wider attempt to “Europeanise” and “whiten” its population.

German colonies were established, half-timbered houses erected and German spoken on the streets. The German-Brazilian relationship was complicated when Brazil joined the Allies fighting against Germany in WWII. German immigrants' adoration of Hitler meant Brazil had the largest Nazi Party outside of Germany, but the party would be banned in 1938 by President Getúlio Vargas.

Image credit: William Avila / Shutterstock.com / The centre of Blumenau, a German colony city of Santa Catarina, Brazil

In the postwar era, German culture was less celebrated, but the Germans maintained their established community in Brazil. Many Nazi sympathisers and high-ranking Nazis saw the community as a safe haven to escape arrest in Europe, most notably Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele. After stints in Argentina and Paraguay, Mengele lived unrecognised in São Paulo until he drowned in 1979.

Today, around 3.000.000 people speak German in Brazil, where the main dialect is Hunsrik (Hunsrückisch), which is also spoken in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

“Home Germans” in Denmark

In the wake of WWI, Germany lost parts of northern Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark. As a result, there is a minority German-speaking population, often referred to as “home Germans”, living in southern Denmark today.

However, with a population of just 15.000 “home Germans”, northern Schleswig in southern Denmark has far fewer German speakers than the number of Danes living in Germany’s southern Schleswig (around 50.000). 

The Germans of northern Schleswig have had their language protected as a minority language since the Copenhagen-Bonn Declaration of 1955. Around 25 Kitas and 18 German schools operate in the region today.

What is your experience speaking German outside of Germany?

Mastering Hochdeutsch in Germany is hard enough, but have you ever spoken German in one of the countries, regions or provinces listed above? What was your experience? Let us know in the comments below!

Thumb image credit: nocommentphotography / Shutterstock.com