When did Germans begin to call themselves "Deutsche"?
score:34
There is a text written by Luther called "an den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation" (exact spelling!). So the word "deutsch" is very old. However, even from the 1848 revolution on (short-living foundation of a German Democracy that was supposed to overcome the small monarchies ("Kleinstaaten")) or from 1871 on (Foundation of the 2nd Reich), Germans didn't consider themselves as Germans at once.
Yes, it was the same German Empire, with the "Kaiser der Deutschen" from 1871 on, but people still identified themselves strongly with their Land and their respective King (Württemberg, Sachsen, Bayern, Hessen ...) or City (Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck) that constituted the federally organized Reich. One interesting source is the author Karl May: In his adventure stories, he gave Germans mostly positive roles, but among them, all German heros were Saxonian (as the author himself). Maybe it is similar for Americans form the US: Being American but being Texan (etc.) as well.
So there was a slow transition that was not equally fast. This transition came to an end in the years around 1933. I once read that from that time on German mountaineers wrote "deutsch" as their nationality in the summit logs much more often. Previously, they preferred "bayrisch" or "sächsisch" etc. This is an interesting source because summit logs are for the voluntary mountaineering community only, so it is not influenced by the authorities claiming their citizens.
Upvote:0
King Ludwig (806-976), now called "der Deutsche" in modern german history-books, was labeled as ruling "Teutschlandt" in the year 1500. So, the word was in use as early as this. But at this time it probably meant the land of the people who spoke "teutsch".
Upvote:0
When Otto the great became holy emperor of Rome the Italians began calling the ethnic group comprised of German people "teutsche" jokingly and they adopted the name.
Upvote:3
I am a german student and the theme in history last semester was the founding of Germany.
In the war against France, before 1871 students and poets started saying that we the Germans have to fight together against France (they wore black, red and gold which became the colors of the flag). This was the time when most people called themselves German.
Before they used the state name and being German was more defined about the language (Luther translated the Bible to german therefore the german language got more equality in this time) than the border.
Upvote:5
The term must definitely have been in common use by 1863, at the very latest, as it is used in the inscription on the floor of the Hall of Liberation. There, it was still spelled Teutsche, however.
Upvote:7
The term has evolved gradually, with the root phrase being listed in Wikipedia:
Theodiscus is a Medieval Latin term literally meaning "popular" or "of the people".
Later in the same entry it states:
However, in German, the use of the term referring to Germans specifically as opposed to people speaking Germanic languages in general evolves during the Early Modern Period and it is in the late 17th and 18th century that the modern meaning of Deutsch is established.
L. Weisgerber, Deutsch als Volksname 1953
Upvote:8
The word Deutsch itself has deep roots. The name Dutch is a cognate. If you're willing to reach way back, the word's ancestry can be traces to the proto-Indo-European word tewtéh [1] meaning people, tribe or the ruler of a tribe. Its English cousin would be the word thede, also meaning people or kinfolk. In Irish Gaelic you can find 'tuath,' with the same meaning. The word Teuton arose from this root as well.
The question, in my view, isn't when the word Deutsch started to be used as much as when did it take on this particular spelling and become imbued with a modern understanding in the sense of nation states. The other answers here seem to clarify that question.
[1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/tewt%C3%A9h%E2%82%82
More post
- 📝 What is/was the correct pronunciation of Byzantine?
- 📝 Were monasteries a refuge for mentally handicapped adults?
- 📝 What is the real origin of the stereotype that associates fried chickens with African Americans?
- 📝 What WWII fighter raid did my great-uncle misremember?
- 📝 Did Imperial Japan choose to ally with Nazi Germany because of ideological similarity?
- 📝 How did the ancestors of proto-Malagasy in South Borneo reach Madagascar?
- 📝 New Zealand uniform or elsewhere?
- 📝 What is considered to be the pivotal battle between Caesar and Pompey?
- 📝 Where do the terms Red Team and Blue Team come from?
- 📝 Proportionally speaking, how many European refugees were accepted by Middle Eastern and African countries during World War 2?
- 📝 When the United States Congress passes an amendment, how are its votes counted?
- 📝 How did people categorize each other in the middle ages, how did racism work?
- 📝 What percentage of the German population worked on gathering the harvest in 1917?
- 📝 What are these old Chinese books?
- 📝 Historically, why did the US station their nuclear weapons in Germany for delivery through German pilots?
- 📝 Recorded data on crime rates
- 📝 When did countries begin making up a pretext before starting a war?
- 📝 What was the extent of military conscription by the German Army during World War 2?
- 📝 What do we currently know about the ethnic origins of Jews?
- 📝 What were the global economic consequences of the 1918 flu pandemic?
- 📝 Name of the ancient law that forbade naming/publicising the name of a criminal?
- 📝 Mexico has the right to possess firearms?
- 📝 Were any of Queen Victoria’s portraits widely publicised?
- 📝 How have European countries affected the caste system in India?
- 📝 What is the relationship (if any) between Skøyen and Skøyenåsen in Oslo?
- 📝 How important were social justice issues in dissident circles in the late USSR?
- 📝 What do we mean when we say history is a science?
- 📝 Why did Francisco Franco never reestablish the Spanish monarchy?
- 📝 How did this 900AD key work?
- 📝 What led to the creation of Belgium?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 When did Germans begin to call themselves "Deutsche"?
- 📝 When did the Greeks stop calling themselves "Roman"?
- 📝 When and how did people begin to consider slavery immoral?
- 📝 When did the hypocrisy to call a dictatorship "free, democratic, republic etc." start?
- 📝 When did countries begin making up a pretext before starting a war?
- 📝 When did the Romans begin using the sword, as opposed to the axe, for decapitation?
- 📝 When did the cats versus dogs rivalry begin in the US?
- 📝 When did Northern India and N. China begin to dominate in global demographics?
- 📝 How did communist authorities decide who is "German" and who is "Polish" when expelling Germans from recovered territories?
- 📝 When did we begin using metal mesh platforms?
- 📝 Did pirates call themselves pirates?
- 📝 When did abolition of property qualifications for voting begin in the USA?
- 📝 When did Germany begin to store it's gold deposits abroad?
- 📝 When did the term "mirror" begin to be used in place of "looking glass?"
- 📝 When did the Chinese begin using night soil as fertilizer?
- 📝 When did spotlights begin to be used at lectures?
- 📝 When did American elections begin to use the ballot?
- 📝 When did disabilities begin to become recognized?
- 📝 When did the Roman consular year begin during the Republic and Empire?
- 📝 When did Germans stop supporting Adolf Hitler?
- 📝 When did soldiers begin wearing ballooned pants?
- 📝 When did the popular idea begin that the 21st century would commence on 1st January 2000?
- 📝 How did pirates back in the day not get killed themselves when they attacked ships?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 When did people decide that all caps means the writer is shouting?
- 📝 When did the allies find out about the killing of Jews during WW2
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 When did bombs actually look like this?
- 📝 How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?
- 📝 Why did the Germans spare Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk?
