German Spelling Reform
Rechtschreibreform

Contents: Articles and Information
Listed in chronological order

TIMELINE > Rechtschreibreform-Chronik from 1880 to 2006

1. Spelling Reform: Double-s Words
   Our first feature (1998) about German spelling reform and some specific rules related to dass and other former sz-words.


2. Spelling Reform Hits the Newsstand
   Most of the German media adopted the new German spelling rules in August 1999.


3. Die Reform der Reform: German Spelling Reform - Again!
   On Aug. 1, 2000 Germany's leading newspaper rejected the new spelling and returned to the former orthography.


4. Poll: Unsere Rechtschreibumfrage
   Rechtschreibreform - ja oder nein? See what others thought in our earlier poll on the issue.


5. Rechtschreibreform-Chronik
   A history timeline of the development of German spelling reform, from 1880 to 2006.


6. Rechtschreibreform: Spelling Reform and Prohibition
   The public debate over German spelling reforms—first introduced in 1996—heated up again in August 2004 when several German periodicals announced they were returning to the 'classic' spelling rules. Does this spell the end of the reforms?

More About German Spelling

Capitalization in German
Groß- und Kleinschreibung auf Deutsch. German is the only world language that capitalizes all nouns, but the simplified spelling movement (including elimination of noun capitalization) dates back to 1924. Do you know the rules for capitalization in German? Can you pass the test?

German Punctuation
Among many things that German and English have in common are the punctuation marks they use. But there are some important differences, too. Do you know the rules under German spelling reform?

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