Shirley Riemer produces " Der Blumenbaum ", a quarterly journal, for the Sacramento German Genealogy Society. In the number 1 issue of volume 12 (in 1994), an article appeared entitled " Just a Matter of Altitude ". In turn, it utilized the book, " Of German Ways ", published in 1970.
The German language has two aspects. The first encompasses standard German, which is spoken by announcers and actors, and by those who do not understand the dialects of people from areas other than their own. Standard German is nearly universally understood. The second aspect encompasses local dialects, spoken in the various geographical areas of Germany.
Although everyone writes "High German", the language understood by all, almost no one speaks it all the time. At home and among friends, Germans speak their own local dialects. This tradition reflects the reverence and devotion of the German to his local region, hometown, and territorial district.
In the United States, a person often attempts to put aside his local dialect in favor of a standard. For example, my wife, who was raised in Maine, can speak in a pronounced dialect of the region. But she has put it aside in favor of "standard" English. I was born in Oklahoma and I remember that as a young boy in Oregon I was kidded about my way of speaking. Today fewer people comment on my speech.
A German who attends a university will speak High German there. On coming back to his hometown, he reverts to the local dialect. If he does not, he is seen as an intolerable snob. A campaigner for political office tries to endear himself to the voters in each geographical area by speaking the local dialect.
The terms, High German and Low German, should not be taken as a commentary on the quality of the German. They merely express the idea that speakers of High German live in the south where the elevation is higher. This is the country of the Alps where the Rhine and Danube Rivers originate. Low German is spoken in the northerly regions, where the country is flatter and nearer sea level.
There are differences and graduations between the two. This can be explained by the fact that the German language appears in a region that was the home of many different ancient tribes. There are common elements throughout these regions and to the English language, but the German that developed in any one area is not superior or better than that in another area. There are just differences.
Perhaps, some of the readers here, who are better informed than I am, will offer some additional comments.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.