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300px|right|thumb|The Franconian languages in Europe| Legend:

Franconian is a linguistic marker for a number of West Germanic
Germanic languages

The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European languages language family. The common ancestor of all the languages in this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Pre-Roman Iron Age....
 languages and dialects spoken in part of the former core of the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century....
: the Low Countries
Low Countries

The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the country on low-lying land around the river delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse River rivers....
 (The Netherlands, Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 and Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
) and western Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 (around Aachen
Aachen

is a historic spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the westernmost city of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km west of Cologne....
, Cologne
Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
 and Trier
Trier

Trier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere settlement or army camp....
) . Within this groups there are a number of well known languages and dialects, such as Dutch and Afrikaans but also the Pennsylvania German language
Pennsylvania German language

The Pennsylvania German language is a variety of West Central German possibly spoken by more than 250,000 people in North America. It has traditionally been the language of many of the descendants of late 17th and early 18th century immigrants to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and even North Carolina from southern Germany, eastern Franc...
 spoken in North America.

uists doubt whether there really is a Franconian linguistic family as no proof exists that the present Franconian languages and dialects historically developed from a common ancestor language.

Low Frankish dialects and languages (via Old Dutch
Old Dutch

Old Dutch is a linguistic term denoting the forms of West Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages in the Netherlands and the northern part of present-day Belgium....
), for instance, are commonly accepted to be a descendant of Old Frankish, the proposed common ancestor and language of the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
, together with West Central German that might have been partially influenced by High German dialects.

Frankish, also called Low Franconian, consists of Dutch
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
, Afrikaans
Afrikaans

Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch language and thus classified as Low Franconian languages West Germanic languages. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, Taiwa...
 and their dialects.






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300px|right|thumb|The Franconian languages in Europe| Legend:

Franconian is a linguistic marker for a number of West Germanic
Germanic languages

The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European languages language family. The common ancestor of all the languages in this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Pre-Roman Iron Age....
 languages and dialects spoken in part of the former core of the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century....
: the Low Countries
Low Countries

The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the country on low-lying land around the river delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse River rivers....
 (The Netherlands, Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 and Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
) and western Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 (around Aachen
Aachen

is a historic spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the westernmost city of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km west of Cologne....
, Cologne
Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
 and Trier
Trier

Trier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere settlement or army camp....
) . Within this groups there are a number of well known languages and dialects, such as Dutch and Afrikaans but also the Pennsylvania German language
Pennsylvania German language

The Pennsylvania German language is a variety of West Central German possibly spoken by more than 250,000 people in North America. It has traditionally been the language of many of the descendants of late 17th and early 18th century immigrants to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and even North Carolina from southern Germany, eastern Franc...
 spoken in North America.

Controversy

Linguists doubt whether there really is a Franconian linguistic family as no proof exists that the present Franconian languages and dialects historically developed from a common ancestor language.

Low Frankish dialects and languages (via Old Dutch
Old Dutch

Old Dutch is a linguistic term denoting the forms of West Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages in the Netherlands and the northern part of present-day Belgium....
), for instance, are commonly accepted to be a descendant of Old Frankish, the proposed common ancestor and language of the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
, together with West Central German that might have been partially influenced by High German dialects.

Three groups


Low Frankish

Low Frankish, also called Low Franconian, consists of Dutch
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
, Afrikaans
Afrikaans

Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch language and thus classified as Low Franconian languages West Germanic languages. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, Taiwa...
 and their dialects. They are spoken in the Netherlands, Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
, South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, Namibia
Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south....
, the western tip of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, Suriname
Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname is a country in northern South America. Originally, the country was spelled Surinam by English settlers who founded the first colony at Marshall's Creek, along the Suriname River, and was Geographical renaming Nederlands Guyana, Netherlands Guiana or Dutch Guiana....
, the Caribbean as well as in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
.
Nederfrankisch
With a total of over 40 million speakers this is the most numerous of the 3 groups, as well as most spread globally and the only group that has members which are official
Official language

An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other territory. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration....
, national
National language

A national language is a language which has some connection - de facto or de jure - with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy....
 and standard
Standard language

A standard language is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. As it is usually the form promoted in schools and the media, it is usually considered by speakers of the language to be more "correct" in some sense than other dialects....
 languages.

Sometimes, Low Franconian is grouped together with Low German
Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is any of the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands....
. However, since this grouping is not based on common linguistic innovations, but rather on the absence of the High German consonant shift
High German consonant shift

In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development which took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the earliest written recor...
 and Anglo-Frisian
Anglo-Frisian languages

The Anglo-Frisian languages are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English language, Old Frisian, and their descendants....
 features, there are linguistic reference books that do not group them together. A transitional zone between Low Frankish and Central Franconian
Central Franconian

Central Franconian is a name for the following set of dialect groups:* Ripuarian Franconian * Moselle Franconian * Luxembourgish language Luxembourgish is often included within Moselle Franconian, but sometimes regarded as a separate group....
 is formed by the Meuse-Rhenish
Meuse-Rhenish

Meuse-Rhenish is a modern, superordinating term in the geography of the southeastern Low Franconian dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area....
 Franconian varieties, which are to be found in Belgium, the Netherlands, and in German Lower Rhineland
Rhineland

The Rhineland is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. After the collapse of the First French Empire in the early 19th century, the German-speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia....
.

  • Dutch
    Dutch language

    Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
    • Brabantian
      Brabantian

      Brabantian or Brabantish, also: Brabantic is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant which corresponded mainly to the Netherlands province of North Brabant, the Belgium provinces of Antwerp and Flemish Brabant, as well as the Brussels-Capital Region and the province of Walloon Br...
    • Zuid-Gelders (part of Meuse-Rhenish
      Meuse-Rhenish

      Meuse-Rhenish is a modern, superordinating term in the geography of the southeastern Low Franconian dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area....
       Franconian, variants also spoken in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
      • Pella Dutch
        Pella Dutch

        Pella Dutch is a dialect of the Dutch language spoken in Pella, Iowa. It is derived from Zuid-Gelders, a dialect spoken in the Netherlands....
    • West Flemish
      West Flemish

      West Flemish is a group of Dutch dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.West Flemish is spoken by around 1.05 million people in West Flanders , 90,000 in the neighbouring Netherlands coastal district of Zeelandic Flanders, and approximately 20,000 in the northern part of the France d?partement in France of Nor...
    • East Flemish
      East Flemish

      East Flemish is a group of dialects of the Dutch language, which is a Low Franconian languages. It is spoken in the province of East Flanders in Belgium, but also spoken in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the Netherlands....
    • Zealandic
    • Hollandic
      Hollandic

      Hollandic or Hollandish is, together with Brabantian, the most frequently used dialect of the Dutch language. The other important Low Franconian languages dialects are East Flemish, West Flemish and Limburgish....
    • Limburgish (part of Meuse-Rhenish
      Meuse-Rhenish

      Meuse-Rhenish is a modern, superordinating term in the geography of the southeastern Low Franconian dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area....
       Franconian, variants also spoken in Germany)
    • Low Dietsch
      Low Dietsch

      Low Dietsch is a term mainly used within the Flemish terminology for the transitional Limburgish?Ripuarian language dialects of a number of towns and villages in the north-east of the Belgian province of Li?ge , such as Gemmenich, Homburg, Montzen and Welkenraedt....
       (in the northeast of the Belgian province of Liege
      Liège (province)

      Li?ge is the easternmost Provinces of regions in Belgium of the Wallonia, in Belgium. It is predominantly French language speaking, with a German language speaking minority living along the eastern border with Germany and Luxembourg....
      )


  • Afrikaans
    Afrikaans

    Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch language and thus classified as Low Franconian languages West Germanic languages. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, Taiwa...


West Central German dialects

The West Central German
West Central German

West Central German belongs to the Central German, High German languages dialect family in the German language. Its dialects are thoroughly Franconian languages including the following sub-families:...
 dialects (also known as "Middle Franconian dialects") are spoken in the German states of South-Western North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine - Westphalia is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the largest States of Germany of Germany. North Rhine - Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km? ....
, most of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz....
, Saarland
Saarland

Saarland is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. The capital is Saarbr?cken. It has an area of 2570 km? and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population it is the smallest of the German Fl?chenl?nder , i.e., those that are not City States ....
, northern Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
, southern Hesse
Hesse

Hesse is a States of Germany of Germany with an area of 21,110 km? and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main....
, northern Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
, in the bordering French département Moselle, in Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
, by the Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons

The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of ethnic German who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King G?za II of Hungary ....
 in Romania, and by the Pennsylvania Germans in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. It is estimated that these dialects have about 17,000,000 native speakers

  • Central Franconian
    Central Franconian

    Central Franconian is a name for the following set of dialect groups:* Ripuarian Franconian * Moselle Franconian * Luxembourgish language Luxembourgish is often included within Moselle Franconian, but sometimes regarded as a separate group....
    • Ripuarian Franconian
      • Kölsch
        Kölsch language

        K?lsch is a very closely related small set of dialects, or variants, of the Ripuarian Central German group of languages. K?lsch is spoken in, and partially around Cologne, in the West of Germany....
         (region of Cologne)
    • Limburgish (part of Meuse-Rhenish
      Meuse-Rhenish

      Meuse-Rhenish is a modern, superordinating term in the geography of the southeastern Low Franconian dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area....
       Franconian, variants also spoken in the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg
      Limburg

      Limburg may refer to:...
       and in the Belgian province of Liege
      Liège (province)

      Li?ge is the easternmost Provinces of regions in Belgium of the Wallonia, in Belgium. It is predominantly French language speaking, with a German language speaking minority living along the eastern border with Germany and Luxembourg....
      )
    • Moselle Franconian
      Moselle Franconian

      Moselle Franconian is a group of High German languages dialects spoken in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, in the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium, in the neighbouring...
    • Luxembourgish
    • Transylvanian Saxon in Romania


  • Rhine Franconian
    Rhine Franconian

    Rhine Franconian , or Rhenish Franconian, is a dialect family of West Central German. It comprises the German dialects spoken across the western regions of the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Hesse in Germany....
    • Palatinate German
      Palatinate German

      Palatine German is a West Franconian dialect of German language which is spoken in the Rhine Valley between the cities of Zweibr?cken, Kaiserslautern, and Mannheim, and the border to the Alsace region and the Rhine River....
       dialects
    • Hessian dialects
    • Baden dialects (northern Baden-Württemberg)
    • xxxx
      XXXX

      XXXX is a brand of Australian beer brewing in Milton, Queensland, Brisbane by Queensland brewers, Castlemaine Perkins. It enjoys wide popularity in the state of Queensland and is commonly found on-tap in most Queensland pubs and bars....
       (northern Bavaria]]
    • Pennsylvania German (more commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch
      Pennsylvania Dutch

      The Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of German people immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. According to Don Yoder, a Pennsylvania German expert and retired University of Pennsylvania professor, the word "Dutch" in this case owes its origin to an archaic meaning where it designated groups that are today considered Ger...
      ) in North America)


Moselle Franconian, Luxembourgish, Transylvanian Saxon, Ripuarian Franconian are also known as "Central Franconian dialects" - Palatinate German, Pennsylvania German, Central Hessian, East Hessian, Lower Hessian and the Rhinehessian dialect (in Rhenish Hesse around Mainz
Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
, Bingen
Bingen

Bingen may refer to:* Bingen am Rhein, Germany* Bingen, Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany* Bingen, Washington, United States...
, Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach

Bad Kreuznach is the capital of the district of Bad Kreuznach , Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on the Nahe River, a tributary of the Rhine....
 and in Hessen in the Rheingau
Rheingau

The Rheingau is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine between Wiesbaden and Lorch, Hesse near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine....
 area and in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the States of Germany of Hesse. It has about 300,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 35,000 United States citizens ....
) are also known as "Rhine Franconian dialects".

Transitional High German dialects


High German dialects are spoken in the transition area between Central and Upper German
Upper German

Upper German is a family of High German languages dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy....
 dialects. An estimated 700,000 people speak these dialects, most of them are located in Eastern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 (in northern Alsace
Alsace

Alsace is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France , with 222 inhabitants per km? ....
, in the region of Strasbourg
Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
) and South-West Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

  • East Franconian German
    East Franconian German

    East Franconian is a dialect which is spoken in Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Bamberg, Coburg, W?rzburg, Hof and Bayreuth. East Franconian has elements of central German and Upper German....
    • Main-Franconian
      Main-Franconian

      Main-Franconian is group of German dialects being part of the East Franconian German group. The name is derived from the river Main which meets the river Rhine near Frankfurt after having crossed the former West Germany from East to West....
  • South Franconian German
    South Franconian German

    South Franconian is a dialect which is spoken in Baden in Germany around Karlsruhe, Pforzheim and Rastatt. South Franconian has elements of central German and Upper German....


Bibliography


See also

  • Franconian
    Franconian

    Franconian may refer to:*anything related to the Franks, an ancient Germanic people *Franconian languages, a linguistic marker*Franconia , a historic region in Germany, now part of Bavaria, Thuringia and Baden-W?rttemberg...
  • Frankish language
    Frankish language

    *Old Frankish language, the language spoken by the Franks, a Germanic tribes people active in the Ancient Rome era*The Low Franconian languages, the linguistic subgroup containing modern variants of the Old Frankish language: Dutch language and Afrikaans....
  • Low Franconian language
  • Low Dietsch
    Low Dietsch

    Low Dietsch is a term mainly used within the Flemish terminology for the transitional Limburgish?Ripuarian language dialects of a number of towns and villages in the north-east of the Belgian province of Li?ge , such as Gemmenich, Homburg, Montzen and Welkenraedt....
  • East Central German
    East Central German

    East Central German is the non-Franconian languages sub-group of Central German dialects, themselves part of High Germanic languages:*Thuringian...