Language policy in Germany and beyond

Abstract

In Germany and Switzerland the world-dominion of English was already predicted in the 19th century. While today the impact of English on German has alarming consequences for many, English lexemes often fill a welcome gap in German. The role German politicians play in this field can at best be called ambivalent. Strongly negative is the part they played in the discussions about the reform of the orthography of German. The paper concludes with remarks on the language policy of the European Union for which a conscious policy of multilingualism is advocated.