Warum Quedlinburg ins Buchstabier-Alphabet will | Umschau | MDR

So, Aquarius. I'll just spell: Anton, Quelle, Ulrich... In Germany everyone can spell however they want. But in public administration there is a rule for this. In the event that the spelling has to be done officially over the phone. Here in Berlin, at the German Institute for Standardization, we oversee DIN 5.009, the German spelling

alphabet

. And this is what the current spelling board looks like. But A for Anton and B for Berta

will

soon end. A working committee periodically checks whether writing and speaking standards are up to date. Eberhard Rüssing is its president and explains why the rule should be changed. 5009 was now under review.

At the same time a letter arrived from Dr. Blume, the representative of anti-Semitism in Baden-Württemberg. He would like the spelling board to be checked, i.e. denazified. Because the National Socialists changed the spelling board in 1934. Shortly after they came to power, a hardline Nazi wrote to the Mecklenburgische Post: Jewish names should be removed from the spelling

alphabet

. And Deutsche Post responded. It used to be called “S for Samuel” and not “S for Siegfried.” It used to be called "N for Nathan" and not "N for North Pole". North Pole is not even a name. And so the five crossed out Jewish names and replaced them with others.

That was the reason I said: After all these decades, it would be time for us to work on this and get over it. So would a return to the Weimar Republic era be the solution? But names like Otto, Samuel or Ulrich seem old-fashioned. Furthermore, back then there were almost only male names. We thought about incorporating more diversity. Also include foreign names that correspond to everyday life. But we quickly realized that that would probably be the wrong way to go, too. Because we would definitely forget someone, and then another group would say: Why didn't they take us into account?

Then we thought of a system. On a system established and known by the population. This is how we find the license plates. Brilliant plan. B for Berlin, L for Leipzig, F for Frankfurt and E for Essen. And so the spelling board with names should become a spelling board with city names. The selection of cities is initially based on vehicle license plates with one letter. But if you look at the distribution of city names on a map of Germany, it quickly becomes clear: this selection also contains explosive material. Are East and West, North and South, equally represented?

Saxony would be fine with 5 letters. Thuringia, however, only has J for Jena and Saxony-Anhalt would not be represented at all. Things are also looking bad in the north. Bavaria could rejoice with 4 city names. But Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate were also left empty-handed. And a federal state, North Rhine-Westphalia, would be represented with seven city names. Therefore, it is not surprising that standards watchdogs faced a lot of criticism after the draft was published. We received many comments. It started in individual cities, even from higher positions, e.g. mayors and mayors. They also contacted DIN. (Reporter) Did they want their city to be there?

Yes, in one case we replaced Gera with Görlitz. The reason is that Gera and Jena are linguistically close. That's why we exchanged a city. There were also comments. Both from citizens and from higher authorities. The assignment of the letter Q is also quite controversial. Querfurt even has a Q on the license plate. But the district town of Saale is probably too small. And despite its beautiful castle, it is not necessarily known throughout the country. It's not Quickborn, near Hamburg, either. Located in the Pinneberg neighborhood, it doesn't even have a Q on the license plate. And yet, the standards-setters chose the small town of Schleswig-Holstein.

Much to the delight of the people of Quickborn. Many people don't even know Quickborn. Then it

will

be better known. Maybe it's more interesting for people who don't know our Quickborn. Then maybe the word will spread. Quickborn Q. We are local patriots. We think it's fantastic that our place is known throughout Germany with this name. The mayor of Quickborn thinks so too. He just likes the public debate about the assignment of the letter Q. This is the greatest idea the German Committee for Standardization has ever had. Quickborn definitely has to be part of the spelling alphabet.

It doesn't work without us. But the toughest Q competition comes from the Quickborners of the city of Quedlinburg. Here there are not only license plates with a Q, but also a historic center. As a world cultural heritage it can compete with the Palace of Versailles or the Acropolis of Athens. You also don't want to miss DIN 5.009. It is important to us because it is also a matter of gratitude. What do you think of the cities of the new federal states? What do you think of the World Heritage city of Quedlinburg? We are known from Detroit to Beijing.

Maybe it's easier for them to say Quedlinburg than Quickborn because they've already been to Quedlinburg. The marketing department of the Quedlinburg city council does not want to simply accept the Quickborn preference of the German Institute for Standardization. The working committee is urgently requested to change the DIN 5.009 standard again. If it's not too late. The objection phase has ended. I think it was a transparent process. We changed the board so that all the federal states, except the city of Bremen... That is not there. Because with B it is clear which city it will be. Bremen could not accommodate.

But now all other states are represented on the spelling board. What the new standard will look like will only be known when it is released in the spring. Until then, the institute will remain silent. Aquarium. I'll just spell it out: Augsburg, Quedlinburg... In the end, everyone can decide for themselves whether Q is like Quickborn or Quedlinburg.