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Dialects in Thuringia

Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon German spoken mainly in the state of Saxony, therefore both are also regarded as one Thuringian(-Upper Saxon) dialect group. Thuringian dialects are among the Central German dialects with the highest number of speakers.

Thuringian Dialects

There is a large variety in Thuringian dialects where influences of Saxon, Hessian and Franconian languages are mixed to different degree. The „Linguasphere Register“ (issue 1999/2000, pages 431-432) distinguishes the Thuringian-Upper Saxon group into twelve dialects: Thuringian:

• Central Thuringian (Erfurt-Sömmerda-Bad Langensalza-Gotha-Friedrichroda-Ilmenau)
• Ilm Thuringian, spoken between the Ilm and Saale rivers (Königsee-Bad Blankenburg-Rudolstadt-Weimar-Jena-Apolda, Bad Bibra)
• Eichsfeld dialect (Heilbad Heiligenstadt-Leinefelde-Worbis-Mühlhausen, in Hesse: Eschwege-Bad Sooden-Allendorf-Witzenhausen)
• Northern Thuringian (Nordhausen-Bad Frankenhausen-Sondershausen, Sangerhausen-Harzgerode-Stolberg (Harz), Bad Lauterberg-Bad Sachsa)
• Western Thuringian (Eisenach-Bad Liebenstein-Bad Salzungen-Ruhla)
• Northeastern Thuringian (Artern, in Saxony-Anhalt: Halle-Merseburg-Bernburg)
  • Mansfeld Dialect spoken in Saxony-Anhalt (Hettstedt-Mansfeld-Eisleben)
• Eastern Thuringian (Eisenberg-Altenburg, Zeitz-Naumburg-Hohenmölsen)
• Southeastern Thuringian (Saalfeld-Gera-Greiz-Neustadt-Bad Lobenstein, Mühltroff-Elsterberg, in Bavaria: Ludwigsstadt-Teuschnitz)
• Anhalt dialect in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, spoken around Dessau-Köthen-Bernburg-Staßfurt-Aschersleben in the tradition zone between North(east)ern Thuringian and Brandenburgish

Upper Saxon:

• Osterland dialect (Leipzig-Eilenburg-Torgau, Wittenberg-Bitterfeld-Wolfen-Jessen, Herzberg-Bad Liebenwerda-Elsterwerda): with strong Lower German influence form the 11th to 13th century
• Meissen dialect or Upper Saxon (Obersächsisch) proper: the Meißssen Dialects had a strong influence on modern Standard German as they were the base for the Sächsisches Kanzleideutsch used by Martin Luther for his 1522 Bible translation.
  • Northern Meissen dialect (Grimma-Döbeln-Riesa)
  • Northeastern Meissen dialect (Lommatzsch-Großenhain)
  • Western Meissen dialect (Mittweida-Rochlitz-Borna)
  • Southern Meissen dialect (Oederan-Frankenberg-Hainichen-Freiberg)
  • Northeastern Meissen dialect (Dippoldiswalde-Freiberg-Meißen-Radeburg-Pirna-Bad Schandau)
• Northern Bohemian dialect (up to the 1945 expulsion in the region of Tetschen-Aussig-Teplitz)