Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225/34 (Sachsenspiegel). During the Hanseatic period, Middle Low German was the leading written language in the north of Central Europe and served as a lingua franca in the northern half of Europe. It was used parallel to medieval Latin also for purposes of diplomacy and for deeds.
Northern Europe in 1400, showing the extent of the Hanseatic League
Der Keyserliken Stadt Lübeck Christlike Ordeninge/ tho denste dem hilgen Evangelio/ Christliker leve/ tucht/ frede unde enicheyt/ vor de yöget yn eyner guden Schole[n] tho lerende. Unde de Kercken denere und rechten armen Christlick tho vorsorgende. Dorch Jo. Bugen. Pom. beschreven. 1531, i.e. "The Imperial City of Lübeck's Christian Ordinance at the service of the Holy Gospel of Christian life, discipline, peace and unity, to teach the youth in a good school, and to provide Christianly for the church servants and the righteous poor. Written by
Eyne vorrede ouer dyt boek van reynken deme vosse, i.e. "A prologue about this book of Reynard the Fox". Reynard the Fox is an allegorical epic that was popular in medieval Europe. This is from the 1498 edition published in Lübeck, one of the major Hanseatic cities. The typeface is typical for the blackletter used in MLG printing.
Low German is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide.
City limit sign in Lower Saxony showing that Low German is closer to English: "Altenbruch" (Standard German) "Olenbrook" (Low German), meaning "old bog/swamp" (incorporated village of Cuxhaven).
Low German-speaking area before the expulsion of almost all Low German- and German-speakers from east of the Oder–Neisse line in 1945. Low German-speaking provinces of Germany east of the Oder, before 1945, were Pomerania with its capital Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland), where east of the Oder East Pomeranian dialects were spoken, and East Prussia with its capital Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), where Low Prussian dialects were spoken. Danzig (now
A public school in Witmarsum Colony (Paraná, Southern Brazil) teaches in the Portuguese language and in Plautdietsch.
Low German dialects around the world
