German
The German group gathers the peoples of the Holy Roman Empire's German lands, divided by dialect and region: Bavarians, Franconians, Saxons, Swabians, Alemanni, Pomeranians and Frisians. Otto I's crowning in 962 made the Kingdom of Germany, the eastern part of the Frankish realm, the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1337 the Empire was ruled by Louis IV of Bavaria, and the Golden Bull of 1356 fixed seven prince-electors to choose its kings. The Hanseatic League of northern cities dominated Baltic trade. Luther's Reformation from 1517 split Germany by faith, and the Thirty Years' War ended at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Prussia rose as a kingdom from 1701, and Napoleon ended the Empire in 1806.
Members
- Westphalian
- High Alemannic
- Lower Saxon
- Rhine Franconian
- Saxon
- Danube Bavarian
- Markish
- Western Pomeranian
- East Franconian
- Swabian
- Rhine Alemannic
- Eastern Pomeranian
- Transylvanian German
- Ripuarian Franconian
- Prussian
- Holsatian
- Silesian German