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TheGerman-speaking part of Switzerland (German:Deutschschweiz[ˈdɔʏtʃ.ʃvaɪts]ⓘ;French:Suisse alémanique;Italian:Svizzera tedesca;Romansh:Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent ofSwitzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switzerland, most of theSwiss Plateau and the greater part of theSwiss Alps).
The variety of theGerman language spoken in Switzerland is calledSwiss German which refers to any of theAlemannic dialects and which are divided intoLow,High andHighest Alemannic. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality ofSamnaun where anAustro-Bavarian dialect is spoken.
German is the sole official language in 17 Swiss cantons (Aargau,Appenzell Ausserrhoden,Appenzell Innerrhoden,Basel-Stadt,Basel-Landschaft,Glarus,Lucerne,Nidwalden,Obwalden,Schaffhausen,Schwyz,Solothurn,St. Gallen,Thurgau,Uri,Zug, andZurich).[1] French and German are co-official in 3 cantons (Bern,Fribourg, andValais). In the trilingual canton ofGraubünden, more than half the population speaks German, while most of the rest speak one of the other official languages,Romansh andItalian.
By theMiddle Ages, a marked difference had developed between the rural cantons of the German-speaking part of Switzerland and the city cantons, divided by views about trade and commerce. After theReformation, all cantons were either Catholic or Protestant, and the denominational influences on culture added to the differences. Even today, where all cantons are somewhat denominationally mixed, the different historical denominations can be seen in the mountain villages, where Roman Catholic Central Switzerland abounds with chapels and statues of saints, and the farm houses in the very similar landscape of the Protestant Bernese Oberland show Bible verses carved on the housefronts, instead.
In German-Swiss, the French-speaking part of Switzerland (Romandy) may be colloquially referred to asWelschland, which has the same etymology as the EnglishWelsh (seeWalha) or the FrenchWelche used byAlsatians. In GermanyWelsch andWelschland refer to Italy; there, the term is antiquated, rarely used, and somewhat disparaging.
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