Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft is a compound word that serves as an example of the virtually unlimited compounding of nouns that is possible in many Germanic languages. According to the 1996 "Guinness Book of World Records", it is the longest word published in the German language.
Northern Germany
Although from the 19th century onwards the use of Standard German was strongly promoted especially by the Prussian administration, Low German dialects are still present in rural areas, with an estimated number of five to eight million active speakers. However, since World War II and the immigration of expellees from the former eastern territories of Germany, its prevalence has steadily reduced. Besides which, Frisian is spoken in East and North Frisia, as well as Danish (Standard and South Jutlandic) in parts of Schleswig. From a linguistic and cultural perspective, Northern Germany is linked to the Netherlands, Scandinavia and England. For example, the German word for butcher is "Fleischer" or "Metzger" in the middle, east or south of Germany but is called a "Schlachter" in Northern Germany, resembling the Scandinavian terms for butcher, "slagter/slakter". Other examples are the word for potato, which is "Erdapfel" in much of Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but "Kartoffel" in Northern Germany and in Danish; the North German verb "kieken" (meaning to look), resembling the Danish "kikke/kigge", or Norwegian "kikke" (to look); or the word for the fruit orange, which is "Orange" in standard German, but "Apfelsine" in Northern Germany, similarly to the Dutch ("appelsien/Sinaasappel"), Frisian ("aapelsiin") and Scandinavian languages ("appelsin/apelsin"). Additionally, Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common surnames in the far north of Germany (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein), which are also some of the most common surnames in Denmark (albeit with "Jensen" for Jansen). Hansen is the single most common surname in Norway, the third most common surname in Denmark, and the third and fifth most common surname in the North German federal states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, respectively.