HistoryKonrad DudenIn 1872, Konrad Duden, headmaster of a Gymnasium (secondary school) in Schleiz, Thuringia, published a German dictionary called the Schleizer Duden, the first Duden. In 1880 he published the Vollständiges Orthographisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache ("Complete Orthographical Dictionary of the German Language"); this seminal treatise was declared the official source for correct spelling in the administration of Prussia the same year. The first edition of this Duden contained 28,000 entries. From 1901 to 1996
Title of Der Große Duden by VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig (1957)
In 1902 the Bundesrat confirmed the Duden as the official standard for German spelling; Austria-Hungary and Switzerland soon followed suit. In the ensuing decades, the Duden continued to be the de facto standard for German orthography. After World War II this tradition continued separately in East and West Germany in Leipzig and Mannheim. In West Germany, some publishing houses began to attack the Duden "monopoly" in the 1950s, publishing dictionaries that contained alternative spellings. In reaction, in November 1955 the ministers of culture of the states of Germany confirmed that the spellings given by the Duden would continue to be the official standard. Reform DudenVolumes
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