Information AboutReich |
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(), is the ". Like its Latin counterpart, ''imperium'', ''Reich'' does not necessarily connote a Monarchy . The Weimar Republic continued to use the name '' Deutsches Reich ''. Reich, German The term ''Reich'' was part of the German names for Germany for much of its history. The German name for the " Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation " ( 9th Century – 1806 ) is ''Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation.'' In Middle High German , ''der rîche'' was a title for the Emperor. However, it should be noted that Latin, not German, was the formal legal language of the mediaeval Empire, so English-speaking historians are more likely to use Latin ''imperium'' than German ''Reich'' as a term for this period of German history. The unified Germany which arose under Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck in 1871 was called in German the ''Deutsches Reich''. This remained the official name of Germany until 1945 , although these years saw three very different political systems more commonly referred to in English as the German Empire ( 1871 – 1918 , as this term is a direct translation of ''Deutsches Reich'' it can be ambiguous), the Weimar Republic ( 1919 – 1933 ; the term is a postwar coinage not used at the time), and Nazi Germany (the Third Reich) ( 1933 – 1945 ). The Nazi s sought to legitimise their power historiographically by portraying their rule as a continuation of a Germanic past. They coined the term ''Das Dritte Reich'' ("The Third Empire" – usually rendered in English in the half-translation "The Third Reich"), counting the Holy Roman Empire as the first and the 1871-1918 monarchy as the second. They also used the Political Slogan ''Ein Volk , ein Reich, ein Führer '' ("One people, one ''Reich'', one leader"). Although the term "Third Reich" is in common use, the terms "First Reich" and "Second Reich" for the earlier periods are seldom found outside Nazi propaganda. To adopt them as some commentators did in the post-war years is generally frowned upon as accepting Nazi historiography. A number of previously neutral words used by the Nazis have later taken on negative connotations in German (e.g. ''Führer'' or ''Heil''); while in many contexts ''Reich'' is not one of them (''reich'', rich; ''Frankreich'', France), it can imply German Imperialism or strong Nationalism if it is used to describe a political entity. ''Reich'' has thus not been used in official terminology since 1945, though it is still found in the name of the Reichstag Building , which since 1999 has housed the German federal Parliament , the Bundestag . The decision not to rename the Reichstag building was taken only after long debate in the Bundestag; even then, it is described officially as ''Reichstag - Sitz des Bundestages'' (Reichstag, seat of the Bundestag). During the Cold War , the East German Railway incongruously continued to use the name '' Deutsche Reichsbahn '' (German Imperial Railways), which had been the name of the national railway during the era of the Weimar Republic and Third Reich. This is because the Reichsbahn was specifically mentioned in several postwar treaties and directives regarding the right to operate the railways of West Berlin ; had the East German government changed the Reichsbahn name, it would likely have lost this right. Etymology and cognates
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