France was long revered as the cultural, educational and diplomatic powerhouse of Europe, and the French language was widely used in aristocratic circles across the continent for many centuries.
Germany was no exception to the trend - French became the main language used in the German court in the Middle Ages, as the nobility aspired to emulate the prestigious French courtly model.
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It was not long before French Lehnwörter (loan words) began to slip across the border. In those days, the vocabulary borrowed from French was often linked with knightly activities, trade goods and courtly customs.
Famous chivalric tales of knights and maidens from the period are littered with French loanwords such as baniere and just, Medieval German terms for baniere (banner) and jost (joust) that come from Medieval French.
Some of these words are still often used in the language today: Abenteuer (adventure), for example, comes from the Medieval German word āventiure, taken from the Medieval French aventure.
It was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, when French influence really began to take hold.
The Thirty Years War (1618-48) exposed all levels of German society in certain regions to the French language, as well as introducing a wide range of new words referring to military and technical terms such as Regiment, Bataillon, Infanterie and Artillerie.
Huguenots come to Berlin
Day to day language amongst everyday citizens, however, remained largely unaffected until the counter-reformation of the late seventeenth century. Thousands of Huguenot protestants were forced to flee to France due to religious persecution and settled in Brandenburg and neighbouring Berlin, bringing their language with them.
As a result of this mass migration, it is estimated that roughly a third of the Berlin population came from France at the time. The Huguenots are credited with having a significant impact upon the intellectual life and everyday German language of the area.
The Französisches Gymnasium in Berlin was set up for the children of Huguenot families. Photo: Manfred Brueckels
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This increased influence garnered mixed reactions amongst the German-speaking population. The aristocracy, on the one hand, embraced French language and culture in many ways, seeing them as the epitome of all that was cultivated and elegant on the continent.
In many cases, German equivalents for new cultural imports did exist or could have been created, but as French was seen as the height of fashion it was deemed preferable to adopt the foreign term.
New desserts (for example Blancmange) as well as methods of preparation (such as marinieren) made their way into German vocabulary, as well as words referring to new clothing items (such as Bracelet, Cravatte) and new dances (for example Polonaise).
A threat to the language?
Others, however, were more resistant to the change. Many critics saw the proliferation of French words in the German vocabulary as a direct threat to both the integrity of the language and the cultural and moral values it represented.
After French King Louis XIV’s attempts to annex German territory in the 1680s, this hostility became open opposition to France’s policies and a conscious campaign to combat their influence.
Some critics took a more satirical approach, mocking the fact that many written works in German had become peppered with foreign borrowings and were increasingly unclear as a result.
Purists, on the other hand, saw the French language as a threat to the innately ‘pure’, ‘superior’ German language and lamented Germany’s ‘subjection’ to their French neighbour. In the seventeenth century, a number of Sprachgesellschaften (language societies) were set up in a bid to limit the needless use of foreign terms.
Some particularly fervent opponents coined German alternatives to foreign borrowings. Some of these did catch on, such as Briefwechsel (translates as ‘letter swap’, from the French term correspondance), whilst others enjoyed less success, such as Polsterbett (translates as ‘cushioned bed’, from the French term sofa).
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Attempts to restrict foreign influence were largely unsuccessful in the long term, and many French words survived multiple waves of attempted ‘Germanization’ over the centuries.
Popular Gallicisms in everyday German include Tante (Aunty - from French tante), aktuell (current - from French actuel) and Pommes (chips, from French pommes de terre).
The word for this beloved fast food dish comes from the French term 'pommes de terre'. Photo: DPA
Nowadays, the reaction to the growing influence of English on the German language is equally as mixed. Young people use ‘Denglish’ to appear hip and trendy, whilst societies such as the German Language Association see Anglicisms as a sign that their language is deteriorating.
Those against Anglicisms and Gallicisms may ultimately be fighting a lost cause, however - in our increasingly globalised world it is likely that foreign borrowings are here to stay.
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