Top Quality German Translation Services
We have 32 German linguists with expertise across a full range of industries and topics, prepared to convert you message into the lingua franca of the DACH nations, D for Deutschland or Germany, A for Austria and CH for Confoederatio Helvetica or Switzerland.
The official language or co-official language in all or part of eight European countries
German language is the only official language of Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and in 17 cantons of Switzerland as well as a co-official language in Luxembourg, four cantons of Switzerland, the Italian Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium (in the role of the majority language), and the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. Minority mostly bi-lingual communities of native German speakers exist in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia, most notably in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Significant communities of bilingual native German speakers can be found outside of the Eurasian landmass, most significantly in Namibia, South Africa, the US (among the Amish communities in Southeastern Pennsylvania) and Brazil (in the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Espírito Santo).
Choosing the correct variant of German for your translation
When sending a press release or document to all three DACH nations, it is quite acceptable to choose the German variant. However, if your message is specific to Austria or Switzerland, it is best to choose a linguist specialized in the corresponding variety. Austria is quite straight-forward, there is a standard variant, however, Switzerland presents an interesting case. For all formal communications, such as news releases and all forms of business communications, Swiss Standard German is the variety to adopt. However, for marketing materials and advertisements aimed at the general public, especially if localized to Zurich, Bern or a specific canton, the local variant of a German dialect called Swiss German, might be the wiser choice. Swiss German, due to not being mutually intelligible with standard German, is, in all respects, a separate language. Its speakers take pride in its use and its use in no way denotes a lack of education or status.