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Reich

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This article refers to the German term, related to the Holy Roman Empire, for other uses for Reich, see Reich (disambiguation)

The German word Reich

Reich (properly pronounced [ʁaɪç], but see List of words of disputed pronunciation), is the German word for "realm" or "empire", cognate with Scandinavian rike and Dutch rijk. It is the word traditionally used for a variety of sovereign entities, including Germany in many periods of its history. It is also found in the compound Königreich, "kingdom", and in the country names Frankreich (France, literally the "Realm of the Franks") and Österreich (Austria, the "Eastern Realm"). The German version of the Lord's Prayer uses the words Dein Reich komme for "thy kingdom come". Used adjectivally, reich is the German word for "rich".

Historical usage

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. However, it should be noted that Latin, not German, was the language of the mediaeval Empire, so English-speaking historians are more likely to use Latin imperium than German Reich as 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, and this remained the official name of Germany until 1945, although its three very different political systems are commonly referred to as the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and the Third Reich (the NS period) (1933–1945).

The Nazis 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 oddly hybrid half-translation "The Third Reich"), counting the Holy Roman Empire as the first and the 1871 Empire as the second. They also used the political slogan "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" ("One people, one country, one leader"). Note that although the term "Third Reich" is in common use, the implied corollaries "First Reich" and "Second Reich" for the earlier periods are not used outside Nazi propaganda. To adopt them would be to accept NS historiography and to apply it anachronistically.

A number of words used by the Nazis which earlier were neutral have later taken on a negative connotation in German (e.g. Führer or Heil); the word "Reich" is usually not one of them, although in certain contexts it does carry a connotation of German imperialism and/or strong nationalism. Since 1945, the the word Reich has not been used in contemporary references, though it is still found in the name of the Reichstag building, which since 1999 houses the German federal parliament (Bundestag).


Cognates

Reich has a complicated etymology: it comes from a Germanic word for King, which was borrowed from Celtic. It has cognates in many other languages, all ultimately descended from the Proto-Indo-European root *reg-, meaning "to straighten out" or "rule". We can group the cognates linguistically as follows.

Celtic group

Proto-Celtic *rīg-, "king". Borrowed into Germanic as *rīks-. Hence:

Original Germanic group

Although Reich and its closest cognates came into Germanic sideways from Celtic, Germanic also inherited the same Indo-European root directly in a suffixed form, *reg-to, hence:

Latin

The root came into Latin as: regere (supine stem rectus), "to rule"; rex, regis, "king"; regalis, "kingly". Hence:

English: regal; realm; regent; rector; rectangle; erect and countless others.

Sanskrit

The Sanskrit form is rājā, "king", hence the words for king in various Indian. Of interest to English speakers: Raj, used of the British rule in India; and Maharaja, literally "the great king" (exactly parallel to Latin magnus rex).


Others

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