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Bilingualism ist the simultaneous presence of two languages on the same territory and/or in a same person. In Alsace and East Lorraine, these two languages are German and French. As for German, it is present under two forms, as it is usual in the whole German-speaking area: an oral dialectal form, which varies from spot to spot and standard German. German is spoken by 100 million persons in Central and Eastern Europe: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxemburg, East-Belgium, South-Tyrol, Romania, Russia and Kazakhstan. German ist spoken in Alsace and Lorraine since the 4th century. French arrived with the annexion of Alsace by France at the end of the 17th century. It spread first slowly, then very quickly after World War II. It is commonly admitted that 300 persons only spoke French at the eve of the French Revolution. Goal of the Rene Schickele-Gesellschaft (Rene Schickele Society) is promoting the German pole of the German-French bilingualism in Alsace and Eastern Lorraine, because this pole is presently massivly threatened. The Rene Schickele Society is no political party, but a society, which is intervening at all levels: regional, national, european and international, to promote German in Alsace and Lorraine.
Linguistic map of Alsace and Lorraine Linguistic frontier in Lorraine
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