Die Arbeit der Zwischenstaatlichen Kommission für deutsche Rechtschreibung von 1997 bis 2004

The ‘Inter-State Commission for German Orthography was the official body set up to oversee the introduction of the new German spelling reform between 1997 and 2004. In addition it prepared four reports at intervals of two years each for the state bodies in all the German-speaking countries. The principal task of the Commission was to contribute towards the maintenance of a unified orthography and to see through the introduction of new rules. Where necessary it also worked on suggestions for adjustments to the rule book. This volume of the series Documenta Orthographica makes available the Commission’s four reports (with two additional documents) in their original form to linguists, language teachers and the interested public. After the highly emotional debate about the reform it will enable everyone to discover the actual content of the reports (including suggestions for possible changes) and to form their own opinion based on the facts. These four reports also form an indispensable source for the as yet unwritten history of the first successful spelling reform since 1902.