Editing Spelling reform (section)

=== German ===
{{Main|German orthography|German orthography reform of 1944|German orthography reform of 1996}}
[[Image:RechtschreibreformBeiStrassennamen.jpg|thumb|right|Street name adapted to last German spelling reform]]

German spelling was officially unified in 1901 and certain older spelling patterns were updated: for instance some occurrences of "th" were changed to "t".

In 1944 a spelling reform was due to be introduced, but it ultimately came to nothing because of [[World War II]].

Even though German spelling was already more consistent than English or French spelling, the [[German language|German-speaking]] countries signed an agreement on spelling reforms in 1996; these were planned to be gradually introduced beginning in 1998 and fully in force by 2005. The so-called {{lang|de|Rechtschreibreform}} was subject to dispute, and polls consistently showed a majority against the new spelling. In summer 2004, various newspapers and magazines returned to the old spelling, and in March 2006, the most controversial changes of {{lang|de|Rechtschreibreform}} were reverted. Therefore German media outlets which had formerly opposed the changes began to use the new spelling.