The German: Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung (pronounced as /de/, "Council for German Orthography" or "Council for German Spelling"[1]), or German: RdR, is the main international body regulating Standard High German orthography.
With its seat being in Mannheim, Germany, the RdR was formed in 2004 as a successor to the German: Zwischenstaatliche Kommission für deutsche Rechtschreibung ("Intergovernmental Commission for German Orthography") in order to include both supporters and opponents of the German orthography reform of 1996 (and subsequent reforms).[1] [2]
Currently the RdR is composed of 41 members from those states and regions in the German Sprachraum:[3]
Germany: chairman (no voting right) and 18 councillors
Austria: 9 councillors
Switzerland: 9 councillors
Liechtenstein: 1 councillor
Luxembourg: 1 observer (no voting right)Despite having German as one of its official languages, Luxembourg, which was not involved in devising the reform of 1996, is not a full member of the council. The government of Luxembourg unilaterally adopted the reform.[4] According to the duchy's largest newspaper, the German: [[Luxemburger Wort]], Luxembourg does not perceive itself as a "German-speaking country" (the only national language is Luxembourgish) and thus had no right to take part in the council.[5] Despite this, Luxembourg takes part in the annual meetings of German-speaking countries.[6] Furthermore, Luxembourg participates in French: [[La Francophonie]] and has members in the French: [[Académie française]], despite French being only a co-official language, just like German.[7]
The chairman of the German: [[Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache]] (German: GfdS) is a member of the council. In 2003, the RdR, the GfdS, the German: [[Goethe-Institut]] and the Institute of the German Language, founded the German Language Council (German: Deutscher Sprachrat), which was later also joined by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).