Deutsche Einheitskurzschrift
The German unit Shorthand (DEK ) is a common German shorthand system, now the de facto national shorthand system of Germany and Austria - in both countries, the DEK is " officially ". It was created in 1924 by a federally appointed commission of experts and is based on earlier ideas of shorthand writing systems ( Gabelsberger, Stolze- Schrey, Faulmann ) and years of experience with their application. 1936 and 1968 is system revisions.
- 2.1 Bayerischer title
History
The beginnings
Beginning of the 20th century, there were a total of ten major " schools " among others Gabelsberger, Stolze- Schrey, Stenotachygraphie, Faulmann, on the one hand fighting, were the other side to the realization that a unified system would be best.
1906 suggested that the national chairman of the school Gabelsberger to convene a Stenografiekonferenz modeled after the orthography conference of 1901. In November this year, a proposal was also circulated to employ an expert committee of 23 persons of different schools.
The path to the unit system
Between 1912 and 1914, a draft was developed after four sessions. A secret counter-proposal that was announced a short time later met with severe criticism from the schools and was covered in a fifth session in October 1917 left. Furthermore, the participants agreed on a new design, which was no longer a mix of the current systems, but only the essential elements it should contain.
In February 1918, a draft compromise between the systems Gabelsberger and Stolze- Schrey (later "Draft B") was in a sixth session ( also the last of the 23er Committee) rejected and instead the so-called "Draft A" provided, the more similarities had with the system Stolze- Schrey.
On May 1, 1918, both designs were submitted to the Chancellor. In the daily and trade press, however, both designs met only scorn and derision. Both the Prussian Landtag and the German Reichstag discussed the shorthand question or two once. In the end, both were dissatisfied with both designs. But the desire of a uniform system remained.
1919 took Heinrich Schulz, the new Secretary of State in the Ministry, the matter and appointed a committee in which sat a representative of each system. The vote was 10: 1 in the introduction of the "Design A". The dissenting votes came from representatives of the Gabelsberger School, who refused further work on the committee at the same time. Since Schulz realized, however, that further work without the representative of Gabelsberger system would be pointless, he dissolved the Penalty Committee and launched negotiations with representatives of schools Gabelsberger and Stolze- Schrey based on the "Design B".
In July 1922, after numerous technical committee meetings, subcommittee meetings and conferences of the government " July design applications", which was approved by all other state departments and countries; except one: Prussia. Many key figures of Prussian government bureaucracy were namely followers of the system Stolze- Schrey and really wanted the "Draft A" get through.
1924 was the Reichstag about to decide compare prices on all systems, but Schulz attended by his optimism as rapporteur in the Reichstag that this was rejected again by the selfsame. On 12 April, the Reich Transport Minister to introduce the system Gabelsberger in the Administration Service resolved. In May Schulz wrote that if no agreement will achieve at the last second, an almost unimaginable system fight would break out. In July the Prussian Cabinet decided in a secret meeting to introduce the system Stolze- Schrey, unification efforts should ultimately fail. Schulz saw as the only way to reach an agreement, which address the " July draft " of 1922. On July 21, an Intergovernmental Conference took place. However, the representatives of Prussia sought again afterwards to bring the conference to fail, giving them this time succeeded. Therefore, in August, the decree to introduce the system Stolze- Schrey, sent, but the system should first be improved. On September 1, Schulz wrote to the Prussian Prime Minister Otto Braun and implored him once more, the " July design " subsequently to accept. On September 3, finally, the Prussian State Cabinet agreed to accept the bill, should agree to 20 September all other countries. To this end, Schulz traveled independently in the respective countries and moving the relevant Ministers for approval. At the end, he managed to obtain all the ministers of approval.
Thus, the German unit of shorthand was created on 20 September 1924. From now on, even Germany had a common shorthand system. The German unit shorthand consisted of two levels: The lower level or " traffic Scripture " and the upper or " speech writing"
Many opponents of the united shorthand tried yet to make what happened undone. So hit 165 Prussian Gymnasium Directors before the Reich Interior Minister comparison courses. However, on May 16, In 1925, the German Reichstag, the unit shorthand final and gave little later numerous decrees and orders out that governed the introduction of the system.
The unit shorthand and National Socialism, second reform of 1936
1933 saw the opponents of the united shorthand another chance: They demanded by the Nazis partly the introduction of a new system, some new negotiations. However, they did not come into play, because the man who owned the crucial relations was itself unit stenographer. This man was Charles Lang, who was appointed by Hans Schemm, the Reich Leader of the National Socialist Teachers Association, later the " experts of the NSDAP for shorthand ." This could make a memorandum in April 1933 in which it stated that the Reich government had in 1924 a unit shorthand enforced, whereby the shorthand is for the state. In May, the national government over the radio for the unit shorthand entered. The system, however, was renamed " German shorthand ".
In November 1934, the Reich Ministry of Education stated that the unit shorthand have not been proven and the system question would have to be tested again.
In secret negotiations with constantly changing participants 1934/35 was reviewed and revised the system.
On January 30 Finally, in 1936 a new charter was adopted. Thus, the number was in the lower grades reduced to abbreviations and reductions and the advanced level in " Eilschrift " renamed. Additionally, there was traffic Scripture or so-called " Optional Provisions", the application was left to the discretion of the writer.
After the Second World War and third reform of 1968
Although the teaching was after the total collapse resumed and founded new clubs. However, the opponents of the unit shorthand were active again. This time with some success: the system in 1936 were banned and allowed older systems to class next to the system by 1924 in Rhineland- Palatinate.
Over time, however, resulted in several efforts to improve or change the current system. Have excelled there Paucker Georg and Josef Brandenburg, divided the the optional provisions on transport and Eilschrift to eliminate this as an intermediate.
On October 10, 1952, the permanent Standing Conference announced that the teaching is only one system is admissible and there were no grounds to change the system from 1936. However, countries may decide on the presentation of the substance itself. This later did to differences between the individual system of the country. The uniformity was disturbed.
On 5 December 1959, the Standing Conference revised the decision of 1952 and set a " Committee of Experts on shorthand questions " one, with the goal of developing a unified presentation.
1962 put this committee after four sessions ( three in Bonn, the last in Vienna) the so-called "Vienna draft " before. This saw the breakdown in " traffic Scripture " and " shorthand " ( divided into " Eilschrift " and " speech writing" ) before.
On March 29, 1963, the plenary session of the Standing Conference deliberated on the draft, then adjourned, however, the decision as Bavaria and Baden- Württemberg did not agree to the draft.
On January 19, 1967 during a plenary session again, declared Bavaria and Baden- Württemberg, with the tendency to uniformity should not fail to them, so that the "Wiener design " but was adopted unanimously ( with two abstentions ).
In November 1967, the Committee of Experts revised again the design which then agreed to the plenum of the permanent Standing Conference on 28 March 1968.
On 20 June 1968, the new "Vienna Document" was released, which subsequently entered into force on 1 August 1968.
On 1 June 1970, the German Democratic Republic introduced its own new system certificate, in the three stages "Note font ", " font dictation " and " speech writing" split the system.
The system of German Unity shorthand
The DEK is built on special characters for consonants, vowels and Mitlautfolgen, shortcuts for frequently occurring syllables and words, and syllable parts or syllabic signs. Vowels ( vowels and diphthongs ) are shown but only with fixed characters, if they is not followed by a consonant, for example, at the end of a word. Usually, they are to indicate in the following consonants or final position. Thus, the e is represented by closely connecting two Mitlautzeichen at the same height; is used to represent the o far connected ( about three times as much as in e ) that i denotes a closely related consonant, which is perched a half step, the u subscript Mitlautzeichen with tight links. Also with high or low position, but further connection, ei and eu are indicated. There are also reinforced consonants, which are based on connection length and height of a preceding a, au, ö, ü, ä or AEU. If two consonants or shortcuts are shown without intervening vowel, so are these characters " as closely as possible ", that is even closer than the close connection, are connected.
The shortness of the font is achieved in addition to the basic waiver of characters for vowels, the grouping of consonants in so-called Mitlautfolgezeichen and the use of abbreviations by the simple, unadorned shape of the characters. A t is for example a short straight line. If it is written in double size, it can be read as dr. In addition, the German unit shorthand basically no diphthongs used different (except ll, ss and rr ) and not case- sensitive. Bedding and bed are in short written presentation mostly the same; the difference is clear from the context in which the word stands. Also the strain h as in drive is not required. The relatively complex to be represented ä (high and wide position as well as gain) is usually replaced by e, as long as no likelihood of confusion.
The system was divided in 1968 in the consecutive system traffic levels Scripture Eilschrift and speech writing. The latter offer rules to further reduce or cut. For example, the e is omitted in many final syllables on it, so that is written among other things in the word or just the sign of dr instead of d and r.
Bavarian reservation
According to the Notice of August 2, 1968 by the Bavarian Ministry of Culture can already deal with the following provisions of Eilschrift wholly or partly in the training section of the traffic font shorthand teachers according to their own choice. These provisions created a system not covered by the certificate intermediate level of optional provisions between transport and font Eilschrift.
In the meantime, this exemption came into the background, but until today still part of the corresponding curricula in Bavaria.
Performance of the system
The detectable amount of information - expressed in syllables per minute - depends on the applied system level and the routine of the writer. With the traffic font average about 80 to 120 syllables per minute can be achieved, which is two to three times as effective as is already the ordinary handwriting ( longhand ).
The Eilschrift leads to detection rate to about 200 syllables per minute and includes other shortcuts and various thinning and reduction rules. For example, ( spoken syllables ) is suppressed in-er e in many final syllables, so that two hand movements can be saved and, for example, the word savior is only written with the characters r, a hyphen and the Mitlautfolgezeichen tr. Without this reduction, in addition, another hyphen and r have to be written at the end.
The speech writing primarily uses fixed phrases as well as graphic cuts funds from optimal and provides the tools for an Hochleistungsstenografie. The phrase "I am of the opinion " consists for example of the symbol I and an underlying set point. With the speech writing some stenographers are momentarily write speeds of 500 syllables per minute and more. The Shorthand World Championships achieve top writers who use the DEK, regularly top positions.
The current record using the German Unity shorthand is 520 syllables per minute and was erected in 1974 by Josef Hrycyk.
From an average typists is expected to reach about 150 syllables per minute and 210 strokes per minute. So you expected that he almost three times as fast dictation can take a text like he would cover it with a keyboard. With more experience, and consistent expansion of skills in stenography and typewriting, the relationship is likely to continue to move in favor of shorthand.
When writing the shorthand dictation has its significance largely lost, as opposed to use as a note font, for example, the log management.
Criticism of the DEK
Criticism was sometimes heard at the reinforcements for indication of vowels like a, etc., because they required special pencils ( Steno pencils ) or nibs. Since the revision of 1968 - laid down in the so-called Viennese instrument - the input stage ( transport type) is so designed that the writing can be read without these reinforcements, and thus any writing materials can be used.
In professional circles, is the lower level of the unit shorthand, the traffic font, for use as memo writing concerning alleged serious learnability, too extensive set of rules and a supposedly long and steep learning curve since the 1950s under strong criticism. Repeats alternative systems have been published, which should allow for faster and easier to learn. The best known of these were the " note writing on the basis of German Unity shorthand " by Hans -Jürgen Bäse ( first published 1986 ) and the Stiefografie. The Community College published a comparison of the official Stiefografie with the German unit shorthand (see web link).
1925, shortly after the German unit shorthand was introduced as the official system and there were inputs to make the introduction of undo, there was a debate in the German Reichstag, in which the deputy Theodor Heuss said that while the new system is worse than Gabelsberger, also worse than Stolze- Schrey, but unit was necessary.