Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) expressed his regret that his own children do not speak Low German (Plattdeutsch). According to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, he noted that they are also somewhat sad about not having learned the language. He commented on language transmission, stating, “My wife does not speak it. This means the mother dictates the mother tongue and the father just listens.”
When asked whether there were any remaining fluent speakers of Plattdeutsch who held significant relevance, Wadephul replied that he did not know of any. He pointed out that the regional dialect plays hardly any role in the political life of the national capital. He added that if he speaks Plattdeutsch, it is usually in Schleswig-Holstein.
