German is the most widely spoken language in the European Union (19% of Europeans spoke German in 2007), with over 120 million speakers worldwide.
German is the official language of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein.
German is the 3rd most popular language taught worldwide.
Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Karl Marx wrote in German, as did Immanuel Kant, the Brothers Grimm, Georg Cantor, Max Weber, Franz Kafka, and Hannah Arendt, among many others.
