In this video, we take a look at how well people from Germany and Austria can understand Luxembourgish. We showcase the similarities and differences while testing the degree of mutual intelligibility between German and Luxembourgish. Instead of a list of words and sentences, David (Luxembourgish speaker) will read short sentences and paragraphs to see how well Matthias and Thomas, from Germany and Austria, respectively, can understand.

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Luxembourgish / Luxemburgish / Luxembourgian (Lëtzebuergesch) is a West Germanic language which serves as the official language of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourgish shares many similarities with German, as well as other West Germanic languages. It is also related to the Transylvanian Saxon dialect spoken by the Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, contemporary central Romania.

The German language (Deutsch) is a West Germanic language with official status in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. In Luxembourg, Belgium and parts of Poland, German is a coofficial language, and one of several national languages of Namibia. German has many similarities with West Germanic languages such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, and Yiddish. The Germanspeaking countries are ranked among the top in the world in terms of annual publication of new books, and a great amount of German literature, from medieval works to modern times, has been produced. Among many others, there are the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a literary genius who is considered to be like the German Shakespeare. Goethe is best known for his novel, "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), which was published when he was only 25. Other classics include Simplicius Simplicissimus by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Hyperion by Friedrich Holderlin, The Devil’s Elixirs by ETA Hoffman, Debt and Credit by Gustav Freytag, Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, and many others.

In more recent times, several German language authors have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. They are Theodor Mommsen, Rudolf Christoph Eucken, Paul Heyse, Gerhart Hauptmann, Carl Spitteler, Thomas Mann who is perhaps best known for Buddenbrooks and Death in Venice, Hermann Hesse, Nelly Sachs, Heinrich Böll, Elias Canetti, Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek, Herta Müller, and Peter Handke.

AustroBavarian / Bavarian (Bairisch / Boarisch or Boirisch) consists of a major group of Upper German varieties, primarily spoken German state of Bavaria, most of Austria and the Italian region of South Tyrol. Historically, it was also widely spoken in the southern Sudetenland and western Hungary.