German keyboard layout#Key labels

File:German-T2-Keyboard-Prototype-May-2012.jpg

File:KB Germany.svg

File:German-Keyboard-Layout-T2-Version2-large.png|thumb|upright=2.5|German keyboard layout "T2" according to DIN 2137-1:2012-06.{{clickable|Click on any symbol to open the Wikipedia article on that symbol.}}

rect 2 2 101 101 Degree symbol

rect 2 102 101 201 Circumflex accent

rect 2 202 101 301 Multiplication sign

rect 206 2 305 101 Exclamation mark

rect 206 102 305 201 1 (number)

rect 206 202 305 301 Apostrophe

rect 410 2 509 101 Quotation mark

rect 410 102 509 201 2 (number)

rect 410 202 509 301 Square (algebra)

rect 614 2 713 101 Section sign

rect 614 102 713 201 3 (number)

rect 614 202 713 301 Cube (algebra)

rect 818 2 917 101 Dollar sign

rect 818 102 917 201 4 (number)

rect 818 202 1017 301 Dash#Em dash

rect 1022 2 1121 101 Percent sign

rect 1022 102 1121 201 5 (number)

rect 1022 202 1121 301 Inverted question and exclamation marks

rect 1226 2 1325 101 Ampersand

rect 1226 102 1325 201 6 (number)

rect 1226 202 1325 301 Inverted question and exclamation marks

rect 1430 2 1529 101 Slash (punctuation)

rect 1430 102 1529 201 7 (number)

rect 1430 202 1529 301 Braces (punctuation)

rect 1634 2 1733 101 Parentheses

rect 1634 102 1733 201 8 (number)

rect 1634 202 1733 301 Bracket

rect 1838 2 1937 101 Parentheses

rect 1838 102 1937 201 9 (number)

rect 1838 202 1937 301 Bracket

rect 2042 2 2141 101 quals sign

rect 2042 102 2141 201 0 (number)

rect 2042 202 2141 301 Braces (punctuation)

rect 2246 2 2345 101 Question mark

rect 2246 102 2345 201 ß

rect 2246 202 2345 301 Backslash

rect 2450 2 2549 101 Grave accent

rect 2450 102 2549 201 Acute accent

rect 2450 202 2549 301 Dot (diacritic)

rect 2654 2 3057 301 Backspace

rect 2 306 303 605 Tab key

rect 306 306 405 455 Q

rect 306 456 405 605 At sign

rect 510 306 609 455 W

rect 510 456 609 605 Caron

rect 714 306 813 455 E

rect 714 456 813 605 Euro sign

rect 814 356 913 555 Œ

rect 918 306 1017 455 R

rect 918 456 1017 605 Diaeresis (diacritic)

rect 1122 306 1221 455 T

rect 1122 456 1221 605 Macron (diacritic)

rect 1326 306 1425 455 Z

rect 1326 456 1425 605 Double acute accent

rect 1530 306 1629 455 U

rect 1530 456 1629 605 Breve

rect 1734 306 1833 455 I

rect 1734 456 1833 605 Tilde

rect 1834 356 1933 555 Dotless I

rect 1938 306 2037 455 O

rect 1938 456 2037 605 Ring (diacritic)

rect 2038 356 2137 555 Ø

rect 2142 306 2241 455 P

rect 2142 456 2241 605 Hook above

rect 2242 356 2341 555 Þ

rect 2346 306 2445 455 Ü

rect 2346 456 2445 605 Horn (diacritic)

rect 2446 356 2545 555 Long s

rect 2550 306 2649 405 Asterisk

rect 2550 406 2649 505 Plus and minus signs#Plus sign

rect 2550 506 2649 605 Tilde

rect 2754 306 3057 605 Return key

rect 2 610 355 909 Caps lock

rect 356 610 455 759 A

rect 356 760 455 909 Less than or equal to

rect 456 660 555 859 Æ

rect 560 610 659 759 S

rect 560 760 659 909 Greater than or equal to

rect 764 610 863 759 D

rect 764 760 863 909 Diameter#Diameter symbol

rect 864 660 963 859 Ð

rect 968 610 1067 759 F

rect 968 760 1067 909 Prime (symbol)

rect 1172 610 1271 759 G

rect 1172 760 1271 909 Double prime

rect 1376 610 1475 759 H

rect 1376 760 1475 909 Capital ẞ

rect 1580 610 1679 759 J

rect 1580 760 1679 909 Cedilla

rect 1784 610 1883 759 K

rect 1784 760 1883 909 Comma#Diacritical usage

rect 1988 610 2087 759 L

rect 1988 760 2087 909 Ogonek

rect 2088 660 2187 859 Ł

rect 2192 610 2291 759 Ö

rect 2192 760 2291 909 Dot below

rect 2396 610 2495 759 Ä

rect 2396 760 2495 909 Bar (diacritic)

rect 2600 610 2699 709 Apostrophe#Computing

rect 2600 710 2699 809 Number sign

rect 2600 810 2699 909 Registered trademark symbol

rect 2700 660 2799 859 Ə

rect 2804 606 3057 909 Return key

rect 2 914 247 1213 Shift key

rect 252 914 351 1013 Greater-than sign

rect 252 1014 351 1113 Less-than sign

rect 252 1114 351 1213 Vertical bar

rect 456 914 555 1063 Y

rect 456 1064 555 1213 Guillemet

rect 660 914 759 1063 X

rect 660 1064 759 1213 Guillemet

rect 760 914 859 1063 Quotation mark

rect 760 1064 859 1213 Quotation mark

rect 864 914 963 1063 C

rect 864 1064 963 1213 Copyright symbol

rect 1068 914 1167 1063 V

rect 1068 1064 1167 1213 Guillemet

rect 1168 914 1267 1013 Quotation mark

rect 1168 1014 1267 1113 Quotation mark

rect 1272 914 1371 1063 B

rect 1272 1064 1371 1213 Guillemet

rect 1372 914 1471 1013 Quotation mark

rect 1372 1014 1471 1113 Quotation mark

rect 1476 914 1575 1063 N

rect 1476 1064 1575 1213 Dash#En dash

rect 1680 914 1779 1063 M

rect 1680 1064 1779 1213 Micro-

rect 1884 914 1983 1013 Semicolon

rect 1884 1014 1983 1113 Comma

rect 1884 1114 1983 1213 ʻOkina

rect 1984 964 2083 1113 Ellipsis

rect 2088 914 2187 1013 Colon (punctuation)

rect 2088 1014 2187 1083 Full stop

rect 2088 1084 2187 1213 Zero-width non-joiner

rect 2188 964 2287 1113 Interpunct

rect 2292 914 2391 1013 Underscore

rect 2292 1014 2391 1113 Hyphen

rect 2292 1114 2391 1213 Soft hyphen

rect 2496 914 3057 1213 Shift key

rect 2 1220 347 1519 Control key

rect 352 1220 551 1519 Fn key

rect 556 1220 755 1519 Windows key

rect 760 1220 959 1519 Alt key

rect 964 1220 1063 1419 Space (punctuation)

rect 964 1420 1963 1519 Non-breaking space

rect 1880 1320 1979 1419 Thin space

rect 1984 1220 2183 1519 AltGr key

rect 2188 1220 2387 1519 ISO/IEC 9995#Level and group selection

rect 2392 1220 2591 1519 Windows key

rect 2596 1220 2795 1519 Menu key

rect 2800 1220 3057 1519 Control key

desc bottom-right

The characters ², ³, {, [, ], }, \, @, |, µ, ~, and € are accessed by holding the {{Key press|AltGr}} key and tapping the other key. The {{Key press|Alt}} key on the left will not access these additional characters. Alternatively {{Key press|Strg|Alt}} and pressing the respective key also produce the alternative characters in many environments, in order to support keyboards that only have one left {{Key press|Alt}} key.{{cite web| title=Robust key message handling in Windows| author=Marc Durdin| date=June 24, 2008| url=https://blog.keyman.com/2008/06/robust-key-mess/| access-date=2020-05-17}}

The accent keys {{Key press|^}}, {{Key press|´}}, {{Key press|`}} are dead keys: press and release an accent key, then press a letter key to produce accented characters (ô, á, ù, etc.; the current DIN 2137-1:2012-06 extends this for e.g. ń, ś etc.). If the entered combination is not encoded in Unicode by a single code point (precomposed character), most current implementations cause the display of a free-standing (spacing) version of the accent followed by the unaccented base letter. For users with insufficient typing skills this behaviour (which is explicitly not compliant with the current DIN 2137-1:2012-06) leads to mistype a spacing accent instead of an apostrophe (e.g., it´s instead of correctly it's).Markus Kuhn: [http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ucs/apostrophe.html Apostrophe and acute accent confusion], 2001.

Note that the semicolon and colon are accessed by using the {{Key press|Shift}} key.

The "T1" layout lacks some important characters like the German-style quotation marks ({{big|„“}} and {{big|‚‘}}). As a consequence, these are seldom used in internet communication and usually replaced by {{big|"}} and {{big|'}}.

The "T2" layout newly defined in DIN 2137-1:2012-06 was designed to overcome such restrictions, but firstly to enable typing of other languages written in the Latin script. Therefore, it contains several additional diacritical marks and punctuation characters, including the full set of German, English, and French-style quotation marks in addition to the typographic apostrophe, the prime, the double prime, and the {{okina}}okina.

The image shows characters to be entered using {{Key press|AltGr}} in the lower left corner of each key depiction (characters not contained in the "T1" layout are marked red). Diacritical marks are marked by a flat rectangle which also indicates the position of the diacritical mark relative to the base letter.

The characters shown at the right border of a keytop are accessed by first pressing a dead key sequence of AltGr plus the × multiplication sign. This X-like symbol may be thought of as an "extra" dead key or "extra" accent type, used to access "miscellaneous" letters that do not have a specific accent type like diaeresis or circumflex. Symbols on the right border shown in green have both upper-case and lower-case forms; the corresponding capital letter is available by pressing the Shift key simultaneously with the symbol key. For instance, to type the lower-case æ ligature, hold the AltGr key and type ×, then release both keys and type the (unshifted) A key. To type the upper-case Æ ligature, hold the AltGr key and type ×, then release both keys, hold Shift and type the (shifted) A key. An active Caps Lock can be used instead of the Shift key to obtain the Æ ligature and similar letters.

In addition, DIN 2137-1:2012-06 defines a layout "T3", which is a superset of "T2" incorporating the whole "secondary group" as defined in ISO/IEC 9995-3:2010. Thus, it enables to write several minority languages (e.g. Sami) and transliterations, but is more difficult to comprehend than the "T2" layout, and therefore not expected to be accepted by a broad audience beyond experts who need this functionality.

Contrary to many other languages, German keyboards are usually not labeled in English (in fact, DIN 2137-1:2012-06 requires either the symbol according to ISO/IEC 9995-7 or the German abbreviation is to be used, with "Esc" and "AltGr" as exceptions). The abbreviations used on German keyboards are:

On some keyboards – including the original IBM PC/AT (and later) German keyboards – the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad is instead labeled with the multiplication sign (×), and the divide-key is labeled with the division sign (÷) instead of slash (/). However, those keys still generate the asterisk and slash characters, not the multiplication and division signs.

The behaviour of {{Key press|Caps Lock}} according to former editions of the DIN 2137 standard is inherited from mechanical typewriters: Pressing it once shifts all keys including numbers and special characters until the {{Key press|Caps Lock}} key is pressed again. Holding {{Key press|Shift}} while {{Key press|Caps Lock}} is active unshifts all keys. The current DIN 2137-1:2012-06 simply requests the presence of a "capitals lock" key (which is the name used in the ISO/IEC 9995 series), without any description of its function.

In IT, an alternative behaviour is often preferred, usually described as "IBM", which is the same as {{Key press|Caps Lock}} on English keyboards – only letters are shifted, and hitting {{Key press|Caps Lock}} again releases it.

Both {{Key press|Shift}} and {{Key press|Caps Lock}} lack any textual labels, despite bearing names that are used in texts like manuals. The {{Key press|Caps Lock}} key is called Feststellttaste (locking key) and simply labeled with a large down-arrow (on newer designs pointing to an uppercase A letter). {{Key press|Shift}} is called Umschalttaste (switching key) and labeled with a large up-arrow.

{{Clear}}

File:KB Germany Linux.svg

Most Linux distributions include a keymap for German in Germany that extends the T1 layout with a set of characters and dead keys similar, but not identical to the "Outdated common secondary group" of ISO/IEC 9995-3:2002.

{{Clear}}

{{Expand section|date=September 2017}}

File:Typewriter Adler No. 7 (1) keyboard.jpg typewriter Model No. 7, produced about 1899–1920 in Frankfurt]]

File:Olympia typewriter - German keyboard layout-9608.jpg, Germany.]]

File:Keyboard on a German mechanical Olympia typewriter.jpg, Germany. This layout was defined by DIN 2112 (1956, with revisions 1967 and 1976). The location of the punctuation marks on the upper numerical row is different from modern computer keyboards. The key with {{Button|∷ four dots}} is the margin release."That's the margin release. When you near the margin on the right side of the page, a little bell will ring to let you know that you're about five to seven characters away from the margin stop. If you end up hitting the margin anyway, and you still have a letter or two to type, you can press the key with the four dots to override the hard margin for the current line, and squeeze in those extra letters." {{cite web|url=http://munchkinwrangler.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/monday-search-term-safari-lxxviii/|title=monday search term safari LXXVIII. |access-date=2013-05-29|date=2009-12-07}} The arrow key under {{Button|TAB}} is the {{Button|↣ Backspace}} key,{{Cite web |url=http://machinesoflovinggrace.com/ptf/OnlineManual.html |title=Online Typewriter Manual 1 |access-date=2013-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723025301/http://machinesoflovinggrace.com/ptf/OnlineManual.html |archive-date=2013-07-23 |url-status=dead }} which is pointing in the direction the paper would move rather than the way a cursor would move (as on a modern computer keyboard).]]

File:Key-area-of-an-IBM-portable-PC-06-keyboard.jpg, produced about 1984–1985]]

• ISO/IEC 9995

{{Reflist}}

{{Keyboard layouts}}

Category:Latin-script keyboard layouts

de:Tastaturbelegung