Bühnendeutsch in the context of "Standard German"

Theodor Siebs (German pronunciation: [ˈteːodoːɐ̯ ˈziːps]; 26 August 1862 – 28 May 1941) was a German linguist most remembered today as the author of Deutsche Bühnenaussprache ('German stage pronunciation'), published in 1898. The work was largely responsible for setting the standard pronunciation of the modern German language and is referred to popularly by German speakers as der Siebs ('the Siebs').

Siebs was born in the Free City of Bremen on 26 August 1862. He studied linguistics and classical philology in Tübingen and later was a professor both at the University of Greifswald and the University of Breslau. His writings on language and languages are varied, but there is an emphasis on the history and state of Frisian languages. His Deutsche Bühnenaussprache is still relevant, though for practical purposes it has largely been supplanted by other works (see references) that employ the IPA notation (International Phonetic Alphabet), which Siebs' work did not, and which adapted to the actual pronunciation of speakers attempting a standard pronunciation.

The Standard German phonology is the standard pronunciation or accent of the German language. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof as well as the geographical variants and the influence of German dialects.

While the spelling of German is officially standardised by an international organisation (the Council for German Orthography) the pronunciation has no official standard and relies on a de facto standard documented in reference works such as Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (German Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria Krech et al., Duden 6 Das Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6, The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max Mangold and the training materials of radio and television stations such as Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, or Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. This standardised pronunciation was invented, rather than coming from any particular German-speaking city. But the pronunciation that Germans usually consider to be closest to the standard is that of Hanover. Standard German is sometimes referred to as Bühnendeutsch (stage German), but the latter has its own definition and is slightly different.