German-speaking Switzerland in the context of "Southern Germany"

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, and Italy to the south. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Alps, the Swiss Plateau, and the Jura mountains; the Alps cover most of the country's territory, whereas the majority of its 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts many of the largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Winterthur, and Lucerne.

Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with Bern serving as the federal city and the seat of the national government. The country encompasses four principal linguistic and cultural regions—German, French, Italian, and Romansh—reflecting a long-standing tradition of multilingualism and cultural pluralism. Swiss national identity nonetheless remains fairly cohesive, rooted in a shared historical background, common values such as federalism and direct democracy, and Alpine symbolism. Swiss nationhood transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as a Willensnation ("nation of volition") rather than a conventional nation state.

Pan-Germanism (German: Pangermanismus or Alldeutsche Bewegung), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanism seeks to unify all ethnic Germans, German-speaking people, and possibly also non-German Germanic peoples – into a single nation-state known as Greater Germany.

Pan-Germanism was highly influential in German politics in the 19th century during the unification of Germany when the German Empire was proclaimed as a nation-state in 1871 but without Germanophone Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein (Kleindeutsche Lösung/Lesser Germany) and the first half of the 20th century in Austria-Hungary and the German Empire. From the late 19th century, many Pan-Germanist thinkers, since 1891 organized in the Pan-German League, had adopted openly ethnocentric and racist ideologies, and ultimately gave rise to the foreign policy Heim ins Reich pursued by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler from 1938, one of the primary factors leading to the outbreak of World War II. The concept of a Greater Germany was attempted to be put into practice as the Greater Germanic Reich (German: Großgermanisches Reich), fully styled the Greater Germanic Reich of the German Nation (German: Großgermanisches Reich der Deutschen Nation). As a result of the Second World War, there was a clear backlash against Pan-Germanism and other related ideologies. Today, pan-Germanism is mainly limited to a few nationalist groups, mainly on the political right in Germany and Austria.

Vorarlberg (/ˈfɔːrɑːrlbɜːrɡ/ FOR-arl-burg; Austrian German: [foːɐ̯ˈarlbɛrɡ] ; Vorarlbergisch: Vorarlbearg, Voralbärg, or Voraadelbearg) is the westernmost state (Land) of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest population density (also after Vienna). It borders three countries: Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg via Lake Constance), Switzerland (Grisons and St. Gallen), and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol, to the east.

The capital of Vorarlberg is Bregenz (29,698 inhabitants), although Dornbirn (49,845 inhabitants) and Feldkirch (34,192 inhabitants) have larger populations. Vorarlberg is also the only state in Austria where the local dialect is not Austro-Bavarian, but rather an Alemannic dialect; it therefore has much more in common culturally with (historically) Alemannic-speaking German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Baden-Württemberg, Bavarian Swabia, and Alsace than with the rest of Austria, southeastern Bavaria, and South Tyrol.

Swiss German (Standard German: Schweizerdeutsch, Alemannic German: Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart, and others; Romansh: tudestg svizzer) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg, which are closely associated to Switzerland's.

Linguistically, Alemannic is divided into Low, High and Highest Alemannic, varieties all of which are spoken both inside and outside Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality of Samnaun, where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The reason Swiss German dialects constitute a special group is their almost unrestricted use as a spoken language in practically all situations of daily life, whereas the use of the Alemannic dialects in other countries is restricted or even endangered.

The canton of Lucerne (German: Kanton Luzern [ˈkantɔn luˈtsɛrn]; Romansh: Chantun Lucerna; French: Canton de Lucerne; Italian: Cantone Lucerna) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the country's central, German-speaking part. The population of the canton (as of 31 December 2020) is 416,347. As of 2007, the population included 57,268 foreigners, or about 15.8% of the total population. The cantonal capital is the city of Lucerne.

Swiss Standard German (SSG; German: Schweizer Standarddeutsch), or Swiss High German (German: Schweizer Hochdeutsch or Schweizerhochdeutsch; Romansh: Svizzers Alt Tudestg), referred to by the Swiss as Schriftdeutsch, or German: Hochdeutsch, is the written form of one (German) of four national languages in Switzerland, besides French, Italian, and Romansh. It is a variety of Standard German, used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and in Liechtenstein. It is mainly written and rather less often spoken.

Swiss Standard German differs from Swiss German, an umbrella term for the various Alemannic German dialects (in the sense of "traditional regional varieties") that are the default everyday languages in German-speaking Switzerland.