Reich

Reich is a German noun meaning realm, empire, or dominion. The word derives from Old High German rihhi, from Proto-Germanic *rīk-, related to power and rule. In historical usage, Reich denotes a political entity ruled by a sovereign or de facto power and is often used in formal names.

The Holy Roman Empire, known in German as Heiliges Römisches Reich, existed in various forms from around 962 to 1806. It was a loose, multi-ethnic and quasi-constitutional complex of territories in Central Europe, with elected or largely informal imperial authority and a long-standing struggle between princes, cities, and the emperor. It was not a centralized nation-state in the modern sense and dissolved after military defeats and political restructuring during the Napoleonic era.

The German Empire, referred to as Deutsches Reich or Kaiserreich, lasted from 1871 to 1918. It emerged after the unification of German states under Prussian leadership and was a constitutional monarchy with a federal structure. The term Deutsches Reich was used in official and public language to denote the German state of that period, ending with Germany’s defeat in World War I.

The term Third Reich, or Drittes Reich, was used by the Nazi regime to position itself as the successor to previous German empires. It lasted from 1933 to 1945 and is associated with totalitarian rule, aggressive expansion, and the crimes of the Nazi era. Because of these associations, the term is treated carefully in historical discourse and public discussion.

In modern German, Reich remains primarily a historical or literary term and is not used as the official name of a current state.