niederländische

Niederländische is the inflected form of the German adjective niederländisch, meaning "Dutch" in reference to the Netherlands or the Dutch language, people, or culture. It is used to describe nouns associated with the Netherlands (die Niederlande) or things pertaining to the Dutch language or culture. For example, die niederländische Sprache (the Dutch language), niederländische Küche (Dutch cuisine), or ein niederländischer Autor (a Dutch author). The base adjective is niederländisch; its various endings follow standard German adjective declension rules.

In terms of demonyms, people from the Netherlands are normally referred to as Niederländer (male), Niederländerin (female), with the plural Niederländer/Niederländerinnen; niederländische would be used as an attributive adjective rather than as a stand-alone noun.

The Netherlands are a Western European country whose name means "low countries." The Dutch language, called Niederländisch in German, is a West Germanic language spoken primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders) and is one of the official languages in Suriname and in several Caribbean territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Standard written form is Algemeen Nederlands. Dutch has several dialect groups, including Hollandic and Brabantian, and has influenced many languages worldwide through trade and colonization.

Thus, niederländische serves as a general adjective to classify things from the Netherlands or the Dutch language and culture within German usage; when used as the name of the language itself, the capitalized form Niederländisch is used in German.