German extended keyboard layout

The German extended keyboard layout is an extended version of the basic German keyboard layout. It enables users to enter all letters and diacritical marks used in the primary official languages of all countries worldwide and in European minority languages, provided these languages use the Latin script. It also enables the input of all punctuation marks regularly used in Europe and various frequently used special characters such as bullet points and arrows, as well as transcription characters for other writing systems.
There are two variants: The “E1“ variant is compliant with the common German key arrangement, to be used on existing German standard keyboards where ony additional engravings are appropriate, but no changes. The [|“E2“ variant] complies with the common US QWERTY key arrangement hardware.
The layout variants can be selected in Microsoft Windows since the 24H2 update for Windows 11 as “German extended ” resp. “German extended ” ” resp. „Deutsch erweitert.
The “E1” and “E2” variants were first defined in the 2018 version of the German DIN standard and were slightly revised in the current 2023 version. Thus, they are two of the three current standard German-language keyboard layouts for Germany and Austria. They replace the extended layouts T2 and defined in the 2012 version of DIN 2137, which did not gain widespread use.

Objectives

The extended keyboard layout meets the following requirements:

All proper names can be entered correctly regardless of the origin of the name bearer.
All minority languages spoken in Europe can be entered correctly.
All Latin characters and all special characters listed in DIN 91379 “Characters and defined character sequences in Unicode for the electronic processing of names and data exchange in Europe” can be entered.
Standardized transliterations are supported for common non-Latin scripts, such as Arabic according to DIN 31635, Chinese, Hebrew according to DIN 31636, Russian and other languages using the Cyrillic script according to, and Sanskrit according to IAST. This means that personal names from these languages can also be written unambiguously, as required in scientific and religious contexts and also in Wikipedia.
“Write as printed”: All characters used in the printing of normal texts can also be entered. The restrictions and compromises in typeface that date back to the era of mechanical typewriters have been overcome.
The layout is backward compatible with the German standard keyboard layout commonly used to date. Ten-finger touch typists in particular should not have to relearn anything, but should only have to learn new finger combinations for newly enterable characters as needed.
The additional characters should be arranged in positions that are easy to learn and to recognize.
Operating concepts familiar to users of the basic German keyboard layout are used to a wider extent.
* This applies to the use of the AltGr key, which is used on the basic German keyboard layout e.g. to enter brackets or the Euro sign. In the German standard, the key is named „Alt Gr“.
* This also applies to the use of dead keys, which are used on the basic German keyboard layout to enter accented letters like á à â é è ê.
The layout requires as few new operating concepts as possible. In fact, two such concepts are added:
* The “Extra Selector” key.
* “Special Selector” keys are an extension of the dead key concept. Pressing such a key like a dead key, followed by another key, results in the input of a special character which not necessarily resembles the application of a diacritical mark onto the latter character. This complies with the concept of “peculiar characters” outlined in ISO/IEC 9995-11.
The interpunct is placed at a prominent position, as it is used in “Leichte Sprache”.
All characters mentioned in the main text of DIN 5008:2020-03 are placed at prominent positions that are easy to communicate in teaching and easy to enter.
The keyboard layout can be easily communicated.
The keyboard layout must be able to be implemented on common operating systems, especially Microsoft Windows, without any special tricks. In particular, no modifications to the operating system itself are required.

Scope

The characters at the lower left of the keytop depictions are produced by pressing the key without pressing a special key simultaneously.

The characters at the top left are produced by pressing the key together with are produced by pressing the key while holding down.
The characters at the top right are entered using the “Extra Selector” key.
The characters depicted in green are usually in fact not engraved on the keytops.

Dead keys

Dead keys for diacritical marks are marked by narrow horizontal rectangles, which also indicate the position of the diacritical mark relative to the base letter. First, the dead key is to be pressed and released, then the base letter. According to DIN 2137-01:2023-08, this only has to work for combinations for which individual code points are defined in Unicode, as the Microsoft Windows keyboard driver model only allows this. However, this covers the common use cases for widely used languages. To be able to enter diacritical characters independently of this restriction, you can also enter them after the base character by actuating the dead key twice.
For example, to enter the character Ç, press, release them, and then press the keys.
Dead keys also can be chained, in particular for Vietnamese. For example, to enter ự, press for the horn, release these keys, then press for the underdot, release these keys, then press.
To enter a Ẹ́ for Yoruba, press, release these keys, then, then the same key again, then, then the same key combination again.

[|Extra Selector] key

The characters shown at the top right of the keytop depictions are entered using the special “Extra Selector” key combination, which is symbolized as. If a letter is shown that has uppercase and lowercase variants, only the lowercase variant is shown on the keytop. If two characters are shown in the upper right quadrant of the keytop depiction, the first one is to be entered using the Shift key on the second input key.
Examples:

Icelandic þ :, release these keys, then.
Icelandic Þ :, release these keys, then.
Copyright symbol ©:, release these keys, then.
Cent symbol ¢:, release these keys, then.

Special Selector keys

Special Selector keys are an extension of the dead key concept and work in the same way: first, the Special Selector key is pressed together with, then a basic character; this results in the selection of an input character assigned to this combination. Some of the selection keys are also dead keys: for example, when applied to letters, the “caron and subscript key” produces a combination with the caron, thus acting as a dead key, while for numbers it produces the corresponding subscript number. Such modifier keys are indicated by an additional symbol on the narrow horizontal rectangle that indicates the function of the modifier key.

Caps Lock / Shift Lock

DIN 2137-01:2023-08 does not stipulate that the key located on the left in the third row must be a Caps Lock or Shift Lock key, but recommends that this key position be used as a “left Alt Gr key.” This would have the ergonomic advantage for touch typists that no input character requires the simultaneous use of two fingers of the same hand. The Caps Lock or Shift Lock function should then be accessible in another way, for example, by pressing this key together with the Control key to act as a Shift Lock. The standard does not explicitly specify anything binding in this regard.
The Microsoft implementation however utilizes the key as Shift Lock in the same way as for the basic German keyboard layout. However, it allows the simultaneous pressing of the left control key with the Alt key to act as Alt Gr key. Thus, characters reachable by Alt Gr on the right half of the keyboard are at least reachable by a uniform way of the use of the left hand, avoiding at least dislocating finger movements that otherwise would be required for combining with keys arranged vertical above the key.

Keyboard symbols and corresponding input characters

Diacritical marks are symbolized by a narrow horizontal rectangle. This also indicates the position of the character relative to the base letter.
Some characters which are otherwise difficult to distinguish are symbolized together with a narrow vertical rectangle, which indicates the cap height and thus the vertical position of the character.
Dead keys and Special Selector keys are marked in light or dark orange in the following lists.

Directly enterable characters with additional function

Taste	Input character
	circumflex; yields ≙ when applied to Superscript when applied to numbers and

Characters to be entered with (shown on keycaps in the lower right)

The key listed in the column “Key” is to be actuated together with the key, in no case together with the Shift key.
The table is sorted by the position of the keys in the German keyboard layout. A thicker horizontal separation line in this table indicates a new row of the keyboard layout.
The list only shows the characters that require a special explanation.

Symbol	Key	Resulting input character
		Multiplication cross
	1	Raised comma
	4	Em dash. This is not located on, as this position is used for the micro sign in the basic German keyboard layout and therefore retained in the German extended keyboard layout. Also, the em dash is not used commonly in German typography. Therefore, it is allocated to the “4” key as the “$“ is on the shifted position of this key, resulting in “the US-American dash is positioned at the Dollar sign”.
		Overdot

	W	Macron
	R	Double acute accent if applied to and when writing Hungarian. Otherwise to enter IPA phonetic characters according to the [\|table shown below].
	T	Caron Subscript if applied to digits and
	Z	Two dot diacritic
	U	Breve If applied to, the breve will be placed below the letter, otherwise above the letter. If applied to,,, and, the special characters,,, and will be generated. Third fractions when applied to the digits 1 and 2:
	I	Tilde If applied to the tilde, the approximately equals sign ≈ will be generated.
	O	Ring if applied to,,, and. If applied to digits: encirclement ... If applied to other letters and characters: mathematical symbols according the [\|table below].
	P	Hook above if applied to when writing Vietnamese
	Ü	Horn if applied to and when writing Vietnamese. If applied to other letters: Greek letters according to the table below. Eighth fractions of applied to the digits :
	+	Tilde
	A	Smiley: According to DIN 2137, this key combination can invoke a selection function for emojis and/or other special characters.
	S	Double prime
	D	Prime
	F	Extra Selector key
ẞ	G	Capital ß. Although this is a capital letter, it is not needed to press the shift key together with this key combination.
	H	Macron below It can also be used to create various special characters: “-” → ⹀, “=” → “≡”, “+” → ±, “<”/“>” → “≤”/“≥”.
	J	Cedilla
	K	Comma below if applied to and when writing Romanian. If applied to, the key combination works like the one for the cedilla, since in Latvian the cedilla usually has the shape of a comma below. This makes it easier for users unfamiliar with the language to enter it correctly. Applied to other letters or characters, other special characters for living and extinct languages can be entered according to the [\|tables below].
	L	Ogonek
	Ö	Underdot
	Ä	Strike-through key for entering, for example, the Serbo-Croatian and Vietnamese Ð/đ, the Maltese Ħ/ħ, or the Sámi Ŧ/ŧ. When applied to other characters, special characters are produced as shown in the table below, especially bullet characters when applied to digits. Note: The Polish/Sorbian/Venetian Ł/ł is not entered with the crossbar accent, but with the key sequence – /.
	#	Minus sign: the symbol that matches the plus sign in size and position and is therefore typographically the preferred one
›	Y	Right-pointing single guillemet
»	X	Right-pointing guillemet
	C	Narrow non-breaking space
«	V	Left-pointing guillemet
‹	B	Left-pointing single guillemet
	N	En dash
µ	M	Micro sign
	,	Non-breaking hyphen
	.	Interpunct
	-	Soft hyphen

Characters to be input using the Extra Selector key (depicted on the upper right of the keycaps)

Symbol	Key	Resulting input character
¤	4	Generic currency sign
	6	Fraction slash: when used with suitable software and fonts, it produces fraction representations when surrounded by digits.
⌀	7	Diameter symbol Note: This is not the symbol ∅ for the empty set; this is to be entered as –.
⟨	8	Opening angle bracket
⟩	9	Closing angle bracket
÷	0	Division sign
≠	ß	“Not equal” sign
£		Pound sign
º	q	Masculine ordinal indicator
ª	w	Feminine ordinal indicator
ə	e/E	Letter ə/Ə for Azerbaijani and for various dialect transcriptions
	r/R	With Shift key : Registered trademark symbol Without Shift key : Trademark symbol
þ	t/T	Letter Thorn for Icelandic, Faroese and Old English
ʒ	z/Z	Letter Ezh Without Shift key : slanted downward arrow
	s/S	With Shift key : Summation symbol Without Shift key : lowercase letter long s
ð	d/D	Letter Eth for Icelandic
	g	Transliteration character for Arabic Ayn according to DIN 31635 and Hebrew Ayin according to DIN 31636
	h	Transliteration character for Arabic Hamza according to DIN 31635 and Hebrew Aleph according to DIN 31636
	j	Transliteration character for Cyrillic ь and Hebrew Geresh
	l/L	Letter ł/Ł for Polish, Sorbian, Venetian, and other languages
œ	ö/Ö	Letter œ/Œ for French and other languages
æ	ä/Ä	Letter æ/Æ for Danish, Norwegian, Old English, and other languages. If a diacritical mark is to be applied to this letter, this is to be entered first, followed by and then /.
	y	Gap symbol; open box
	x/X	With Shift key : German single opening quotation mark Without Shift key : German opening quotation mark
	c/C	With Shift key : Copyright symbol Without Shift key : Cent symbol
	v/V	With Shift key : German single closing quotation mark; English single opening quotation mark Without Shift key : German closing quotation mark; English opening quotation mark
	b/B	With Shift key : English single closing quotation mark Without Shift key : English closing quotation mark
ŋ	n/N	Letter Eng for Sámi, other languages, and dialect orthographies
	m	Zero-width non-joiner, which prevents automatic application of ligatures where German typographic rules do not allow them
	,	ʻOkina
	.	With Shift key : Check mark Without Shift key : Ellipsis
	-	Bullet point

Additional characters (not displayed on the keytops) to be entered by the “Extra Selector” key

Other characters that can be entered using the Extra Selector key are not shown on the keytops, as they are only included for special applications. After entering the Extra Selector key, the input character listed in the following table is to be entered to get the character listed in the “result” row.

Key

Input

;

Result

₰

The “telephony star” is the asterisk symbol that matches the hash sign “#” in design, position, and size for the description of inputs made on a telephone keypad. Since Unicode version 16.0, the Unicode character ∗ is dedicated for this purpose.-

Characters to be entered with special key combinations

Input of IPA phonetic characters

The “double acute and IPA Special Selector key” can be used to enter all phonetic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet, as listed in the 1999 edition of the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, excluding some of the symbols listed there in the Appendix 3: Extensions to the IPA. This repertoire is supplemented by three symbols ȴ, ȵ, and ȶ used in sinology. To enter such characters, press the key followed by a letter and a number. This pair identifies the IPA character according to the following tables.
The diacritical characters entered in this way according to the lower table are always applied to the previously entered letter.
The following tables correspond to those in the international standard ISO/IEC 9995-9. However, since the selection key used here also functions as a dead key for the letters o and u, the umlauts ö and ü are used instead for phonetic transcription input.

ᵊ

ⁿ

ᶑ

ⱱ

ꟸ

ꞵ

[

]

‿

ᶿ

‖

)

[

]

ꜛ

ꜜ

‖

(

⸩

{

}

↗

↘

⸨

‿

Examples:
The following common IPA special characters can be entered using shorter key sequences:

ː : –
ˑ : –
ˈ : –
ˌ : –
‖ : –

Input of Greek characters

The “Greek Special Selector and horn key” can be used to enter all characters of the Greek alphabet, both for use as symbols in scientific and technical texts and for entering short Greek texts. All diacritical marks used in classical Ancient Greek also can be entered.
The following table complies with the international standard ISO/IEC 9995-9. However, since the selector key used here also functions as a dead key for applying the Vietnamese horn to the letters o and u, the umlauts ö and ü are used instead for Greek input. The aforementioned standard contains the “comma above” in a different table, which is why the column “ß” has been added here.

⇧

Table arranged according to the Greek alphabet:

⇧

Diacritical marks are entered as follows, always after the letter :

Circumflex : –
Spiritus lenis : –
Spiritus asper : –
Iota subscriptum: –
Acute accent, grave accent and trema are entered without by double actuating of, resp. .

Example: The input sequence – yields ω, the subsequent input – – – – – – supplements this to ᾧ, if correct Unicode character composing is supported by software and font.
For Modern Greek texts, especially for proper names processed in accordance with DIN 91379, the tonos on all vowels and the dialytika on the letters ι and υ can also be entered as dead keys. Example: – – gives ί. The combination of tonos + dialytika on the lowercase letters ι and υ is generated for this purpose with the dead key sequence – .

Input of special letters and characters used in linguistics

The “comma below“ key can be used to enter letters for special user groups and special linguistic characters, as listed in the following tables.

Letter	Input	Alternate input	Description
ǀ	1	'	Click letter consisting of one stroke
ǁ	2	"	Click letter consisting of two strokes
ǂ	3	#	Click letter consisting of three strokes
ǃ	4	!	Click letter similar to an exclamation mark

Letter	Input	Description
ꜣ/Ꜣ	b/B	Egyptological alef
ꜥ/Ꜥ	c/C	Egyptological ain
ꞽ/Ꞽ	i/I	Egyptological yod

Char.	Input	Description
ƒ/Ƒ	f/F	The lowercase letter is the currency symbol for the Netherlands Antillean guilder and of the historic Dutch guilder, and is sometimes used for the f-number in photography.
	h/H	Transliteration of the Gothic letter ?, preferred to the digraph hv
ɂ/Ɂ	q/Q	Letter indicating a glottal stop, used in some dialect orthographies and e.g. in Canadian minority languages, e.g. Chipewyan
ɼ	r	Long r as used in some Irish fonts
℞	R	“Prescription take” symbol, indicates prescription drugs
ƿ/Ƿ	w/W	Wynn
ȝ/Ȝ	y/Y	Yogh
ȥ/Ȥ	z/Z	Character used in some modern printings of Middle High German texts for a “z” denoting the sound /s/
⸤ / ⸥		Low half brackets
⸢ / ⸣	[ / ]	High half brackets
⸗	=	Slanted double hyphen
⦀	\|	Triple vertical bar
⸮	?	Mirrored question mark, used e.g. as a form of the irony mark
‵ / ‶	′ / ″	Mirrored single and double prime

Input of special mathematical symbols

In addition to various common mathematical symbols that are already included in the basic assignment or can be entered using the Extra Selector key according to the tables above, a selection of more specialized mathematical symbols can be entered using the “Math Special Selector or ring key” . The selector key only produces a ring accent or an encirclement for symbols marked by colored table cells.

⇧

∩

∢

∪

ẘ

ẙ

;

⊗

∕

❲

❳

⊕

⸛

⇌

⊖

Some of the assignments to letters are based on the English name of the symbol, such as infinity, root, cube root.

Input of additional special characters using the strike-through key

Using the strike-through key followed by a digit or a special character key, additional bullet symbols, dingbats, and decorative characters can be entered according to the following table:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
◾	◽︎	❑	❖	‣	➤	⮚	✗	✘	✔

Input of additional diacritical marks

With special combinations of two dead keys entered in succession, additional diacritical marks can be entered according to the following table:

Result	Resulting Unicode character	Input sequence
	U+0310	–
	U+0313	–
	U+032D	–
	U+0325	–
	U+035F	–
	U+035C	–
	U+032D	–
	U+030D	–
	U+030F	–
	U+0305	–
	U+032F	–
	U+0358	–
	U+0312	–
	U+0315	–
	U+0332	–
	U+1AB7	–

Input of spaces and other invisible characters

The standard space is entered using the space bar. This function does not change if the Shift key ⇧ is pressed simultaneously or if Caps Lock is activated. The combination produces a non-breaking space. For the narrow non-breaking space, which is used more frequently in advanced typography, especially in abbreviations according to DIN 5008, there is the dedicated key combination. Thus, a dedicated key with an easily recognizable symbol is available for this purpose.
Overall, the following spaces and other invisible characters can be entered:

Resulting Unicode character	Input sequence
`U+0020`
`U+00A0`
`U+202F`
`U+200A`	–
`U+2007`	–
`U+2009`	–
`U+2003`	–
`U+200B`	–
`U+200D`	–
`U+200C`	–

Superscripting, subscripting and encirclement of letters

Special combinations of two dead keys entered in succession can be used to superscript, subscript, or encircle the 26 letters a...z and A...Z. This effectively enters the special Unicode characters that have the corresponding appearance. While Unicode contains encircled variants for all of these letters, it does not contain superscript or subscript variants for all of these letters. The input option described here only works for superscript and subscript if the target letter is available in the Basic Multilingual Plane of Unicode. On the other hand, this character selection also works independently of software in unformatted plain text. In addition, the correct Unicode characters are used for languages in which superscript letters are elements of spelling, or used in linguistic texts.

The key sequence – causes superscripting for the letter entered after it.
The key sequence – causes subscripting.
The key sequence – causes encirclement.

Variant “E2”

Besides the German extended keyboard layout “E1“, The German standard DIN 2137 specifies a variant “E2”. This is intended to be used on keyboards whose hardware resembles the key arrangement of the standard US QWERTY keyboard, thus lacking one key compared to the standard German QWERTZ hardware. This allows to produce e.g. special keyboard hardware in small numbers, for which the German version then only has to deviate from the US version in the key labelling, but not in the key arrangement.
As the superscripted digits ² and ³, which occupy a separate position on the “E1“ layout as well as on the basic German keyboard layout, can entered by the key combinations + resp. + using the extended layout, they no longer need a separate position. The latter also applies to the ± symbol, which can be entered by +. Therefore, the characters “<”, “>”, and “”, which are positioned on the key right to the left shift key on the “E1“ layout, are moved to those positions on the “E2” layout.

Availability

Hardware

Since December 2024, keyboards and keycap sets with labelling according to the German extended keyboard layout “E1” are available from a specialized German supplier.

Software

Since the 24H2 update for Windows 11, the German extended keyboard layouts “E1” and “E2” are available in Microsoft Windows as “German extended ” resp. “German extended ”.
For Microsoft Windows 8/10/11, a driver with extended functions is available from a private developer, among other solutions. In particular, a variant is also available there in which the left key of the middle row functions as a left Alt Gr key in accordance with the recommendation of the standard, but still has the shift lock function when pressed simultaneously with the Control key.
MacOS offers a layout “German – Standard” in addition to the usual German keyboard layout, which is largely compatible with the German extended layout “E1” in Microsoft Windows.
A driver for Linux is available from component xkeyboard-config 2.44 of the X Window System. The keyboard layout can be selected, for example, with setxkbmap de e1 resp. setxkbmap de e2.