Early New High German
The German term was originally coined in 1819 by Jacob Grimm for the period from around 1450 to the present day, following on from Middle High German (). However, in 1878 Wilhelm Scherer proposed a transitional period, 1350–1650, for which he coined the new term (Early New High German), thus dating New High German from the mid 17th century. In spite of many alternative proposals, Scherer's remains the most widely adopted periodisation of German.