Despite what many people believe this term referring to the type of language spoken in Germany, has nothing to do with class or scholarly attributes. As Eliot said, High German is a translation of Hochdeutsch. It refers to the languages that were spoken inland in the more mountainous regions. Low German or Plattdeutsch is connected with the northern, lowland areas. It is purely a geographical distinction. Part of the confusion has arisen because Hochdeutsch was the dialect of the Hanover region. It assumed a similar status to Oxford English. The fact the Hochdeutsch is better than Plattdeutsch is a misconception that no amount of linguistic or historical argument has been able to erase. On a linguistic level the high German has given rise to modern dialects like Bavarian and Yiddish whereas low German entered the languages of English, Flemish, Dutch and other lowland countries in the northern hemisphere.

Historically (in the middle ages and earlier), there have been two main variants of German: people in the northern lowlands spoke "low German" and the souther highlands spoke "high German". When talking about dialects, this pattern still applies, event today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_dialects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_German http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_German As for a difference - listening to a dialect is best. Here are some examples: Digging the web I found Radio Bremen's podcast with news in low German. http://www.radiobremen.de/podcast/platt/ For the problems that even South Germans have when trying to understand each other listen to this: Ein Badener in Bayern (Humorvoller Bayrisch Sprachkurs). http://www.radio-dingolstadt.de/podcast-badener.xml And to add to confusion - since the times of Martin Luther's Bible translation, Hochdeutsch (High German) is also the name of standard German.

Hochdeutsch = standard German. It does not mean "high German". There is no such thing as "low German".