German is not spoken in Germany only, it is also spoken in other countries.
First, “ß” is definitly not replaced by “ss”. “ß” is still used in many words. Only if you write in CAPITAL LETTERS, instead of “ß” which does not exist as a capital letter we write “SS”. Also, if a typewriter or computer does not have the “ß”.
Second, there is more than one nation where German is an official language. Besides Germany, it is Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. So, any orthography reform has to be an international agreement.
Third, language is not defined by law. Language is spoken by the people, and language evolves. Orthographic rules and dictionaries try to follow the natural developments of the language. Therefore, not governments are in charge, but international committees of linguists.
The first ideas for an orthography reform at the end of the 20th century were discussed in 1980 by the International Working Group for Orthography, with linguists from East Germany, West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland taking part. In 1992, the International Working Group published a proposed global reform to German spelling. The next year, an expert hearing was organized with 43 invited groups and asscociations who rejected some of the Working Group’s proposals. In 1994, there was a third international conference in Vienna which agreed on a final version of an orthography reform.
In Germany, the states (Länder) are in charge of education. The conference of education ministers decided that schools should teach German language according to the new rules. Also, government bodies had been forced to use the reformed orthography. Privately, you can write as you wish. Several important newspapers, magazines and publishers rejected the reform and used the traditional orthography.
Since 2004, we have the Council for German Orthography, with members from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Italy - all countries, where German is spoken as a native language.
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