\iffalse % true: LaTeX 2.09; false: LaTeX (2e)
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  %\documentstyle[german,hhbibgerm]{article}
  \documentstyle[bibgerm]{article}
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  \documentclass{article}
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  \usepackage{bibgerm}
  \usepackage[english,german,ngerman]{babel}
  %\usepackage{ngerman}
  %\usepackage{german}
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\begin{document}
\noindent Active language: \languagename
\nocite{mepura1997a,degischer1997b}
\nocite{ashby1983a,banhart1997b,banhart1998a,beals1997a,
  gibson1989a,sugimura1997a}
\bibliographystyle{gerplain}
\bibliography{schaum}
\end{document}