Capitalization of Du, Dich, and Dir

My German relatives always capitalize Du, Dich, and Dir in e-mail to me. I don't remember this being the rule, but honestly, it's been a long time since I sat in a German class. Can someone explain this? I figure it's either a rule in letter writing, something regional (they live in the NRW countryside), or I totally forgot the part of my life when I learned it.

Thanks!

old rules were that personal pronouns (ie the person you are writing to) were capitalised in correspondence but this is no longer necessary.

My colleagues do this to me and each other. I assume this is just a mark of respect.

no, it was a grammar rule which is no longer required under the new rechtsschreibung.

Second-person preposition for which capitalisation isn't required but IS still used as a display of respect despite the familiarity in addressing someone as "du" rather than "sie". Common in our office.

woof.

Thanks for clarification, everyone.

My Rechtscreibung (2004) says:

"Wörter aus anderen Wortarten, die als Substantive verwendet werden, schreibt man Groß"

It gives for "Substantiv Pronomen" the example "...das vetraute Du".

I have to say I don't use it but plenty of others do when they write to me!

That's not what this thread is about
It basically means that every word used as Substantiv has to be capitalized even though it is normally not.

e.g. Das Lernen der deutschen Sprache ist einfach.
"lernen" is a Verb but in this case used as a Substantiv (das Lernen)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantivierung


Addressing someone directly in a written letter is different, capitalization is not a grammatical requirement (any more) but it is indeed quite rude to use a lower case "du/sie/ihnen/..."

According to new Rechtschreibung, du, dir, and dich are not capitalized any more. Sie and Ihnen still are though! Writing sie and ihnen is wrong, as is Du, Dir, Dich.

according to Duden, you can use either. Personally I prefer to capitalise them.

http://www.duden.de/deutsche_sprache/neue_...s_und_klein.php