Wegen der Umleitung dauert der Weg zur Arbeit heute zehn Minuten länger.

Yes. In standard German, wegen normally takes the genitive, so wegen der Umleitung is the expected form.

• die Umleitung = the detour
• genitive singular of a feminine noun uses der
• so: wegen der Umleitung = because of the detour

A useful extra point: in everyday spoken German, many people use the dative after wegen, but here you cannot see the difference, because feminine singular genitive and dative both use der.

Because German main clauses follow the verb-second rule.

The first element in this sentence is Wegen der Umleitung. Once that whole phrase is placed first, the finite verb must come next:

• Wegen der Umleitung | dauert | der Weg zur Arbeit ...

So the verb comes before the subject here, not because it is a question, but because something else has been moved into first position.

Because der Weg is in the nominative, and it matches the verb:

• der Weg = nominative singular
• dauert = 3rd person singular

The opening phrase wegen der Umleitung is just a prepositional phrase, not the subject.

So the basic sentence underneath is:

Der Weg zur Arbeit dauert heute zehn Minuten länger.

Then Wegen der Umleitung is placed at the front for emphasis.

Not necessarily. In German, der Weg zur Arbeit can mean:

• the way to work
• the trip to work
• the commute to work
• the route to work

It does not have to mean a literal footpath. In this sentence, it means the journey/commute to work takes longer today.

Zur is just the normal contraction of zu der:

• zu der → zur

So:

• zur Arbeit = to work / to one’s workplace

This contraction is extremely common and usually preferred in normal German.

Yes, heute could be moved. German adverbs are fairly flexible, as long as the verb-second rule is respected.

This sentence sounds natural:

Wegen der Umleitung dauert der Weg zur Arbeit heute zehn Minuten länger.

But these are also possible:

• Heute dauert der Weg zur Arbeit wegen der Umleitung zehn Minuten länger.
• Der Weg zur Arbeit dauert heute wegen der Umleitung zehn Minuten länger.

The meaning stays basically the same, but the emphasis changes slightly depending on what comes first.

Because German often expresses duration directly, especially with dauern.

For example:

• Der Film dauert zwei Stunden.
• Der Weg dauert zehn Minuten länger.

So zehn Minuten functions as a time expression meaning for ten minutes more / ten minutes longer.

You may also hear:

... dauert um zehn Minuten länger.

That version is also possible and puts a bit more focus on the amount of difference. But zehn Minuten länger on its own is completely normal.

Because German normally forms the comparative of lang as länger.

• lang = long
• länger = longer

German usually uses a comparative form directly, rather than more + adjective like English sometimes does. So:

• correct: länger
• not natural: mehr lang
• wrong: mehr länger

Because dauern is the natural verb for saying how much time something takes.

• Der Weg dauert zehn Minuten länger. = the trip takes ten minutes longer.

If you say:

• Der Weg ist länger.

that usually suggests the route itself is longer, especially in distance, not necessarily in time.

So dauern makes it clear that the sentence is about time, not physical length.

Yes. That is also correct and natural.

German word order is flexible, but two rules matter here:

1. In a main clause, the finite verb must be in second position.
2. The rest of the sentence can often be rearranged to change emphasis.

So both of these work:

• Wegen der Umleitung dauert der Weg zur Arbeit heute zehn Minuten länger.
• Der Weg zur Arbeit dauert heute wegen der Umleitung zehn Minuten länger.

The first one highlights the reason right away. The second one starts more neutrally with the trip to work.