From "Evenings of Nations" Presentations

Friday, November 20, 2009

From "Evenings of Nations" Presentations

Irina, Ukraine

Ludwig, Lusatia

Lusatia

Clemens, Lusatia

The Sorbians: A Slavic Minority in Germany
By Gregory H. Wolf (http://www.germanlife.com/Archives/2002/0208-01.html)

Driving along the Autobahn in southeastern Brandenburg or eastern Saxony, you may have noticed directional signs for Cottbus or Bautzen, and then as you approached these cities, you noticed that the signs became bilingual: Cottbus/Chosebuz and Bautzen/Budyšin. After a few moments of confusion and wondering if these cities are perhaps in Poland or the Czech Republic, though you know for a fact that they are in Germany, you realize that you have entered das Sorbenland.

The Sorbians are an indigenous Slavic minority which has lived in present-day Germany since around the sixth century, in an area known as Lusatia in eastern Germany, between the rivers Oder and Neisse. Lusatia stems from a Sorbian word meaning “watering hole or pool” and aptly describes the marshy swamp-like conditions around the rivulets of the Spree River. Unlike other West Slavic tribes in Bohemia, Poland, or Moravia, the Sorbians were unsuccessful in establishing a Sorbian state or political entity, and have been subjected to German rulers for more than 1,500 years.

The mere fact that the Sorbians survive to this day is surprising considering they have never enjoyed the protection of a national state, and their survival attests to their resiliency. German conquests of Sorbian lands began as early as the late sixth century and lasted through the 12th century, by which time the pagan Sorbians had been Christianized and completely defeated. In following centuries, the Sorbians were part of the Hapsburg-dominated Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Saxony, and Prussia, each of whom ruled them harshly with periods of reform and leniency. Despite the change in rulers and violent times, the Sorbians still live in the general area where their ancestors did, concentrated around the cities of Bautzen, Kamenz, Hoyerswerda, Weisswasser, Spremberg, Cottbus, Lübbenau, and Guben in Lower and Upper Lusatia.

Today the Sorbians are not just the smallest Slavic minority, they are also the smallest ethnic group in Europe with a population of approximately 60,000. Despite their numbers, the Sorbians are a proud folk, consider themselves both Sorbian and German (they are, after all, German citizens), are conscious of their ethnic heritage and identity, and struggle to preserve their unique culture. The Sorbians are a minority in their own country and often even in their traditional towns and villages.