Sorbs
Encyclopedia
Sorbs are a Western
Slavic
people of Central Europe
living predominantly in Lusatia
, a region on the territory of Germany
and Poland
. In Germany they live in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak the Sorbian languages
(Wendish, Lusatian) - closely related to Polish
and Czech
- officially recognized and protected as a minority language of Germany
. They are predominantly Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants.
Sorbs are divided into two geographical groups:
The dialects spoken vary in intelligibility in different areas.
. The document contains a list of the tribes in Central
-Eastern
Europe
east of the Elbe
and north of the Danube
to the Wolga rivers to the Black and Caspian Sea most of them of Slavic
origin. Having settled by the Elbe
, Spree and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. Sorbs living on the swampy broads of the Lower Spree
have taken their name from the word marsh. The Milceni
(ancestors of Upper Sorbs) settled on fertile soil around Upper Spree
, the name derives from the word měl’ (loess soil). Both groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the Elbe
and Saale
. Among many Slavic tribes Bavarian Geographer noted also few lusatian tribes:
Sorbs arrived in the area extending between the Bober, Kwisa, and Oder
rivers to the East and the Saale
and Elbe
rivers to the West during the sixth century A.D. In the North, the area of their settlement reached Berlin. The earliest surviving mention of the tribe was in 631 A.D., when Fredegar’s Chronicle described them as "Surbi" and as under the rule of a Dervan
, an ally of Samo
. The Annales Regni Francorum state that in 806 A.D. Sorbian Duke Miliduch
fought against the Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian Duke Czimislav
was killed. In 932, Henry I conquered Lusatia
and Milsko
. Gero II, Margrave
of the Saxon Ostmark
, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, treacherously murdered thirty Sorbian princes during a feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule. A reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period.
During the reign of Boleslaw I of Poland
in 1002-1018, three Polish-German wars were waged which caused Lusatia
to come under the domination of new rulers. In 1018, on the strength of peace in Bautzen
, Lusatia
became a part of Poland
; however, it returned to German
rule before 1031. From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian in Altenburg
, Zwickau
and Leipzig
appeared. Between 1376 and 1635 Lusatia was again part of an Empire, under the rule of the Bohemian Luxembourgs, part of Saint Waclav's Crown. From the beginning of the 16th century the whole Sorbian area, with the exception of Lusatia, underwent Germanization. From 1635 Lusatia
became a fiefdom
of Saxon electors.
The Thirty Years War and the Black Death caused terrible devastation in Lusatia
. This led to further German colonization and Germanization. In 1667 the Prince of Brandenburg
, Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the Evangelical Church
supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting the Counterreformation. In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of Sorbian Catholic
priests, was founded in Prague
. Evangelical
students of theology formed the Sorbian College of Ministers.
The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, gave part of Upper Lusatia
to Saxony
, but most of Lusatia to Prussia
. More and more bans on the use of Sorbian languages
appeared from then until 1835 in Saxony
and Prussia
; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town of Serbin in Texas
and to Australia
, increased. In 1848, 5000 Sorbs signed a petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality for the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From 1871 the whole of Lusatia
became a part of united Germany
and was divided between two parts; Prussia
(Silesia
and Brandenburg
), and Saxony
.
From 1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Although the Weimar Republic
guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them.
Throughout the Third Reich, Sorbians were described as a German tribe who spoke a Slavic language and their national poet Handrij Zejler
as German as well. Sorbian costume, culture, customs and even the language was said to be no indication of a non-German origin. The Reich declared that there were truly no "Sorbs" or "Lusatians", only Wendish-Speaking Germans. As such, the cultivation of "Wendish" customs and traditions was to be encouraged in a controlled manner and the Slavic language would decline due to natural causes. Young Sorbs enlisted in the Wehrmacht
and were sent to the front. Entangled lives of the Sorbs during World War II
are exemplified by life stories of Mina Witkojc
, Měrčin Nowak-Njechorński and Jan Skala.
The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when the Red Army and the Polish Second Army
crossed the river Queis
(pol:Kwisa). The defeat of Nazi Germany
changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably: those to the east of Neisse and Oder were expelled or assimilated by Poland. The regions in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced a large influx of expelled Germans
and heavy industrialisation, which both forced Germanization. The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded, the Domowina
and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the oppression of the church and forced collectivization, however, these efforts were severely affected and consequently over time the number of people speaking Sorbian languages decreased by half.
Sorbian Slovians caused the communist government of the GDR (the German Democratic Republic) plenty of trouble, mainly because of the high levels of religious observance and resistance to the nationalisation of agriculture. During the compulsory collectivization campaign, a great many unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, throughout the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
, violent clashes with the police were reported in Lusatia. An open uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot.
After the unification of Germany
on 3 October 1990, Lusatians made efforts to create an autonomous administrative unit; however Helmut Kohl
’s government did not agree to it. After 1989 the Sorbian movement revived; however, it still encounters many obstacles. Although Germany
supports national minorities, Sorbs claim that their aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled. The desire to unite Lusatia
in one of the federal states has not been taken into consideration. Upper Lusatia
still belongs to Saxony
and Lower Lusatia
to Brandenburg
. Liquidations of Sorbian schools, even in areas mostly populated by Sorbs, still happen, under the pretext of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create lignite
quarries.
Faced with growing threat of cultural extincton the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008 and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the Länder
to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the European Union
.
On 28 May 2008, the Sorbian politician Stanislaw Tillich
, member of the governing Christian Democrats
, was elected as Minister President of the State of Saxony
.
townsmen’ oath. In 1548 Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of the New Testament into Lower Sorbian.
In 1574 the first Sorbian book was printed: Albin Moller
s’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik translated the Bible for Catholic
Sorbs. In 1706-1709 the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian by Jan Bogumił Fabricius (1681–1741). Jan Bjedrich Fryco (a.k.a.Johann Friedrich Fritze) (1747–1819), translated the Old Testament
for the first time into Lower Sorbian, published in 1790.
Other Sorbian Bible translators include Jakub Buk (1825–1895), Michał Hórnik (Michael Hornig) (1833–1894), Jurij Łušćanski (a.k.a. Georg Wuschanski) (1839–1905).
In 1809 for the short period of time, there was the first printed Sorbian newspaper. In 1767 Jurij Mjeń publishes the first secular Sorbian book. Between 1841 and 1843, Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt published two-volume collection of Wendish folk-songs in Upper and Lower Lusatia
.
From 1842, the first Sorbian publishing companies started to appear: the poet Handrij Zejler set up a weekly magazine, the precursor of today’s Serbian News. In 1845 in Bautzen
the first festival of Sorbian songs took place.
In 1875, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski
, the poet and classicist of Upper Sorbian literature, and Karol Arnošt Muka created a movement of young Sorbians influencing Lusatian art, science and literature for the following 50 years.
Similar movement in Lower Lusatia
was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyk
(Mato Kosyk) and Bogumił Šwjela.
In 1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (the Sorbian House) was built in Bautzen
. In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the Domowina
Institution - the union of Sorbian organizations. In 1919 it had 180,000 members. In 1920 Jan Skala set up a Sorbian party and in 1925 in Berlin, Skala started Kulturwille- the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany
. In 1920 the Sokol
Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933 the Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the Nazi also dissolved the Sokol
Movement and began to combat every sign of Sorbian culture. In 1937 activities of the Domowina
Institution and other organizations were banned as anti-national. Sorbian clergymen and teachers were forcedly deported from Lusatia
; Nazi German authorities confiscated the Sorbian House, other buildings and crops.
On May 10, 1945, in Crostwitz
, after The Red Army’s invasion, the Domowina
Institution renewed its activity. In 1948 Landtag
of Saxony
passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949 Brandenburg
resolved a similar law. In the times of the GDR, Sorbian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouraged Germanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of “building Socialism
”. Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted Socialistic ideology.
For over 1000 years the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite escalating Germanization and Polonization
, mainly due to the high level of religious observance, cultivation of their tradition and strong families (Sorbian families still often have 5 children).
In the middle of the 20th century, the revival of the Central European nations included some Sorbs, who became strong enough to attempt twice to regain their independence. After World War II
, the Lusatian National Committee in Prague claimed the right to self-government and separation from Germany
and the creation of a Lusatian Free State or attachment to Czechoslovakia
. The majority of the Sorbs were organized in the Domowina
, though, and did not wish to split from Germany. Claims asserted by the Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia
to Poland
or Czechoslovakia
. Between 1945–1947 they postulated about ten memorials to the UN, USA, USSR, Great Britain
, France
, Poland
and Czechoslovakia
, however, it did not bring any results. On April 30, 1946, the Lusatian National Committee also postulated a petition to the Polish Government, signed by Paweł Cyż – the minister and an official Sorbian delegate in Poland. There was also a project of proclaiming a Lusatian Free State, whose Prime Minister was supposed to be a Polish archaeologist of Lusatian origin- Wojciech Kóčka. The most radical postulates in this area (" Na swobodu so ńečeka, swobodu so beŕe!") were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica.
Similarly, in Czechoslovakia
, where before the Potsdam Conference
in Prague
, 300,000 people demonstrated for the independence of Lusatia
. The endeavours to separate Lusatia
from Germany
did not succeed because of various individual and geopolitical interests.
The following statistics indicates the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by the end of the 19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Sorbian languages. In 1920 almost all Sorbs mastered Sorbian and German to the same degree. The last Sorb who spoke little or no German died in Műschen village in 1954. Nowadays, in 2004, the number of people using Sorbian languages has been estimated to be no more than 50,000.
The Pisanici
are a Slavic
Easter
tradition maintained by Sorbs since the 17th century.
that differ in language, religion and customs.
Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of Bautzen
, Kamenz
, and Hoyerswerda
, where Upper Sorbian language, customs, and tradition are still thriving. In some of these places (e.g., Radibor
or Radwor in Sorbian, Crostwitz
or Chrósćicy, and Rosenthal
or Róžant), Sorbs constitute the majority of the population, and children grow up speaking Sorbian.
On Sundays, during holidays, and at weddings, people wear regional costumes, rich in decoration and embroidery, encrusted with pearls.
Some of the customs and traditions observed include Bird Wedding (25 January), Easter
Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30 April), Maik, singing on St. Martin's Day
(Nicolay), and the celebrations of Saint Barbara
’s Day and Saint Nicholas
’s Day.
to Schleife
, a dialect of Sorbian which combines characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Sorbian is spoken. The region is predominantly Protestant, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated, and to a great extent germanicized. Most speakers of Sorbian are over 60 years old.
The region distinguishes itself through many examples of Slavic
wooden architecture monuments including churches and regular houses, a diversity of regional costumes (mainly worn by elderly women) that feature white-knitting with black, cross-like embroidery, and a tradition of playing bagpipes
.
In several villages, residents uphold traditional festivities such as expelling of winter, Maik, Easter
and Great Friday singing, and the celebration of dźěćetko (disguised child or young girl giving Christmas
presents).
belonging to this region, where most of the older people over 60 but few young people and children can speak the Lower Sorbian language; the local variant often incorporates many words taken from the German, and in conversations with the younger generation, German is generally preferred. Some primary schools in the region teach bilingually, and in Cottbus there is an important Gymnasium whose main medium of instruction is Lower Sorbian. The region is predominantly Protestant, again highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry. The biggest tourist attraction of the region and in the whole Lusatia
are the marshlands, with many Spreewald
/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of the Spree
.
Worn mainly by older but on holidays by young women, regional costumes are colourful, including a large headscarf called "lapa", rich in golden embroidering and differing from village to village.
In some villages, following traditions are observed: Shrovetide, Maik, Easter
bonfires, Roosters catching/hunting. In Jänschwalde (Sorbian: Janšojcach) so called Janšojki bog (disguised young girl) gives Christmas
presents.
in 1861. The book was expanded and published again in cooperation with Michał Hórnik in 1884 in Bautzen
, under a new title Historije serbskeho naroda. Alfons Parczewski was another friend of Sorbs, who from 1875 was involved in Sorbs' rights protection, participating in Sorbian meetings in Bautzen
. It was thanks to him, among others, that Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
founded a scholarship for Sorbian students. An association of friends of Sorbian Nation was established at the University of Warsaw
in 1936 (Polish full name: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Serbo-Łużyckiego). It gathered people not only from the university. Its president was Professor Stanisław Słoński, and the deputy president was Julia Wieleżyńska. The association was a legal entity. There were 3 individual organizations devoted to Sorbian matters. Prołuż founded in Krotoszyn, expanded to all Poland (3000 members). It was biggest noncommunist organization that dealt with foreign affairs. This youth organization was created during the soviet occupation and its motto was “Polish guard over Lusatia” (pl. Nad Łużycami polska straż). Its highest activity was in Greater Poland
(Polish: Wielkopolska, a district of western Poland).
After the creation of East Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.
and Czechs, consistent with their West Slavic language. They show subtle evidence of genetic isolation but less than Sardinians and French Basques.
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
people of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
living predominantly in Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
, a region on the territory of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. In Germany they live in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak the Sorbian languages
Sorbian languages
The Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code...
(Wendish, Lusatian) - closely related to Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
and Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
- officially recognized and protected as a minority language of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. They are predominantly Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants.
Sorbs are divided into two geographical groups:
- Upper Sorbs, who speak Upper SorbianUpper SorbianUpper Sorbian is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia , which is today part of Saxony...
(about 40,000 people). - Lower Sorbs, who speak Lower SorbianLower SorbianLower Sorbian is a Slavic minority language spoken in eastern Germany in the historical province of Lower Lusatia, today part of Brandenburg. It is one of the two literary Sorbian languages, the other being Upper Sorbian....
(about 20,000 people).
The dialects spoken vary in intelligibility in different areas.
Tribal division
Lusatian tribes are noted in the work of the Bavarian GeographerBavarian Geographer
The Bavarian Geographer is a conventional name given by Jan Potocki in 1796 to the author of an anonymous medieval document Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ....
. The document contains a list of the tribes in Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
-Eastern
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
east of the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
and north of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
to the Wolga rivers to the Black and Caspian Sea most of them of Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
origin. Having settled by the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, Spree and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. Sorbs living on the swampy broads of the Lower Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
have taken their name from the word marsh. The Milceni
Milceni
The Milceni or Milzeni were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who wrote of 30 civitates which possibly had fortifications. They were gradually conquered by Germans...
(ancestors of Upper Sorbs) settled on fertile soil around Upper Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
, the name derives from the word měl’ (loess soil). Both groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
and Saale
Saale
The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale , is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.-Course:The Saale...
. Among many Slavic tribes Bavarian Geographer noted also few lusatian tribes:
- GlomaczeGlomaczeThe Glomacze, also Golomacze or Dolomici - were Polabian Slavs inhabiting areas in the middle Elbe valley. Other West Slavic tribes such as the Milceni settled east of them. About 850 the Bavarian Geographer located their settlement area east of the Sorbs...
- Dolomici - MilceniMilceniThe Milceni or Milzeni were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who wrote of 30 civitates which possibly had fortifications. They were gradually conquered by Germans...
- Chutyz
- Sitice
History
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
rivers to the East and the Saale
Saale
The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale , is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.-Course:The Saale...
and Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
rivers to the West during the sixth century A.D. In the North, the area of their settlement reached Berlin. The earliest surviving mention of the tribe was in 631 A.D., when Fredegar’s Chronicle described them as "Surbi" and as under the rule of a Dervan
Dervan
Dervan or Derwan was an early prince of the Sorbs and Serbs .He is mentioned by Fredegar in his Latin chronicle as dux gente Surbiorum que ex genere Sclavinorum: "ruler of the people of the Serbs from the nation of the Slavs". He is the first ruler of the tribe mentioned by name...
, an ally of Samo
Samo
Samo was a Frankish merchant from the "Senonian country" , probably modern Soignies, Belgium or Sens, France. He was the first ruler of the Slavs whose name is known, and established one of the earliest Slav states, a supra-tribal union usually called Samo's empire, realm, kingdom, or tribal...
. The Annales Regni Francorum state that in 806 A.D. Sorbian Duke Miliduch
Miliduch
Miliduch was a knyaz of the Lusatian Serbs . Formerly allied to Charlemagne, the Sorbs ended their vassalage to the Franks and rebelled, invading Austrasia...
fought against the Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian Duke Czimislav
Czimislav
Czimislav was a 9th-century Sorbian king. The Saxons won a battle at Kesigesburg and Czimislav was killed in 840. He was part of the Colodici, a Sorbian sub-tribe.- References :...
was killed. In 932, Henry I conquered Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
and Milsko
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...
. Gero II, Margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
of the Saxon Ostmark
Saxon Eastern March
The Saxon Eastern March or Ostmark was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" or "ostmark" comes from the Latin term marchia Orientalis and originally could refer to either a march created on the eastern frontier of the Duchy of Saxony or...
, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, treacherously murdered thirty Sorbian princes during a feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule. A reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period.
During the reign of Boleslaw I of Poland
Boleslaw I of Poland
Bolesław I Chrobry , in the past also known as Bolesław I the Great , was a Duke of Poland from 992-1025 and the first King of Poland from 19 April 1025 until his death...
in 1002-1018, three Polish-German wars were waged which caused Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
to come under the domination of new rulers. In 1018, on the strength of peace in Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
, Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
became a part of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
; however, it returned to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
rule before 1031. From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian in Altenburg
Altenburg
Altenburg is a town in the German federal state of Thuringia, 45 km south of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district.-Geography:...
, Zwickau
Zwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
appeared. Between 1376 and 1635 Lusatia was again part of an Empire, under the rule of the Bohemian Luxembourgs, part of Saint Waclav's Crown. From the beginning of the 16th century the whole Sorbian area, with the exception of Lusatia, underwent Germanization. From 1635 Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
became a fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of Saxon electors.
The Thirty Years War and the Black Death caused terrible devastation in Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
. This led to further German colonization and Germanization. In 1667 the Prince of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the Evangelical Church
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting the Counterreformation. In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of Sorbian Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priests, was founded in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Evangelical
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
students of theology formed the Sorbian College of Ministers.
The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, gave part of Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...
to Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, but most of Lusatia to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. More and more bans on the use of Sorbian languages
Sorbian languages
The Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code...
appeared from then until 1835 in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town of Serbin in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, increased. In 1848, 5000 Sorbs signed a petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality for the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From 1871 the whole of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
became a part of united Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and was divided between two parts; Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
(Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
and Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
), and Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
From 1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Although the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them.
Throughout the Third Reich, Sorbians were described as a German tribe who spoke a Slavic language and their national poet Handrij Zejler
Handrij Zejler
Handrij Zejler was a Sorbian writer, pastor and national activist. He co-founded the Lusatian cultural and scientific society Maćica Serbska....
as German as well. Sorbian costume, culture, customs and even the language was said to be no indication of a non-German origin. The Reich declared that there were truly no "Sorbs" or "Lusatians", only Wendish-Speaking Germans. As such, the cultivation of "Wendish" customs and traditions was to be encouraged in a controlled manner and the Slavic language would decline due to natural causes. Young Sorbs enlisted in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and were sent to the front. Entangled lives of the Sorbs during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
are exemplified by life stories of Mina Witkojc
Mina Witkojc
Mina Witkojc was a Sorbian poet. She wrote in the Lower Sorbian language.- Works :* Dolnoserbske basni, Budyšin 1925* Wĕnašk błośańskich kwĕtkow, Budyšin 1934* K swĕtłu a słyńcu, Berlin 1955...
, Měrčin Nowak-Njechorński and Jan Skala.
The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when the Red Army and the Polish Second Army
Polish Second Army
The Polish Second Army was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944 as part of the People's Army of Poland. The organization begun in August under the command of generals Karol Świerczewski and Stanislav Poplavsky, and the formation under command of general Świerczewski entered active...
crossed the river Queis
Kwisa
The Kwisa is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river.It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs along the border with the Czech Republic...
(pol:Kwisa). The defeat of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably: those to the east of Neisse and Oder were expelled or assimilated by Poland. The regions in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced a large influx of expelled Germans
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
and heavy industrialisation, which both forced Germanization. The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded, the Domowina
Domowina
Domowina is a political independent league of the Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany...
and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the oppression of the church and forced collectivization, however, these efforts were severely affected and consequently over time the number of people speaking Sorbian languages decreased by half.
Sorbian Slovians caused the communist government of the GDR (the German Democratic Republic) plenty of trouble, mainly because of the high levels of religious observance and resistance to the nationalisation of agriculture. During the compulsory collectivization campaign, a great many unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, throughout the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16. It turned into a widespread anti-Stalinist uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day....
, violent clashes with the police were reported in Lusatia. An open uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on 3 October 1990, Lusatians made efforts to create an autonomous administrative unit; however Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...
’s government did not agree to it. After 1989 the Sorbian movement revived; however, it still encounters many obstacles. Although Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
supports national minorities, Sorbs claim that their aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled. The desire to unite Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
in one of the federal states has not been taken into consideration. Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...
still belongs to Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
to Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
. Liquidations of Sorbian schools, even in areas mostly populated by Sorbs, still happen, under the pretext of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
quarries.
Faced with growing threat of cultural extincton the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008 and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the Länder
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
On 28 May 2008, the Sorbian politician Stanislaw Tillich
Stanislaw Tillich
Stanislaw Tillich is a German CDU politician. He is the Minister-President of the Free State of Saxony...
, member of the governing Christian Democrats
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
, was elected as Minister President of the State of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
Language and culture
The oldest known relic of Sorbian literature originated in about 1530 - BautzenBautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
townsmen’ oath. In 1548 Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of the New Testament into Lower Sorbian.
In 1574 the first Sorbian book was printed: Albin Moller
Albin Moller
Albin Moller was a German author, astrologer, and translator who lived in eastern Germany during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.-Life and career:Moller was born in Straupitz, and worked there as a pastor. He died in Altdöbern.-Astrological works:...
s’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik translated the Bible for Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Sorbs. In 1706-1709 the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian by Jan Bogumił Fabricius (1681–1741). Jan Bjedrich Fryco (a.k.a.Johann Friedrich Fritze) (1747–1819), translated the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
for the first time into Lower Sorbian, published in 1790.
Other Sorbian Bible translators include Jakub Buk (1825–1895), Michał Hórnik (Michael Hornig) (1833–1894), Jurij Łušćanski (a.k.a. Georg Wuschanski) (1839–1905).
In 1809 for the short period of time, there was the first printed Sorbian newspaper. In 1767 Jurij Mjeń publishes the first secular Sorbian book. Between 1841 and 1843, Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt published two-volume collection of Wendish folk-songs in Upper and Lower Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
.
From 1842, the first Sorbian publishing companies started to appear: the poet Handrij Zejler set up a weekly magazine, the precursor of today’s Serbian News. In 1845 in Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
the first festival of Sorbian songs took place.
In 1875, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski
Jakub Bart-Cišinski
Jakub Bart-Ćišinski , also known as Łužičan, Jakub Bart Kukowski, was Sorbian poet, writer and playwrighter, translator of Czech, Polish, Italian and German literature. He produced his works in Upper Sorbian language...
, the poet and classicist of Upper Sorbian literature, and Karol Arnošt Muka created a movement of young Sorbians influencing Lusatian art, science and literature for the following 50 years.
Similar movement in Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyk
Mato Kósyk
Mato Kosyk was a Sorbian poet and minister. He was born in Werben, Prussia, emigrated from Lower Lusatia to the United States, and died at his rural home near Albion, Oklahoma.- Youth :...
(Mato Kosyk) and Bogumił Šwjela.
In 1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (the Sorbian House) was built in Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
. In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the Domowina
Domowina
Domowina is a political independent league of the Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany...
Institution - the union of Sorbian organizations. In 1919 it had 180,000 members. In 1920 Jan Skala set up a Sorbian party and in 1925 in Berlin, Skala started Kulturwille- the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In 1920 the Sokol
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933 the Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the Nazi also dissolved the Sokol
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
Movement and began to combat every sign of Sorbian culture. In 1937 activities of the Domowina
Domowina
Domowina is a political independent league of the Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany...
Institution and other organizations were banned as anti-national. Sorbian clergymen and teachers were forcedly deported from Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
; Nazi German authorities confiscated the Sorbian House, other buildings and crops.
On May 10, 1945, in Crostwitz
Crostwitz
Crostwitz, in Sorbian Chrósćicy, is a village and municipality in the center of the German district of Bautzen in Saxony. It belongs to Upper Lusatia and is one of the centres of the Sorbian area in Saxony.- Geography :...
, after The Red Army’s invasion, the Domowina
Domowina
Domowina is a political independent league of the Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany...
Institution renewed its activity. In 1948 Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949 Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
resolved a similar law. In the times of the GDR, Sorbian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouraged Germanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of “building Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
”. Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted Socialistic ideology.
For over 1000 years the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite escalating Germanization and Polonization
Polonization
Polonization was the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland...
, mainly due to the high level of religious observance, cultivation of their tradition and strong families (Sorbian families still often have 5 children).
In the middle of the 20th century, the revival of the Central European nations included some Sorbs, who became strong enough to attempt twice to regain their independence. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Lusatian National Committee in Prague claimed the right to self-government and separation from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the creation of a Lusatian Free State or attachment to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. The majority of the Sorbs were organized in the Domowina
Domowina
Domowina is a political independent league of the Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany...
, though, and did not wish to split from Germany. Claims asserted by the Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
or Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. Between 1945–1947 they postulated about ten memorials to the UN, USA, USSR, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, however, it did not bring any results. On April 30, 1946, the Lusatian National Committee also postulated a petition to the Polish Government, signed by Paweł Cyż – the minister and an official Sorbian delegate in Poland. There was also a project of proclaiming a Lusatian Free State, whose Prime Minister was supposed to be a Polish archaeologist of Lusatian origin- Wojciech Kóčka. The most radical postulates in this area (" Na swobodu so ńečeka, swobodu so beŕe!") were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, where before the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, 300,000 people demonstrated for the independence of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
. The endeavours to separate Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
did not succeed because of various individual and geopolitical interests.
The following statistics indicates the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by the end of the 19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Sorbian languages. In 1920 almost all Sorbs mastered Sorbian and German to the same degree. The last Sorb who spoke little or no German died in Műschen village in 1954. Nowadays, in 2004, the number of people using Sorbian languages has been estimated to be no more than 50,000.
Traditions
Zapust is the most popular tradition of the Sorbs, deeply linked to the working life of the community. Traditionally, festivities would last one week ahead of the spring sowing of the fields and would feature traditional dress, parade and dancing.The Pisanici
Egg decorating in Slavic culture
The tradition of egg decoration in Slavic cultures originated in pagan times, and was transformed by the process of religious syncretism into the Christian Easter egg...
are a Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
tradition maintained by Sorbs since the 17th century.
Regions of Lusatia
There are 3 main regions of LusatiaLusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
that differ in language, religion and customs.
Region of Catholic Lusatia
CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
, Kamenz
Kamenz
Kamenz is a Lusatian town in eastern Saxony, Germany, with a population of 18,243, and is part of the Bautzen district. The town is located about northeast of Dresden and about northwest of Bautzen....
, and Hoyerswerda
Hoyerswerda
Hoyerswerda is the largest city in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in Lusatia, a region where many people speak the Sorbian languages in addition to German.-Geography:...
, where Upper Sorbian language, customs, and tradition are still thriving. In some of these places (e.g., Radibor
Radibor
Radibor, in Sorbian Radwor, is a municipality in Saxony in Germany. It is situated in Upper Lusatia about 10 km north of Bautzen, which is also the main city of the District of Bautzen to which Radibor belongs....
or Radwor in Sorbian, Crostwitz
Crostwitz
Crostwitz, in Sorbian Chrósćicy, is a village and municipality in the center of the German district of Bautzen in Saxony. It belongs to Upper Lusatia and is one of the centres of the Sorbian area in Saxony.- Geography :...
or Chrósćicy, and Rosenthal
Ralbitz-Rosenthal
Ralbitz-Rosenthal, in Sorbian Ralbicy-Róžant, is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. Rosenthal is a well-known pilgrimage site, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and administered by the Order of Cistercians....
or Róžant), Sorbs constitute the majority of the population, and children grow up speaking Sorbian.
On Sundays, during holidays, and at weddings, people wear regional costumes, rich in decoration and embroidery, encrusted with pearls.
Some of the customs and traditions observed include Bird Wedding (25 January), Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30 April), Maik, singing on St. Martin's Day
St. Martin's Day
St. Martin's Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, the Feast of St Martin of Tours or Martin le Miséricordieux, is a time for feasting celebrations. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding is completed. Historically, hiring fairs were held where farm laborers...
(Nicolay), and the celebrations of Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....
’s Day and Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
’s Day.
Region of Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy) and Schleife (Slepo)
In the area from HoyerswerdaHoyerswerda
Hoyerswerda is the largest city in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in Lusatia, a region where many people speak the Sorbian languages in addition to German.-Geography:...
to Schleife
Schleife
Schleife , Uppersorbian Slepo, is a municipality of 3,000 in northern Görlitz district, northeast Saxony, Germany. It is the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Schleife .- Administration :...
, a dialect of Sorbian which combines characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Sorbian is spoken. The region is predominantly Protestant, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated, and to a great extent germanicized. Most speakers of Sorbian are over 60 years old.
The region distinguishes itself through many examples of Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
wooden architecture monuments including churches and regular houses, a diversity of regional costumes (mainly worn by elderly women) that feature white-knitting with black, cross-like embroidery, and a tradition of playing bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
.
In several villages, residents uphold traditional festivities such as expelling of winter, Maik, Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
and Great Friday singing, and the celebration of dźěćetko (disguised child or young girl giving Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
presents).
Region of Lower Lusatia
There are 60 towns from the area of CottbusCottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
belonging to this region, where most of the older people over 60 but few young people and children can speak the Lower Sorbian language; the local variant often incorporates many words taken from the German, and in conversations with the younger generation, German is generally preferred. Some primary schools in the region teach bilingually, and in Cottbus there is an important Gymnasium whose main medium of instruction is Lower Sorbian. The region is predominantly Protestant, again highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry. The biggest tourist attraction of the region and in the whole Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
are the marshlands, with many Spreewald
Spreewald
The Spreewald is situated about 100 km south-east of Berlin. It was designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1991. It is known for its traditional irrigation system which consists of more than 200 small channels within the area. The landscape was shaped during the ice-age...
/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of the Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
.
Worn mainly by older but on holidays by young women, regional costumes are colourful, including a large headscarf called "lapa", rich in golden embroidering and differing from village to village.
In some villages, following traditions are observed: Shrovetide, Maik, Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
bonfires, Roosters catching/hunting. In Jänschwalde (Sorbian: Janšojcach) so called Janšojki bog (disguised young girl) gives Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
presents.
in Lower Sorbian
- Rědna Łužyca
- Rědna Łužyca,
- spšawna, pśijazna,
- mojich serbskich woścow kraj,
- mojich glucnych myslow raj,
- swěte su mě twoje strony.
- Cas ty pśichodny,
- zakwiś radostny!
- Och, gab muže stanuli,
- za swoj narod źěłali,
- godne nimjer wobspomnjeśa!
in Upper Sorbian
- Rjana Łužica
- Rjana Łužica,
- sprawna přećelna,
- mojich serbskich wótcow kraj,
- mojich zbóžnych sonow raj,
- swjate su mi twoje hona!
- Časo přichodny,
- zakćěj radostny!
- Ow, zo bychu z twojeho
- klina wušli mužojo,
- hódni wěčnoh wopomnjeća!
The Sorbs and Poland
One of the pioneers of the cooperation between the two nations was Polish historian Wilhelm Bogusławski who lived in the 19th century and wrote the first book on Polish-Sorbian history Rys dziejów serbołużyckich (Polish title), it was published in Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1861. The book was expanded and published again in cooperation with Michał Hórnik in 1884 in Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
, under a new title Historije serbskeho naroda. Alfons Parczewski was another friend of Sorbs, who from 1875 was involved in Sorbs' rights protection, participating in Sorbian meetings in Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
. It was thanks to him, among others, that Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski was a Polish writer, historian and journalist who produced more than 200 novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews He is best known for his epic series on the history of Poland, comprising twenty-nine novels in seventy-nine parts.As a novelist writing about...
founded a scholarship for Sorbian students. An association of friends of Sorbian Nation was established at the University of Warsaw
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland and one of the most prestigious, ranked as best Polish university in 2010 and 2011...
in 1936 (Polish full name: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Serbo-Łużyckiego). It gathered people not only from the university. Its president was Professor Stanisław Słoński, and the deputy president was Julia Wieleżyńska. The association was a legal entity. There were 3 individual organizations devoted to Sorbian matters. Prołuż founded in Krotoszyn, expanded to all Poland (3000 members). It was biggest noncommunist organization that dealt with foreign affairs. This youth organization was created during the soviet occupation and its motto was “Polish guard over Lusatia” (pl. Nad Łużycami polska straż). Its highest activity was in Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
(Polish: Wielkopolska, a district of western Poland).
After the creation of East Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.
Genetics
According to a study published in May 2011, Sorbs show the greatest genetic similarity to PolesPoles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
and Czechs, consistent with their West Slavic language. They show subtle evidence of genetic isolation but less than Sardinians and French Basques.
See also
- List of Sorbs
- LusatiaLusatiaLusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
- Sorbian languagesSorbian languagesThe Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code...
- SerbsSerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
- Polabian SlavsPolabian SlavsPolabian Slavs - is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites tribes who lived along the Elbe river, between the Baltic Sea to the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae to the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes to the south, and Poland to the east. They have also been known...
- WendsWendsWends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
- MilceniMilceniThe Milceni or Milzeni were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who wrote of 30 civitates which possibly had fortifications. They were gradually conquered by Germans...
- Pavle Jurišić ŠturmPavle Jurišic ŠturmPavle Jurišić Šturm was a Serbian general of Sorbian origin who commanded the Serbian 3rd Army in the First World War....
- Wendish People's Party
- List of Medieval Slavic tribes
External links
- The Domowina Institution
- SERBSKE NOWINY - Sorbian Newspaper
- SERBSKI INSTITUT - Sorbian history and culture
- - independent Sorbian internet magazine
- Wikipedia in Upper Sorbian (hsb)
- Sorbian emigration into Australia
- Project Rastko - Lusatia, Electronic Library of Sorbian-Serbian Ties
- Texas Wendish Heritage Society
- Wendish Heritage Society of Australia