The Kashubs are closely related to thePoles and sometimes classified as their subgroup. Moreover, the vast majority of Kashubians declare themselves as Poles and many of them have a Polish-Kashubian identity. The Kashubs are grouped with theSlovincians asPomeranians. Similarly, theSlovincian (now extinct) and Kashubian languages are grouped asPomeranian languages, with Slovincian (also known asŁeba Kashubian) either a distinct language closely related to Kashubian,[8] or a Kashubian dialect.[9][10]
Kashubian language and nationality.Kashubia with Kashubian local names on ethnic territory in the twentieth century.
Among larger cities,Gdynia (Gdiniô) contains the largest proportion of people declaring Kashubian origin. However, the biggest city of the Kashubia region isGdańsk (Gduńsk), the capital of thePomeranian Voivodeship. Between 80.3% and 93.9% of the people in towns such asLinia,Sierakowice,Szemud,Kartuzy,Chmielno,Żukowo, etc. are of Kashubian descent.[11]
The traditional occupations of the Kashubs have been agriculture and fishing. These have been joined by the service and hospitality industries, as well asagrotourism. The main organization that maintains the Kashubian identity is theKashubian-Pomeranian Association. The recently formed "Odroda" is also dedicated to the renewal of Kashubian culture.[12][13]
The traditional capital has been disputed for a long time and includesKartuzy (Kartuzë) among the seven contenders.[14] The biggest cities claiming to be the capital are: Gdańsk (Gduńsk),[15]Wejherowo (Wejrowò),[16] andBytów (Bëtowò).[17][18]
Kashubian regional dressKashubians in Kashubia in year 2005
The total number of Kashubians (Pomeranians) varies depending on one's definition. A common estimate is that over 500,000 people in Poland are of the Kashubian ethnicity, the estimates range from ca. 500,000[1] to ca. 567,000.[2][3] In the Polish census of 2002, only 5,062 people declared Kashubiannational identity, although 52,655 declaredKashubian as their everyday language.[19] Most Kashubs declare Polishnational identity and Kashubianethnicity, and are considered both Polishand Kashubian. On the 2002 census there was no option to declare one national identity and a different ethnicity, or more than one ethnicity. On the 2011 census, the number of persons declaring "Kashubian" as their only ethnicity was 16,000, and 233,000 including those who declared Kashubian as first or second ethnicity (together with Polish).[20][21] In that census, over 108,000 people declared everyday use of Kashubian language.[22] The number of people who can speak at least some Kashubian is higher, around 366,000.[3]
As of 1890, linguistStefan Ramułt estimated the number of Kashubs (includingSlovincians) inPomerelia as 174,831.[24][25] He also estimated that at that time there were over 90,000 Kashubs in the United States, around 25,000 in Canada,15,000 in Brazil and 25,000 elsewhere in the world. In total 330,000.
In the census of 2021 in total 179,685 people in Poland claimed Kashubian as their ethnic-national identity. Of them only 12,846 claimed it without accompanying Polish identity.[4]
Kashubians are a Western Slavic people living on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Kashubians have their own unique language, history, culture and traditions.
Linguistic map of Kashubia and neighboring regions in the year 1910Kashubian population in year 1892
Until the end of the 12th century, the vast majority of inhabitants of Pomerania (Hither,Farther andEastern) wereSlavic-speakers, but the province was quite sparsely populated, with large areas covered by forests and waste lands. During the 13th century, the GermanOstsiedlung began in this region.Slavic dukes of Pomerania such asBarnim I (1220–1278) – despite calling themselvesdux Slavorum et Cassubie – contributed a lot to the change of ethnic structure by promoting German immigration and granting land to German nobles, monks and clergy. The Slavic ruling dynasty itself started intermarrying with German princesses and became culturally Germanized over time.Wendish commoners became alienated in their own land, their culture replaced by that of newcomers. All of this led toGermanization of most of SlavicPomeranians and the gradualdeath of their Slavic language, with the general direction of assimilation andlanguage shift from west to east.Johannes Bugenhagen wrote that at the beginning of the 16th century the German-Slaviclanguage border was nearKoszalin. During the 17th century, the border between areas with mostly German-speaking and mostly Slavic-speaking populations ran more or less along the present-day border betweenWest Pomeranian andPomeranian Voivodeships.
In year 1612, cartographerEilhard Lubinus – while working on his map of Pomerania – travelled from the direction ofPollnow towardsTreblin on his way toGdańsk. While staying in the manor house of Stanislaus Stenzel von Puttkamer in Treblin, he noted in his diary: "we have entered Slavic-inhabited lands, which has surprised us a lot." Later, while returning fromGdańsk toStettin, Lubinus slept over inWielka Wieś nearStolp, and noted: "in the whole village, we cannot find even one German-speaker" (which caused communication problems). Lubinus also travelled fromChocimino throughŚwierzno to Trzebielino, he entered Slavic-inhabited land. During another trip, nearWierzchocino, he was not able to find even one German-speaking person.[citation needed]
Over a century later, in 1772–1778, the area was visited byJohann Bernoulli. He noted that villages owned byOtto Christoph von Podewils – such asDochow,Zipkow andWarbelin – were inhabited entirely by Slavic-speakers. He also noted that local priests and nobles were making great efforts to weed out Slavic language and turn their subjects into Germans.[26] Brüggemann in 1779 wrote that the area to the east ofLupow river was inhabited by "pure-blood Wends", while to the west of this river some rural areas were inhabited by alreadyhalf-Germanised "Wendischdeutsche".[27]
Karl Andree,Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht (Leipzig 1831), gives the total population of West Prussia as 700,000 – including 50% Poles (350,000), 47% Germans (330,000) and 3% Jews (20,000). Kashubians are included with Poles, whileMennonites with Germans.[29]
Modern estimates of Kashubian population in West Prussia in the early 19th century, by county, are given by Leszek Belzyt and Jan Mordawski:
Kashubians in counties of Eastern Kashubia in 1831 according to modern scholars:
According toGeorg Hassel, there were 65,000 Slavic-speakers in the wholeProvinz Pommern in 1817–1819. Modern estimates for just eastern parts ofPommern (Western Kashubia) in early 1800s range between 40,000 (Leszek Belzyt) and 25,000 (Jan Mordawski, Zygmunt Szultka). The number declined to between 35,000 and 23,000 (Zygmunt Szultka, Leszek Belzyt) in years 1827–1831. In 1850-1860s there were an estimated 23,000 to 17,000 Slavic-speakers left in Pommern, down to 15,000 in 1892 according toStefan Ramułt. The number was declining due toGermanisation. The bulk of Slavic population in 19th century Pommern was concentrated in its easternmost counties: especiallyBytów (Bütow),Lębork (Lauenburg) andSłupsk (Stolp). According to Zygmunt Szultka at the beginning of the 19th century in Provinz Pommern Kashubians were still around 55% of the total population (14,200 people) in county Lauenburg-Bütow (Lębork-Bytów) and over 25% of the total population (10,450 people) in county Stolp (Słupsk).[32]
The tenth century far-traveled Arab writerAl-Masudi – who had great interest in non-Muslim peoples, including the various Slavs of Eastern Europe – mentions a people which he callsKuhsabin, who were probably Kashubians. The oldest known unambiguous mention of "Kashubia" dates from 19 March 1238 – PopeGregory IX wrote aboutBogislaw I asdux Cassubie – the Duke of Kashubia. The old one dates from the 13th century (a seal ofBarnim I from theHouse of Pomerania,Duke of Pomerania-Stettin). The Dukes of Pomerania hence used "Duke of (the) Kashubia(ns)" in their titles, passing it to theSwedish Crown who succeeded inSwedish Pomerania when theHouse of Pomerania became extinct.
In the 19th century the Kashubian activistFlorian Ceynowa undertook efforts to identify the Kashubian language, and its culture and traditions. Although his efforts did not appeal to locals at the time, Kaszubian activists in the present day have claimed that Ceynowa awakened Kashubian self-identity, thereby opposing both Germanisation and Prussian authority, and Polish nobility and clergy.[40] He believed in a separate Kashubian identity and strove for a Russian-ledpan-Slavic federacy,[40] He considered Poles "born brothers".[41] Ceynowa was a radical who attempted to take the Prussian garrison in Preussisch Stargard (Starogard Gdański) during 1846 (seeGreater Poland uprising),[42] but the operation failed when his 100 combatants, armed only with scythes, decided to abandon the site before the attack was carried out.[43] Although some later Kashubian activists tried to push for a separate identity, they further based their ideas on a misrepresented reading of the journalist and activistHieronim Derdowski: "There is no Cassubia withoutPolonia, and no Poland without Cassubia" (Nie ma Kaszeb bez Polonii a bez Kaszeb Polsci").[41] Further stanzas of Derdowski's tribute also point to the fact that Kaszubs were Poles and could not survive without. TheSociety of Young Kashubians (Towarzystwo Młodokaszubskie) has decided to follow in this way, and while they sought to create a strong Kashubian identity, at the same time they regarded the Kashubians as "One branch, of many, of the great Polish nation".[41]
Performance of the "Kartuzy" Kashubian music ensemble in folk costumes in 1971
The leader of the movement wasAleksander Majkowski, a doctor educated inChełmno with theSociety of Educational Help in Chełmno. In 1912 he founded the Society of Young Kashubians and started the newspaperGryf [pl]. Kashubs voted for Polish lists in elections, which strengthened the representation of Poles in the Pomerania region.[41][44][45][46][47]Between 1855 and 1900, about 100,000 Kashubs emigrated to the United States, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia in the so-calledKashubian diaspora, largely for economic reasons.[48] In 1899 the scholarStefan Ramult namedWinona, Minnesota the "Kashubian Capital of America" on account of the Kashubian community's size within the city and its activity.[49] Due to their Catholic faith, the Kashubians became subject to Prussia'sKulturkampf between 1871 and 1878.[50] The Kashubians faced Germanification efforts, including those by evangelical Lutheran clergy. These efforts were successful in Lauenburg (Lębork) and Leba (Łeba), where the local population used the Gothic alphabet.[41] While resenting the disrespect shown by some Prussian officials andJunkers, Kashubians lived in peaceful coexistence with the local German population until World War II, although during the interbellum, the Kashubian ties to Poland were either overemphasized or neglected by Polish and German authors, respectively, in arguments regarding thePolish Corridor.[50]
During the Second World War, Kashubs were considered by theNazis as being either of "German stock" or "extraction", or "inclined toward Germanness" and "capable of Germanisation", and thus classified third category ofDeutsche Volksliste (German ethnic classification list) if ties to the Polish nation could be dissolved.[51] However, Kashubians who were suspected to support the Polish cause,[50] particularly those with higher education,[50] were arrested and executed, the main place of executions beingPiaśnica (Gross Plassnitz),[52] where 12,000 were executed.[53][54] The German administrator of the areaAlbert Forster considered Kashubians of "low value" and did not support any attempts to create Kashubian nationality.[55] Some Kashubians organized anti-Nazi resistance groups,Gryf Kaszubski (laterGryf Pomorski), and the exiledZwiazek Pomorski in Great Britain.[50]
When integrated into Poland, those envisioning Kashubian autonomy faced a Communist regime striving for ethnic homogeneity and presenting Kashubian culture as merely folklore.[50] Kashubians were sent to Silesian mines, where they metSilesians facing similar problems.[50]Lech Bądkowski from the Kashubian opposition became the first spokesperson ofSolidarność.[50]
As a result of political mistrust and coercion to declare Polish identity many Kashubians turned away from Poland and choseopting for Germany.[56]
Bilingual Polish and Kashubian street signage in the town ofKuźnica
In the 2021 Population Census,[57] about 87,600 people declared Kashubian as their language used at home, a decrease from 108,100 in the 2011 Census.[58]
The classification of Kashubian as a language or dialect has been controversial.[59] From adiachronic point of view of historical linguistics, Kashubian, likeSlovincian,Polabian andPolish, is aLechiticWest Slavic language, while from asynchronic point of view it is a group of Polish dialects.[59] Given the past nationalist interests of Germans and Poles in Kashubia,Barbour and Carmichel state: "As is always the case with the division of adialect continuum into separate languages, there is scope here for manipulation."[59]
A "standard" Kashubian language does not exist despite attempts to create one, rather a variety of dialects are spoken that differ significantly from each other.[59] The vocabulary is influenced by both German and Polish.[59]
There are other traditional Slavic ethnic groups inhabitingPomerania, including theKociewiacy,Borowiacy andKrajniacy. These dialects tend to fall between Kashubian and the Polish dialects ofGreater Poland andMazovia, with Krajniak dialect indeed heavily influenced by Kashubian, while Borowiak and Kociewiak dialects much more closer to Greater Polish and Mazovian. No obvious Kashubiansubstrate or any other influence is visible in Kociewiak dialect.[60] This indicates that they are not only descendants ofPomeranians, but also of settlers who arrived in Pomerania from Greater Poland andMasovia during theMiddle Ages, from the 10th century onwards.
In the 16th and 17th centuryMichael Brüggemann (also known as Pontanus or Michał Mostnik),Simon Krofey (Szimon Krofej) andJ.M. Sporgius introduced Kashubian into the Lutheran Church.[61] Krofey, pastor inBütow (Bytow), published a religious song book in 1586, written in Polish but also containing some Kashubian words.[61] Brüggemann, pastor inSchmolsin, published a Polish translation of some works ofMartin Luther (catechism) and biblical texts, also containing Kashubian elements.[61] Other biblical texts were published in 1700 by Sporgius, pastor in Schmolsin.[61] HisSchmolsiner Perikopen, most of which is written in the same Polish-Kashubian style as Krofey's and Brüggemann's books, also contain small passages ("6th Sunday after Epiphany") written in pure Kashubian.[61] Scientific interest in the Kashubian language was sparked byChristoph Mrongovius (publications in 1823, 1828),Florian Ceynowa and the Russian linguistAleksander Hilferding (1859, 1862), later followed byLeon Biskupski (1883, 1891),Gotthelf Bronisch (1896, 1898),Jooseppi Julius Mikkola (1897),Kazimierz Nitsch (1903). Important works areS. Ramult's,Słownik jezyka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego, 1893, andFriedrich Lorentz,Slovinzische Grammatik, 1903,Slovinzische Texte, 1905, andSlovinzisches Wörterbuch, 1908.Zdzisław Stieber was involved in producing linguistic atlases of Kashubian (1964–78).
The first activist of the Kashubian national movement wasFlorian Ceynowa. Among his accomplishments, he documented theKashubian alphabet and grammar by 1879 and published a collection of ethnographic-historic stories of the life of the Kashubians (Skórb kaszébsko-slovjnckjé mòvé, 1866–1868). Another early writer in Kashubian wasHieronim Derdowski. The Young Kashubian movement followed, led by authorAleksander Majkowski, who wrote for the paperZrzësz Kaszëbskô as part of the "Zrzëszincë" group. The group would contribute significantly to the development of the Kashubian literary language. Another important writer in Kashubian wasBernard Sychta (1907–1982).
Similarly to the traditions in other parts of Central andEastern Europe,pussy willows have been adopted as an alternative to the palm leaves used inPalm Sunday celebrations, which were not obtainable inKashubia. They were blessed by priests on Palm Sunday, following which parishioners whipped each other with the pussy willow branches, sayingWierzba bije, jô nie bijã. Za tidzéń wiôldżi dzéń, za nocë trzë i trzë są Jastrë ('The willow strikes, it's not me who strikes, in a week, on the great day, in three and three nights, there is the Easter').
The pussy willows, blessed by priests, were treated as sacred charms that could prevent lightning strikes, protect animals, and encourage honey production. They were believed to bring health and good fortune to people as well, and it was traditional for one pussy willow bud to be swallowed on Palm Sunday to promote good health.
According to the old tradition, onEaster Monday the Kashub boys chase girls whipping gently their legs withjuniper twigs. This is to bring good fortune in love to the chased girls. This was usually accompanied by a boy's chantDyngus, dyngus – pò dwa jaja, Nie chcã chleba, leno jaja ('Dyngus, dyngus, for two eggs; I don't want bread but eggs'). Sometimes a girl would be whipped when still in her bed. Girls would give boys painted eggs.[62]
In 2005, Kashubian was for the first time made an official subject on the Polishmatura exam (roughly equivalent to the English A-Level and French Baccalaureat).[65] This development was seen as an important step in the official recognition and establishment of the language. Today, in some towns and villages in northern Poland, Kashubian is the second language spoken afterPolish,[66] and it is taught in some regional schools.[67]
Since 2005 Kashubian enjoys legal protection in Poland as an officialregional language. It is the only tongue in Poland with this status. It was granted by an act of thePolish Parliament on 6 January 2005. OldKashubian culture has partially survived in architecture and folk crafts such aspottery, plaiting,embroidery, amber-working, sculpturing and glasspainting.[citation needed]
In the 2011 census, 233,000 people in Poland declared their identity as Kashubian, 216,000 declaring it together with Polish and 16,000 as their only national-ethnic identity.[21]Kaszëbskô Jednota is an association of people who have the latter view.
According to the 2021 census, 179 685 people declared Kashubian identity but only 11 961 (6,7% of total) people declared it as their only identity. A vast majority of 166 839 (92,9% of total) declared it together with Polish identity.[68]
According to a study published in 2015, by far the most commonY-DNA haplogroup among the Kashubs (n=204) who live inKashubia, ishaplogroup R1a, which is carried by 61.8% of Kashubian males. It is followed in frequency byI1 (13.2%),R1b (9.3%),I2 (4.4%),E1b1b (3.4%), J (2.5%), G (2%) andN1 (1.5%). Other haplogroups are 2%.[69] Another study from 2010 (n=64) discovered similar proportions of most haplogroups (R1a - 68.8%, I1 – 12.5%, R1b - 7.8%, I2 – 3.1%, E1b1b - 3.1%), but found alsoQ1a in 3.1% of Kashubians. This study reported no significant differences between Kashubians from Poland and other Poles as far as Y chromosome polymorphism is regarded.[70] When it comes tomitochondrial DNA haplogroups, according to a January 2013 study, the most common major mtDNA lineages among the Kashubians, each carried by at least 2.5% of their population, include J1 (12.3%), H1 (11.8%), H* (8.9%), T* (5.9%), T2 (5.4%), U5a (5.4%), U5b (5.4%), U4a (3.9%), H10 (3.9%), H11 (3.0%), H4 (3.0%), K (3.0%), V (3.0%), H2a (2.5%) and W (2.5%). Altogether they account for almost 8/10 of the total Kashubian mtDNA diversity.[71]
In a 2013 study, Y-DNA haplogroups among thePolish population indigenous toKociewie (n=158) were reported as follows:
56.3%R1a, 17.7%R1b, 8.2%I1, 7.6%I2, 3.8%E1b1b, 1.9%N1, 1.9%J and 2% of other haplogroups.[72]
From 1858 to 1907, families of Kashubians, primarily from the areas surroundingKościerzyna, emigrated toUpper Canada, largely settling in what is now westernRenfrew County inOntario.[73] The relative isolation and difficult terrain of the area resulted in the preservation of many cultural traditions in the area, including that of theKashubian language, which is still known by many older residents today. Additionally, communities such asKillaloe,Wilno andBarry's Bay continue to have large Polish/Kashub populations with 38.8%[74] and 43.5%[75] of the populations ofKillaloe, Hagarty and Richards andMadawaska Valley townships respectively claiming Polish as a cultural or ethnic origin in the2021 Canadian census.
Kashubian immigrants foundedSt. Josaphat parish in Chicago'sLincoln Park community in the late 19th century, as well as the parish of Immaculate Heart of Mary inIrving Park, the vicinity of which was dubbed as "Little Cassubia". In the 1870s a fishing village was established inJones Island inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, by Kashubianimmigrants. The settlers however did not hold deeds to the land, and the government of Milwaukee evicted them as squatters in the 1940s, with the area soon after turned into industrial park. The last trace of this Milwaukee fishing village that had been settled by Kashubians onJones Island is in the name of the smallest park in the city,Kaszube's Park.[76]
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^"Z podróży na Pomorze"(PDF).Ziemia.35 (II): 573. 1911.Archived(PDF) from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved22 August 2022 – via www.ziemia.pttk.pl/Ziemia/.
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^abJerzy Jan Lerski, Piotr Wróbel, Richard J. Kozicki, Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, p. 62,ISBN0-313-26007-9
^abcdeHistoria Polski 1795–1918 Andrzej Chwalba, p. 439
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^abcdefghJozef Borzyszkowski in Hans-Henning Hahn, Peter Kunze, Nationale Minderheiten und staatliche Minderheitenpolitik in Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert, Akademie Verlag, 1999, p. 96,ISBN3-05-003343-6
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^abcdePeter Hauptmann, Günther Schulz, Kirche im Osten: Studien zur osteuropäischen Kirchengeschichte und Kirchenkunde, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000, pp.44ff,ISBN3-525-56393-0[2]Archived 26 March 2023 at theWayback Machine
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Polish Cultural Institute (July 2001). "The Kashubian Polish Community of Southeastern Minnesota (MN) (Images of America)".{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
Borzyszkowski J.: The Kashubs, Pomerania and Gdańsk; [transl. byTomasz Wicherkiewicz] Gdańsk : Instytut Kaszubski : Uniwersytet Gdański ; Elbląg : Elbląska Uczelnia Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna, 2005,ISBN83-89079-35-6
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