The ethnonym "Sorbs" (Serbja,Serby) derives from the medieval ethnic groups called "Sorbs" (Surbi,Sorabi). The original ethnonym,Srbi, was retained by the Sorbs andSerbs in theBalkans.[6] By the 6th century,Slavs occupied the area west of the Oder formerly inhabited byGermanic peoples.[6] The Sorbs are first mentioned in the 6th or 7th century. In their languages, the other Slavs call them the "Lusatian Serbs", and the Sorbs call the Serbs "the south Sorbs".[7] The name "Lusatia" was originally applied only to Lower Lusatia.[6] It is generally considered that their ethnonym*Sŕbъ (plur.*Sŕby) originates fromProto-Slavic with an appellative meaning of a "family kinship" and "alliance", however others argue a derivation fromIranian-Sarmatian.[8][9][10][11]
A map of the Sorbian-Lusatian tribes between the 7th and 11th century, by Wilhelm Bogusławski, 1861
The name of the Sorbs can be traced to the 6th century or earlier whenVibius Sequester recordedCervetiis living on the other part of the riverElbe which divided them from theSuevi (Albis Germaniae Suevos a Cerveciis dividiit).[12][13][14][15][16] According toLubor Niederle, the Serbian district was located somewhere betweenMagdeburg andLusatia, and was later mentioned by theOttonians asCiervisti,Zerbisti andKirvisti.[17] The information is in accordance with the Frankish 7th-centuryChronicle of Fredegar according to which theSurbi lived in theSaale-Elbe valley,having settled in the Thuringian part ofFrancia since the second half of the 6th century or beginning of the 7th century and were vassals of theMerovingian dynasty.[12][18][19]
The Saale-Elbe line marked the approximate limit of Slavic westward migration.[20] Under the leadership ofdux (duke)Dervan ("Dervanus dux gente Surbiorum que ex genere Sclavinorum"), they joined the Slavictribal union ofSamo, after Samo's decisive victory against Frankish KingDagobert I in 631.[18][19] Afterwards, these Slavic tribes continuously raidedThuringia.[18] The fate of the tribes after Samo's death and dissolution of the union in 658 is undetermined, but it is considered that they subsequently returned to Frankish vassalage.[21]
According to a 10th-century sourceDe Administrando Imperio, they lived "since the beginning" in the region called by them asBoiki which was a neighbor to Francia, and when two brothers succeeded their father, one of them migrated with half of the people to theBalkans during the rule ofHeraclius in the first half of the 7th century.[22][23] According to some scholars, theunnamed 7th-century Serbian ruler who led the White Serbs to the Balkans was most likely a son, brother or other relative of Dervan.[24][25][26][27]
Sorbian tribes, Sorbi/Surbi, are noted in the mid-9th-century work of theBavarian Geographer.[8][28][29] Having settled by the Elbe, Saale, Spree, and Neisse in the 6th and early 7th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. The two groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range, one around Upper Spree and the rest between the Elbe and Saale.[30] Some scholars consider that the contemporary Sorbs are descendants of the two largest Sorbian tribes, theMilceni (Upper) andLusici [de] (Lower), and these tribes' respective dialects have developed into separate languages.[6][31] However, others emphasize differences between these two dialects and that their respective territories correspond to two different Slavic archeological cultures ofLeipzig group (Upper Sorbian language) andTornow group ceramics (Lower Sorbian language),[30] both a derivation ofPrague(-Korchak) culture.[32][33]
TheAnnales Regni Francorum state that in 806, Sorbian DukeMiliduch fought against the Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian DukeCzimislav was killed. From the 9th century theSorbian March was organized byEast Francia and from the 10th century theHoly Roman Empire established theSaxon Eastern March (Margravate of Meissen) and theMarch of Lusatia. In 932, the German kingHenry I conqueredLusatia andMilsko.Gero,Margrave of the Saxon Eastern March, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, murdered 30 Sorbian princes during a feast.[34] 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.
In 1002, the Sorbs came under the rule of their Slavic relatives, the Poles, whenBolesław I of Poland took over Lusatia. Following the subsequentGerman–Polish War of 1003–1018, thePeace of Bautzen confirmed Lusatia as part of Poland; but, it returned to German rule in 1031. In the 1070s, southern Lusatia, passed into the hands of the Sorbs' other Slavic relatives, the Czechs, within theirDuchy of Bohemia. There was a dense network of dynastic and diplomatic relations between German and Slavic feudal lords, e.g.Wiprecht of Groitzsch (a German) rose to power through close links with the Bohemian (Czech) king and marriage to the king's daughter.[citation needed]
TheKingdom of Bohemia eventually became a politically influential member of theHoly Roman Empire, but was in a constant power-struggle with neighbouring Poland. In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia passed toPiast-ruled fragmented Poland. In the German-ruled parts, Sorbs were ousted fromguilds, the Sorbian language was banned andGerman colonisation and Germanisation policies were enacted.[35]
From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. This can still be seen today from the names of local villages which geographically form a patchwork of typical German (ending on -dorf, -thal etc.) and typical Slavic origin (ending on -witz, -ow etc.), indicating the language originally spoken by its inhabitants, although some of the present German names may be of later origin from the time of planned name changes to erase Slavic origin, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian before courts and in administrative affairs in the cities ofAltenburg,Zwickau andLeipzig appeared. Speaking Sorbian in family and business contexts was, however, not banned, as it did not involve the functioning of the administration. Also the village communities and the village administration usually kept operating in Sorbian.
From 1376 to 1469 and from 1490 to 1635 Lusatia was part of theLands of the Bohemian Crown under the rule of the houses ofLuxembourg,Jagiellon andHabsburg and other kings, whereas from 1469 to 1490 it was ruled by KingMatthias Corvinus of Hungary. Under Bohemian (Czech) rule, Sorbs were allowed to return to cities, offices and crafts, Germanisation significantly reduced and the Sorbian language could be used in public.[36] From the beginning of the 16th century the whole Sorbian-inhabited area, with the exception of Bohemian-ruled Lusatia, underwentGermanization.
During theThirty Years' War, in 1635, Lusatia became afiefdom ofSaxon electors, but it retained a considerable autonomy and largely its own legal system (seeLusatian League). The Thirty Years' War and theplague of the 17th century caused terrible devastation in Lusatia. This led to further German colonization and Germanization.
In 1667 the Prince ofBrandenburg, Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time, theEvangelical Church supported printing Sorbian religious literature, as a means of fighting theCounterreformation. With the formation of the Polish-Saxon union in 1697, Polish-Sorbian contacts resumed, and Poles influenced the Sorbs' national and cultural activities (seeRelationship with Poland below). With theAge of Enlightenment, the Sorbian national revival began and resistance to Germanization emerged.[37] In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of SorbianCatholic priests, was founded inPrague.[37] Sorbian preaching societies were founded byEvangelical students inLeipzig andWittenberg in 1716 and 1749, respectively.[37]
First issue of theBramborski Serbski Casnik Sorbian newspaper, 1848
TheCongress of Vienna, in 1815, divided Lusatia betweenPrussia andSaxony. More and more bans on the use ofSorbian languages appeared from then until 1835 in Prussia and Saxony; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town ofSerbin inTexas and to Australia, increased. In 1848, 5,000 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 andBrandenburg), and Saxony.[citation needed]
In 1871, the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Persecution of the Sorbs under German rule became increasingly harsh throughout the 19th century. Slavs were labeled inferior to Germanic peoples, and in 1875, the use of Sorbian was banned in German schools. As a result, almost the entire Sorbian population was bilingual by the end of the 19th century.[a]
A Wendish wedding procession in 1931 with the bride and groom at the front, still carried out today according to old traditions
Although theWeimar Republic guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them.[39]
UnderNazi Germany, Sorbians were described as a German tribe who spoke a Slavic language. Sorbian costume, culture, customs, and 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, while the Sorbs were largely safe from the Reich's policies of ethnic cleansing, the cultivation of "Wendish" customs and traditions was to be encouraged in a controlled manner and it was expected that the Slavic language would decline due to natural causes. Young Sorbs enlisted in theWehrmacht and were sent to the front. The entangled lives of the Sorbs duringWorld War II are exemplified by the life stories ofMina Witkojc,Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński[Wikidata] andJan Skala.
Persecution of the Sorbs reached its climax under the Nazis, who attempted to completely assimilate andGermanize them. Their distinct identity and culture and Slavic origins were denied by referring to them as "Wendish-speaking Germans". Under Nazi rule, the Sorbian language and practice of Sorbian culture was banned, Sorbian and Slavic place-names were changed to German ones,[40] Sorbian books and printing presses were destroyed, Sorbian organizations and newspapers were banned, Sorbian libraries and archives were closed, and Sorbian teachers and clerics were deported to German-speaking areas and replaced with German-speaking teachers and clerics. Leading figures in the Sorbian community were forcibly isolated from their community or simply arrested.[b][c][d][e][f] The Sorbian national anthem and flag were banned.[46] The specificWendenabteilung was established to monitor the assimilation of the Sorbs.[a]
Towards the end of World War II, the Nazis considered the deportation of the entire Sorbian population to the mining districts ofAlsace-Lorraine.[b][d]
A Sorbian dance performance at thePalace of the Republic, East Berlin (the East German parliament), 1976More than 2,000 affected citizens demonstrated inKlitten against the destruction of their community by advancing open-pit mines starting in 1993. At their fifth environmental demonstration, the Sorbs demanded the preservation of Lusatia and their traditional settlement area.
The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when theRed Army and thePolish Second Army crossed the riverQueis (Kwisa). The defeat ofNazi Germany changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably. The regions inEast Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced heavy industrialisation and a large influx ofexpelled Germans.[citation needed] 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, theDomowina and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the suppression 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.
Two Sorbian women in Bautzen, 1950
The relationship between the Sorbs and the government of East Germany was not without occasional difficulties, 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 theUprising of 1953 in East Germany, violent clashes with the police were reported in Lusatia. A small uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot. There were also tensions between German and Sorbian parents in the 1950s and early 1960s, as many German families protested the state policy of mandatory instruction of the Sorbian language in schools located in bilingual areas. As a consequence of the tensions, which split the local SED, Sorbian language classes were no longer mandatory after 1964, and a temporary but sharp decline in the number of learners occurred immediately thereafter. The number of learners increased again after 1968, when new regulations were adopted giving Domowina a greater role in consulting parents of schoolchildren. The number of learners did not decrease again until after German reunification.[47]
In 1973, Domowina reported that 2,130 municipal councillors, 119 burgomasters, and more than 3,500 members of commissions and local bodies in East Germany were ethnic Sorbs registered with the organization.[49] Additionally, there was a seat reserved for a Sorbian representative in the Central Council of theFree German Youth, the mass organization for young people in East Germany, and magazines for both the FDJ and theErnst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation were published in the Sorbian language on a regular basis under the titlesChorhoj Měra andPlomjo, respectively.[50] As of 1989, there were nine schools with exclusively Sorbian language instruction, eighty-five schools that offered Sorbian-language instruction, ten Sorbian-language periodicals, and one daily newspaper.[51]
After the reunification 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] The desire to unite Lusatia in one of the federal states has not been taken into consideration.Upper Lusatia still belongs to Saxony andLower 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 createlignite quarries.[citation needed]
Faced with growing threat of cultural extinction, the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008[52] 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 theLänder to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of theEuropean Union.[53]
Dawid Statnik, president of Domowina, the umbrella association of Sorbs in Germany, said in an interview withTagesspiegel that he considers it dangerous that the AFD defines the issue of German citizens through an ethnic aspect. He believes that there is a concrete danger for the Sorbs if theAfD enters the governments of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony in the autumn elections.[54] From 2008 to 2017,Stanislaw Tillich, a Catholic Sorb, served as the Minister-President of Saxony – the first time a Sorb held this office. Since 2014, various sources have pointed to a rising number of right-wing extremist attacks against Sorbs.[55]
According to 2013 and 2015 studies, the most commonY-DNA haplogroup among the Sorbs who speak Upper Sorbian inLusatia (n=123) isR1a with 65%, mainly its R-M458 subclade (57%). It is followed in frequency byI1 (9.8%),R1b (9.8%),E1b1b (4.9%),I2 (4.1%),J (3.3%) andG (2.4%). Other haplogroups are less than 1%.[56][57] A study from 2003 reported a similar frequency of 63.4% ofhaplogroup R1a among Sorbian males (n=112).[58] Other studies that covered aspects of Sorbian Y-DNA include Immel et al. 2006,[59] Rodig et al. 2007,[60] and Krawczak et al. 2008.[61] Significant percentage of R1a (25.7-38.3%), but strongly diminished in value because of high R1b (33.5-21.7%), and low I2 (5.8-5.1%) are in whole Saxony andGermania Slavica area as well.[62]
A 2011 paper on the Sorbs'autosomal DNA reported that the Upper Sorbian speakers (n=289) showed the greatestautosomal genetic similarity toPoles, followed byCzechs andSlovaks, consistent with the linguistic proximity ofSorbian to otherWest Slavic languages.[63] In another genome-wide paper from the same year on Upper Sorbs (n=977), which indicated their genetic isolation "which cannot be explained by over-sampling of relatives" and a closer proximity to Poles and Czechs than Germans. The researchers however question this proximity, as the German reference population was almost exclusively West-German, and the Polish and Czech reference population had many that were part of a German minority.[64] In a 2016 paper, Sorbs cluster autosomally again with Poles (fromPoznań).[65]
The oldest known relic of Sorbian literature originated in about 1530 – theBautzen townsmen's oath. In 1548,Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of theNew Testament into Lower Sorbian. In 1574 the first Sorbian book was printed:Albin Mollers’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik translatedthe Bible for Catholic Sorbs. From 1706 to 1709, the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation was done byMichał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian byJan Bogumił Fabricius (1681–1741).Jan Bjedrich Fryco (a.k.a. Johann Friedrich Fritze) [1747–1819], translated theOld 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 (a.k.a. J.L. Haupt and J.E. Schmaler) 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 Sorbian News. In 1845 inBautzen, 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. A similar movement inLower Lusatia was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poetsMato Kósyk (Mato Kosyk) andBogumił Šwjela.
In 1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (theSorbian House) was built inBautzen. In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, theDomowina 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 startedKulturwille – the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany. In 1920, theSokol Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933, the Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the Nazis also dissolved the Sokol Movement and began to combat every sign of Sorbian culture. In 1937, the 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, inCrostwitz, after theRed Army's invasion, the Domowina Institution renewed its activity. In 1948, theLandtag ofSaxony passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949,Brandenburg resolved a similar law. Article 40 of the constitution ofGerman Democratic Republic adopted on 7 October 1949 expressly provided for the protection of the language and culture of the Sorbs. In the times of the German Democratic Republic, Sorbian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouragedGermanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of "buildingSocialism". Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted socialist ideology. For over 1,000 years, the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite escalating Germanization andPolonization, mainly due to the high level of religious observance, cultivation of their tradition and strong families (Sorbian families still often have five 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. AfterWorld 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 toCzechoslovakia. The majority of the Sorbs were organized in the Domowina, though, and did not wish to split from Germany.[citation needed] Claims asserted by the Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Between 1945 and 1947 they postulated about ten petitions[66] to theUnited Nations, the United States,Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, 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 Pawoł Cyž – 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 !")[67] were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica. Similarly, in Czechoslovakia, where before thePotsdam Conference inPrague, 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 indicate the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by the end of the 19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Sorbian languages. By 1920, almost all Sorbs had mastered Sorbian and German to the same degree. Nowadays, the number of people using Sorbian languages has been estimated to be no more than 40,000. A 2024 study estimates the number of Lower Sorbian speakers at a competent level to be between 50 and 100.[68]
The Israeli Slavic linguistPaul Wexler has argued that the Yiddish language structure provides "compelling evidence of an intimate Jewish contact with the Slavs in the German and Bohemian lands as early as the 9th century", and has theorized that Sorbs may have been contributors to the Ashkenazic Jewish population in Europe from the same period.[69][70]
Many traditions have been preserved, especially Easter horseback riding, the Bird Wedding (Lower Sorbian:Ptaškowa swajźba, Upper Sorbian:Ptači kwas), and the traditional painting of Easter eggs. NumerousSlavic mythological beliefs are still alive today, such as theLady Midday (Upper Sorbian:Připołdnica,Lower Sorbian:Přezpołdnica), theMerman (Wódny muž), the Divine Lament (Bože sadleško), or the money- and luck-bringingdragon (Upper Sorbian:zmij, Lower Sorbian:plón).
In the Upper Sorbian core area, roughly defined by a triangle between the towns ofBautzen,Kamenz, andWittichenau, wayside crucifixes and those in front gardens, along with well-kept churches and chapels, are expressions of a (mostly Catholic) popular piety still practiced today, which has contributed significantly to preserving Sorbian identity.[citation needed]
Sorbian costume region showing the distribution of the four traditional costumes that are still worn daily
The traditional costume was the customary clothing of the Sorbian rural population in the various regions ofUpper andLower Lusatia. Until the mid-18th century, dress codes regulated which materials and ornaments could be worn by people of different social classes. After the French Revolution (1789–1794), clothing styles changed, and the traditional costume became a social expression of peasant life.[71]
During the Romantic period and the Sorbian national revival around the mid-19th century, the costume was reinterpreted as a symbol of ethnic affiliation and became a visible expression of Sorbian identity. However, men’s costumes disappeared as early as the 19th century. Women’s costumes lasted longer and shared a generally uniform character: they typically consisted of a skirt, underskirt, apron, blouse, small over-blouse (Kittelchen), bodice, neckerchief, jacket, cap, headscarf, and stockings. Even work clothing differed only slightly from festive dress.[71]
Sorbian women and children with Schleife dress (1900)
Over time, however, various regional forms developed—especially in festive costumes—making it possible to distinguish specific costume regions. In most areas, traditional costumes were gradually abandoned, largely due to industrialization in the 19th century. Today, four regions are recognized where older women still wear the traditional costume daily: the areas aroundCottbus in Lower Lusatia, aroundHoyerswerda andSchleife in the central part of Lusatia, and the Catholic region inUpper Lusatia.[71]
The Sorbian national costume shares common features with the traditional clothing of otherWestern Slavic peoples, especially thePoles. The Lusatian ethnographer P. Nedo distinguished four complexes of women’s clothing in Lusatia: theSpreewald, Schleife, Hoyerswerda, andBautzen–Kamenz types. The latter was widespread in the regions of Bautzen, Kamenz, andWittichenau.
Sorbian costume from Spreewald with its distinguished headdress
The festive costume of the Bautzen–Kamenz complex includes a white linen blouse with short sleeves and a round neckline, a black woolen overskirt, and a woolen underskirt. The overskirt is sewn to a bodice, which is either laced or buttoned. The headwear of the Bautzen–Kamenz complex consists of a black cap from which two long black ribbons hang down to the knees. The headwear common in the Spreewald region is distinguished by its broad wings. Mourning attire, typically black, is combined with a white headdress.
AShrove Tuesday festivalZapust 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.[72]
Sorbian translation of the New Testament byMichał Frencel [dsb], 1717Numerous wayside crosses – like here nearCrostwitz – bear witness to the Catholic faith of the population in today’s Sorbian heartland
Most current speakers of Upper-Sorbian are part of the Catholic denomination. Originally, the majority of Sorbs were Lutheran Protestants, and this was still the case going into the 20th Century (with a Protestant population of 86.9% recorded in 1900).[74] Only the Sorbs of the Kamenz area – predominantly settled on the expansive former site of theSaint Marienstern Monastery [de] inPanschwitz-Kuckau – veered from the norm, with a Catholic population of 88.4%. Otherwise, the proportion of Catholics remained under 1% throughout the region of Lower Lusatia. Due to the rapid decline in language and cultural identity amongst the Protestant Sorbs – particularly during the years of theGDR – the denominational make-up of the Sorbian-speaking population of the region has now been reversed.[citation needed]
The Sorbian-Evangelical St. Michael's Church in Bautzen
The differing development of language use among Catholic and Protestant Sorbs is partly due to the differing structures of the churches. While the Protestant Church is a state church (and the rulers of Sorbian territories were always German-speaking), the Catholic Church, with its ultramontane orientation toward the Vatican, has always been transnational.The Protestant Church’s closer ties to the state had a particularly negative effect on the Sorbian language area, especially in Lower Lusatia, where a policy of Germanization had been pursued since the 17th century.
On the other hand, the Catholic Church generally held the view that one’s native language is a gift from God, and that abandoning it would be sinful. This explains the increasingly emphasized close connection between Catholicism and Sorbian identity since the late 19th century—an association that still exists today.
Today, Catholic communities form the core of the remaining Sorbian majority areas, whereas in the Protestant regions in the east and north, the language has mostly disappeared. In western Upper Lusatia, it was especially the centuries-long bond between the Sorbs and the Catholic Church that played a decisive role in preserving the Sorbian mother tongue. In contrast, in Lower Lusatia, the Protestant Church, both before and after 1945—and despite the general promotion of the Sorbs in the GDR—showed no interest in maintaining the Sorbian language in religious life. Only since 1987, at the initiative of a few Lower Sorbs, have regular Wendish-language church services resumed.
Since the second half of the 20th century, there has also been a significant proportion of non-religious Sorbs.
The flag of the Lusatian Sorbs is a cloth of blue, red and white horizontal stripes. First used as a national symbol in 1842, the flag was fully recognized among Sorbs following the proclamation ofpan-Slavic colors at thePrague Slavic Congress of 1848. Section 25 of the Constitution of Brandenburg contains a provision on the Lusatian flag. Section 2 of the Constitution of Saxony contains a provision on the use of the coat of arms and traditional national colors of the Lusatian Sorbs. The laws on the rights of the Lusatian Sorbs of Brandenburg and Saxony contain provisions on the use of Lusatian national symbols (coat of arms and national colors).[75]
The national anthem of Lusatian Sorbs since the 20th century is the songRjana Łužica (Beautiful Lusatia).[76] Previously, the songs “Still Sorbs Have Not Perished” (written byHandrij Zejler in 1840)[77] and “Our Sorbs Rise from the Dust” (written by M. Domashka, performed until 1945)[78] served as a hymn.
Catholic Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts ofBautzen,Kamenz, andHoyerswerda, 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, andRosenthal 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 onSt. Martin's Day (Nicolay), and the celebrations ofSaint Barbara’s Day andSaint Nicholas’s Day.
Region of Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy) and Schleife (Slepo)
In the area fromHoyerswerda toSchleife, 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 ofSlavic 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 playingbagpipes.In several villages, residents uphold traditional festivities such as expelling of winter,Maik,Easter andGreat Friday singing, and the celebration ofdźěćetko (disguised child or young girl givingChristmas presents).
There are 60 towns from the area ofCottbus belonging to this region, where most of the older people over 60, but few young people and children can speak the Lower Sorbian language[citation needed]; the local variant often incorporates many words taken from the German language, 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 wholeLusatia are the marshlands, with manySpreewald/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of theSpree.
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: Janšojce) so-called Janšojski bog (disguised young girl) givesChristmas presents.
Lusatia was part of the Polish state between 1002 and 1031 under the rule ofBolesław I.
Bolesław I the Brave had taken control of the marches ofLusatia (Łużyce), SorbianMeissen (Miśnia), and the cities of Budziszyn (Bautzen) and Miśnia in 1002, and refused to pay the tribute to theEmpire from the conquered territories. The Sorbs sided with the Poles, and opened the town gates and allowed Bolesław I into Miśnia in 1002.[79] Bolesław, after the Polish-German War (1002–1018), signed thePeace of Bautzen on 30 January 1018, which made him a clear winner. The Polish ruler was able to keep the contested marches of Lusatia and Milsko not as fiefs, but as part of Polish territory.[80][81] The Polish prince Mieszko destroyed about 100 Sorbian villages in 1030 and expelled Sorbians from urban areas, with the exception of fishermen and carpenters who were allowed to live in the outskirts.[82] In 1075–1076, Polish KingBolesław II the Bold sought the restoration of Lusatia fromBohemia to Poland.[83] In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia formed part ofPiast-ruled fragmented Poland.
The 18th century saw increased Polish-Sorbian contacts during the reign of KingsAugustus II the Strong andAugustus III of Poland in Poland and Lusatia. Sorbian pastorMichał Frencel [dsb] and his son polymathAbraham Frencel [hsb] took their cues from Polish texts in their Sorbian Bible translations and philological works, respectively.[84] Also Polish-born Jan Bogumił Fabricius established a Sorbian printing house and translated the catechism andNew Testament into Sorbian.[85] Polish and Sorbian students established contacts at theUniversity of Leipzig.[84] Polish dignitaries traveled through Lusatia on several occasions on their way betweenDresden andWarsaw, encountering Sorbs.[86] SomePolish nobles owned estates in Lusatia.[86]
The first translation from Sorbian into another language was a translation of the poemWottendzenje wot Liepska teho derje dostoineho wulze wuczeneho Knesa Jana Friedricha Mitschka byHandrij Ruška [hsb] into Polish, made by Stanisław Nałęcz Moszczyński, a Polish lecturer at the University of Leipzig, and published by the famous Polish travelerJan Potocki.[88]
Polish-Sorbian contacts continued in the 19th century. Noted advocate for the preservation of Polish culture and language inMasuria,Gustaw Gizewiusz, during his visits inBudissin and Leipzig, came into close contact with Sorbian publicistJan Pětr Jordan [hsb], and then Jordan published a study on the situation of the Poles in Masuria, including a collection of documents and journal articles from 1834–1842.[89] In the 1840s,Polish Romantic poetRoman Zmorski [pl] befriended the Sorbian writerJan Arnošt Smoler inWrocław, and then he settled in Lusatia, where he got to know other leading Sorbian national revival figuresKřesćan Bohuwěr Pful [hsb],Jaroměr Hendrich Imiš [hsb] andMichał Hórnik [hsb].[90] Zmorski then issued the Polish newspaperStadło in Budissin, translated four Smoler's poems into Polish, and published articles about the Sorbs in other Polish press.[91] Michał Hórnik declared his sympathy and admiration for the Poles, popularised knowledge ofNicolaus Copernicus andTadeusz Kościuszko through Sorbian press, reported on the events of the PolishJanuary Uprising of 1863–1864 and made contacts with Poles during visits to Warsaw,Kraków andPoznań.[92] Polish historianWilhelm Bogusławski [pl] wrote the first book on Sorbian historyRys dziejów serbołużyckich, published inSaint Petersburg in 1861. The book was expanded and published again in cooperation with Michał Hórnik in 1884 inBautzen, under a new titleHistorije serbskeho naroda. Polish historian and activistAlfons Parczewski [pl] was another friend of Sorbs, who from 1875 was involved in Sorbs' rights protection, participating in Sorbian meetings in Bautzen. Parczewski joined theMaćica Serbska organization in 1875, supported Sorbian publishing, wrote articles about Sorbs in Polish press and collected Sorbian magazines and books, which now form part of the Adam Asnyk Regional Public Library inKalisz.[93] It was thanks to him, among others, thatJózef Ignacy Kraszewski founded a scholarship for Sorbian students. His sisterMelania Parczewska [pl] joined the Maćica Serbska in 1878, wrote articles about Sorbs in Polish press and translated Sorbian poems into Polish.[93]
AfterWorld War I and the restoration of independent Poland, Polish linguistJan Baudouin de Courtenay supported the Sorbs' right to self-determination and demanded that theLeague of Nations assume protection over them.[96] In the interbellum, the Poles and Sorbs in Germany closely cooperated as part of theAssociation of National Minorities in Germany, established at the initiative of theUnion of Poles in Germany in 1924. Sorbian journalist, poet and activistJan Skala was a member of the press headquarters of the Union of Poles in Germany, and was one of the authors of theLeksykon Polactwa w Niemczech ("Lexicon of Poles in Germany").[97] In 1935–1936, Sorb Jurij Cyž was employed as a legal advisor of the First District of the Union of Poles in Germany, before he left for Poland under pressure of the Nazi authorities of Germany.[98] There were also notable Polish communities in Lusatia, such asKlettwitz (Upper Sorbian:Klěśišća, Polish:Kletwice).[94]
In Poland, Antoni Ludwiczak, founder of thefolk high school inDalki, Gniezno, offered Sorbs five tuition-free spots for each course at the school, however, after theNazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, enrollment of Sorbs in the school was almost completely halted.[99] Several Sorbs studied in Poland in the interbellum.[100] In 1930, the Association of Friends of the Sorbs was established in Poznań with Henryk Ułaszyn as its president.[101] Similar associations, the Polish Association of Friends of the Sorbian Nation (Polskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Łużyckiego) at theUniversity of Warsaw and the Association of Friends of Lusatia (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Łużyc) inKatowice were established in 1936.[98] The Warsaw-based organization 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. The association in Warsaw issued the Polish-languageBiuletyn Serbo-Łużycki ("Sorbian Newsletter"), which reported on Serbian affairs. The association in Katowice was led byKarol Grzesik, who was murdered by the Russians in theKatyn massacre duringWorld War II.[102][103]
DuringWorld War II, the Poles postulated that after the defeat of Germany, the Sorbs should be allowed free national development either within the borders of Poland or Czechoslovakia, or as an independent Sorbian state in alliance with Poland.[104] On 22 January 1945, Jan Skala was murdered by a Soviet soldier inDziedzice, and his grave at the local cemetery is now aPolish protected cultural heritage monument.[105] There is also a memorial to Skala in nearbyNamysłów. In 1945, Polish troops fought against German forces in several battles in Lusatia, including the largestBattle of Bautzen. There are memorials to Polish soldiers in Bautzen (Budyšin),Crostwitz (Chrósćicy) andKönigswartha (Rakecy) with inscriptions in Sorbian, Polish and German.
After 1945, the Sorbs that historically lived in the eastern part of Lusatia (now part of Poland) wereexpelled, as they were German citizens. Eastern Lusatia was resettled by Poles expelled fromformer eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and has by now lost its Sorbian identity.[106]
Prołuż founded inKrotoszyn, expanded to all Poland (3,000 members). It was the biggest non-communist organization that dealt with foreign affairs. This youth organization was created during the Soviet occupation and its motto was "Polish guard over Lusatia" (Polish:Nad Łużycami polska straż). Its highest activity was in the region ofGreater Poland. After the creation ofEast Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.[107]
In 1946, the establishment of a gymnasium for Sorbs inZgorzelec, Poland, was initiated, and the registration of Sorbian students at Polish universities resumed.[108] Despite the readiness to accept Sorbian youth in 1946, the gymnasium was not opened as the Sorbs had not yet obtained border passes to Poland.[109] The launch of the gymnasium was postponed by a year and free boarding and scholarships were prepared for the Sorbs, but in view of the continued lack of border passes to Poland and the establishment of a Sorbian gymnasium in Bautzen, the idea was abandoned.[110]
One of the main centers of pro-Sorbian initiatives in post-war Poland was Wrocław, with a branch of the Prołuż organization, and several articles about the Sorbs were published in local press.[111] In 1946, Associations of Friends of Lusatia were founded inOpole andPrudnik.[112] In 1947, eight Sorbian students established the "Lusatia" Association of Sorbian Students of Higher Education of Wrocław, with eight more joining the following year.[113] Also local press in Katowice, Opole and Prudnik published articles about the Sorbs and Lusatia.[114]
In Opole, the "Lusatian Days" (Dni Łużyckie) are organized annually, and thePro Lusatia. Opolskie Studia Łużycoznawcze yearbook is published since 1999.[112] The Polish-Sorbian Association Pro Lusatia was established in Poland in 2004.[112]
After a proposal to rebuild a pre-war statue ofOtto von Bismarck in Bautzen (Budyšin) appeared in 2021, the Sorbs objected and the Serbski Institut, in an open letter, reasoned the objection with the Bismarck government's repressions of the Sorbs, Poles, as well asDanes andFrench, and Bismarck's calls for the extermination of Poles.[115]
GoldenCzech Lion at the top of the St. Mary's church inKamenz (Upper Sorbian:Kamjenc, Czech:Kamenec)
Lusatia was partly or wholly part of the Czech Duchy or Kingdom (also known as Bohemia, in the west) at various times between 1075 and 1635, and several remnants of Czech rule can be found in the region. When Lusatia returned from German to Bohemian (Czech) rule, Sorbs were allowed to return to cities, offices and crafts, and the Sorbian language could be used in public.[36] As result, it was in the lands under Czech rule that the Sorbian culture and language persisted, while the more western original Sorbian territory succumbed to Germanization policies. One of the remnants of Czech rule in the region are the many town coats of arms that include theCzech Lion, as inDrebkau (Drjowk),Görlitz (Zhorjelc),Guben (Gubin),Kamenz (Kamjenc),Löbau (Lubij) andSpremberg (Grodk).
In 1706 the Catholic Sorbian Seminary was founded inPrague.[37] In 1846, theSerbowka [hsb] organization was founded by Sorbian students in Prague, and it issued theKwětki [hsb] magazine until 1892.
Calls for the incorporation of Lusatia intoCzechoslovakia were made after Germany's defeats in both world wars. In 1945, the Czechs established a gymnasium for the Sorbs inČeská Lípa, then relocated toVarnsdorf in 1946 and toLiberec in 1949, however, the Sorbs took their high school diploma in Bautzen after a Sorbian high school was established there.[116]
First permanent cultural and political contacts between Sorbs andSouth Slavs were established in the mid-19th century, and the contacts reached in their peak in the early 20th century.[117] In 1934, the first and only issue of theSrbska Lužica newspaper was published by consortium Srbska Lužica inYugoslavia.[117]
In November 1945, Yugoslavia declared support for the freedom aspirations of the Sorbs.[118] On 1 January 1946, the Sorbian National Council appointed Jurij Rjenč as its plenipotentiary representative inBelgrade, soon confirmed by the Yugoslav authorities after his arrival and meetings with several Yugoslav officials.[118] The Military Mission of Yugoslavia (VMJ) to theAllied Control Council established contacts with Sorbian national activists and declared it imperative to legally guarantee the cultural and national rights of the Sorbs, merge Upper and Lower Lusatia into one administrative district, and to halt the settlement of German displaced persons in Sorbian villages.[119] The Military Mission of Yugoslavia assisted Sorbian activists in Berlin with accommodation and catering, and contributed to the rebuilding of theSerbski dom in Bautzen, the chief cultural institution of Sorbs.[120]
Delegation ofSlovak Matica on an official cultural visit to Lusatian-Serbian Matica (Die Maćica Serbska), Domowina, Sorbian Institute (Serbski Institut) and Serbski Dom
The Lusatian Serbs were supported byĽudovít Štúr (he also visited this region), as well asJán Kollár (he helped establish the Matica Serbská) andMartin Hattala (communicated with students of the Serbian Seminary inPrague).[121][122]
During the 1840s, many Sorbian émigrés travelled to Australia, along with many ethnic Germans. The first was Jan Rychtar, a WendishMoravian Brethren missionary who settled inSydney during 1844.[130] There were two major migrations of Upper Sorbs and Lower Sorbs to Australia, in 1848 and 1850 respectively. The diaspora settled mainly inSouth Australia – especially theBarossa Valley – as well asVictoria andNew South Wales.
Kilian Hall, the former main building of Concordia University Texas, is named after Jan Kilian
A group of over 500 Sorbs, led by the Evangelical Lutheran pastorJan Kilian, sailed toGalveston in 1854 aboard the shipBen Nevis. They later founded the settlement ofSerbin inLee County,Texas, near Austin. Two-thirds of the emigrants came from the Prussian part, and one-third from the Saxon part of Upper Lusatia, including about 200 Sorbs from theKlitten area. The Sorbian language, a variant of Upper Sorbian, survived in Serbin until the 1920s, though it was increasingly influenced first by German, then by English. In the past, newspapers in Sorbian were also published in Serbin. Today, the former Sorbian school in Serbin houses the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum, which tells the story of the Sorbs in the USA. Descendants of these emigrants went on to foundConcordia University Texas in Austin in 1926.[131]
Symbol of Domowina: On a red background, three silver linden leaves grow from a tree trunk with eight roots.[132]
TheDomowina, founded in 1912 (a poetic Sorbian term for “homeland”), is the umbrella organization of local chapters, five regional associations, and twelve Sorbian associations active at a supraregional level,[133] with a total of around 7,300 members.[134] Members who are part of more than one affiliated association may be counted multiple times.
The Foundation for the Sorbian People (Załožba za serbski lud) serves as a joint instrument of the federal government and the states of Brandenburg and Saxony to support the preservation, development, promotion, and dissemination of the Sorbian language, culture, and traditions as an expression of the Sorbian people's identity.
It was initially established in 1991 by decree as a non-legally-capable public foundation within the Protestant Church ofLohsa.[135] Recognizing that the Sorbian people have no kin-state outside the Federal Republic of Germany, and based on the obligations declared in Protocol Note No. 14 to Article 35 of theUnification Treaty, the necessary material framework was thus created. With the signing of the State Treaty between Brandenburg and Saxony on the establishment of the Foundation for the Sorbian People on August 28, 1998, the foundation was granted legal capacity. At the same time, the first funding agreement between the federal government and the states of Brandenburg and Saxony was signed, valid until the end of 2007. Based on the Second Funding Agreement of July 10, 2009, the foundation has since received annual contributions from Saxony, Brandenburg, and the federal government to fulfill its mission. This agreement was valid until December 31, 2013. Until the third agreement was concluded in 2016, the funding amount was determined annually.[135]
The annual funding amount set until 2013 was €16.8 million, divided as follows: Federal Government: €8.2 million, Saxony: €5.85 million and Brandenburg: €2.77 million.[135]
The largest shares of the foundation’s budget went to:
There have been public controversies over the absolute funding volume and distribution among institutions and projects, some of which led to demonstrations.[136][137]
On July 20, 2021, Federal Interior MinisterHorst Seehofer, Brandenburg’s Minister-PresidentDietmar Woidke, and Saxony’s Minister-PresidentMichael Kretschmer signed the joint funding agreement for the next funding period.[138] The agreement provides for annual funding of €23.916 million from 2021 to 2025.
On December 10, 1716, six Sorbian theology students founded the“Wendish Preachers' Collegium” (later renamed“Lusatian Preachers’ Society”) with the permission ofLeipzig University’s senate—the first Sorbian association ever.[139] Their motto, which was also their greeting, was: “Soraborum saluti!” (For the good of the Sorbs!)
Today, the Institute for Sorbian Studies at Leipzig University is the only institute in Germany where Sorbian teachers and scholars (Sorabists) are trained. Classes are held in both Upper and Lower Sorbian. In recent years, Sorbian studies and its degree programs have attracted increasing interest, particularly from the Slavic-speaking world. Since March 1, 2003, the director of the institute has been Eduard Werner (Sorbian:Edward Wornar).
Since 1951, there has been a non-university research institute for Sorbian studies in Bautzen, which was part of theGerman Academy of Sciences in East Berlin until 1991. Re-established in 1992 as the Sorbian Institute e. V. (Serbski Institut z. t.), it currently has about 25 permanent employees working at two locations: Bautzen (Saxony) and Cottbus (Brandenburg).[citation needed]
The institute's broad mission includes research into the Sorbian language (both Upper and Lower Sorbian), as well as the history, culture, and identity of the Sorbian people inUpper andLower Lusatia. Through its various projects, the institute contributes to the practical preservation and development of Sorbian national substance. It is affiliated with the Sorbian Central Library and the Sorbian Cultural Archive, which collect, preserve, and share Sorbian cultural heritage spanning nearly 500 years.[citation needed]
Domowina Publishing House office at Tuchmacherstraße 27, Bautzen
Also located in Bautzen, the Domowina Publishing House (Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina) publishes most of the Sorbian books, newspapers, and magazines. It evolved from theVEB Domowina Publishing House, founded in 1958 and reorganized as a GmbH in 1990.
The publishing house is funded by the Foundation for the Sorbian People with €2.9 million (as of 2012). Since 1991, it has operated the Smoler’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Smolerjec kniharnja), named after the Sorbian bookstore founded in 1851 by the first Sorbian publisherJan Arnošt Smoler (1816–1884).[140]
The Sorbian Museum (Serbski muzej Budyšin) is located in the Salzhaus of the Ortenburg castle complex in Bautzen. Its exhibition offers an overview of Sorbian history from the 6th century to the present, along with insights into Sorbian culture and daily life.
The museum also features rotating special exhibitions of Sorbian visual artists or exhibitions focused on specific historical themes. The museum is operated by theBautzen district and is supported by the Foundation for the Sorbian People and the Cultural Area of Upper Lusatia–Lower Silesia.
The Sorbian National Ensemble (Serbski ludowy ansambl) is the only professional Sorbian music and dance theater, with departments for orchestra, ballet, and choir. Its repertoire includes dance theater, musical theater, concerts, and children's music theater—ranging from traditional Sorbian to modern styles.
The ensemble’s headquarters are located near the Röhrscheidt Bastion by the Friedensbrücke in Bautzen. Since 1952, the group has toured to over 40 countries on 4 continents, with about 14,000 guest performances.
The ensemble is managed as a non-profit limited company (GGmbH). Its sole shareholder is the Foundation for the Sorbian People, from which it receives over €5 million annually, about one-fifth of the foundation’s total budget.
In Saxony and Brandenburg, the Sorbian bilingual settlement areas have several bilingual Sorbian-German schools, as well as other schools where Sorbian is taught as a foreign language. In Saxony during the 2013/14 school year, there were eight bilingual elementary schools and six bilingual secondary schools and in Brandenburg, there were four bilingual elementary schools and one combined secondary school with an elementary level.[141][142] High school graduation in Sorbian is possible at theSorbian Gymnasium in Bautzen and theLower Sorbian Gymnasium in Cottbus.
There are also several Sorbian kindergartens in both states. The Sorbisches Schulverein (Sorbian School Association), which operates across state borders, launched the “Witaj” (Sorbian for 'welcome') project, promoting bilingual education in kindergartens and schools through language immersion—where children learn Sorbian naturally through everyday interaction.[143]
Some issues of the Sorbian cultural magazineRozhlad
A daily Upper Sorbian newspaper,Serbske Nowiny (Sorbian Newspaper), and a weekly Lower Sorbian newspaper,Nowy Casnik (New Newspaper), are published. Additionally, there is the monthly Sorbian cultural magazineRozhlad (Review), the children’s magazinePłomjo (Flame), the Catholic magazineKatolski Posoł, and the Protestant church newspaperPomhaj Bóh (God Help). The Sorbian Institute publishes the academic journalLětopis (Yearbook) every six months. There is also the professional journal for educators,Serbska šula (Sorbian School).[citation needed]
Furthermore, there is Sorbian radio broadcasting, with programming produced byMitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) andRundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). Every day, a few hours of Sorbian-language radio programs are broadcast from stations inCalau (RBB) andHoyerswerda (MDR 1). All Lower Sorbian broadcasts from RBB are also available for replay online. For younger audiences, RBB broadcasts the half-hour monthly magazineBubak on the first Thursday of each month, and MDR airs the two-hour weekly magazineRadio Satkula every Monday.[citation needed]
Since April 1992, RBB has produced the half-hour Lower Sorbian television magazineŁužyca (Lusatia), aired monthly. Since September 8, 2001, MDR has produced the monthly half-hour Upper Sorbian programWuhladko (View). In addition, MDR broadcastsUnser Sandmännchen (Our Little Sandman) every Sunday with dual audio (including Sorbian).[citation needed]
In hisWalks through the March of Brandenburg (1862–1889),Theodor Fontane describes not only the history but also the lifestyle, customs, and traditional dress of the Sorbs (Wends) in Lower Lusatia. InWilhelm Bölsche’s contemporary novelDie Mittagsgöttin (The Midday Goddess) from 1891, some of the scenes are set in theSpreewald, including the then predominantly Lower Sorbian-speaking village of Lehde. Furthermore, the novelDie Mittagsfrau byJulia Franck, published in 2007, is named after the well-known Sorbian mythical figure. The first part of the novel portrays the childhood of Martha and Helene inBautzen, whose Sorbian maid suspects the curse of the "Mittagsfrau" (Midday Woman) to be the cause of their mother’s mental breakdown.[citation needed]
In the GDR, documentaries were produced such asWie die Sorben den Maibaum aufstellen (How the Sorbs Erect the Maypole) (1956) andLeben am Fließ – W Błotach (1990). TheDEFA animated filmAls es noch Wassermänner gab is based on a Sorbian fairy tale and also deals with Sorbian wedding customs. In 2010, theZDF broadcast the crime filmDer Tote im Spreewald (The Dead Man in the Spreewald). One of the main characters is the son of a traditionally-minded Sorbian family, who does not feel connected to his cultural roots. The film introduced Sorbian culture to a wider audience, while also reflecting on issues of homeland and minority identity.[144]
In 2007, theMinet – Minderheitenmagazin aired a program onRAI 3 (Bozen station) titledDie Sorben – ein slawisches Volk in Deutschland (The Sorbs – a Slavic People in Germany).[145] Also in 2007,Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha produced the filmIls Sorbs en la Germania da l’ost (The Sorbs in Eastern Germany) as part of its seriesMinoritads en l’Europa (Minorities in Europe).[146] The 2020 documentarySorben ins Kino! by Knut Elstermann focuses on Sorbian filmmakers, including those in the Sorbian Film production group.[147]
In the seriesStraight Outta Crostwitz, released exclusively on ARD Mediathek in 2022,Jasna Fritzi Bauer plays the Sorbian character Hanka.[148] She sings Sorbian folk songs with her father but actually wants to make rap music. Thisdramedy-style story of emancipation spans four episodes, each between nine and twelve minutes long, and was also filmed inLusatia.[149]
On April 18, 2024, the documentaryBei uns heißt sie Hanka premiered in cinemas. Directed by Grit Lemke, the film explores the search for Sorbian identity.[150]
^ab"[A]nti-Sorbian policies throughout the Sorbian area of settlement got increasingly aggressive and, unsurprisingly, saw their climax under Nazi rule. Sorbs were declared to be "Wendish-speaking Germans" and a "Wendenabteilung was established to monitor the process of assimilation..."[38]
^ab"Sorbs inhabiting Upper and Lower Lusatia, whose distinct identity and culture were simply denied by the Nazis, who described them as “Wendish-speaking” Germans and who, toward the end of the war, considered moving the Sorbs en masse to the mining districts of Alsace-Lorraine.".[41]
^"The Nazis intended to assimilate and permanently germanize these 'Wendish-speaking Germans' through integration into the 'National Socialist national community' and through the forbidding of the Sorbian language and manifestations of Sorbian culture, Sorbian and Slav place-names and local names of topographical features (fields, hills and so forth) were germanized, Sorbian books and printing presses confiscated and destroyed, Sorbian schoolteachers and clerics removed and put in German-speaking schools and parishes, and representatives of Sorbian cultural life were either forcibly isolated from their fellows or arrested."[42]
^ab"[A]fter 1933, under the Nazi regime, the Sorbian community suffered severe repression, and their organizations were banned. Indeed, the very existence of the ethnic group was denied and replaced by the theory of the Sorbs as 'Slavic speaking Germans'. Plans were made to re-settle the Sorbian population in Alsace in order to resolve the 'Lusatian question'. The 12 years of Nazi dictatorship was a heavy blow for a separate Sorbian identity."[43]
^"They pressed Sorbian associations to join Nazi organizations, often with Success, and the Domowina received an ultimatum to adopt a statute which defined it as a 'League of Wendish-speaking Germans'.” But the Domowina insisted upon the Slavonic character of the Sorbs. In March 1937 the Nazis forbade the Domowina and the Sorbian papers, all teaching in Sorbian was discontinued, and Sorbian books were removed from the school libraries."[44]
^"[T]he programmatic re-invention of the Sorbian minority as wen- dischsprechende Deutsche under the Nazi regime..."[45]
^Pohl, Heinz-Dieter (1970). "Die slawischen Sprachen in Jugoslawien" [The Slavic languages in Yugoslavia].Der Donauraum (in German).15 (1–2): 72.doi:10.7767/dnrm.1970.15.12.63.S2CID183316961.Srbin, Plural Srbi: „Serbe", wird zum urslawischen *sirbŭ „Genosse" gestellt und ist somit slawischen Ursprungs41. Hrvat „Kroate", ist iranischer Herkunft, über urslawisches *chŭrvatŭ aus altiranischem *(fšu-)haurvatā, „Viehhüter"42.
^abSimek, Emanuel (1955).Chebsko V Staré Dobe: Dnesní Nejzápadnejsi Slovanské Území (in Czech). Vydává Masarykova Universita v Brne. pp. 47, 269.O Srbech máme zachován první historický záznam ze VI. století u Vibia Sequestra, který praví, že Labe dělí v GermaniinSrby od Suevů65. Tím ovšem nemusí být řečeno, že v končinách severně od českých hor nemohli býti Srbové již i za Labem (západně od Labe), neboť nevíme, koho Vibius Sequester svými Suevy mínil. Ať již tomu bylo jakkoli, víme bezpečně ze zpráv kroniky Fredegarovy, že Srbové měli celou oblast mezi Labem a Sálou osídlenu již delší dobu před založením říše Samovy66, tedy nejméně již v druhé polovici VI. století67. Jejich kníže Drevan se osvobodil od nadvlády francké a připojil se někdy kolem roku 630 se svou državou k říši Samově68. V následujících letech podnikali Srbové opětovně vpády přes Sálu do Durinska 69... 67 Schwarz, ON 48, dospěl k závěru, že se země mezi Labem a Sálou stala srbskou asi r. 595 a kolem roku 600 že bylo slovanské stěhování do končin západně od Labe určitě již skončeno; R. Fischer, GSl V. 58, Heimatbildung XVIII. 298, ON Falk. 59, NK 69 datuje příchod Slovanů na Chebsko do druhé polovice VI. století, G. Fischer(ová), Flurnamen 218, do VI. století. Chebský historik Sieg1 dospěl v posledním svém souhrnném díle o dějinách Chebska Eger u. Egerland 4 k závěru, že Slované (myslil na Srby) přišli do Chebska již kolem roku 490, tedy před koncem V. století.
^Tyszkiewicz, Lech A. (1990).Słowianie w historiografii antycznej do połowy VI wieku (in Polish). Wydawn. Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego. p. 124.ISBN978-83-229-0421-3....Germaniae Suevos a Cervetiis dividit mergitur in oceanum". Według Szafarzyka, który odrzucił emendację Oberlina Cervetiis na Cheruscis, zagadkowy lud Cervetti to nikt inny, jak tylko Serbowie połabscy.
^Moczulski, Leszek (2007).Narodziny Międzymorza: ukształtowanie ojczyzn, powstanie państw oraz układy geopolityczne wschodniej części Europy w późnej starożytności i we wczesnym średniowieczu (in Polish). Bellona. pp. 335–336.Tak jest ze wzmianką Vibiusa Sequestra, pisarza z przełomu IV—V w., którą niektórzy badacze uznali za najwcześniejszą informację o Słowianach na Polabiu: Albis Germaniae Suevon a Cervetiis dividit (Vibii Sequestris, De fluminibus, fontibus, lacubus, memoribus, paludibus, montibus, gentibus, per litteras, wyd. Al. Riese, Geographi latini minores, Heilbronn 1878). Jeśli początek nazwy Cerve-tiis odpowiadał Serbe — chodziło o Serbów, jeśli Cherue — byli to Cheruskowie, choć nie można wykluczyć, że pod tą nazwą kryje się jeszcze inny lud (por. G. Labuda, Fragmenty dziejów Słowiańszczyzny Zachodniej, t. 1, Poznań 1960, s. 91; H. Lowmiański, Początki Polski..., t. II, Warszawa 1964, s. 296; J. Strzelczyk, Vibius Sequester [w:] Slownik Starożytności Słowiańskich, t. VI, Wroclaw 1977, s. 414). Pierwsza ewentualność sygeruje, że zachodnia eks-pansja Słowian rozpoczęta się kilka pokoleń wcześniej niż się obecnie przypuszcza, druga —że rozgraniczenie pomiędzy Cheruskami a Swebami (Gotonami przez Labę względnie Semnonami przez Soławę) uksztaltowało się — być może po klęsce Marboda — dalej na południowy wschód, niżby wynikało z Germanii Tacyta (patrz wyżej). Tyle tylko, że nie będzie to sytuacja z IV w. Istnienie styku serbsko-turyńskiego w początkach VII w. potwierdza Kronika Fredegara (Chronicarum quae dicuntw; Fredegari scholastici, wyd. B., Krusch, Monu-menta Gennaniae Bisiorka, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, t. II, Hannover 1888, s. 130); bylby on jednak późniejszy niż styk Franków ze Slowianami (Sldawami, Winklami) w Alpach i na osi Dunaju. Tyle tylko, te o takim styku możemy mówić dopiero w końcu VI w.
^Fomina, Z.Ye. (2016)."Славянская топонимия в современной Германии в лингвокультуроло-гическоми лингво-историческом аспек" [Slavonic Toponymy in Linguoculturological and Linguo-historical Aspects in Germany].Современные лингвистические и методико-дидактические исследования (in Russian).1 (12): 30. Retrieved4 August 2020.Как следует из многотомного издания „Славянские древности" (1953) известного чешского ученого Любора Нидерле, первым историческим известием о славянах на Эльбе является запись Вибия Секвестра «De fluminibus» (VI век), в которой об Эльбе говорится: «Albis Suevos a Cervetiis dividit». Cervetii означает здесь наименованиесербскогоокруга (pagus) на правом берегу Эльбы, между Магдебургом и Лужицами, который в позднейших грамотах Оттона I, Оттона II и Генриха II упоминается под терминомCiervisti, Zerbisti, Kirvisti,нынешний Цербст[8]. В тот период, как пишет Любор Нидерле, а именно в 782 году, началось большое, имевшее мировое значение, наступление германцев против сла-вян. ПерейдяЭльбу, славяне представляли большую опасность для империи Карла Вели-кого. Для того, чтобы создать какой-то порядок на востоке, Карл Великий в 805 году соз-дал так называемый limes Sorabicus, который должен был стать границей экономических (торговых) связеймежду германцами и славянами[8].
^Sava S. Vujić, Bogdan M. Basarić (1998).Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod. Beograd. p. 40.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^V. von Keltsch,Der bairische Geograph, Alpreussische Monatsschr., 23 (1886),
^Gerhard Billig,Zur Rekonstruktion der ältesten slawischen Burgbezirke im obersächsisch-meißnischen Raum auf der Grundlage des Bayerischen Geographen, Neues Archiv für sächsische Geschichte 66 (1995), s. 27-67
^Paul M. Barford (2001).The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. Cornell University Press. pp. 64–65, 77–78, 104–105. ISBN 9780801439773
^Dolowy-Rybinska, Nicole (2023).Upper Sorbian Language Policy in Education: Bringing the Language Back, or Bringing It Forward?. Brill. p. 43.ISBN978-9004510746.
^Absees: Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, Volume 4. Oxford Microform Publications Limited. 1973. p. 182.
^Absees: Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, Volume 4. Oxford Microform Publications Limited. 1973. p. 182.
^Plum, Catherine (2015).Antifascism After Hitler: East German Youth and Socialist Memory, 1949-1989. Routledge. p. 51.ISBN978-1317599289.
^Ramet, Sabrina (1995).Social Currents in Eastern Europe: The Sources and Consequences of the Great Transformation. Duke University Press. p. 69.ISBN0822315483.
^Paul Wexler (1992), "From Serb Lands to Sorb Lands," inThe Balkan Substratum of Yiddish: A Reassessment of the Unique Romance and Greek Components,Harrassowitz Verlag, 1992, p. 111
^According to the 1900 Census. See Ernst Tschernik:Die Entwicklung der Sorbischen Bevölkerung. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1954, P. 34.
^Андреева, Г. Н. (2005). "Сорбы в ФРГ: ценный опыт правового регулирования статуса национального меньшинства в немецкой и российской литературе".Социальные и гуманитарные науки (1):40–42.
^Šołta, Jan (1984).Nowy biografiski slownik k stawiznam a kulture Serbow. p. 115.
^Wojciechowski, Zygmunt (1948). "Bolesław Chrobry i rok 1000".Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (3): 248.
^Jasienica, Pawel (2007) (in Polish). Polska Piastow. Proszynski Media.ISBN978-83-7648-284-2
^Bernhardt, John W (1993). Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075. Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-52183-1
^Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VII (in Polish). Warszawa. 1886. p. 117.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Sukertowa-Biedrawina, Emilia (1958). "Z zagadnień walki o szkołę polską w diecezji ełckiej w pierwszej połowie XIX wieku".Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie (in Polish). No. 1. p. 65.
^Wojtal, Józef (1973). "Michał Hornik – budziszyński przyjaciel Polski i popularyzator dzieł Kopernika".Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish).XXVIII (2). Wrocław:Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich:184–186.
^Orzechowski, Marian (1976). "Kwestia serbołużycka w polskiej myśli politycznej w latach 1939–1947".Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish).XXXI (2). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, WydawnictwoPolskiej Akademii Nauk: 379.
^Smołka, Leonard (1978). "Centrala prasowa Związku Polaków w Niemczech (1923–1939)".Kwartalnik Historii Prasy Polskiej (in Polish).XVII (2): 52, 59.
^Listy katyńskiej ciąg dalszy. Straceni na Ukrainie (in Polish). Warszawa: Niezależny Komitet Historyczny Badania Zbrodni Katyńskiej, Polska Fundacja Katyńska, Centralna Biblioteka Wojskowa. 1994. p. 30.
^"Prołuż Akademicki Związek Przyjaciół Łużyc" Jakub Brodacki. Polska Grupa Marketingowa 2006ISBN83-60151-00-8
^Pałys, Piotr (2002). "Próby utworzenia w Zgorzelcu w latach 1946–1948 gimnazjum łużyckiego".Rocznik Lubuski (in Polish). Vol. XXVIII, no. 1. Zielona Góra. p. 90.ISSN0485-3083.
Golecka, Aneta (2003). "Serbołużyczanie w Niemczech".Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio K, Politologia (in Polish).X. WydawnictwoUniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej w Lublinie.
Lewaszkiewicz, Tadeusz (2015). "Zarys dziejów sorabistyki i zainteresowań Łużycami w Wielkopolsce". In Kurowska, Hanna (ed.).Kapitał społeczno-polityczny Serbołużyczan (in Polish). Zielona Góra:Uniwersytet Zielonogórski.
Matyniak, Alojzy S. (1968). "Kontakty kulturalne polsko-serbołużyckie w XVIII w.".Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish).XXIII (2). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
Pałys, Piotr (2008). "Związki Serbołużyczan ze Śląskiem. Wstępny zarys problematyki".Pro Lusatia (in Polish). Vol. 7. Opole.
Pałys, Piotr (2012). "Serbołużyczanie z perspektywy Belgradu. Opracowanie Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych Federacyjnej Ludowej Republiki Jugosławii (Materijal o Lužičkim Srbima) z 1949 r.".Pro Lusatia (in Polish). Vol. 11. Opole.
Filip GańczakMniejszość w czasach popkultury, Newsweek, nr 22/2007, 03.06.2007.
W kręgu Krabata. Szkice o Juriju Brězanie, literaturze, kulturze i językach łużyckich, pod red. J.Zarka, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, Katowice, 2002.
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