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|region5 = {{flag|Australia}}
|region5 = {{flag|Australia}}
|pop5 = 1,500 est.
|pop5 = 1,500 est.
|langs = [[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]] (Upper Lusatian, Lower Lusatian), [[German language|German]]
|langs = [[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]], [[German language|German]]
|rels = [[Lutheranism]], [[Catholicism]]
|rels = [[Lutheranism]], [[Catholicism]]
|related-c = [[Poles]], [[Czechs]], [[Slovaks]]
|related-c = [[Slavs]], especially [[West Slavs]].
}}
}}


The '''Sorbs''' ([[German language|German]] '''Sorben'''' [[Upper Sorbian language|Upper Sorbian]]: '''Serbja''', [[Lower Sorbian language|Lower Sorbian]]: '''Serby''') are a [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] minority living in eastern [[Germany]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068738/Sorb The Sorbs at Encyclopædia Britannica]</ref> indigenous to the region known as [[Lusatia]] in the current German [[lander of Germany|states]] of [[Saxony]] and [[Brandenburg]] (in former [[GDR]] territory). They are or were also known as [[Lusatia]]ns (Lusitzi, Lausitzi, or Lusici), [[Wends]], “Lusatian [[Serbs]]” or “Serbs of Luzice ([[Upper Sorbian language|Upper Sorbian]]: ''Łužica'', [[Lower Sorbian language|Lower Sorbian]]: ''Łužyca)''.”
'''Sorbs or Wends, Lusatians, Lusatian Sorbs''', the proper name: Upper Lusatians (Łužisky) - Serbja, Lower Lusatians (Łužisky) - Serby, German name: Sorben and Wenden, the latter mainly concerns Lower Lusatians, Slavonic nation settled in Lusatia, land on the territory of Germany. Historically, Lusatia also encompasses small parts of Poland and the Czech Republic.


==Demographic==
Sorbs are divided into: Upper Lusatians (German: Oberlausitz, Sorbian: horni Serbja) speaking in Upper Lusatian (about 30,000 people) and Lower Lusatians (German: Niederlausitz, Sorbian: Dolna Łužyca) speaking Lower Lusatian (about 20,000 people). Some of them using in-between dialects- a mixture of these two Lusatian languages.
[[Image:Germany sorbian region.png|thumb|right|Small region where the Sorbs still live in Germany, the area that used to be much larger in the past]]
Since ethnicity is not a legal category in Germany for German citizens, their number can only be guessed. The constitutions of both [[Brandenburg]] and [[Saxony]] explicitly declare any inquiry about ethnicity unconstitutional and illegal. But every citizen is free to view himself/herself as a Sorb and thus choose his/her ethnic identity, which must not be testified or examined by any state authority. Current estimates speak of 10,000 to 30,000 active speakers of [[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]] (almost all of them are bilingual) and about 60,000 people who subjectively consider themselves Sorbs.


==History==
[[Image:Sorbs national-costume1.jpg|thumb|left|National costume of Lusatian Sorbs as traditionally worn in the northern part of Lusatia]]Historically, the Sorbs are the last remainder of the [[Polabian Slavs|Polabian Slavic]] peoples living in most of what is now eastern Germany until the high [[Middle Ages]]. Their ancestors are the [[Milceni]] and Lusatians, not the Sorbs that were a tribe between Elbe and Saale, but in the 18th century they started to call themselves Sorbs.
The Sorbs arrived in the area now known as Lusatia during the 5th century A.D. In the years since then, the Sorbs have often fallen under foreign rule. While they have predominantly been under German control, they were under Polish occupation in the 11th century and under Bohemian rule from the mid-14th century until the [[Peace of Prague (1635)]]. Most Slavs in the area were [[Germanization|Germanised]] or driven away during the German [[Ostsiedlung]] of the 12th and 13th centuries.


At the end of the 19th century there were 150,000 Sorbian speakers in [[Lusatia]], the majority of whom were monolingual. However, the Sorbs were quickly becoming Germanized on a mass-level, a phenomenon spurred on by industrialization. By the 1920s the majority of Sorbian speakers were bilingual.
== Toponyms ==


The Sorbs were the victims of forced Germanization from 1933 to 1945, viewed by the Nazis as Sorbian-speaking Germans, rather than ethnic [[Slavs]]. With this distinction, the [[Nazis]] aimed to “re-Germanize” the Sorbs, a process which involved removing Sorbian from street signs and Germanizing Sorbian names in official documents. The Nazis also sought to eliminate the Slavic tendencies of the Sorbs by banning the [[Domowina]] in 1937 and banning the last remaining Sorbian-language newspaper, the Catholic paper Katolski Posol, in 1939. Sorbian teachers and priests were deported from the Reich, and those explicitly labeled as “Sorbian nationalists” were sent to concentration camps.
[[Image:Flag of Sorbs.svg|thumb|right|200px|The national flag of Lusatian Sorbs]]
The name of the nation is probably connected with the [[Polish]] word “stepson” (Polish: pasierb) and originally meant tribesman (the one who sucked milk of the same mother). The question of kinship of Balkan Sorbs and Lusatian Sorbs is not accidental. According to one of the hypotheses, in the 5th century, after leaving their proto-Slavonic homeland, common ancestors of all Serbians divided into two groups. One of the groups reached the Balkans through the [[Carpathian Mountains]], whilst the other the other (the ancestors of Serbians) settled in the middle part of the Elbe. The similarity of Sorbian languages with Serbian and Croation languages confirms the hypothesis. Most of the researchers do not consider the kinship as being proved. It is possible that the name Serbian developed in both of these two groups separately. The name Lusatia (German: Lausitz), originally meaning marshy ground probably derives from the polish word ług (water reservoir, pool), at the same time indicating that the regions surroundings were rich in water (broads/flood waters of the Elbe and Spree).


=== After World War II===
[[Image:Hermann Geogr Bavar1.png|thumb|left|An attempt of localizing West Slavic tribes by the Bavarian Geographer (A.D. 845), Serbians according to Herrmann and Łowmański (number 50 on the map)]]
Following the end of the war, about five million Germans remaining in [[Silesia]] and the [[Sudetenland]] (out of a prewar total of about eight million) were expelled. Many of these people moved to [[Lusatia]], where they were confronted with a Germany with clear Slavic colorings. The confusion of this ethnic and linguistic mix increased Sorbian-German tensions in the area. Even before this influx of [[Sudeten Germans|Bohemian Germans]], as a result of industrialization and Germanization, by the 1940s Sorbs were a minority in Lusatia. Their numbers were greatest in the sparsely populated rural areas, where Sorbian speakers made up between 35% and 40% of the population or even more. The percentage in the citys and in the industrialised [[Lusatian Mountains]] was far lower.


However, despite their minority status, in 1945 the Sorbs, driven by their experiences with Nazi oppression, sought to be recognized as an independent state and asked for [[Czechoslovak]] protection. The Lusatian Sorb National Council in [[Prague]] was the main force behind this movement, succeeding in convincing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in [[Prague]] to forward memoranda to [[Moscow]], urging Czechoslovak military occupation of Lusatia.


The Sorbs received no response to their petition; Sorbian independence did not align with Soviet socialist policy. The Soviets were also unwilling to cede Lusatia due to practical territorial concerns. Unluckily for the Sorbs, politics demanded that the Czechs choose the Soviets over their Slav sympathies in this period directly following World War II. While the Czechs were drawn to the Sorb cause, relating especially to the fate of a Slav minority persecuted by German occupiers, their allegiance lay with the Soviets. When Moscow declared that they would not aid the Sorb cause, the Czechs too withdrew their support. This ended any hope the Sorbs had for an independent Lusatia. <ref> [[Karel Kaplan]]: "The Short March: The Communist Takeover in Czechoslovakia 1945-1948", 1987, ISBN 0-312-72209-5, p. 24-25. See also extract on [http://groups.google.com/group/soc.history.what-if/msg/b2bc510b824ff00a].</ref>
== Tribal division ==


Although they failed to receive Soviet support for an independent Sorbian state, the Sorbs were able to receive some gains in the postwar period. In 1945 the Domowina was re-licensed by the Soviets, followed in 1947 by the licensing of a Sorbian printing press. In 1948 the Sorbian grammar school opened in [[Bautzen]].


In the GDR the Sorbs were regaining identity. [[Erich Honecker]] discovered the people as a medium to praise their politics of minorities in the [[Socialism|socialist]] country. Under GDR governance, Sorbic schools, publishers, theaters and many other cultural institutes were founded. An institute for Sorbic culture studies was founded in 1951 at the [[German Academy of Sciences Berlin]] as well as an institute for Sorbian studies<ref>University of Leipzig:[http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~sorb/ Institute for Sorbian Studies]</ref> at the [[University of Leipzig]].<ref>{{de icon}} [[Der Spiegel]]: [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,350786,00.html ''Von Dänen lernen heißt siegen lernen'']</ref> In 1956, there were open protests against the massive industrialisation campaign in [[Lusatia]], although these campaigns did not only affect the Sorbs or that region.
Having settled by the Elbe and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. Sorbs, ancestors of Lower Lusatians, living on the swampy broads of the Lower Spree have taken their name from the word marsh. The Milceni (ancestors of Upper Lusatians) settled on fertile soil around Upper Spree, the name derives from the word měl’ (loess soil). Both groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the Elbe and Saale.
<!--To this one should also add re-organisation of teaching in Sorb schools (1964), direct result of which was the reduction in number of Sorb children being taught [[Sorbian language]]. (I could not find any proof of that, please look for sources before putting it in the article again-->
On [[November 11]], [[1989]], at the downfall of the socialist government, the Sorb National Assembly gathered, demanding the [[GDR]] authorities to establish a dialogue with the Sorbs and decisive changes in the state-run 'Domowina'. In 1991, 'Domowina' emerged as an independent organisation and Sorb People Foundation (''Załožba za serbski lud'') was established. <ref>Andrus Mölder ''Łužyca/Łužica'' ---- ''Horisont'' 2001-5, lk 48-49</ref>


== History of Sorbs ==
=== In the Federal Republic ===
After the reunification, Sorb minority rights were initially not incorporated within the laws of Brandenburg and Saxony. It was not until after some years that Sorbs were recognized as a cultural entity. <!-- Source: Domowina -->
[[Image:Sorbs national-costume1.jpg|thumb|left|National costume of Lusatian Sorbs as traditionally worn in the northern part of Lusatia]]
[[Image:Germany sorbian region.png|thumb|right|Small region where the Sorbs still live in Germany, the area that used to be much larger in the past]]
[[Image:Sorben.jpeg|thumb|The close-up map of area inhabited by Sorbians]]


In today's Germany, they have certain minority rights, for example: the right to send their children to Sorbian-language schools, the right to use Sorbian in dealings with the local government and the right to bilingual road signs. Since 2005, the Sorbs have their own political party, the [[Wendische Volkspartei]].
During the 6th century A.D. Sorbs arrived in the area extending between the rivers in the East: the Bober (Czech: Bobr, Polish: Bóbr), Kwisa and Oder (Polish: Odra) to rivers in the West: the Saale and Elbe. In the North, the area of their settlement reached Berlin. In 631 A.D., for the first time, the Fredegar’s Chronicle described them as Surbi. Annales Regni Francym mentions that in 806 A.D., Miliduch (the Serbian King) fought against the Francs and was killed. In 932 Henry I conquered Lusatia and Milsko. In 933 Lusatia was again conquered by Gero II – the Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark, who in 939 cunningly murdered 30 Sorbian princes during the feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against the Germans. From this early period there remained only a reconstructed town/castle- Raddusch in Lower Lusatia.
During the reign of Boleslaw I of Poland (Polish: Bolesław Chrobry) in 1002-1018 A.D., three Polish-German wars were waged which caused Lusatia to come from one ruler to another. In 1018, on the strength of peace in Bautzen, Lusatia became a part of Poland; however, before 1031 it was returned to Germany. From 11th to 15th century, in Lusatian development of agriculture and intensification of colonization took place by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers. In 1327 first prohibitions of using Sorbian in Altenburg, Zwickau and Leipzig appeared. Between 1376 - 1635 Lusatia again became a part of an Empire, in the rule of the Bohemian Luxembourgs (a component part of Saint Waclav’s Crown. At the beginning of 16th century the whole Sorbian tribes’ area, with the exception of Lusatia, underwent Germanization. From 1635 Lusatia became a feudality of Saxon electorates.
The Thirty Years War and epidemic of Black Death led Lusatia to terrible devastation: almost half of Sorbs died. This led to further German colonization and Germanization. In 1667 the Prince of Brandenburg- Frederick Wilhelm ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the Evangelical Church supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting with Counterreformation. In 1706 Sorbian Seminary, the main quarter of educating Sorbian Catholic priests, was founded in Prague. Evangelical students of theology formed Sorbian College of Ministers.


A recent paper on molecular genetics reports a very high 63% frequency of paternally inherited [[haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA)|R1a1]] Y-chromosome marker in the Sorb population<ref>Behar et al., 2003, [http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/Levite%20paper.pdf Multiple Origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y Chromosome Evidence for Both Near Eastern and European Ancestries], ''Am. J. Hum. Genet.'', '''73''', 768-779, 2003</ref>, linking them genetically to other Slavic nations of similar haplotype distribution.
Congress of Vienna in 1815 gave part of Upper Lusatia to Saxony, but most of Lusatia to Prussia. More and more bans limiting the use of Sorbian languages appeared until 1835 in Saxony and Prussia; emigration of the Sorbs mainly to Texas (to place called Serbin) and Australia increased. In 1848, 5000 Sorbs signed the petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality of the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From 1871 the whole territory/terrain of Lusatia became a part of united Germany and was divided into three parts: Silesia, Prussia and Saxony.


==Sorbian communities overseas==
From 1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Although Weimar Republic guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice it.
During the mid 19th century many Protestant Sorbs emigrated to [[Texas]] and [[Australia]]. The town of [[Serbin, Texas|Serbin]] in [[Lee County, Texas]] was founded by these Sorbian immigrants. There they established a church of the [[Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod]]. Most of these Sorbian immigrants spread throughout central Texas and were subsequently assimilated into the German culture of the region. Ironically, the fear of assimilation into German culture and language is exactly why they left the old world. However, cultural identity remained important to some families and has led to the establishment of the [http://wendish.concordia.edu/ Texas Wendish Heritage Society] which since 1988 has hosted "Wendish Fest" in Serbin on the last Sunday in September. Wendish Fest activities include traditional Sorbian cultural pastimes such as [[egg painting]], [[dancing]], [[sausage]]-cooking, [[noodle]]-cooking, and [[beer]] drinking.


In [[Australia]], communities sprang up around the South Australian town of [[Kapunda, South Australia|Kapunda]] (such as [[Peters Hill, South Australia|Peters Hill]]), and in the [[Barossa Valley]] region, as well as small areas of south-western [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. Like their counterparts in Texas, they were seen by the [[Anglo-Celtic]] population as another group of German immigrants, and eventually because of their small numbers, assimilated into that larger cultural group.
The Third Reich spread ruthless terror against the Sorbs. Heinrich Himmler devised a plan to displace the Slovians from Lusatia to Poland. The Nazi Government in Germany caused the Serbian nation heavy casualties. It has been estimated that between 1933-1945 about 20,000 Lusatians were killed. Furthermore, the fascist propaganda stated that the Serbians were a German tribe and their national poet Handrij Zejler was German as well. Young Serbians were forcedly enrolled in the Wehrmacht and sent to the front. Many young Serbian activists were sent to concentration camps. For instance, father Jan Čyž was a prisoner in Dachau, publicist Marja Grólmusec was killed in Ravensbrűck and Alojs Andricki was murdered with an injection of phenol. Entangled lives of the Lusatians during World War II are exemplified by life story of Mina Witkojc, Mĕrčin Nowa-Njechorński or Jan Skala.


N.B.: While the old German-derived labels “Wend” and “Wendish,” which once denoted “Slav(ic)” generally, have been retained in American and Australian communities, they ought not be used in place of “Sorb” and “Sorbian” with reference to Sorbian communities in Germany, because many consider them offensive these days.
First Sorbian cities were liberated on 19th 1945, when the Red Army with the Peoples’ Army of Poland (the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces) after crossing the Lusatian Neisse occupied cities: Mužakow, Běła Woda, and a day later, on April 20th, cities: Niesky (Sorbian: Niska), Spremberg (Sorbian: Grodk), Hoyerswerda (Sorbian: Wojerecy) and on April 21st –Bautzen and Kamenz (Sorbian: Kamjenc). Defeating the Nazists only seemingly changed the Lusatians’ situation: it was only officially supported by East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) but in fact Lusatia underwent Germanization. Thus, in the post-war period, the number of people speaking Lusatian languages decreased by half. Recently, as a result of escalating emigration to western union countries, Lusatia faces complete Germanization. Sorbian Slovians caused the communistic government of the GDR (the German Democratic Republic) plenty of trouble, mainly because of the high levels of religiousness and resistance to the nationalizing of agriculture. During the campaign of compulsory collectivization, a great deal of unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, in the summer of 1953 in Lusatia, violent clashes with militia were reported.
An open uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot. Only with the help of populist militia did the propagandists of the German Government escape safely from Lusatian countries.


==Culture==
After another unification of Germany, on October 3rd 1990, Lusatians made efforts for creating an autonomous administrative unit, however Helmut Kohl’s government did not agree to it. After 1989 the Lusatian movement revived, however it still does encounter many obstacles. Although Germany supports national minorities, Lusatians’ aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled. Postulates of uniting Lusatia into one country were not taken into consideration. Upper Lusatia still belongs to Saxony and Lower Lusatia- to Brandenburg. Liquidations of Lusatian schools even on the area mostly populated by Lusatians still happen, under the pretence of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create quarries of lignite.
The Sorbs are very well known for their Easter traditions:
* artistically [[Pisanka|painted Easter eggs]]
* Osterreiten (riding tradition during Easter) - [[Radibor]] and [[Bautzen]] are well-known


== Toponyms ==
[[Image:Bautzen Volkstheater.jpg|Budyšin: Němsko-Serbske ludowe dźiwadło <br>Bautzen: German-Lusatian folk theatre |thumb|315px]]
[[Image:Cottbus zweisprachige Strassenbezeichnung zugeschnitten.jpg|thumb|Road sign in German and Sorbian.]]
A number of [[toponym]]s in Eastern Germany are of Slavic origin, and some well-known cities in south-eastern Germany have names derived from the Sorbs, witnessing Sorbian ancestry in these territories (eg. [[Leipzig]], [[Bautzen]]). Place names in Lusatia ending with -au or -ow (-owe-ouwe) may be of Sorbian etymology as well (see also [[German placename etymology]]). Most of Eastern Germany in fact was inhabited by Slavs in the early [[Middle Ages]]. As these lands were reorganized by German administration during the [[Ostsiedlung]], in many cases the Slavic toponyms were adopted in a Germanized form and have been in use ever since with only slight changes.


=== Examples ===
* [[Zerbst]]
* [[Zörbig]]
* [[Schrenz]] (near Zörbig)


Many cities in German Lusatia have city signs with both German and the Sorbian names.
== Language and culture ==


==See also==

[[Image:Briefmarken Sorbische Volksbräuche.jpg|thumb|Tradition on stamps]]
The oldest known relic of Lusatian literature originated in about 1530 - Bautzen townsmen’ oath (Polish: Przysięga mieszczan budziszyńskich). In 1548 Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Lusatia vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of the New Testament into Lower Lusatian.

In 1574 the first Lusatian book was printed: Albin Mollers’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Kawštyn Swětlik translated the Bible for Catholic Lusatians. In 1706-1709 the New Testament was printed in the Upper Lusatian translation was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Lusatian- by Jan Bogumił Fabricius.

In 1709 for the short period of time, there was the first printed Lusatian newspaper. In 1767 Jurij Mjeń publishes the first secular Lusatian book. Between 1841 and 1843, Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt published two-volume collection of Wendish folk-songs in Upper and Lower Lusatia.

From 1842, the first Lusatian publishing companies started to appear: the poet Handrij Zejler sets up a weekly magazine, the precursor of today’s Serbian Nows. In 1845 in Bautzen the first festival of Lusatian songs took place. In 1848 the educational and cultural company the Serbian Fatherland was started.

[[Image:Briefmarken Sorbische Volksbräuche.jpg|thumb|Stamps from the GDR period]]

In 1875, Jakub Bart-Čišinski- the poet and classicist of Upper Lusatian literature and Karol Arnošt Muka create a movement of young Sebians influencing Lustian art, science and literature for the following 50 years.
Similar movement in Lower Lusatia was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyka and Bogumił Šwjela.

In 1904, mainly thanks to the Lusatians’ contribution, the most important Lusatian cultural centre (the Serbian House) was built in Bautzen. In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the Domowina institution - the union of Lusatian organizations. In 1919 it had 180,000 members. In 1920 the Lusatian- Jan Skala set up a Lusatian party and in 1925 in Berlin, Skala started Kulturwille- the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany. I 1920 the Sokol Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933 the Nazi party started to repress the Lusatians. At that time the Nazi also dissolved the Sokol Movement and began to combat every sign of Serbian culture. In 1937 activities of the Domowina institution and other organizations were banned as anti-national. Lusatian clergymen and teachers were forcedly deported from Lusatia; The Third Reich confiscated the Serbian House other buildings and crops.

On May 10th, in Crostwitz, After The Red Army’s invasion, the Domowina institution renews its activity. In 1948 Landtag of Saxony passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1959 Brandenburg resolved a similar law. In the times of the GDR, Lusatian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouraged Germanization of Lusatian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of “building Socialism”. Serbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted Socialistic ideology.

After 1989, the Lusatian Movement was revived, but it consistently encounters some obstacles. Although Germany supports national minorities, the Lusatians’ ambitions are not sufficiently fulfilled. However, some progress might be observed, especially in Lower Lusatia: in 1990 in Cottbus the Lusatian House was founded, in 1994- Lower Lusatian Museum was opened and cultural activity increased. The amount of people using Lusatian languages consistently decreases; it can be most observed in Upper Lusatia due to emigration of the youth.

For over 1000 years the Lusatians were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite of escalating Germanization, mainly due to the high level of religiousness, cultivating their tradition and strong families (until now a typical Serbian Lusatian family consisted of 5 up to 12 children).

In the middle of the 20th century, the revival of the Central European nations included the Lusatians, who became strong enough to twice attempt to regain their independence. After World War II, they claimed the right to self-govern and separate from Germany and create a Lusatian Free State or be attached to Czechoslovakia. After World War II, the Lusatians’ aspirations for independence were represented by the Lusatian National Committee and also by Prague Lusatian National Committee on January 27th 1946. Claims asserted by Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Between 1945 – 1947 they postulated about ten memorials to UN, the USA, USSR, Great Britain, France, Poland and Czechoslovakia, however, it did not bring any results. On April 30th 1946, the Lusatian National Committee also postulated a proper petition to the Polish Government, signed by Paweł Cyż – the minister and an official Lusatian 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 were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica.

[[Image:Cottbus zweisprachige Strassenbezeichnung zugeschnitten.jpg|thumb|Bilingual names of streets in [[Cottbus]]|300px]].

Similarly, in Czechoslovakia, where before the Potsdam Conference in Prague, 300.000 people manifested for the independence of Lusatia. The endeavours to separate Lusatia from Germany did not succeed because of the individual and geopolitical interests. After 1918, David Lloyd George did not intend to impoverish Germany and Stalin, after the World War II, desired to conquer the whole of Germany.

The statistics might prove the progression of Germanization among Lusatians: by the end of the19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Lusatian languages. In 1920 almost all Lusatians mastered Lusatian and German at the same degree. The last Lusatian who very slightly knew German died in Műschen village in 1954. Nowadays, in 2004, the number of people using Lusatian languages has been estimated to no more than 50,000.


== Regions of Lusatia ==


There are 3 main regions of Lusatia that differ in the language, religion and customs

=== Region of Catholic Lusatia ===


[[Image:Flagaluzycgornych.png|thumb|right|The flag of Upper Lusatia]]
Catholic Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of Bautzen, Kamenz and Hoyerswerda (it is the only catholic region in former East Germany). This is where the Upper Lusatian Language, customs and tradition are still being cultivated. In some of the places (e.g. Radibor/ Radwor, Croswitz/Chrósćicy, and Rosenthal/Róžant) Lusatians are the majority of the population, basically only in this region one can still hear children speaking Lusatian.

On Sundays, during holydays and weddings people wear women’s (and men’s) regional costumes (children and young people wear it as well) rich in decoration, embroidery and encrusted with pearls.

There are many traditions cultivated, such as: Bird Wedding (25th of January), Eastern Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30th April), Maik, singing on Saint Martin’s Day (Nicolay), celebration of Saint Barbara’s Day and Nicolas’ Day.


=== Region of Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy) and Schleife (Slepo) ===

In this region (the area from Hoyerswerda to Schleife) the dialect with characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Lusatian is still in use. This is a protestant region, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated and to a great extend Germanized (Lusatian is only used by few people over 60 years old).

The region can be distinguished by many Slavic wooden architecture monuments (churches, houses), regional costumes’ diversity (mainly worn by older women) with white knitted and black cross-like embroidery and the tradition of playing bagpipes.
In several villages residents cultivate traditions such as: expelling of winter, Maik, Easter and Great Friday singing, celebrating dźěćetko (disguised child or young girl giving Christmas presents)



=== Region of Lower Lusatia ===
[[Image:Flagaluzycdolnych.png|thumb|right|The Flag of Lower Lusatia]]
There are 60 towns from the area of Cottbus belonging to this region, where only some of the older people (over 60) can speak the Lower Lusatian language with many borrowings from the German language (when talking to young people, they always use German). This is a protestant region, again highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry. The biggest tourist attraction of the region (and in the whole Lusatia) are the marshlands, with many Spreewald/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of the Spree.

Regional costumes are colourful and characteristic (worn mainly by older but on holydays by young woman as well). A big, rich in golden embroidering headscarf lapa is a part of regional costume that differs in every village.

In some villages following traditions are cultivated: Shrovetide, Maik Easter bonfires, Roosters catching/hunting. In Jänschwalde (Sorbian: Janšojcach) so called Janšojki bog (disguised young girl) gives Christmas presents.


=== Lusatian anthem ===
{{Main|Lusatian anthem}}
==== in Lower Lusatian ====
<pre>
Rědna Łužyca

Rědna Łužyca,
spšawna, pśijazna,
mojich serbskich woścow kraj,
mojich glucnych myslow raj,
swěte su mě twoje strony.

Cas ty pśichodny,
zakwiś radostny!
Och, gab muže stanuli,
za swoj narod źěłali,
godne nimjer wobspomnjeśa!
</pre>

==== in Upper Lusatian ====
<pre>
Rjana Łužica

Rjana Łužica,
sprawna přećelna,
mojich serbskich wótcow kraj,
mojich zbóžnych sonow raj,
swjate su mi twoje hona!

Časo přichodny,
zakćěj radostny!
Ow, zo bychu z twojeho
klina wušli mužojo,
hódni wěčnoh wopomnjeća!
</pre>


== Lusatia and Poland ==

Relations between Lusatia and Poland are as old as their neighborhood. One of the pioneers of the cooperation between the two countries was Polish historian Wilhelm Bogusławski who lived in the 19th century and wrote the first book on Polish- Lusatian history Rys dziejów serbołużyckich (Polish title), it was published in Saint Petersburg in 1861. The book was expanded and published again in cooperation with Michał Hórnik in 1884 in Bautzen, under a new title Historije serbskeho naroda. Alfons Parczewski was another friend of Sorbs, who from 1875 was involved in Lusatian rights protection, participating in Lusatian meetings in Bautzen. It was thanks to him, among others, that Józef Ignacy Kraszewski founded a scholarship for Lusatian students. An association of friends of the Lusatian Nation was established at the University of Warsaw in 1936 (Polish full name: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Serbo-Łużyckiego). It gathered people not only from the university. Its president was Professor Stanisław Słoński, and the deputy president was Julia Wieleżyńska. The association was a legal entity. There were 3 individual organizations devoted to Lusatian matters. Prołuż founded in Krotoszyn, expanded to all Poland (3000 members). It was biggest noncommunist organization that dealt with foreign affairs. This youth organization was created during the soviet occupation and its motto was “Polish guard over the Lusatia” (pl. Nad Łużycami polska straż). Its highest activity was in Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska, a district of western Poland).
After the creation of West Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.



== Interesting facts ==

Martin Luther felt disdain (this was common for all Germans at that time) for Lusatian Sorbs and referred to them in his Tischreden as “worst of all nations” (gr. die schlechste aller Nationen). This opinion was not shared by his closest partner Filip Melanchton, whose son-in-law was a Sorb and knew Upper Lusatian.

The union of Polish People in Germany was an initiation of the creation of the National Minorities’ Union that represented formal affairs of Sorbian and Polish citizens and worked until 1939.

Pope John Paul II twice a year while giving a blessing to the whole world, declared it in the Upper Lusatian language as well, as did Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. In 1975 cardinal Wojtyła visited Lusatia. He prayed then in front of the monument to soldiers of The Polish second Army that died in 1945 in the battle near Crostwitz. It was a battle during which the biggest number of Polish soldiers died in the World War II – around 25,000 people. Only the Warsaw uprising took more Polish lives.

Children born German go to Sorbian kindergarten in Sielow.

== Bibliography ==
* Filip Gańczak ''Mniejszość 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.
* Mirosław Cygański, Rafał Leszczyński ''Zarys dziejów narodowościowych Łużyczan'' PIN, Instytut Śląski, Opole 1997.
* ''Die Sorben in Deutschland'', pod red. M.Schiemann, Stiftung für das sorbische Volk, Görlitz 1997.
* ''Mały informator o Serbołużyczanach w Niemczech'', pod red. J.Pětrowej, Załožba za serbski lud, 1997.
* ''Dolnoserbske nałogi/Obyczaje Dolnych Łużyc'', pod red. M.Stock, Załožba za serbski lud, 1997.
* "Rys dziejów serbołużyckich" Wilhelm Bogusławski Piotrogród 1861

== See also ==
{{Wikiquote|Sorbian proverbs}}
* [[List of Sorbs]]
* [[List of Sorbs]]
* [[Lusatia]]
* [[Lusatia]]
Line 206: Line 86:
* [[Milceni]]
* [[Milceni]]


==References==
{{reflist}}

==Literature==
* Gerald Stone: "Smallest Slavonic Nation: Sorbs of Lusatia", 1972, ISBN 0-485-11129-2


== External links ==
==External links==
* [http://www.sorben-wenden.de/ Sorbian Portal]
* [http://www.sorben.com/ski/ Sorbian Cultural Information] (also [http://www.sorben.com/ski/site/docs/english/index.htm in English])
* [http://www.internecy.de/ Sorbian Cybervillage]
* [http://www.domowina.sorben.com/index.htm Domowina], Sorbian [[umbrella organization]]
* [http://www.sorben.com/ski/ Sorbian Cultural Information]
* [http://www.sorben-wenden.de/ Sorbian internet portal]
* [http://www.nsg-cottbus.de Lower Sorbian Highschool] (also [http://www.nsg-cottbus.de/?lang=en in English])
* [http://www.domowina.sorben.com/index.htm The Domowina Institution]
* [http://www.wendisches-museum.de/index.htm Sorbian Museum in Cottbus]
* [http://www.wendische-volkspartei.de/ Wendische Volkspartei - Wendish People's Party]
* [http://www.serbske-nowiny.de/ SERBSKE NOWINY - Sorbian Newspaper]
* [http://wendish.concordia.edu/ Texas Wendish Heritage Society]
* [http://www.internecy.de/ Internecy - serbska cyberwjeska]
* [http://wendishheritage.org.au Australian Wends]
* [http://terkepek.adatbank.transindex.ro/kepek/netre/85.gif Map]
* [http://www.serbski-institut.de/ SERBSKI INSTYTUT - Sorbian history and culture]
* [http://www.slawenburg-raddusch.de/burg.html Raddusch - restored Sorbian castle from 1000 ago]
* [http://www.wendische-volkspartei.de/ Sorbian Party in Germany]
* [http://www.wudwor.de/ WUDWOR - Sorbian Folk Music and Dance Troupe]
* [http://www.runjewonline.info/ - independent Sorbian internet magazine]
* [http://hsb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hłowna_strona Wikipedia in Upper Lusatian] (hsb)
* [http://wendishheritage.org.au/ Sorbian emigration into Australia]


[[Category:Ethnic groups in Germany]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Germany]]

Revision as of 23:20, 20 January 2008

For other uses, see Sorbs (disambiguation).
Sorbs
Serby
Regions with significant populations
 Germany60,000
 Poland15,000 est.
 Czech Republic3,500 est.
 United States32,000 est.
 Australia1,500 est.
Languages
Sorbian, German
Religion
Lutheranism, Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Slavs, especially West Slavs.

The Sorbs (German Sorben' Upper Sorbian: Serbja, Lower Sorbian: Serby) are a Slavic minority living in eastern Germany,[1] indigenous to the region known as Lusatia in the current German states of Saxony and Brandenburg (in former GDR territory). They are or were also known as Lusatians (Lusitzi, Lausitzi, or Lusici), Wends, “Lusatian Serbs” or “Serbs of Luzice (Upper Sorbian: Łužica, Lower Sorbian: Łužyca).”

Demographic

Small region where the Sorbs still live in Germany, the area that used to be much larger in the past

Since ethnicity is not a legal category in Germany for German citizens, their number can only be guessed. The constitutions of both Brandenburg and Saxony explicitly declare any inquiry about ethnicity unconstitutional and illegal. But every citizen is free to view himself/herself as a Sorb and thus choose his/her ethnic identity, which must not be testified or examined by any state authority. Current estimates speak of 10,000 to 30,000 active speakers of Sorbian (almost all of them are bilingual) and about 60,000 people who subjectively consider themselves Sorbs.

History

National costume of Lusatian Sorbs as traditionally worn in the northern part of Lusatia

Historically, the Sorbs are the last remainder of the Polabian Slavic peoples living in most of what is now eastern Germany until the high Middle Ages. Their ancestors are the Milceni and Lusatians, not the Sorbs that were a tribe between Elbe and Saale, but in the 18th century they started to call themselves Sorbs.

The Sorbs arrived in the area now known as Lusatia during the 5th century A.D. In the years since then, the Sorbs have often fallen under foreign rule. While they have predominantly been under German control, they were under Polish occupation in the 11th century and under Bohemian rule from the mid-14th century until the Peace of Prague (1635). Most Slavs in the area were Germanised or driven away during the German Ostsiedlung of the 12th and 13th centuries.

At the end of the 19th century there were 150,000 Sorbian speakers in Lusatia, the majority of whom were monolingual. However, the Sorbs were quickly becoming Germanized on a mass-level, a phenomenon spurred on by industrialization. By the 1920s the majority of Sorbian speakers were bilingual.

The Sorbs were the victims of forced Germanization from 1933 to 1945, viewed by the Nazis as Sorbian-speaking Germans, rather than ethnic Slavs. With this distinction, the Nazis aimed to “re-Germanize” the Sorbs, a process which involved removing Sorbian from street signs and Germanizing Sorbian names in official documents. The Nazis also sought to eliminate the Slavic tendencies of the Sorbs by banning the Domowina in 1937 and banning the last remaining Sorbian-language newspaper, the Catholic paper Katolski Posol, in 1939. Sorbian teachers and priests were deported from the Reich, and those explicitly labeled as “Sorbian nationalists” were sent to concentration camps.

After World War II

Following the end of the war, about five million Germans remaining in Silesia and the Sudetenland (out of a prewar total of about eight million) were expelled. Many of these people moved to Lusatia, where they were confronted with a Germany with clear Slavic colorings. The confusion of this ethnic and linguistic mix increased Sorbian-German tensions in the area. Even before this influx of Bohemian Germans, as a result of industrialization and Germanization, by the 1940s Sorbs were a minority in Lusatia. Their numbers were greatest in the sparsely populated rural areas, where Sorbian speakers made up between 35% and 40% of the population or even more. The percentage in the citys and in the industrialised Lusatian Mountains was far lower.

However, despite their minority status, in 1945 the Sorbs, driven by their experiences with Nazi oppression, sought to be recognized as an independent state and asked for Czechoslovak protection. The Lusatian Sorb National Council in Prague was the main force behind this movement, succeeding in convincing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague to forward memoranda to Moscow, urging Czechoslovak military occupation of Lusatia.

The Sorbs received no response to their petition; Sorbian independence did not align with Soviet socialist policy. The Soviets were also unwilling to cede Lusatia due to practical territorial concerns. Unluckily for the Sorbs, politics demanded that the Czechs choose the Soviets over their Slav sympathies in this period directly following World War II. While the Czechs were drawn to the Sorb cause, relating especially to the fate of a Slav minority persecuted by German occupiers, their allegiance lay with the Soviets. When Moscow declared that they would not aid the Sorb cause, the Czechs too withdrew their support. This ended any hope the Sorbs had for an independent Lusatia. [2]

Although they failed to receive Soviet support for an independent Sorbian state, the Sorbs were able to receive some gains in the postwar period. In 1945 the Domowina was re-licensed by the Soviets, followed in 1947 by the licensing of a Sorbian printing press. In 1948 the Sorbian grammar school opened in Bautzen.

In the GDR the Sorbs were regaining identity. Erich Honecker discovered the people as a medium to praise their politics of minorities in the socialist country. Under GDR governance, Sorbic schools, publishers, theaters and many other cultural institutes were founded. An institute for Sorbic culture studies was founded in 1951 at the German Academy of Sciences Berlin as well as an institute for Sorbian studies[3] at the University of Leipzig.[4] In 1956, there were open protests against the massive industrialisation campaign in Lusatia, although these campaigns did not only affect the Sorbs or that region. On November 11, 1989, at the downfall of the socialist government, the Sorb National Assembly gathered, demanding the GDR authorities to establish a dialogue with the Sorbs and decisive changes in the state-run 'Domowina'. In 1991, 'Domowina' emerged as an independent organisation and Sorb People Foundation (Załožba za serbski lud) was established. [5]

In the Federal Republic

After the reunification, Sorb minority rights were initially not incorporated within the laws of Brandenburg and Saxony. It was not until after some years that Sorbs were recognized as a cultural entity.

In today's Germany, they have certain minority rights, for example: the right to send their children to Sorbian-language schools, the right to use Sorbian in dealings with the local government and the right to bilingual road signs. Since 2005, the Sorbs have their own political party, the Wendische Volkspartei.

A recent paper on molecular genetics reports a very high 63% frequency of paternally inherited R1a1 Y-chromosome marker in the Sorb population[6], linking them genetically to other Slavic nations of similar haplotype distribution.

Sorbian communities overseas

During the mid 19th century many Protestant Sorbs emigrated to Texas and Australia. The town of Serbin in Lee County, Texas was founded by these Sorbian immigrants. There they established a church of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Most of these Sorbian immigrants spread throughout central Texas and were subsequently assimilated into the German culture of the region. Ironically, the fear of assimilation into German culture and language is exactly why they left the old world. However, cultural identity remained important to some families and has led to the establishment of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society which since 1988 has hosted "Wendish Fest" in Serbin on the last Sunday in September. Wendish Fest activities include traditional Sorbian cultural pastimes such as egg painting, dancing, sausage-cooking, noodle-cooking, and beer drinking.

In Australia, communities sprang up around the South Australian town of Kapunda (such as Peters Hill), and in the Barossa Valley region, as well as small areas of south-western Victoria. Like their counterparts in Texas, they were seen by the Anglo-Celtic population as another group of German immigrants, and eventually because of their small numbers, assimilated into that larger cultural group.

N.B.: While the old German-derived labels “Wend” and “Wendish,” which once denoted “Slav(ic)” generally, have been retained in American and Australian communities, they ought not be used in place of “Sorb” and “Sorbian” with reference to Sorbian communities in Germany, because many consider them offensive these days.

Culture

The Sorbs are very well known for their Easter traditions:

Toponyms

Road sign in German and Sorbian.

A number of toponyms in Eastern Germany are of Slavic origin, and some well-known cities in south-eastern Germany have names derived from the Sorbs, witnessing Sorbian ancestry in these territories (eg. Leipzig, Bautzen). Place names in Lusatia ending with -au or -ow (-owe-ouwe) may be of Sorbian etymology as well (see also German placename etymology). Most of Eastern Germany in fact was inhabited by Slavs in the early Middle Ages. As these lands were reorganized by German administration during the Ostsiedlung, in many cases the Slavic toponyms were adopted in a Germanized form and have been in use ever since with only slight changes.

Examples

Many cities in German Lusatia have city signs with both German and the Sorbian names.

See also

Tradition on stamps

References

  1. ^ The Sorbs at Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ Karel Kaplan: "The Short March: The Communist Takeover in Czechoslovakia 1945-1948", 1987, ISBN 0-312-72209-5, p. 24-25. See also extract on [1].
  3. ^ University of Leipzig:Institute for Sorbian Studies
  4. ^ Template:De icon Der Spiegel: Von Dänen lernen heißt siegen lernen
  5. ^ Andrus Mölder Łužyca/Łužica ---- Horisont 2001-5, lk 48-49
  6. ^ Behar et al., 2003, Multiple Origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y Chromosome Evidence for Both Near Eastern and European Ancestries, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 73, 768-779, 2003

Literature

  • Gerald Stone: "Smallest Slavonic Nation: Sorbs of Lusatia", 1972, ISBN 0-485-11129-2

External links

Template:Link FA

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