Sorbs

Sorbs (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs traditionally speak the Sorbian languages (also known as "Wendish" and "Lusatian"), which are closely related to Czech and Lechitic languages. Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian are officially recognized minority languages in Germany.

In the Early Middle Ages, the Sorbs formed their own principality, which later shortly became part of the early West Slavic Samo's Empire and Great Moravia, as were ultimately conquered by the East Francia ( Sorbian March) and Holy Roman Empire ( Saxon Eastern March, Margravate of Meissen, March of Lusatia). From the High Middle Ages, they were ruled at various times by the closely related Poles and Czechs, as well as the more distant Germans and Hungarians. Due to a gradual and increasing assimilation between the 17^th and 20^th centuries, virtually all Sorbs also spoke German by the early 20^th century. In the newly created German nation state of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, policies were implemented in an effort to Germanize the Sorbs. These policies reached their climax under the Nazi regime, who denied the existence of the Sorbs as a distinct Slavic people by referring to them as "Sorbian-speaking Germans". The community is divided religiously between Roman Catholicism (the majority) and Lutheranism. The former Minister President of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich is of Sorbian origin.

Etymology

The ethnonym "Sorbs" (''Serbja'', ''Serby'') derives from the medieval ethnic groups called "Sorbs" (''Surbi'', ''Sorabi''). The original ethnonym, ''Srbi'', was retained by the Sorbs and Serbs in the Balkans. By the 6^th century, Slavs occupied the area west of the Oder formerly inhabited by Germanic peoples. The Sorbs are first mentioned in the 6^th or 7^th century. In their languages, the other Slavs call them the "Lusatian Serbs", and the Sorbs call the Serbs "the south Sorbs". The name "Lusatia" was originally applied only to Lower Lusatia. It is generally considered that their ethnonym ''*Sŕbъ'' (plur. ''*Sŕby'') originates from Proto-Slavic with an appellative meaning of a "family kinship" and "alliance", however others argue a derivation from Iranian-Sarmatian.

History

Early Middle Ages

The name of the Sorbs can be traced to the 6th century or earlier when Vibius Sequester recorded ''Cervetiis'' living on the other part of the river Elbe which divided them from the Suevi (''Albis Germaniae Suevos a Cerveciis dividiit''). According to Lubor Niederle, the Serbian district was located somewhere between Magdeburg and Lusatia, and was later mentioned by the Ottonians as ''Ciervisti'', ''Zerbisti'' and ''Kirvisti''. The information is in accordance with the Frankish 7^th-century '' Chronicle of Fredegar'' according to which the ''Surbi'' lived in the Saale-Elbe valley, having settled in the Thuringian part of Francia since the second half of the 6^th century or beginning of the 7^th century and were vassals of the Merovingian dynasty.

The Saale-Elbe line marked the approximate limit of Slavic westward migration. Under the leadership of ''dux'' (duke) Dervan ("Dervanus dux gente Surbiorum que ex genere Sclavinorum"), they joined the Slavic tribal union of Samo, after Samo's decisive victory against Frankish King Dagobert I in 631. Afterwards, these Slavic tribes continuously raided Thuringia. 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.

According to a 10^th-century source , they lived "since the beginning" in the region called by them as '' Boiki'' which was a neighbor to Francia, and when two brothers succeeded their father, one of them migrated with half of the people to the Balkans during the rule of Heraclius in the first half of the 7^th century. According to some scholars, the unnamed 7^th-century Serbian ruler who led the White Serbs to the Balkans was most likely a son, brother or other relative of Dervan.

Sorbian tribes, Sorbi/Surbi, are noted in the mid-9^th-century work of the Bavarian Geographer. Having settled by the Elbe, Saale, Spree, and Neisse in the 6^th and early 7^th 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. Some scholars consider that the contemporary Sorbs are descendants of the two largest Sorbian tribes, the Milceni (Upper) and (Lower), and these tribes' respective dialects have developed into separate languages. However, others emphasize differences between these two dialects and that their respective territories correspond to two different Slavic archeological cultures of Leipzig group ( Upper Sorbian language) and Tornow group ceramics (Lower Sorbian language), both a derivation of Prague(-Korchak) culture.

The ''Annales Regni Francorum'' state that in 806, Sorbian Duke Miliduch fought against the Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian Duke Czimislav was killed. From the 9^th century was organized Sorbian March by the East Francia and from the 10^th century the Saxon Eastern March ( Margravate of Meissen) and March of Lusatia by the Holy Roman Empire. In 932, the German king Henry I conquered Lusatia and Milsko. Gero, Margrave of the Saxon Eastern March, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, murdered 30 Sorbian princes during a feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule. A reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period.

High and Late Middle Ages

In 1002, the Sorbs came under the rule of their Slavic relatives, the Poles, when Bolesław I of Poland took over Lusatia. Following the subsequent German–Polish War of 1003–1018, the Peace 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 their Duchy 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.

The Kingdom of Bohemia eventually became a politically influential member of the Holy Roman Empire, but was in a constant power-struggle with neighbouring Poland. In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia passed to Piast-ruled fragmented Poland. In the German-ruled parts, Sorbs were ousted from guilds, the Sorbian language was banned and German colonisation and Germanisation policies were enacted.

From the 11^th to the 15^th 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 of Altenburg, Zwickau and Leipzig 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.

Early modern period

From 1376 to 1469 and from 1490 to 1635 Lusatia was part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown under the rule of the houses of Luxembourg, Jagiellon and Habsburg and other kings, whereas from 1469 to 1490 it was ruled by King Matthias 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. From the beginning of the 16^th century the whole Sorbian-inhabited area, with the exception of Bohemian-ruled Lusatia, underwent Germanization.

During the Thirty Years' War, in 1635, Lusatia became a fiefdom of Saxon electors, but it retained a considerable autonomy and largely its own legal system (see Lusatian League). The Thirty Years' War and the plague of the 17^th century caused terrible devastation in Lusatia. This led to further German colonization and Germanization.

In 1667 the Prince of Brandenburg, Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time, the Evangelical Church supported printing Sorbian religious literature, as a means of fighting the Counterreformation. With the formation of the Polish-Saxon union in 1697, Polish-Sorbian contacts resumed, and Poles influenced the Sorbs' national and cultural activities (see ''Relationship with Poland'' below). With the Age of Enlightenment, the Sorbian national revival began and resistance to Germanization emerged. In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of Sorbian Catholic priests, was founded in Prague. Sorbian preaching societies were founded by Evangelical students in Leipzig and Wittenberg in 1716 and 1749, respectively.

Late modern period

The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, divided Lusatia between Prussia and Saxony. More and more bans on the use of Sorbian languages appeared from then until 1835 in Prussia and Saxony; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town of Serbin in Texas 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 and Brandenburg), and Saxony.

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 19^th 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 19^th century.

During World War I, one of the most venerated Serbian generals was Pavle Jurišić Šturm (Paul Sturm), a Sorb from Görlitz, Province of Silesia.

Interbellum and World War II

Although the Weimar Republic guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them.

Under Nazi 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 the Wehrmacht and were sent to the front. The entangled lives of the Sorbs during World War II are exemplified by the life stories of Mina Witkojc, and Jan Skala.

Persecution of the Sorbs reached its climax under the Nazis, who attempted to completely assimilate and Germanize 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, 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. The Sorbian national anthem and flag were banned. The specific ''Wendenabteilung'' was established to monitor the assimilation of the Sorbs.

Towards the end of World War II, the Nazis considered the deportation of the entire Sorbian population to the mining districts of Alsace-Lorraine.

East Germany

The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when the Red Army and the Polish Second Army crossed the river Queis (Kwisa). The defeat of Nazi Germany changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably. The regions in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced heavy industrialisation and a large influx of expelled Germans. The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded, the Domowina and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the 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.

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 the Uprising 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.

Sorbs experienced greater representation in the German Democratic Republic than under any other German government. Domowina had status as a constituent member organization of the National Front, and a number of Sorbs were members of the Volkskammer and State Council of East Germany. Notable Sorbian figures of the period include Domowina Chairmen Jurij Grós and Kurt Krjeńc, State Council member Maria Schneider, and writer and three-time recipient of the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic Jurij Brězan.

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. Additionally, there was a seat reserved for a Sorbian representative in the Central Council of the Free German Youth, the mass organization for young people in East Germany, and magazines for both the FDJ and the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation were published in the Sorbian language on a regular basis under the titles ''Chorhoj Měra'' and ''Plomjo'', respectively. 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.

After reunification

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. After 1989, the Sorbian movement revived, however, it still encounters many obstacles. Although Germany supports national minorities, Sorbs claim that their aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled. The desire to unite Lusatia in one of the federal states has not been taken into consideration. Upper Lusatia still belongs to Saxony and Lower Lusatia to Brandenburg. Liquidations of Sorbian schools, even in areas mostly populated by Sorbs, still happen, under the pretext of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create lignite quarries.

Faced with growing threat of cultural extinction, the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008 and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the Länder to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the European Union.

Dawid Statnik, president of Domowina, the umbrella association of Sorbs in Germany, said in an interview with Tagesspiegel 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 the AfD enters the governments of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony in the autumn elections.

Population genetics

According to 2013 and 2015 studies, the most common Y-DNA haplogroup among the Sorbs who speak Upper Sorbian in Lusatia (n=123) is R1a with 65%, mainly its R-M458 subclade (57%). It is followed in frequency by I1 (9.8%), R1b (9.8%), E1b1b (4.9%), I2 (4.1%), J (3.3%) and G (2.4%). Other haplogroups are less than 1%. A study from 2003 reported a similar frequency of 63.4% of haplogroup R1a among Sorbian males (n=112). Other studies that covered aspects of Sorbian Y-DNA include Immel et al. 2006, Rodig et al. 2007, and Krawczak et al. 2008. 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 and '' Germania Slavica'' area as well.

A 2011 paper on the Sorbs' autosomal DNA reported that the Upper Sorbian speakers (n=289) showed the greatest autosomal genetic similarity to Poles, followed by Czechs and Slovaks, consistent with the linguistic proximity of Sorbian to other West Slavic languages. 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. In a 2016 paper, Sorbs cluster autosomally again with Poles (from Poznań).

Language and culture

The oldest known relic of Sorbian literature originated in about 1530 – the Bautzen townsmen's oath. In 1548, Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of the New Testament into Lower Sorbian. In 1574 the first Sorbian book was printed: Albin Mollers’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik translated the Bible for Catholic Sorbs. From 1706 to 1709, the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian by Jan Bogumił Fabricius (1681–1741). Jan Bjedrich Fryco (a.k.a. Johann Friedrich Fritze) 747–1819 translated the Old Testament for the first time into Lower Sorbian, published in 1790.

Other Sorbian Bible translators include Jakub Buk (1825–1895), Michał Hórnik (Michael Hornig) 833–1894 Jurij Łušćanski (a.k.a. Georg Wuschanski) 839–1905 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 in Bautzen, the first festival of Sorbian songs took place. In 1875, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, the poet and classicist of Upper Sorbian literature, and Karol Arnošt Muka created a movement of young Sorbians influencing Lusatian art, science and literature for the following 50 years. A similar movement in Lower Lusatia was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyk (Mato Kosyk) and Bogumił Šwjela.

In 1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (the Sorbian House) was built in Bautzen. In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the Domowina Institution – the union of Sorbian organizations. In 1919, it had 180,000 members. In 1920, Jan Skala set up a Sorbian party and in 1925 in Berlin, Skala started ''Kulturwille'' – the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany. In 1920, the Sokol Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933, the Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the 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, in Crostwitz, after the Red Army's invasion, the Domowina Institution renewed its activity. In 1948, the Landtag of Saxony passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949, Brandenburg resolved a similar law. Article 40 of the constitution of German 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 encouraged Germanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of "building Socialism". Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted socialist ideology. For over 1,000 years, the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite escalating Germanization and Polonization, mainly due to the high level of religious observance, cultivation of their tradition and strong families (Sorbian families still often have five children). In the middle of the 20^th century, the revival of the Central European nations included some Sorbs, who became strong enough to attempt twice to regain their independence. After World War II, the Lusatian National Committee in Prague claimed the right to self-government and separation from Germany and the creation of a Lusatian Free State or attachment to Czechoslovakia. The majority of the Sorbs were organized in the Domowina, though, and did not wish to split from Germany. Claims asserted by the Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Between 1945 and 1947 they postulated about ten petitions to the United 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 !") were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica. Similarly, in Czechoslovakia, where before the Potsdam Conference in Prague, 300,000 people demonstrated for the independence of Lusatia. The endeavours to separate Lusatia from Germany did not succeed because of various individual and geopolitical interests.

The following statistics indicate the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by the end of the 19^th 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.

The Israeli Slavic linguist Paul 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 9^th century", and has theorized that Sorbs may have been contributors to the Ashkenazic Jewish population in Europe from the same period. Paul Wexler (1992), "From Serb Lands to Sorb Lands," in ''The Balkan Substratum of Yiddish: A Reassessment of the Unique Romance and Greek Components'', Harrassowitz Verlag, 1992, p. 111

Traditions

A Shrove Tuesday festival '' Zapust'' is the most popular tradition of the Sorbs, deeply linked to the working life of the community. Traditionally, festivities would last one week ahead of the spring sowing of the fields and would feature traditional dress, parade and dancing.

Egg decorating (''pisanici'') is a Slavic Easter tradition maintained by Sorbs since the 17^th century.

Religion

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 20^th Century (with a Protestant population of 86.9% recorded in 1900). Only the Sorbs of the Kamenz area – predominantly settled on the expansive former site of the in Panschwitz-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 the GDR – the denominational make-up of the Sorbian-speaking population of the region has now been reversed.

National symbols

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 of pan-Slavic colors at the Prague 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).

The national anthem of Lusatian Sorbs since the 20^th century is the song Rjana Łužica (Beautiful Lusatia). Previously, the songs “Still Sorbs Have Not Perished” (written by Handrij Zejler in 1840) and “Our Sorbs Rise from the Dust” (written by M. Domashka, performed until 1945) served as a hymn.

Regions of Lusatia

There are three main regions of Lusatia that differ in language, religion, and customs.

Region of Upper Lusatia

Catholic Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of Bautzen, Kamenz, and Hoyerswerda, where Upper Sorbian language, customs, and tradition are still thriving. In some of these places (''e.g.'', Radibor or Radwor in Sorbian, Crostwitz or Chrósćicy, and Rosenthal or Róžant), Sorbs constitute the majority of the population, and children grow up speaking Sorbian.

On Sundays, during holidays, and at weddings, people wear regional costumes, rich in decoration and embroidery, encrusted with pearls.

Some of the customs and traditions observed include Bird Wedding (25 January), Easter Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30 April), Maik, singing on St. Martin's Day (Nicolay), and the celebrations of Saint Barbara’s Day and Saint Nicholas’s Day.

Region of Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy) and Schleife (Slepo)

In the area from Hoyerswerda to Schleife, a dialect of Sorbian which combines characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Sorbian is spoken. The region is predominantly Protestant, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated, and to a great extent germanicized. Most speakers of Sorbian are over 60 years old.

The region distinguishes itself through many examples of Slavic wooden architecture monuments including churches and regular houses, a diversity of regional costumes (mainly worn by elderly women) that feature white-knitting with black, cross-like embroidery, and a tradition of playing bagpipes.
In several villages, residents uphold traditional festivities such as expelling of winter, ''Maik'', Easter and Great Friday singing, and the celebration of ''dźěćetko'' (disguised child or young girl giving Christmas presents).

Region of Lower Lusatia

There are 60 towns from the area of Cottbus belonging to this region, where most of the older people over 60, but few young people and children can speak the Lower Sorbian language; the local variant often incorporates many words taken from the German 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 whole Lusatia are the marshlands, with many Spreewald/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of the Spree.

Worn mainly by older but on holidays by young women, regional costumes are colourful, including a large headscarf called "lapa", rich in golden embroidering and differing from village to village.

In some villages, following traditions are observed: Shrovetide, ''Maik'', Easter bonfires, Roosters catching/hunting. In Jänschwalde (Sorbian: Janšojce) so-called Janšojski bog (disguised young girl) gives Christmas presents.

Relations with other Slavic nations

Relations with Poland

Medieval period

Bolesław I the Brave had taken control of the marches of Lusatia (Łużyce), Sorbian Meissen (Miśnia), and the cities of Budziszyn (Bautzen) and Miśnia in 1002, and refused to pay the tribute to the Empire from the conquered territories. The Sorbs sided with the Poles, and opened the town gates and allowed Bolesław I into Miśnia in 1002. Bolesław, after the Polish-German War (1002–1018), signed the Peace 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. 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. In 1075–1076, Polish King Bolesław II the Bold sought the restoration of Lusatia from Bohemia to Poland. In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia formed part of Piast-ruled fragmented Poland.

18^th century

The 18^th century saw increased Polish-Sorbian contacts during the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland in Poland and Lusatia. Sorbian pastor and his son polymath took their cues from Polish texts in their Sorbian Bible translations and philological works, respectively. Also Polish-born Jan Bogumił Fabricius established a Sorbian printing house and translated the catechism and New Testament into Sorbian. Polish and Sorbian students established contacts at the University of Leipzig. Polish dignitaries traveled through Lusatia on several occasions on their way between Dresden and Warsaw, encountering Sorbs. Some Polish nobles owned estates in Lusatia.

The first translation from Sorbian into another language was a translation of the poem ''Wottendzenje wot Liepska teho derje dostoineho wulze wuczeneho Knesa Jana Friedricha Mitschka'' by into Polish, made by Stanisław Nałęcz Moszczyński, a Polish lecturer at the University of Leipzig, and published by the famous Polish traveler Jan Potocki.

A distinct remnant of the region's ties to Poland are the 18^th-century mileposts decorated with the coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth located in various towns in the region.

19^th century

Polish-Sorbian contacts continued in the 19^th century. Noted advocate for the preservation of Polish culture and language in Masuria, Gustaw Gizewiusz, during his visits in Budissin and Leipzig, came into close contact with Sorbian publicist , 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. In the 1840s, Polish Romantic poet befriended the Sorbian writer Jan Arnošt Smoler in Wrocław, and then he settled in Lusatia, where he got to know other leading Sorbian national revival figures , and . Zmorski then issued the Polish newspaper ''Stadło'' in Budissin, translated four Smoler's poems into Polish, and published articles about the Sorbs in other Polish press. Michał Hórnik declared his sympathy and admiration for the Poles, popularised knowledge of Nicolaus Copernicus and Tadeusz Kościuszko through Sorbian press, reported on the events of the Polish January Uprising of 1863–1864 and made contacts with Poles during visits to Warsaw, Kraków and Poznań. Polish historian wrote the first book on Sorbian history ''Rys dziejów serbołużyckich'', 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''. Polish historian and activist was another friend of Sorbs, who from 1875 was involved in Sorbs' rights protection, participating in Sorbian meetings in Bautzen. Parczewski joined the Maćica 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 in Kalisz. It was thanks to him, among others, that Józef Ignacy Kraszewski founded a scholarship for Sorbian students. His sister joined the Maćica Serbska in 1878, wrote articles about Sorbs in Polish press and translated Sorbian poems into Polish.

Early 20^th century

In the early 20^th century, Polish slavist and professor met several prominent Sorbs, including Jan Skala, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski and Arnošt Muka.

After World War I and the restoration of independent Poland, Polish linguist Jan Baudouin de Courtenay supported the Sorbs' right to self-determination and demanded that the League of Nations assume protection over them. In the interbellum, the Poles and Sorbs in Germany closely cooperated as part of the Association of National Minorities in Germany, established at the initiative of the Union of Poles in Germany in 1924. Sorbian journalist, poet and activist Jan Skala was a member of the press headquarters of the Union of Poles in Germany, and was one of the authors of the ''Leksykon Polactwa w Niemczech'' ("Lexicon of Poles in Germany"). 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. There were also notable Polish communities in Lusatia, such as Klettwitz (, ).

In Poland, Antoni Ludwiczak, founder of the folk high school in Dalki, Gniezno, offered Sorbs five tuition-free spots for each course at the school, however, after the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, enrollment of Sorbs in the school was almost completely halted. Several Sorbs studied in Poland in the interbellum. In 1930, the Association of Friends of the Sorbs was established in Poznań with Henryk Ułaszyn as its president. Similar associations, the Polish Association of Friends of the Sorbian Nation (''Polskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Łużyckiego'') at the University of Warsaw and the Association of Friends of Lusatia (''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Łużyc'') in Katowice were established in 1936. 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-language ''Biuletyn Serbo-Łużycki'' ("Sorbian Newsletter"), which reported on Serbian affairs. The association in Katowice was led by , who was murdered by the Russians in the Katyn massacre during World War II.

During World 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. On 22 January 1945, Jan Skala was murdered by a Soviet soldier in Dziedzice, and his grave at the local cemetery is now a Polish protected cultural heritage monument. There is also a memorial to Skala in nearby Namysłów. In 1945, Polish troops fought against German forces in several battles in Lusatia, including the largest Battle of Bautzen. There are memorials to Polish soldiers in Bautzen (''Budyšin''), Crostwitz (''Chrósćicy'') and Königswartha (''Rakecy'') with inscriptions in Sorbian, Polish and German.

After 1945, the Sorbs that historically lived in the eastern part of Lusatia (now again part of Poland) were expelled, as they were German citizens. Eastern Lusatia was resettled by Poles expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and has by now lost its Sorbian identity.

After World War II

Prołuż founded in Krotoszyn, 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 of Greater Poland. After the creation of East Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.

In 1946, the establishment of a gymnasium for Sorbs in Zgorzelec, Poland, was initiated, and the registration of Sorbian students at Polish universities resumed. 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. 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.

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. In 1946, Associations of Friends of Lusatia were founded in Opole and Prudnik. In 1947, eight Sorbian students established the "Lusatia" Association of Sorbian Students of Higher Education of Wrocław, with eight more joining the following year. Also local press in Katowice, Opole and Prudnik published articles about the Sorbs and Lusatia.

In Opole, the "Lusatian Days" (''Dni Łużyckie'') are organized annually, and the ''Pro Lusatia. Opolskie Studia Łużycoznawcze'' yearbook is published since 1999. The Polish-Sorbian Association Pro Lusatia was established in Poland in 2004.

After a proposal to rebuild a pre-war statue of Otto 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 as Danes and French, and Bismarck's calls for the extermination of Poles.

Relations with Czechia

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. 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 the Czech Lion, as in Drebkau (''Drjowk''), Görlitz (''Zhorjelc''), Guben (''Gubin''), Kamenz (''Kamjenc''), Löbau (''Lubij'') and Spremberg (''Grodk'').

In 1706 the Catholic Sorbian Seminary was founded in Prague. In 1846, the organization was founded by Sorbian students in Prague, and it issued the ' magazine until 1892.

Calls for the incorporation of Lusatia into Czechoslovakia were made after Germany's defeats in both world wars. In 1945, the Czechs established a gymnasium for the Sorbs in Česká Lípa, then relocated to Varnsdorf in 1946 and to Liberec in 1949, however, the Sorbs took their high school diploma in Bautzen after a Sorbian high school was established there.

Relations with Yugoslavia

First permanent cultural and political contacts between Sorbs and South Slavs were established in the mid-19^th century, and the contacts reached in their peak in the early 20^th century. In 1934, the first and only issue of the ''Srbska Lužica'' newspaper was published by consortium Srbska Lužica in Yugoslavia.

In November 1945, Yugoslavia declared support for the freedom aspirations of the Sorbs. On 1 January 1946, the Sorbian National Council appointed Jurij Rjenč as its plenipotentiary representative in Belgrade, soon confirmed by the Yugoslav authorities after his arrival and meetings with several Yugoslav officials. The Military Mission of Yugoslavia (VMJ) to the Allied 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. The Military Mission of Yugoslavia assisted Sorbian activists in Berlin with accommodation and catering, and contributed to the rebuilding of the Serbski dom in Bautzen, the chief cultural institution of Sorbs.

Relations with Slovakia

The Lusatian Serbs were supported by Ľudovít Štúr (he also visited this region), as well as Ján Kollár (he helped establish the Matica Serbská) and Martin Hattala (communicated with students of the Serbian Seminary in Prague).

The Slovak Matica cooperates with the Maćica Serbska. In 2025, a delegation of the Slovak Matica of the Sorbians ( Domowina institution, Sorbian Institute; Bautzen, Hodźij and Storcha) visited the Sorbs at the invitation of the Maćica Serbska.

Demography

Estimates of demographic history of the Sorb population since 1450:

Sorbian population in the middle of the 19^th century:

Sorbs are divided into two ethnographical groups:
*Upper Sorbs (about 40,000 people).
*Lower Sorbs, who speak Lower Sorbian (about 15–20,000 people).

The dialects spoken vary in intelligibility in different areas.

Germany sorbian region.png, Map of approximate Sorb-inhabited area in Germany
Sorben.jpeg, Map of area and towns inhabited by Sorbs
Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet-dsb.png, Detailed map of Sorb-inhabited area in Germany (in Lower Sorbian)

Diaspora

During the 1840s, many Sorbian émigrés travelled to Australia, along with many ethnic Germans. The first was Jan Rychtar, a Wendish Moravian Brethren missionary who settled in Sydney during 1844. There were two major migrations of Upper Sorbs and Lower Sorbs to Australia, in 1848 and 1850 respectively. The diaspora settled mainly in South Australia – especially the Barossa Valley – as well as Victoria and New South Wales.

Many Wends also migrated from Lusatia to the United States, especially Texas.

See also

* List of Sorbs
* Lusatia
* Polabian Slavs
* Serbs
* Wends
* Milceni
* Pavle Jurišić Šturm
* Wendish People's Party
* Wends of Texas
* List of ancient Slavic peoples and tribes

Notes

References

Sources

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Further reading

* 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
* "Prołuż Akademicki Związek Przyjaciół Łużyc" Jakub Brodacki. Polska Grupa Marketingowa 2006 .
* "Polska wobec Łużyc w drugiej połowie XX wieku. Wybrane problemy", Mieczkowska Małgorzata, Szczecin 2006 .
* Wukasch, C. (2004) ''A Rock Against Alien Waves: A History of the Wends''. Concordia University Press: Austin, TX .
* "Sorbs," David Zersen, in ''Germans and the Americas: Culture, Politics and History'', 3 vols., edited by Thomas Adam. ABC-CLIO, 2005.

External links

*

The Domowina Institution

''SERBSKE NOWINY''
��Sorbian newspaper

SERBSKI INSTITUT
��Sorbian history and culture

Independent Sorbian internet magazine


Sorbian emigration into Australia


Electronic Library of Sorbian-Serbian Ties

Texas Wendish Heritage Society

Wendish Heritage Society of Australia

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West Slavs
Ethnic groups in Germany
Ethnic groups in Poland
Slavic ethnic groups