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Sorbian - a minority language in Germany
"Cultural heritage"
The Sorbs make their home in the Brandenburg-Saxony region, not far from the German capital Berlin. Around 60, 000 Sorbs live here today.
The history of the Sorb people can be traced back to the year 600, when Slavic tribes invaded the area between the Elbe river and the Oder river further to the east. By 1264, the Sorbs made up more than 90 percent of the population in this region.
"Sorbian language"
At the beginning of the last century, Sorbian was still the most-widely heard language in many areas of Brandenburg and Saxony.
But that changed during the years of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. The Nazis strictly forbid the Sorbs to use their language. Sorbian clubs, books, dancing and even church services held in the language were banned; Sorb teachers were expelled from the region and Sorb anti-fascists were murdered or sent to concentration camps.
In those years, it took great courage for the Sorbs to try and keep their traditions alive.
On May 10, 1945, only a few days after the end of the Second World War, those Sorbs who had remained in the region and survived the Nazi terror founded the first Sorb organization after the war: "Domowina".
"An endangered language"
Despite attempts to save the language and teach it even in primary education at German-Sorb kindergartens, the existence of the Sorb language is seriously threatened.
For many teenagers, Computers, Gameboys, the internet - and therefore English, are more trendy and simply more useful than Sorbian.
Some Sorb children are hardly able to say hello or goodbye in the language of their ancestors. And at the local discos, the village youths find it easier to chat with their dates in German than in Sorbian.
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Article about the Sorbian language:
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~sorb/engl/lang.htm
