[BRIEF NOTE] The Sorbs
Dec. 13th, 2007 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldTelevision New Zealand recently carried a story about the Sorbs, a West Slavic people related to the Czechs and Poles who reside in the region of Lusatia, which straddles the borders of the eastern German states of Brandenburg and Saxony. The Sorbs are like the Ruthenians or Rusyns in being a small Slavic nation that never quite managed to break through into nationhood but the Sorbs, unlike the Ruthenians, lack any one sizable territroy where they predominate. Sorbs form a minority throughout Lusatia, with a population distribution akin to that of a diaspora, the closest thing to a Sorb homeland being certain rural villages where Sorb traditions are strongest. Many of these villages are now face physical destruction.
If history in Lusatia had gone differently--if they had remainder under the Bohemian Crown from the mid-17th century on, say--there might well be a coherent Sorb homeland. It hasn't, of course, and it's difficult to avoid pessimism. Outnumbered at least ten-to-one in their traditional districts in Brandenburg and in Saxony, lacking even a compact majority-Sorb enclave, with universal fluency in German, no foreign sponsorship like that enjoyed by the Danish minority of Schleswig-Holstein, and no taboos regarding intermarriage with Germans and no demographic advantage over Germans, it's difficult to imagine that an actively lived Sorb identity will outlast the 21st century. Vattenfall's planned coal mining project certainly will be culturally destructive, and the idea of burning coal as fuel does strike me as a s[pectacularly bad decision, but even if Vattenfall has its way the effect will be only that of a coup de grace.
Germany's Sorbs, one of Europe's oldest and smallest minorities, are mounting a last-ditch campaign to preserve a rural way of life that survived Nazi persecution and decades of communist rule.
Energy group Vattenfall Europe wants to uproot thousands of people from their homes to expand its open cast brown coal mines in Lusatia, the watery flatlands in the south eastern corner of Germany which are home to the 60,000-strong Slav community.
"We are fighting against Vattenfall and local politicians - this is about the environment and about keeping our way of life," said Rene Schuster, a Sorb environmental campaigner.
Sorbs have lived in Germany for more than 1,000 years and their language has similarities to Czech and Polish.
Lusatian street signs are in two languages and local radio airs a few hours of Sorb programmes each week.
Sorbs marry in black, play bagpipes and stage a pig-slaughtering festival in January.
They are famous for their intricately painted Easter eggs and colourful processions.
Open cast mining has forced 30,000 people and 136 Lusatian villages to move since 1924 and much of the upheaval happened during and shortly after East German Communist rule.
Vattenfall has recently submitted plans to extend its open cast mining in five areas which would mean moving another 3,000 to 4,000 people.
The community blames the brown coal industry, one of the most highly polluting forms of power generation, for the decline of the Sorb, or Wendish, culture.
"We get more consultation and better compensation now but that does not help preserve Sorb traditions," said Schuster, pointing to a water pump in the former village of Lakoma where his house used to stand.
If history in Lusatia had gone differently--if they had remainder under the Bohemian Crown from the mid-17th century on, say--there might well be a coherent Sorb homeland. It hasn't, of course, and it's difficult to avoid pessimism. Outnumbered at least ten-to-one in their traditional districts in Brandenburg and in Saxony, lacking even a compact majority-Sorb enclave, with universal fluency in German, no foreign sponsorship like that enjoyed by the Danish minority of Schleswig-Holstein, and no taboos regarding intermarriage with Germans and no demographic advantage over Germans, it's difficult to imagine that an actively lived Sorb identity will outlast the 21st century. Vattenfall's planned coal mining project certainly will be culturally destructive, and the idea of burning coal as fuel does strike me as a s[pectacularly bad decision, but even if Vattenfall has its way the effect will be only that of a coup de grace.
