The Smallest Slavic Nation

Lusatian Sorbs were able to keep their language and cultural traditions, despite of the centuries under the German rules and without their own statehood. At the present time, these Western Slavic people inhabit just few villages along the German-Polish border in Eastern Germany. The Lusatian lands are split now between two German states, Brandenburg and Saxony. The Saxon part is called Upper Lusatia. Its inhabitants speak the Upper Sorbian language, very similar to the Czech language. The part belonged to Brandenburg is called Lower Lusatia. The local Slavic minority speaks the Lower Sorbian language, more similar to the Polish language. - Vladimir Pomortzeff

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Info: Lusatia is not a country. The blog is open to non-country polls now. In this case, it refers to a region in Germany and Poland.

Witaj, mighty traveler!

For international educational purposes, this blog is in English.

This blog is a new project of mine (@novaspree or @mandalorian-general ), to have a space where I can talk about my homeland. I will share anything related to Lusatia: News, Culture, facts, language, Memes, or just my own shitposts. You will find the files in the search bar, whatever you're looking for!

Whenever you're Lusatian, from other parts of Germany, or from all over the world - we welcome you with open arms! However, do not interact if you're a Neo Nazi/Reichsbürger/fascist of any kind/German "patriot"/ or German supremacist.

What is Lusatia?

Lusatia (Lausitz/ Łužica/ Łužyca) is a region in East Germany, and west Poland, divided into Upper and Lower Lusatia. 1400 years of Germans and Sorbs living side by side guaranteed an unique culture/folklore, dialect, and two languages - nowadays, they are close to going extinct.

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Here's lots of support and prayers from a Lusatian Sorb! ^^

hello!!! thank you so much for your solidarity <333 i hope things get good for you

i just saw a post about lusatian sorbs tagged #deutschblr. what teutonic nonsense is going on here.

Colorful eggs of Lusatian Sorbs (Serbjo, Serby). Pattern explanation is from the book: Andrea Paulik Pawlikowa - Pruhi, kruhi, třiróžki. Pisane serbske jutrowne jejka Translation: sun, half sun, goose feet, sword, wolf's teeth, triangles without spaces, grapes, snake, flower motifs, archway, pattern of triangles, circle with edge of triangles, i-dash, wheel - circle, Honeycomb, compartments, bands, bee cell pattern

p- iwajla klinke

Traditional costume of the Sorbs (also known as Wends, Lusatians, Lusatian Sorbs or Lusatian Serbs) - Western Slavic minority in the territory of Germany. They live predominantly in the historical region of Lusatia - in the modern states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak Sorbian languages (Wendish, Lusatian) - closely related to Polish and Czech, divided into two main groups: Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian. Photograph by Iwajla Klinke                

The Superkokot, a Sorbian tradition, is a harvest celebration where all Erntekönige (Harvest King) fight for the title of the Super-Kral. The 3-year-old cock named "Heinrich II" had already been dead when he got attached to the oak portal. The contestants have to ripp off the head first, then the wings.

“ When times get more restless and the future more uncertain, then we long for security. Heimat triggers pictures of memories, it has a past. Heimat arouses a longing for solid roots. The Sorbs have found a home in a country that was not theirs at first. Stateless they have maintained their own identity over the centuries, their own language and tradition. Today, the West Slavic ethnic group belongs is one of the four official minorities in Germany. More than 1,400 years ago, the Elbe Slavic tribes settled at the end of the big migration in the almost depopulated areas north of the mountains of the Lusatian-, Erz- and Fichtelgebirges. Today, they live in the villages of Lusatia: in the Saxon Upper Lusatia, where the language resembles the Czech and in the Lower Lusatia in Brandenburg with a language that resembles the Polish and where they are also called 'Wenden'. It is a mixed national and bilingual Lusatia. The Sorbs live in their homeland together with fellow German citizens, but as a minority. Extensive fields, magnificent forests, small villages, town signs in German and Sorbian, small front gardens, churches, prayer columns and again and again crosses: The picture looks as if it was from a parallel society. It is an emotionally colorful life when you grow up with an old custom, you are connected with it from childhood on. People used to grow into their costume and never came out again. Today, the once ordinary has become something special with the hope that it will not be forgotten. The costume is an important part of the identity that has repeatedly defied oppression. Over the centuries, the settlement area of the Sorbs became smaller and smaller, and more and more non-Sorbs settled in the area. In the 13th century immigrated masses of German craftsmen and farmers from other areas populated the areas. They marginalized the Sorbs through language bans and non-admission to guilds. In the aftermath of the Second World War, re-settlers and displaced people from the eastern regions came. With the industrialization German workers were brought into the lignite mining. It was lignite that ate up the Sorbian countryside in recent decades, more than 136 villages have now disappeared and more than 25,000 people have lost their homes and traditional village community. In the Nazi era, the Sorbs were persecuted, the language and the Sorbian press banned. The DDR promoted the Sorbian culture, but the Sorbian identity fell more and more into oblivion. Institutions, associations and communities work against the oblivion. Saxony and Brandenburg have firmly anchored protection and promotion of the Sorbs into the constitution. As a national minority, the Sorbs are historically rooted in Germany, their relatives have German citizenship, but their identity is expressed in their own culture and language. There are Sorbian kindergartens and schools, services are held in Sorbian language. There is a daily newspaper and magazines, own TV shows. No one knows how long the Sorbian language can survive. There are only a limited number of Sorbian words and the language did not adapt to modern times. You keep hearing German words in Sorbian conversations. Only about 20,000 Sorbs speak the language today, with some 7,000 actively speaking Lower Sorbs, according to some estimates in approximately 30 years, the native speakers may have died out. There is no exact number of Sorbs, the commitment to the Sorbian nationality is of free choice and Germany does not track nationality affiliation. Thus, it is estimated that today about 60,000 Sorbs live in Brandenburg and Saxony. Especially in the vicinity of the cultural centers in Cottbus and Bautzen, there are always hostility from right-wing populist groups. The Sorbian youth stands up against it and celebrates their old traditions. How does it feel to have roots in statelessness? To live as a minority in a modern German country and to defy all hostility, oppression and assimilation attempts with the preservation of one's own identity?”

- Christina Czybik

Sorbian catholic bridesmaid in the national costume

Sorbs (Upper Sorbian: Serbja, Lower Sorbian: Serby, German: Sorben), known also by their former autonyms Lusatians and Wends, are a West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting their homeland in Lusatia, a region divided between Germany (the states of Saxony and Brandenburg) and Poland (the provinces of Lower Silesia and Lubusz). They traditionally speak the Sorbian languages (also known as "Wendish" and "Lusatian"), closely related to Czech and Polish.[4] Sorbian is an officially recognized minority language of Germany. The Sorbs are linguistically and genetically closest to the Czechs and Poles. Due to a gradual and increasing assimilation between the 17th and 20th centuries, virtually all Sorbs also spoke German by the late 19th century and much of the recent generations no longer speak the languages. The community is divided religiously between Roman Catholicism (the majority) and Lutheranism.

Sorbian Bescherkinder. Photographed by Iwajla Klinke.

The Bescherkinder is an old Sorbian folk character found in the rituals that are associated with the celebration of the winter solstice. Being touched by one is believed to protect against the evil eye. 

The Sorbs, historically known also as Lusatians and Wends, are a West Slavic minority group whose homeland is found in the historic region of Lusatia located between Germany and Poland. Starting from the 12th century to the modern period they have undergone heavy Germanization processes, but despite this they have managed to keep their ancestral Slavic identity, language, and distinct culture. Geneticist have also found a degree of genetic isolation among them when compared to their German neighbors, however at the same time have noted markers linking them closely to their West Slavic kin; the Poles, Kaszubs, Slovaks, and Czechs. Throughout history it has been believed that the Sorbs migrated from Lusatia to the Balkans initiating the birth of the Serbian people.