Editing Sorbs (section)

== Language and culture ==
[[Image:Bautzen Theater.JPG|thumb|[[Bautzen]], German-Sorbian folk theatre]]
{{Main|Sorbian languages}}
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 Moller]]s’ 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) (1747–1819), translated the [[Old Testament]] for the first time into Lower Sorbian, published in 1790.

{{multiple image |align=right |caption_align=center |perrow=2 |total_width=300
| image1=Zejler01.jpg
| image2=Jan Arnošt Smoler by Regulski.png
| image3=Mato Kosyk.png
| image4=Jakub Bart-Ćišinski.jpg
| footer=Prominent 19th-century Sorbian writers, from top left to right: [[Handrij Zejler]], [[Jan Arnošt Smoler]], [[Mato Kósyk]], [[Jakub Bart-Ćišinski]]
}}
Other Sorbian Bible translators include Jakub Buk (1825–1895), [[Michał Hórnik]] (Michael Hornig) (1833–1894), Jurij Łušćanski (a.k.a. Georg Wuschanski) (1839–1905). 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 [[Serbski dom|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 1000 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 20th 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.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prolusatia.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159:dziaalno-wojciecha-wojcecha-kocki-w-serbouyckim-ruchu-narodowym-w-latach-1945-1950&catid=2:wszelkie-artykuy&Itemid=14|title=Działalność Wojciecha (Wojcecha) Kócki w serbołużyckim ruchu narodowym w latach 1945 - 1950|author=Administrator|work=prolusatia.pl|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> 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!")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prolusatia.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=154:akcja-qnarodny-partyzan-uicaq-1946-1947-i-jej-reperkusje-w-serbouyckim-ruchu-narodowym&catid=2:wszelkie-artykuy&Itemid=14|title=Akcja "Narodny Partyzan Łužica" (1946 - 1947) i jej reperkusje w serbołużyckim ruchu narodowym|author=Administrator|work=prolusatia.pl|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> 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.

[[File:Bilinguale Straßenbeschilderung Cottbus b.jpg|thumb|Bilingual names of streets in [[Cottbus]]]]
The following statistics indicate the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by the end of the 19th 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 (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 9th century", and has theorized that Sorbs may have been contributors to the Ashkenazic Jewish population in Europe from the same period.<ref>[[Paul Wexler (linguist)|Paul Wexler]], ''[https://slavica.indiana.edu/bookListings/linguistics/The_Ashkenazic_Jews The Ashkenazic Jews]'', Slavica Publishers, 1993</ref><ref name="Wexler2">[[Paul Wexler (linguist)|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</ref>

=== Traditions ===
A [[Shrove Tuesday]] festival ''[[Zapust (tradition)|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.<ref>[http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100312-25845.html Germany's Sorbs celebrate Zapust festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309203625/http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100312-25845.html |date=2021-03-09 }}. The local Germany's News in English. March 12, 2010.</ref>

[[Egg decorating in Slavic culture|Egg decorating]] (''pisanici'') is a Slavic [[Easter]] tradition maintained by Sorbs since the 17th century.<ref>[http://www.ethiopianreview.com/news/34039 German Slavic minority cultivates a colorful Easter tradition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001213809/http://www.ethiopianreview.com/news/34039 |date=2011-10-01 }}. Ethiopian Review. March 31, 2010.</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2016}}

=== Religion ===
[[File:Nowy zakoń Michał Frencel.jpg|thumb|Sorbian translation of the New Testament by {{ill|Michał Frencel|dsb|v=sup}}, 1717]]
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 20th Century (with a Protestant population of 86.9% recorded in 1900).<ref>According to the 1900 Census. See Ernst Tschernik: ''Die Entwicklung der Sorbischen Bevölkerung''. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1954, P. 34.</ref> Only the Sorbs of the Kamenz area – predominantly settled on the expansive former site of the {{ill|Saint Marienstern Monastery|de|Kloster St. Marienstern|v=sup}} 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 [[East Germany|GDR]] – the denominational make-up of the Sorbian-speaking population of the region has now been reversed.