The Lusatian Wends Association

The best-known national minority in Germany founds an organization to represent its interests

The westwards migration of the Germanic tribes left space in Central Europe, especially in the areas along the River Elbe and in present-day Thuringia, Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate. These areas were subsequently populated by Slavic groups. During the High Middle Ages, these peoples converted to Christianity and intermarried with settlers from the western regions of the German Empire. Following the imposition of German language and customs, Slavic dialects and identities survived in only a handful of areas such as Lusatia with its concentrations of Sorbian or Wendish peoples. At the end of the 19th century, the increasing spread of racism increased pressure on the Lusatian Slavs to assimilate.

Hoping to preserve their distinct language, culture and traditions, Sorbs and Wends came together in Hoyerswerda on 13 October 1912 to found the Lusatian Wends Association, uniting the plethora of smaller Sorbian cultural organizations that already existed. Any association could join – provided it was based on Christian, royalist and “patriotic” principles. Banned during the Third Reich, the organization was re-established in the DDR, which recognized the Sorbs as a distinct ethnic group with a separate language. Nevertheless, the organization was forced to organize itself on socialist principles. Today, the association represents the interests of some 60,000 people in Brandenburg and Saxony and is a member of the International Society for Threatened Peoples. The Sorbs – also known as the Wends – are recognized as a national minority in Germany, as are the Danish minority, the Frisian ethnic group and the German Sinti and Roma.