#lower lusatia

[velthurvik]

Die Winterbrücke

In einem kleinen Schlosspark führt diese Winterbrücke über den Schlösspark-Teich.

[helenofblackthorns]

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[thinkingimages]

Traditional costume of 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.

[songs-of-the-east]

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

[mapsontheweb]

Historical regions of Poland.

Historical regions are usually a tricky thing to establish since they often depend not only on geography, but also on old political borders. That's why sometimes they overlap each other.

Pomorze Zachodnie - West Pomerania

Pomorze Wschodnie - East Pomerania/Pomerelia (Other name - Gdańsk Pomerania)

Prusy Królewskie - Royal Prussia, consisting of Warmia (Ermland), Ziemia Chełmińska (Chełmno land), East Pomerania and Ziemia Malborska (Malbork land)

Prusy - Prussia, consisting of Royal Prussia, Mazury (Masuria), Prusy Górne (Upper Prussia), Prusy Dolne (Lower Prussia), and outside Polish borders Sambia and Litwa Mniejsza (Lesser Lithuania)

Mazowsze - Mazovia

Ruś Czarna - Black Ruthenia, mostly in Belarus

Ruś Czerwona - Red Ruthenia. It includes Wołyń (Volhynia), mostly in Ukraine.

Małopolska - Lesser Poland

Śląsk - Silesia, major subdivisions are Dolny Śląsk (Lower Silesia) and Górny Śląsk (Upper Silesia)

Łużyce Górne - Upper Lusatia, mostly in Germany

Łużyce Dolne - Lower Lusatia, mostly in Germany

Ziemia Lubuska & Nowa Marchia - Lubusz Land and New March/Neumark - By far the weirdest regions, both can be summarized as anything Brandenburgians conquered or purchased from Polish duchies in 13th and 14th century

Wielkopolska - Greater Poland

Kujawy - Kuyavia

[rjana-luzica]

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.

Banner source:

[fool-counter]

Hi! I'm Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God, Dowager Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Slavonia, of Galicia, of Lodomeria, etc.; Archduchess of Austria; Duchess of Burgundy, of Styria, of Carinthia and of Carniola; Grand Princess of Transylvania; Margravine of Moravia; Duchess of Brabant, of Limburg, of Luxemburg, of Guelders, of Württemberg, of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Milan, of Mantua, of Parma, of Piacenza, of Guastalla, of Auschwitz and of Zator; Princess of Swabia; Princely Countess of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Hainault, of Kyburg, of Gorizia and of Gradisca; Margravine of Burgau, of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Countess of Namur; Lady of the Wendish Mark and of Mechlin; Dowager Duchess of Lorraine and Bar, Dowager Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and you're watching Disney Channel! <3

fool count: 10

Hi! I'm Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God, Dowager Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Slavonia, of Galicia, of Lodomeria, etc.; Archduchess of Austria; Duchess of Burgundy, of Styria, of Carinthia and of Carniola; Grand Princess of Transylvania; Margravine of Moravia; Duchess of Brabant, of Limburg, of Luxemburg, of Guelders, of Württemberg, of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Milan, of Mantua, of Parma, of Piacenza, of Guastalla, of Auschwitz and of Zator; Princess of Swabia; Princely Countess of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Hainault, of Kyburg, of Gorizia and of Gradisca; Margravine of Burgau, of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Countess of Namur; Lady of the Wendish Mark and of Mechlin; Dowager Duchess of Lorraine and Bar, Dowager Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and you're watching Disney Channel! <3

[witekspicsoldpostcards]

SORAU / Niederlausitz - now ŻARY in Poland. Lower Lusatia  (German: Niederlausitz; Lower Sorbian: Dolna Łužyca, Polish: Łużyce Dolne; Czech: Dolní Lužice) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusatia is a settlement area of the West Slavic Sorbs whose endangered Lower Sorbian language is related to Upper Sorbian and Polish.

[bernhard-schipper]

‘50th Anniversary of NSK - January 1st, 1974’ Digital Collage, 375 x 375 mm, 2023 Fine Art Pigment Print under Acrylic Glass, Black Aluminium Art Box

Nothing is further from my mind than to promote the no longer existing East German state by showing GDR symbolism while drunk with nostalgia. For some time now, however, badges from the GDR era have been appearing increasingly, which suggest that New Sorbian Art existed long before the political change in 1989. The badges mentioned show a deer or the head with antlers and oak leaves with the GDR coat of arms in the lower part and are made of cast metal or plastic. The deer is one of the visual anchors in the NSK universe.

An embossed lignite briquette recently appeared in an online auction house, which shows the identical deer motif as on the badge as well as the year '1974' and the words 'Prosit Neujahr (Happy New Year)' in two lines. Should this commemorative briquette be proof of the founding date of the New Sorbian Art? Then the East German NSK would have been founded on January 1st, 1974. It has not yet been possible to reconstruct where exactly this founding meeting took place in Lusatia on the night of December 31st to January 1st, 1974.

Time doesn't just move forward linearly. Traveling back in time on a timeline changes reality there as well as here in the now. It is impossible to imagine what would happen to the 'NSK State In Time' if, at sufficient speed, the space-time curvature made travel in parallel universes of the 'NSK State In Time' possible.

But wait a minute - the tree for the national identity of the Sorbs is the linden tree. But don't the oak leaves show that we are on the wrong track.

[austrohungarianfff]

My pronouns are: AHFFF the First, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, King of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria and Illyria; King of Jerusalem etc., Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Duke of Lorraine, of Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and of Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Oświęcim, Zator and Ćeszyn, Friuli, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Zara (Zadar); Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent (Trento) and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro (Kotor), and over the Windic march; Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia. / AHFFF the First, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, King of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria and Illyria; King of Jerusalem etc., Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Duke of Lorraine, of Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and of Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Oświęcim, Zator and Ćeszyn, Friuli, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Zara (Zadar); Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent (Trento) and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro (Kotor), and over the Windic march; Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia.

[popsixsquishcicerolipschitz]

Coats of arms of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458–1490)

Matthias's great coat-of-arms. In the middle are personal coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus (Quartered: 1. Hungary's two-barred cross, 2. Árpád dynasty, 3. Bohemia, and 4. Hunyadi family) and that of his wife Beatrice of Naples (Quartered: 1. and 4. Arpad dynasty – France ancient – Jerusalem Impaled; 2. and 3. Aragon), above them a royal crown. On the outer edge there are coat of arms of various lands, beginning from the top clockwise they are: Bohemia, Luxemburg, Lower Lusatia, Moravia, Austria, Galicia–Volhynia, Silesia, Dalmatia-Croatia, Beszterce county

[velthurvik]

Impressionen von einem Trödelmarkt.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Official Languages in Germany

German – deutsch – is the only language that is recognized nationwide as the official language. However, there are some regional and minority languages that are recognized at the regional or municipal level.

Niederdeutsch (Low German) is spoken by about 2 to 5 million people in Germany, the Netherlands and in the German diaspora. It is recognized as an official language in the states of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, and in parts of Lower Saxony. In the latter state it is part of the German language lessons in school, while in the former states it is a choice among the elective subjects.

Danish is the officially recognized language of the autochtonous Danish minority living in Southern Schleswig, spoken by about 20,000 people. There are special Danish schools were lessons are held in Danish. If a German child wants to attend a Danish school in Schleswig-Holstein, the parents have to learn Danish as the parent-teacher conferences are held exclusively in Danish.

North Frisian belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group of germanic languages and is a recognized minority language in the district of North Frisia in Schleswig Holstein and on the island of Heligoland. It is spoken by less than 10,000 speakers and is listed as an endangered language.

Saterland Frisian is spoken by no more than 1500 to 2000 speakers in a small region of Lower Saxony. It is the last surviving dialect of the East Frisian language and officially recognized as a minority language in the municipality of Saterland. About 300 children learn the language in kindergarten and primary school.

Upper Sorbian is a West Slavonic language spoken by 20,000 to 25,000 people in the region of Upper Lusatia in the tri-border area of Saxony, Brandenburg and Poland. It is taught in schools in the region, there are regional newspapers and radio programs. Street signs are bilingual. The former minister president of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, speaks Upper Sorbian as one of his native languages.

Lower Sorbian is the other branch of the West Slavonic language in Germany. It is spoken in Lower Lusatia by 7000 speakers and is critically endangered. The state of Brandenburg actively promotes a revival of the language by offering lessons in school ans kindergarten, radio and TV broadcasts. Street signs are bilingual in places where there is a significant autochthonous minority of speakers of Lower Sorbian.

Romani is an officially recognized minority language in Germany. The most frequently spoken variant in Germany is Sinti-Romanes.

[salvadorbonaparte]

Lower Sorbian

Minority Languages of Europe Challenge 1/? - Let’s see how many I can do before the semester starts 

What is the language called in English and the language itself?

The English name for this language is Lower Sorbian, while in German it is known as Niedersorbisch or Wendisch. In Sorbian, it is called dolnoserbšćina

Where is the language spoken?

Lower Sorbian is spoken in the Lower Lusatia, a region of Eastern Germany bordering Poland. 

How many people speak the language?

There are about 7000 native speakers of Lower Sorbian, with a couple more thousand second language speakers 

Which language family does it belong to? What are some of its relative languages?

Lower Sorbian is a West Slavic language and most closely related to Upper Sorbian. Other than that, it is related to other West Slavic languages like Polish. 

What writing system does the language use?

Both Upper and Lower Sorbian use the Latin alphabet. 

What kind of grammatical features does the language have?

Lower Sorbian has 6 grammatical cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive, Instrumental, Locative (Upper Sorbian has an additional Vocative). They are marked with suffixes. 

It also has a dual form

What does the language sound like?

What do you personally find interesting about the language?

I recently found out that my surname is Sorbian and that I am half Sorbian on my paternal side. I have no contact to that side of my family and was never exposed to any Sorbian culture other than Easter eggs. I want to learn more about that part of my heritage on my own terms though. 

Bonus

a link to my resource post 

[onceklaudiaspiechowicz]

Slavic Gods Associated with the Underworld

Veles

“Slavic people believed that this god is often shown in a form of a bear, even though Veles is capable of transforming into other animals too. But, in later writings, this god is presented as a demon, where he lost his old functions and then linked to the devil and the underworld. Fact is that mythology among early Slavs also developed as their own turbulent lives, so naturally even the gods changed during ages in the eyes of the common folk. When their crops would die out due severe droughts they created a myth how Veles stole the heavenly cows and rains stopped. Even thought Veles with no doubt was considered a “mischievous” God, he was still a subject to worship and respect. It was him that protected farmers cows from plague or improved their crops and land fertility. Average people didn’t want to interfere in mythological fights between Veles and Perun, but in fact worshiped them both as major forces of this world, often according to their own needs.”

“Veles (or Volos) is sometimes called the second most important god of Slavic religion. The old Ruthenian chronicle which calls him skotiy bog makes him the god of cattle. This would also position him as the god of wealth (as cattle was one of the main markers of a family’s wealth). Other hints suggest he could have been linked to such domains as magic, poetry, oaths, the underworld, and the dead.

Veles is sometimes seen as the mythical antagonist of Perun, part of a structural pattern that may reflect a more ancient Indo-European myth of a primordial rivalry between the two opposing supreme deities (compare: Mitra and Varuna in Hindu mythology). Historians and ethnographers suspect that the relics of this ancient notion may have survived even centuries after Christianisation, and can be found in the Slavic Cosmogonic myth which transposes the same theme of rivalry between God and the Devil (See below: Slavic Creation Myth), the latter being a version of Veles. This identification can be observed in Czech folklore as late as the 16th century, where the phrase ‘Jdi za moře k Velesu’ (Go across the sea to Veles!) means ‘Go to the devil!’.”

Chernobog

“Also spelled as Czernobog, Tchernobog is a Slavic deity, whose name means black god, about whom much has been speculated but little can be said definitively. The only historical sources, which are Christian ones, interpret him as a dark, accursed god, but it is questionable how important (or evil) he was really considered to be by ancient Slavs.

About Chernobog, there was just one written document named Chronica Slavorum from Saxon missionary Helmold that says:

''Among Slavic people, there is one weird belief that is kept in their drinking fests and feasts. They at same time bless and curse under names of their Gods, respectively in the name of good One and evil One, saying that good things come from good God and evil comes from evil One. In their language they call evil God ''Chernobog'', or ''black God''.''

Morana

“Morana is a pagan Slavic goddess associated with seasonal rites based on the idea of death and rebirth of nature. She is an ancient goddess associated with winter's death and rebirth and dreams. In ancient Slavic rites, the death of the Goddess Marzanna at the end of winter becomes the rebirth of Spring of the Goddess Vesna representing the coming of Spring.”

“In modern times the rituals associated with Marzanna have lost their sacred character and are a pastime – an occasion to have fun and celebrate the beginning of spring. The tradition is usually celebrated around the spring equinox (March 21). Usually schoolchildren and young people participate in the celebrations alongside local folklore groups and other residents. A procession consisting of men, women and children carries handmade Marzanna to the nearest river, lake or pond. The participants sing traditional songs and throw effigies of Marzanna into the water. Sometimes the effigies are first set on fire, or their clothes are torn. On the journey back to the village the focus falls on the copses, adorned with ribbons and blown egg shells. The procession, still singing, returns to the village."

“Researchers emphasise that Marzanna functioned not merely as a symbol of winter, but also as a Slavic goddess. Marzanna's later association with death (in some regions Marzanna is called Death Crone) trivialized the importance of the goddess, who was the lady of not only death, but also life, and commanded the natural world.”

“Drowning Marzanna in water (an element of high importance in season-related folk celebrations) is understood as the goddess' symbolic descent into the underworld, to be reborn with next winter. Some researchers underline the sacrificial character of this ritual and suggest that Marzanna is sacrificed in order to appease Winter. The authors of Wyrzeczysko propose that Marzanna is sacrificed to the demons of water, whose favour was necessary to ensure a plentiful harvest in the coming year.”

Karna

“Goddess of the funerals, personifying tears. She is compared to the Indic Karna.”

“Yet another goddess of death, the ancient Karna is depicted as a young woman with black hair and bright red clothes. She is said to be the daughter of the goddess Lada. She spends most of her life down in the underworld. Some sources claim her to be related to Marzana (the goddess of winter and death, it might be a region differential)”

Oźwiena

“Goddess of the echo, and generally of voice and oral communication.”

“She was a companion of the god Veles, the goddess of echo. Some specialists in mythology connect her with Greek nymph Echo. She was also the goddess of gossip. According to the legend, it was impossible to her keep something she heard as a secret. Whatever you told her, she shared it. However, if she liked someone, she spoke only good things, but when someone became her enemy, she spoke all the bad things about this person. Moreover, Oźwiena loved glory, fame and listening to the stories.”

Flins /Hela

“Hela, the death goddess, is represented with a lion head with an outstretched tongue. As Myda, an aspect or another name of hers, she is represented as a crouching dog.”

“God of death who may be a Wendish name of Veles, although the iconography is rather different. He is sometimes represented as a skeleton with a lion upon his shoulder, holding a burning torch in his hand, and placing a foot on a large pebble. In other cases he is represented as an old man, with the same attributes of the skeleton, except for a flint instead of a pebble. His cult was widespread in Lower Silesia, Lusatia and Saxony.”

Morok

“Morok, literally “Darkness” in Russian, is a concept that has been deified in modern Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery). He is the god of lie and a deceit, ignorance and errors. At the same time, he is a keeper of ways to the truth, hiding such ways to those who pursue truth for vanity and selfishness. He has a twin brother, Moroz (“Frost”), and they switch into one another at will.”

Nemiza

“God who cuts the thread of life, sometimes represented as a male with four beams around his head, one wing, and on his chest a dove with outstretched wings, and sometimes represented as a naked female with an eagle by her side gazing up to her. Nemiza was regarded both as a calamity for bringing death, and as a beneficial figure for introducing the soul to a new life.”

Ny

“Ny is the god of the underworld who acts as psychopomp, that is to say the guide of the souls into the underworld. He is associated with subterranean fire and water, snakes and earthquakes. Peklabog or Pekelnybog is another name of the god of the underworld, and he has been compared to the Indic Shiva. Etymologically, the word peklo means "pitch", and after Christianisation, its meaning became that of "hell", often personified as the Devil, and pekelnik any being of hell.”

https://www.slavorum.org/veles-the-slavic-shapeshifting-god-of-land-water-and-underground/

https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Chernobog

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morana_(goddess)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deities_of_Slavic_religion

https://aminoapps.com/c/pagans-witches/page/blog/dark-slavic-gods-goddesses/xpdX_JM6s2uVLKp7bdXgQmXmqBXQQrvBvG

https://culture.pl/en/article/what-is-known-about-slavic-mythology

[persistent-wallflower]

Hi! I'm Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God, Dowager Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Slavonia, of Galicia, of Lodomeria, etc.; Archduchess of Austria; Duchess of Burgundy, of Styria, of Carinthia and of Carniola; Grand Princess of Transylvania; Margravine of Moravia; Duchess of Brabant, of Limburg, of Luxemburg, of Guelders, of Württemberg, of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Milan, of Mantua, of Parma, of Piacenza, of Guastalla, of Auschwitz and of Zator; Princess of Swabia; Princely Countess of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Hainault, of Kyburg, of Gorizia and of Gradisca; Margravine of Burgau, of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Countess of Namur; Lady of the Wendish Mark and of Mechlin; Dowager Duchess of Lorraine and Bar, Dowager Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and you're watching Disney Channel! <3