display

Bautzen (dpa / sn) The Sorbs would like to use additional money from the federal and state funding to improve language skills.

Because not all Sorbs can speak their language.

"We want to go into language planning more and more specifically," said Dawid Statnik, head of the Lusatian Sorbs Federation.

That is a process that encompasses several areas.

First of all, you have to determine the status and find out where Sorbian is still spoken everywhere.

Second, it is important to plan the acquisition of language.

«The schools cannot do it alone, we have to strengthen the environment.

You shouldn't just invest money in the existing institutions, you should also finance additional measures in the field of language education, ”says Statnik.

With additional funding from the Foundation for the Sorbian People, there is the opportunity for additional positions for the first time since reunification: “This is a great success.

That encourages us to have more room for maneuver. "

The money will also be used to involve employees in general wage developments.

According to Statnik, it is important to support language courses directly on site.

«We had an experiment in Malschwitz (Malešecy) for over a year, where a language motivator was in use.

He managed to make the residents more aware of their roots again.

There is now interest in Sorbian courses there.

Young people have taken up the tradition of throwing maypoles.

It hasn't existed there for 20 years. "

At the maypole throwing the boys in the village race to get the title of May King.

It was recently announced that the Sorbs Foundation should receive more money from the federal government and the states of Brandenburg and Saxony.

Accordingly, the funding should increase from the current 18.6 million euros to 23.92 million euros annually.

The Sorbian people, a West Slavic nationality, are native to Lausitz in the south of Brandenburg and East Saxony.

According to estimates, around 40,000 Sorbs live in Saxony and around 20,000 in Brandenburg.

The Foundation for the Sorbian People was established in 1991 to promote the Sorbian language and culture.

The funds flow into nine Sorbian institutions, including the German-Sorbian People's Theater, Domowina-Verlag, the Wendish Museum and the Sorbian National Ensemble, as well as the foundation's own projects, investments and real estate in Upper and Lower Lusatia.

display

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210406-99-95632 / 2

Foundation for the Sorbian People

Association of Lusatian Sorbs