Lužice Serbs: the last indigenous Slavs of Germany

In the east of Germany, there is a region unique in ethnographic terms - Luzhitsa Serbia or Luzhitsa. Here still live the descendants of the Slavic peoples, who once inhabited the entire eastern part of Germany to the Elbe River. The Luzhitsky Serbs, who have the official status of a national minority, for centuries managed to maintain their language and cultural traditions, and by some miracle they were not assimilated by the neighboring Germanic tribes.

Luzhitsky Serbs are descendants of the Slavic-Baltic Slavs who settled the territory east of the Elbe River in the VI century. It housed the Slavic state of Samo, and then Puddle became part of the Slavic state of Great Moravia. Since the 9th century, this region was part of the Polish and German lands, belonged to the Czech Republic and Prussia, until in 1871 it became part of a united Germany. Despite the fact that during the long historical period the Ludic Serbs were surrounded by Germanic peoples, they managed to preserve their Slavic language.

Today, Lusatian Serbs, which number approximately 60,000, live compactly in two regions of Germany. These are the Upper Puddle (land of Saxony) and the Lower Puddle (land of Branderburg). All of them speak German, but about 30,000 people, mostly people of the older generation, speak their native Puddle language. The Luzhitsky language, which includes the Upper Luzhitsky and Lower Luzhitsky dialects, belongs to the West Slavic languages. The Upper Luzhitsky dialect resembles the Czech language, while the Lower Luzhitsky dialect gravitates to Polish. But in general, the Lusatian Serbs, speaking different dialects, easily understand each other.

Puddle several times in its history tried to obtain the status of an autonomous region, but did not succeed. The last time it was in 1990, when the German federal authorities refused Luzitsa the status of autonomy. Nevertheless, the Lusatian Serbs are recognized as the national minority of the country and enjoy the corresponding rights. In the region there are Ludza cultural centers and schools where teaching in the native language is conducted. Luzhitsky Serbs are famous throughout Germany for their skillful ability to paint Easter eggs.