Sorbian settlement area
German: Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet Upper Sorbian: Serbski sydlenski rum Lower Sorbian: Serbski sedleński rum | |
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Country | Germany |
State | Saxony |
State | Brandenburg |
The Sorbian settlement area (Lower Sorbian: Serbski sedleński rum [ˈsɛrpskʲi ˈsɛdlɛnʲskʲi ˈrum], Upper Sorbian: Serbski sydlenski rum [ˈsɛʁpskʲi ˈsɨdlɛnskʲi ˈʁum], German: Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet; in Brandenburg officially Siedlungsgebiet der Sorben/Wenden) commonly makes reference to the area in the east of Saxony and the South of Brandenburg in which the West Slavic people of the Sorbs (in Brandenburg also called "Wends") live autochthonously. In colloquial German, it is called Sorbenland (Land of the Sorbs);[1] before 1945 also – sometimes pejoratively – called Wendei.[2]
This area was reduced constantly during the centuries due to assimilation, Germanization and strip mining lignite. Additionally, the identification as Sorb is free under federal and state law and cannot be verified. Therefore, different approaches on defining who belongs to the Sorbian people exist. Identifying Sorbs are not in the majority in most of the Sorbian settlement area, but rather a – in part very small – minority.