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Wends and the Wende: Modern German Unification (1989-90) and the Sorbs

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Wends and the Wende: Modern German Unification (1989-90) and the Sorbs WENDS AND THE WENDE: MODERN GERMAN UNIFICATION (1989-90) AND THE SORBS A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 STUART CUNNINGHAM SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES TABLE OF CONTENTS WENDS AND THE WENDE: MODERN GERMAN UNIFICATION (1989-90) AND THE SORBS Table of Names and Abbreviations ......................................................................... 6 Table of Figures ..................................................................................................... 10 Table of Interviews and Fieldwork ....................................................................... 11 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 16 Declaration ............................................................................................................ 17 Copyright Statement .............................................................................................. 18 Preface ................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter One Introduction .................................................................................... 21 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 21 1.2 Introducing the Sorbs ................................................................................... 22 1.2.1 Upper and Lower Sorbs ................................................................... 23 1.2.2 Ethnicity, Language and Linguistics ................................................ 25 1.2.3 Constitution of the Sorbian Population ............................................ 28 1.2.4 The Sorbs in a European Context................................ ..................... 30 1.3 Methodology and Terminology of the Thesis .............................................. 35 1.3.1 Methodology .................................................................................... 35 1.3.2 Oral History and Fieldwork ............................................................. 36 1.3.3 Learning the Language ..................................................................... 42 1.4 Scholarship on German Unification and the Sorbs ...................................... 44 1.4.1 Revolution or No Revolution? Scholarship on the GDR and German Unification .......................................................................... 44 1.4.2 Scholarship on the Sorbian National Minority................................ 48 1.5 Themes Around German Unification and the Sorbs .................................... 60 1.5.1 National Identity .............................................................................. 60 1.5.2 Language Endangerment and Death ................................................ 64 1.5.3 The Urban and the Rural .................................................................. 66 1.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 67 2 Chapter Two A Brief History of the Sorbs .......................................................... 68 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 68 2.2 The Early History of the Sorbs .................................................................... 69 2.3 The Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period ............................................. 71 2.4 The Nineteenth Century ............................................................................... 72 2.5 The Twentieth Century ................................................................................ 76 2.6 The Post-War Period .................................................................................... 81 2.6.1 The Context of the GDR .................................................................. 82 2.6.2 Sorbs and a New East German Identity ........................................... 83 2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 93 Chapter Three The Impact of Politics and Law on the Sorbs ............................. 94 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 94 3.2 Changes in Politics ....................................................................................... 96 3.2.1 Traditionalists and Reformers .......................................................... 96 3.2.2 Traditionalists and Reformers in the Domowina ............................. 97 3.2.3 The Domowina and the Sorbian Round Table ............................... 101 3.2.4 Extraordinary Congress of the Domowina ..................................... 103 3.2.5 The Victory of Traditionalists and ‘Professional’ Sorbs ................ 106 3.3 Constitutional and Legal frameworks ........................................................ 108 3.3.1 Federal Law .................................................................................... 108 3.3.2 State Laws: Saxony ........................................................................ 113 3.3.3 Domowina and Leipzig’s University Lecturers’ Proposals (HSL 90) ........................................................................................ 114 3.3.4 The Final Proposals (SaxVerf 92) .................................................. 117 3.3.5 State Law: Brandenburg ................................................................. 119 3.3.6 Contemporary Cultural and Institutional Debate ........................... 122 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 123 Chapter Four The Economy and the Sorbs ....................................................... 125 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 125 4.2 The Economic System of the GDR ............................................................ 126 4.2.1 Economic Model and Performance of the GDR ............................ 126 4.2.2 Industry, Energy, and Brown Coal Mining .................................... 128 4.2.3 LPGs, or Collectivised Farms ........................................................ 136 4.3 Unification: A Changing Economic Structure ........................................... 138 4.4 Post-Unification ......................................................................................... 145 4.4.1 Divestment/Privatisation ................................................................ 145 4.4.2 The Energiewende? ........................................................................ 147 3 4.4.3 The Privatisation of LPGs .............................................................. 153 4.4.4 Employment, Underemployment and Unemployment .................. 154 4.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 156 Chapter Five Culture and the Sorbs ................................................................... 157 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 157 5.2 Sorbian Cultural Organisations .................................................................. 158 5.3 Sorbian Media ............................................................................................ 166 5.4 Religion in Sorbian life .............................................................................. 173 5.5 Sorbian in The Education System .............................................................. 178 5.5.1 Education In the GDR .................................................................... 178 5.5.2 Education Since Unification .......................................................... 180 5.5.3 Early Years Education and Primary Schools ................................. 182 5.5.4 Secondary Schools ......................................................................... 184 5.5.5 Tertiary Education .......................................................................... 187 5.6 Sorbian Folk Culture .................................................................................. 188 5.6.1 Spring and Easter ........................................................................... 191 5.6.2 Summer .......................................................................................... 192 5.6.3 Winter ............................................................................................. 193 5.7 Sorbian Youth Culture ............................................................................... 194 5.8 Museums .................................................................................................... 197 5.8.1 Jänschwalde Museum .................................................................... 199 5.8.2 Archive of Disappeared Places ...................................................... 202 5.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 205 Chapter Six Horno/Rogow: A Case Study in the Sorbian Political, Legal, Economic and Cultural Situation after German Unification ............................... 207 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 207 6.2 The Story of the Relocation of Horno/Rogow ..........................................
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