National Minorities, Minority and Regional Languages in Germany
National minorities, minority and regional languages in Germany National minorities, minority and regional languages in Germany 2 Contents Foreword . 4 Welcome . 6 Settlement areas . 8 Language areas . 9 Introduction . 10 The Danish minority . 12 The Frisian ethnic group . 20 The German Sinti and Roma . 32 The Sorbian people . 40 Regional language Lower German . 50 Annex I . Institutions and bodies . 59 II . Legal basis . 64 III . Addresses . 74 Publication data . 81 Near the Reichstag building, along the Spree promenade in Berlin, Dani Karavan‘s installation “Basic Law 49” shows the articles of Germany‘s 1949 constitution on 19 glass panes. Photo: © Jens Kalaene/dpa “ No person shall be favoured or disfavoured because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith, or religious or political opinions.” Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Art. 3 (3), first sentence. 4 Foreword Four officially recognized national minorities live in Germany: the Danish minority, the Frisian ethnic group, the German Sinti and Roma, and the Sorbian people. The members of national minorities are German na- tionals and therefore part of the German legal order. They enjoy all rights and freedoms granted under the Basic Law without any restrictions. This brochure describes the history, the settlement areas and the organizations of the national minorities in Germany and explores how they see themselves Dr Thomas de Maizière, Member and how they live while trying to preserve their cultural of the German Bundestag roots. Each of the four minorities identifies itself in Federal Minister of the Interior particular through its own language. As language is an Photo: © Press and Information Office of the Federal Government important part of their identity, it deserves particular protection.
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