The Sorbs are a former tribe and a current eth-nolinguistic group of Western Slavs, living between the Saale River, a tributary of the Elbe, and the Neisse River, a tributary of the oder, in present-day eastern Germany (see GERMANS: nationality). The name Sorbs is used interchangeably with Wends a name given to Western Slavs by the Franks to apply more generally to Slavic peoples living between the Elbe and oder Rivers, including the Lusatian Sorbs (the name Lusatian derived from a possibly tributary tribe of the Sorbs, the Veletians), as well as tribes once living to their north, such as Havelians, Obodrites, Polabians, and Ranians. The whole region is sometimes referred to by Slavic scholars as Polabia, after the Polabian language that was spoken in the north until the 18 th century
The earliest evidence of Slavic settlement of Sorb territory dates from the second half of the seventh century c. e. (dated by dendrochronology to the 660s). This is pottery considered to be of the Prague culture that had emerged in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic) the previous century. Prague pottery in Sorb lands is found in areas formerly settled by tribes of Germanics near the Elbe, Saale, and Havel Rivers, and its makers could have migrated there from Bohemia.
The Prague culture replaces the earlier Germanic material, as Slavs seem to have moved onto lands that had previously been cleared, although pollen evidence shows that in some places the forest had begun to regenerate. Thus the appearance of the Prague culture coincides with the disappearance of Germanic cultural markers both in Bohemia itself and in adjacent areas of eastern Germany, either because Germanic peoples left the area, because they had adopted Slavic culture, or because both occurred. Prague Culture material differs from that of earlier Slavs in Bohemia; this could have come about through contributions from Germanic peoples who had joined the Slavs. In Polabian territory north of the Elbe-Saale region the culture is even more distinct from that of most Slavs, making a rapprochement between incoming Slavs and indigenous Germanic peoples even more likely As elsewhere in Slavdom the Sorbs and Polabians had a very simple culture, living in small, square, sunken-floored huts (although in Polabia huts were built with ground-level floors) and making pottery that, by the standards of the time elsewhere in Europe, was no more than crude.
The migration of Slavs here coincides in time with Slavic migrations across a wide region of central and eastern Europe, known to have taken place during the sixth century, into many of the lands that have Slavic populations today The impetus for this widespread migration is not known with certainty It may have begun as part of the twofold process mentioned: Germanic tribes and tribal confederacies, such as that of the Goths, moved out of central and eastern Europe toward the toppling empire of the Romans, some hoping for plunder, others hoping for lands where they could settle away from the Avars and other steppe peoples invading at this time; at the same time tribes who formed a Slavic confederacy somewhere between the Lower Danube and western Ukraine in the late fifth and early sixth centuries developed a warrior elite, probably in part under Avaric influence, which began to move into lands vacated by Germanic groups, including in the Elbe-Saale region.
The West Slavic dialect still spoken by the modern-day Lusatian Sorbs is known as Sorbian, Lusatian, or Wendish. There are two Sorbian dialects, Upper and Lower. Upper Sorbian resembles Czech; Lower Sorbian resembles Polish. Both have a Germanic influence. Sorbian is a distinct dialect from the now-extinct Polabian of the Western Slavic tribes who once lived to the north.
The emergence of a tribe called the Sorbs is documented by Frankish sources from the seventh century c. e. The Sorb ruler, Derevan, called in Frankish sources a dux (duke), was allied in the 660s with Samo of the Franks, who led a Slavic revolt against the Avars, steppe warrior nomads who had subjugated Slavs and others over a wide area in the Middle Danube region south of Sorbian territory
The Sorbs, along with other Slavs in their region, had increasing contact with the Franks as a
Sorbs time line
SORBS
Location:
In the Elbe and Saale River valleys in eastern Germany
Time period:
Seventh century c. e. to present
Ancestry:
Slavic
Language:
Sorbian (West Slavic)
C. E.
660s Sorb ruler, Derevan, is allied with Samo, Frankish leader of Slavic rebellion against Avars.
Eighth century Sorbian Mark established by Franks to defend against Sorbs. 10th century Magyars attack tribes in Elbe-Saale region, including Sorbs.
928 and 948 Sorbs' territory annexed by German Empire under Henry I and Otto I.
958 Otto establishes bishopric of Magdeburg to administer church of the Slavs, which includes Sorbs.
10th century to present Sorbs part of Germany 1930s-40s Sorbs persecuted by Nazis.
Result of Charlemagne’s wars in 772 to 804 against the Saxons. Charlemagne established the Sorbian (or Lusatian) Mark as one of a number of frontier or buffer regions between Frankish territory and that of Slavs to the east. These included the tribes that, led by the Czechs, would establish the Bohemian state during the ninth and 10th centuries. The Sorbian Mark, established to defend against the Sorbs northwest of Bohemian territory, was bounded by the north-flowing Saale River, with Sorbian territory along the river’s east bank. The Franks referred to those Slavic tribes between the Oder and Elbe Rivers as Wends and their territory as Wendenland. These included the other Western Slavic tribes, such as the Havelians, Obodrites, Polabians, Ranians, Veletians, and the group now known as Sorbs or Lusatian Sorbs.
Sorbs, Magyars, and Czechs In the 10th century Magyars, raiders from the forest zone north of the eastern steppe lands, attacked tribes along the Elbe and Saale Rivers, including the Sorbs. It is probable that with the formation of the Bohemian state at this time by the Czechs, Sorbs were under Bohemian influence of some kind, although details of this influence are not known.
Sorbs and the German Empire
Sorbs clearly were influenced by the German Empire, as attested by pottery that has been found. Strongholds were built along the Sorbs’ western frontier; as the Sorbs were not nearly organized or powerful enough to withstand German might directly, these strongholds probably belonged to Sorbian leaders who were allies of the Germans and who had become wealthy through German diplomatic gifts.
By mid-century, however, as part of the German Drang nach Osten (drive to the east) begun in 928 and continued by Otto I after 948 the Sorbs’ Elbe-Saale and other Slavic territories were annexed in German military campaigns that pushed the German frontier to the east with a new frontier along the Middle and Lower Oder River. Territories were organized around the former tribal territories, and the Lusatian Mark now included the whole of the Sorbs’ lands. Part of the motivation for the Drang nach Osten was the same as that for Charlemagne’s Saxon wars: conversion of pagans to Christianity. This was of a piece with drawing them politically into the German Empire. What seems crass calculation pure and simple may therefore well have been sincere. At this time nothing like the modern concept of the separation of church and state existed. The Germans modeled their empire, which later became known as the Holy Roman Empire, on that of the ancient Romans; documents of the time referred to subjects of the empire, wherever they lived, as Romans, the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church. The empire was the God-appointed earthly realm of Christians, and the German emperors ruled with the sanction of the papacy. In their eyes it was part of their duty as rulers to draw pagans into the fold.
In Polabian and Obodrite territories the campaigns of this time were bloody and violent, as the population resisted fiercely Whole tribes were nearly exterminated. Part of the impetus for resistance here was a resurgent paganism, as pagan priests instigated revolt. By the end of the 10th century the Germans had been driven out of the Polabian and Obodrite territories, which remained independent until the late 11th century In Sorbian territory there was much less resistance, and after their annexation in the 10th century they became absorbed into the social and political system of the German Empire.
Modern Lusatian Sorbs A number of communities of Lusatian Sorbs still exist in eastern Germany, mostly in the states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Although the Sorbs were persecuted by the Nazis before and during World War II (1939-45) after the partition of Germany Soviet Russian influence in East Germany ensured that the Slavic Sorbs were well treated (because of the pan-Slavism that has been important in Russia since the 19th century). They received generous subsidies from the state. Despite fears that after the unification of Germany Sorb ethnicity would be endangered, the German government through treaty and laws has guaranteed the Sorbs’ language and other rights. Some Germans who settled in Lusatia after unification have attempted to reach a rapprochement with the Sorbs there by attending evening classes in Upper or Lower Sorbian and by sending their children to bilingual schools. All Sorb speakers currently live in Germany, and the Sorbian language is maintained in schools. The towns of Bautzen (Upper Lusatia) in Saxony and Kottbus in Brandenburg (Lower Lusatia) are centers of the Sorb community
CULTURE (see also Slavs)
The Sorbs and neighboring tribes were converted, mostly by force, to Christianity during the 10th century primarily through the efforts of the German emperor Otto I. Otto established the bishopric of Magdeburg in 958 to administer the church of the Slavs. The first archbishop, Adalbert, was named metropolitan of the Slavs and had in his diocese the Sorbs and neighboring tribes. This situation contrasts with that of other West Slavic polities of the time, such as Bohemia and Poland, that were allowed to establish their own bishoprics (Prague and Poznan, respectively) in their own territories, a crucial step in the formation of independent states. The Sorbs’ lack of a native bishopric foretold their absorption into the German Empire.
The Lusatian Sorbs are the only Slavs to have survived to modern times as a geographic and ethnolinguistic group in Germany.
Further Reading
Gerald Stone. The Smallest Slavonic Nation: The Sorbs of Lusatia (London: Athlene, 1972).
World History
