Lusatian Serbs

Sorbs

Sorbian flag, in Pan-Slavic colors, introduced in 1842
Traditional female costume of Lower Lusatia (Spreewald)
Total population
60,000-70,000 (est.) • 40,000 Upper Sorbs • 20,000 Lower Sorbs
Regions with significant populations
Germany	60,000
Czech Republic	2,000
Poland	less than 1,000
Languages
Sorbian (Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian), German
Religion
Majority Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism

Sorbs (Upper Sorbian: Serbja, Lower Sorbian: Serby, German: Sorben), known also by their former autonyms Lusatians and Wends, are a West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting their homeland in Lusatia, a region divided between Germany (the states of Saxony and Brandenburg) and Poland (the provinces of Lower Silesia and Lubusz). According to Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, Serbs from the Balkan peninsula have the same orgins as Lusatians and Kashubians. He also claims that Serbs inhabitated the areas between the rivers Elbe and Vistula, on the southern coast of the Baltic sea. They traditionally speak the Sorbian languages (also known as "Wendish" and "Lusatian"), closely related to the Polish, the Kashubian, the Czech and the Slovak. Sorbian is an officially recognized minority language in Germany. The Sorbs are linguistically and genetically closest to the Czechs and Poles. Due to a gradual and increasing assimilation between the 17th and 20th centuries, virtually all Sorbs also spoke German by the late 19th century and much of the recent generations no longer speak the language. The community is divided religiously between Roman Catholicism (the majority) and Lutheranism. An indicator of the degree of assimilation is the fact that the current Prime Minister of Saxony is a Sorb, Stanislaw Tillich – who speaks Sorbian as well as Polish.