Sorbisches Kirchenleben in der Niederlausitz während der Weimarer Republik. Aus Berichten der Kirchenvisitationen in den Gemeinden Briesen, Dissen und Drachhausen

Abstract

Sorbian Church Life in Lower Lusatia during the Weimar Republic based on Reports of Church Visitations in the Parishes of Briesen, Dissen and Drachhausen

There were nine parishes in the Church Province of Brandenburg after the First World War, in which services in Sorbian were still held, although it was only in the parish of Dissen that a service in Sorbian was held every Sunday, much to the credit of Pastor Bogumił Šwjela. A service in Sorbian was only held once or twice a month in the other parishes. The 1920s saw a further decline in the use of the Lower Sorbian language in the churches. The reasons for this lay on the one hand in the decline of the number of clergy who spoke the language, on the other hand in the low level of interest in Sorbian shown by parish councils or members of the congregation. In the district of Cottbus there were still only four pastors in office in 1930, who could be considered bilingual. As a result, Pastor Bogumił Šwjela was given the task between 1931 and 1933 to give tuition in the Sorbian language in Lower Lusatia to German pastors and students of theology. Despite these efforts, the regular holding of services in Sorbian was stopped in all parishes by 1934, with the exception of Dissen. At the same time, again with the exception of Dissen, confirmation classes in Sorbian for children stopped.