U.S. English Foundation Research

GERMANY

Language Research

The Constitution adopted on May 23, 1949 became the Constitution of the United German People on October 3, 1990 and was amended through 1995

Statutes to protect minority languages:

DANISH LANGUAGE: The bilateral declarations "Bonner und Kopenhagener Erklaerungen" of 1955 protect the use of each minority language (German in Denmark and Danish in Germany). Furthermore, the Constitution of Schleswig-Holstein (1990) safeguards the rights of the Danish and Frisian communities.

The Kiel Declaration of the Land Government of Schleswig-Holstein on the Status of the Danish minority of September 26, 1949 and the Declaration of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany of March 29, 1955 (which is identical with the Copenhagen Declaration of the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark of March 29, 1955) provide that the use of the Danish language in the courts and vis-à-vis the administrative authorities is governed by the general statuses. Under the general statutes the Danish language is not admitted before administrative authorities and in the courts.

FRISIAN LANGUAGE: The 1990 Constitution of Schleswig-Holstein protects and safeguards the rights of the Danish and Frisian communities. In Lower Saxony the language receives little protection and there are only a few isolated efforts to try and arrest its decline.

SORBIAN LANGUAGE: The legal basis for the protection of the Sorbian population is provided in the German Unification Treaty (1990), the Constitutions for Saxony and Brandenburg (1992), the laws protecting the rights of the Sorbs (Wends) in the Land of Brandenburg (1994). An equivalent law is currently being prepared for Saxony as well as a series of other laws, directives or legal acts.

Preliminary Act on Administrative procedures for the Free State of Saxony of January 21, 1993, Section 3 and the Act on Administrative procedures for the Land Brandenburg allow the use of the Sorbian language vis-àl-vis administrative authorities and other authorities in the German-Sorbian areas. In the Sorb settlements, the Sorbian language is used along with the German language on public signs, the signs for names of counties and municipalities, public buildings, and institutions. Roads and places must be given both in both the German and the Sorbian language.

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Updated (January 2003)

NORTH FRISIAN

The new Constitution in Schleswig-Holstein, which came into force in 1990, mentions protection and promotion of the Danish minority and the Frisian people. The Frisian language; however, has no official status in Germany. The Federal Government will probably include Frisian in part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, following the suggestion made by the government of Schleswig-Holstein.

Each "Land" in the Federal Republic of Germany has its own educational system. North Frisian educational system is the same as for the rest of Schleswig-Holstein and is based upon the Education Act of August 1, 1990 (Schleswig-Holsteinisches Schulgesetz).

Although the linguistic situation in North Frisia and on Heligoland differs from the rest of Schleswig-Holstein, there are no separate regulations for Frisian. Tertiary education is governed by the Law concerning the Institutes of Further Education of April 27, 1995 (Gesetz über die Hochschulen im Lande Schleswig-Holstein).

Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, the North Frisian language in education in Germany

http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_northfrisian_in_germany.htm

SORBIAN

In 1997, the FRG signed the European Framework Convention on National Minorities of the Council of Europe, applicable to Danes, Frisians, Sorbians, the Sinti and Roma in Germany.

In 1999, Germany signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, applicable to Danish, Frisian, Lower German and Sorbian minority.

As far as Sorbian is concerned, 38 policy measures have been signed for Lower Sorbian (Wendisch) and 44 policy measures have been declared applicable to Upper Sorbian.

Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, The Sorbian language in Education in Germany

http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_sorbian_in_germany.htm

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Updated (February 2004)

A NEW BILL IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN

On January 22, 2004 an Act for the Promotion of Frisian in the Public Domain was submitted for the first reading to Schleswig-Holstein's Land Parliament. The bill was overwhelmingly well received, when a total consensus was reached on a recognition that the Frisian cultural patrimony needs to be protected and promoted. However, the MPs also agreed that this legal measure should promote the language on a voluntary basis in order to avoid high costs.

The bill, which is the first legal text ever written in Frisian, guarantees the language the official status in the district of Nordfriesland and on the island of Heligoland, where it is spoken. In particular, it gives approximately 10,000 Frisian-speakers the right to use Frisian with the local authorities without paying any additional costs.

It also allows the authorities to issue bilingual official application forms and to use bilingual seals, letterheads and signs on official buildings. Moreover, it establishes that the command of Frisian shall be taken into account in the assignment of public services.

According to the bill's author, Lars Harms, a member of SSW (the party that represents the Danish and Frisian minorities in the Schleswig-Holstein Parliament), the bill is based on the laws for the Sorbian language in Saxony and Brandenburg. In the future there will be proposals for the use of Frisian at schools and in the media.

The Nordfriisk Institute considers the bill to be a "historic breakthrough".

Source: Mercator News, January 2004, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

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Updated (April 2004)

Four States¹ provide in their Constitutions relevant guarantees for ethnic minorities:

Article 25

(1) The Sorbian population is guaranteed the protection, promotion and cultivation of its identity and its accustomed settlement area. The state, the local municipalities and communities promote the realization of these rights, in particular the cultural independence and the effective political participation of the Sorbians.

(2) The state protects the Sorbian cultural autonomy beyond the state's borders.

(3) The Sorbians enjoy the right of cultivation and promotion of the Sorbian language and culture in all sectors of public life, as well as teaching of it in school and kindergarten.

(4) The Sorbian language must be considered when designing public signposts.

Article 16 (2)

The state protects and promotes the Low German language.

Article 18

The state protects the cultural autonomy of ethnic and national minorities and ethnic groups with German nationalities.

Article 5 (2)

The state guarantees and protects the identity of national and ethnic minorities of German nationality, as well as the cultivation of their language, their religion, culture and tradition.

Article 6

(1) All citizens with the Sorbian identity that live in the state [Sachsen] are considered as having equal rights with all Germans.

Article 37 (1) of Sachsen-Anhalt

The state and the local municipalities protect the cultural autonomy and political participation of ethnic minorities.

Article 5

(1) Everybody is free to declare its belonging to a national minority; this does not dispense from general citizen's duties.

(2) The state, the local municipalities and communities protect the cultural autonomy and political participation of national minorities and ethnic groups. The national Danish minorities and Frisian ethnic groups are entitled to protection and promotion.

Article 9

(2) The state protects and promotes the Low German language.

BROADCASTING LEGISLATION

Germany is characterized by dualism between public and private broadcasting. As far as public broadcasting is concerned, specific program boards composed of representatives of the different social groups (including minorities), safeguard linguistic pluralism.

Private broadcasting is equally bound to the national broadcasting laws and it is supervised by the Landesmedienanstalten².

In both public and private broadcasting, contributions (radio/television) of/for language minorities are offered. Whether minorities operate their own broadcasting services depends not in the least on the degree of their commitment and their financial potential. Most states offer the possibility to transmit own contributions via the so-called "Offene Kanäle", a program transmission facility that is open to all those who do not operate their own broadcasting stations.

Of the above-mentioned states, only two have introduced specific guarantees into their Constitutions with respect to broadcasting freedom.

Article 19

(1) Everybody is entitled to freely impart information and opinions in any form and to be informed from publicly available, or other legitimately accessible sources....

(2) The freedom of press, broadcasting, films and other mass media is guaranteed. It is the task of the regulator to ensure by means of procedural rules that the press and broadcasting media reflect the plurality of opinions in the society.

Article 20

(1) Everyone has the right to freely express and disseminate his opinion in speech, writing, and pictures and to freely inform himself from publicly accessible sources....

Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by means of broadcasts and films are guaranteed. There will be no censorship.

(3) These rights are subject to limitations in the provisions of general statutes, in statutory provisions for the protection of the youth, and in the right to personal honor.

DANISH AND FRISIAN

Apart from the status of German as the official state language, there is no hierarchy of languages in Schleswig-Holstein. No legal provisions focusing expressly on the Danish or Frisian language exist. Those that exist, tend to address minority languages in general.

Although legislative initiatives that concentrate on one particular language are rather exceptional, both Danish and Frisian receive particular attention in the school-system and Frisian is recognized in official proceedings before the courts or administrative bodies.

SORBIAN

Two laws are particularly relevant in context of this minority language:

• GESETZ ZUM STAATSVERTRAG ÜBER DIE ERRICHTUNG DER STIFTUNG FÜR DAS SORBISCHE VOLK (December 9, 1998) together with the Staatsvertrag zwischen dem Land Brandenburg und dem Freistaat Sachsen über die Errichtung der "Stiftung für das sorbische Volk"
• GESETZ ÜBER DIE RECHTE DER SORBEN IM FREISTAAT SACHSEN (March 31, 1999)

The former lays the basis for the Foundation of Sorbian people (Stiftung für das sorbische Volk). The goal of the Foundation is to protect and promote the Sorbian language and culture. Sachsen recognizes the Foundation as being a representative of Sorbian people and grants it annual financial support.

The Gesetz über die Rechte der Sorben im Freistaat Sachsen (Law on the Protection of Rights of the Sorbians in Sachsen) recognizes the Sorbian minority and declares that it enjoys equal rights as the majority population of Sachsen. Sachsen is therefore one of the few German States that has adopted general legislation on the protection of minority languages (Sorbian). The law grants, inter alia, the right to protect and promote the Sorbian culture and identity. This includes the right to use the Sorbian language freely in daily life and also before the courts and administrative bodies.

Article 14

Sachsen strives to promote the Sorbian language and culture, particularly contributions in the Sorbian language in broadcasting and other media.

Other broadcasting laws of Sachsen

• GESETZ ÜBER DEN OSTDEUTSCHEN RUNDFUNK BRANDENBURG (July 9, 2001)

Article 4 (2)

The ORB (public broadcaster) has to take into account the regional structure and the cultural plurality in the state of Brandenburg, including the Sorbian culture and language.

The provision orders the ORB to actively promote and introduce in its programming contributions that are dedicated to the Sorbian language and culture.

• GESETZ ZUM STAATSVERTRAG ÜBER DEN MITTELDEUTSCHEN RUNDFUNK (June 27, 1991)

Article 6 (3)

Broadcasting programs of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) have to take into account the needs of all groups of the population, including the minorities.

• THE GESETZ ÜBER DEN PRIVATEN RUNDFUNK UND NEUE MEDIEN IN SACHSEN (LAW ON PRIVATE BROADCASTING AND NEW MEDIA IN SACHSEN (January 18, 1996)

Article 29 (1)

The Advisory Committee of Landesmedienanstalt for Sachsen-Anhalt must have one representative of the Sorbian minority.

Source: Minority-language Related Broadcasting and Legislation in the OSCE, Program in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), Center for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford University & Institute for Information Law (IViR) (http://www.ivir.nl/index-english.html), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Study commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities), April 2003, edited by T. McGonagle (IViR), B. Davis Noll & M. Price (PCMLP), http://www.ivir.nl/publications/mcgonagle/Minority-language%20broadcasting.pdf

¹ States with a high percentage of minority members

² It is a state institution which regulates and coordinates the media (licenses, fees)

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Updated (July 2004)

THE PROMOTION OF LOW GERMAN AND SATERFRISIAN AT SCHOOLS

"Both Low German and Saterfrisian must be preserved, promoted and reinforced as inextricable components of Lower Saxony's identity". This mandate has been adopted unanimously by the Parliament of the Land of Lower Saxony (Germany) in the face of poor conditions these two languages are in.

As the Parliament's motion claims, in spite Germany ratified the Language Charter and passed the 1997 Land's School Decree (entitled "The Region in the Classroom"), Low German and Saterfrisian (or East Frisian) are nearly inexistent in Lower Saxony's general education schools. Also the number of Low German-speaking teachers has decreased drastically.

In order to reverse this pitiful situation, the motion adopted by the Land's Parliament puts forward seven measures that should be implemented by the Government: to create conditions that schools need in order to offer study of these two languages; to initiate language-learning projects in the different school types and at different levels; to produce teaching materials and to test and introduce them in classrooms; to provide or reinforce an expert assistance for schools; to coordinate curricular and extra-curricular activities at regional level; to stimulate and promote the networking of pre-school and school initiatives for learning of Low German and finally to promote the involvement of adults, who are proficient in these two languages, in school activities.

Source: Mercator News, June 2004, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

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Updated (December 2004)

THE ACT PROMOTING FRISIAN IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN PASSED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN

On November 11, 2004 the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein passed the Act promoting Frisian in the Public Domain¹. This new legislation is a milestone in the history of Frisians since it increases considerably the rights of this minority and explicitly recognizes its freedom.

As explained by the author of the act, Lars Harms, one of the act's most outstanding advances is that the Preamble acknowledges the rights of the Frisians as an ethnic group (Volksgruppe), on equal terms with the rights of the Danish national minority, which is protected by the Bonn-Copenhagen Declaration. Mr. Harms clarified that this is not only a language act or an act to promote a specific culture but it is the act protecting the recognized minority. In this respect the Frisians are given the same recognition as the other two minorities living in the border area between Germany and Denmark, the Germans and the Danes.

As regards the content of the act, based on the revision of several parliamentary committees, some relevant details have been added:

• not only documents, but also application forms, supporting documents and other written sheets may be submitted to the authorities in Frisian;
• public announcements may be bilingual (in German and Frisian);
• the Land of Schleswig-Holstein shall promote that signs on certain public buildings and place name signs in the district of Nordfriesland and on the island of Helgoland may be also bilingual.

As stated by Lars Harms, such provisions guarantee Frisian the highest possible status, as they place it at the same level with German, the official language in the country.

Moreover, this new legislation satisfies eight additional provisions of Article 10 (entitled "Administrative authorities and public services") of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). By now only paragraphs 1.a.v, 4.c, and 5 have been implemented for the Frisian language (documents could be submitted validly in Frisian, minority family names could be used or adopted and public service employees should have knowledge of the Frisian language in the territory where the language is spoken.

Source: Mercator News, November 2004, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

¹ after having been approved by several parliamentary committees since its presentation as a bill in January this year

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Updated (April 2005)

ONE STEP FURTHER FOR THE SUPPORT OF LOW GERMAN AND SATERFRISIAN IN LOWER SAXONY

On February 24, 2005 the Parliament of Lower Saxony adopted a resolution for the support of Low German and Saterfrisian in schools of the Land. The resolution, entitled "The regional Low German and Saterfrisian languages in school", is in fact the final version of the text discussed in the Land’s Parliament last year; however, recently modified by the Culture Commission and approved by all parliamentary groups. The parliamentary debate was carried out in Low German.

The text states that these two minority languages are components of the Land's identity and thus they must be preserved, promoted and strengthened in a sustained way. While Low German is widely used in rural areas, both in the private and public sphere (amateur theatre, literary publications and newspapers), Saterfrisian is spoken only by about 2,000 speakers in a very small area and therefore needs special protection.

The Government plans to carry out the following measures:

1. To keep on implementing the commitments acquired on the basis of Article 8.1 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;

2. To secure a chair of the Low German language and literature in Lower Saxony in order to guarantee the possibility to complement teacher training;

3. To create conditions for schools located in the areas where these two languages are spoken to offer classes for their learning;

4. To initiate educational projects for these two languages in different schools and grades;

5. To produce class materials and recommendations, as well as to test and introduce them in a class;

6. To provide and strengthen a reliable expert advice for schools as regards these two languages;

7. To coordinate curricular and extra-curricular activities for the learning of these two languages at regional level;

8. To suggest and promote networking of pre-school and school initiatives for the learning of these two languages;

9. To promote involvement of the adults who are proficient in these two languages in school activities.

Source: Mercator News, March 2005, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

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Updated (June 2007)

A NEW RULING FOR ERECTING MORE BILINGUAL SIGNS IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN REJECTED BY POLITICIANS IN DENMARK

A new ruling by the German Ministry of Infrastructure paves the way for more bilingual signage in the areas of Schleswig-Holstein, where autochthonous Frisians, Danes and Low-Germans live. Bilingual signs have been erected in many traditional Frisian-speaking communities; yet there are no signs in Danish and Low German.

Whilst the Low-Germans have welcomed the new ruling, the Danish minority initially expressed caution. It is due to the fact that minority rights on both sides of the German-Danish border have traditionally been reciprocal and the erection of Danish signs in Germany would automatically create a case for German signs in Denmark.

However, the chance of a reciprocal agreement on bilingual signage has become increasingly remote after Danish politicians and the media universally rejected a proposal by the German minority in Denmark to erect bilingual signage in four Danish municipalities with traditional German minorities. The recently elected President of the German minority in Denmark, Hinrich Jürgensen, has openly suggested the erection of bilingual signs but his suggestion was immediately condemned by several Danish politicians. Søren Krarup (Pastor and MP of the Danish People's Party), for instance, rejected it by saying: "Danish signs must be Danish. This commands the respect for the majority".

The Mayor of Aabenraa, Ms. Tove Larsson, also rejected the proposal stating in a newspaper interview: "Our town is called Aabenraa. The Germans know that. Anything else would be the wrong signal". And underlining how many politicians often fail to distinguish between autochthonous and migrant minorities, Ms Larsson added: "Should we put up signs in Arabic and Turkish as well?"

The Danish daily "Jyllands-Posten" called the proposal "silly" as it is "provocative" and "creates unnecessary conflict". The paper also expressed the opinion that the German place-names may offend some older Danes that lived through the Nazi occupation.

On the other hand, Mr. Peter Dragsbo from the Sønderborg Regional Museum belongs to a small group of Danes that support bilingual signs on both sides of the border. He noted that while people do not hesitate to put up "Zimmer Frei" ("Room available" in German) signs to gain business they often become nationalists when it comes to German signage.

In Germany, the Danish minority organization has decided to officially apply for bilingual signs in the regional capital - Flensburg. The move is expected to be successful, as most legal obstacles have now been removed while little resistance from the German majority is expected.

The formal request was sent to the German Ministry of Infrastructure on 22 June; they also got a formal support of the Lord Mayor of Flensburg, Mr. Klaus Tscheuschner.

Meanwhile, another event took place - both the Germans in Denmark and the Danish minority in Germany has joined forces in an appeal to the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) as it plans to withdraw a local broadcasting window for Danish radio that often focuses on minority matters. The two minority groups sent a formal letter to DR's Chief Executive, Mr. Kenneth D. Plummer, on 22 June 2007.

Source: Eurolang News, June 25, 2007 by Peter Josika http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2911&Itemid=1&lang=en

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