Not to be confused with Silesian language or Lach dialects.
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Silesian
Lower Silesian, Silesian German
Schläsisch, Schläs’sch, Schlä’sch, Schläsch
Native to
Germany, Poland, Czech Republic
Region
Silesia; also spoken in Czech Republic and German Silesia (area that was part of Prussian Province of Silesia, more or less around Hoyerswerda, now in Saxony)
Ethnicity
Silesians
Native speakers
(undated figure of 12,000 in Poland)[1] 11,000 in the Czech Republic (2001 census)
Language family
Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
High German
Central German
East Central German
Schlesisch–Wilmesau
Silesian
Language codes
ISO 639-3
sli
Glottolog
lowe1388
ELP
Lower Silesian
Silesian (Silesian: Schläsisch, Schläs’sch, Schlä’sch, Schläsch, German: Schlesisch), Silesian German or Lower Silesian is a nearly extinct German dialect spoken in Silesia. It is part of the East Central German language area with some West Slavic and Lechitic influences. Silesian German emerged as the result of Late Medieval German migration to Silesia,[2] which had been inhabited by Lechitic or West Slavic peoples in the Early Middle Ages.
Until 1945, variations of the dialect were spoken by about seven million people in Silesia and neighboring regions of Bohemia and Moravia.[3] After World War II, when the province of Silesia was incorporated into Poland, with small portions remaining in northeastern Czech Republic and in former central Germany, which henceforth became eastern Germany, the local communist authorities expelled the German-speaking population and forbade the use of the language.
Silesian German continued to be spoken only by individual families, only few of them remaining in their home region, but most of them expelled to the remaining territory of Germany. Most descendants of the Silesian Germans expelled to West and East Germany no longer learned the dialect, and the cultural gatherings were less and less frequented.
A remaining German minority in Opole Voivodeship continues use of German in Upper Silesia, but only the older generation speaks the Upper Silesian dialect of Silesian German in today's Poland.
^Silesian at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
^Weinhold, Karl (1887). Die Verbreitung und die Herkunft der Deutschen in Schlesien [The Spread and the Origin of Germans in Silesia] (in German). Stuttgart: J. Engelhorn.
^Klaus Ullmann: Schlesien-Lexikon, 2. Band der Reihe Deutsche Landschaften im Lexikon, 3. Auflage 1982, Adam Kraft Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Mannheim, pp. 260–262.
Silesian (Silesian: Schläsisch, Schläs’sch, Schlä’sch, Schläsch, German: Schlesisch), SilesianGerman or Lower Silesian is a nearly extinct German dialect...
1945, Silesian was also spoken in enclaves in Lower Silesia, where the majority spoke Lower Silesian, a variety of Central German. The German-speaking...
The Silesian Uprisings (Polish: Powstania śląskie; German: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919...
Kulturkampf, a government campaign of Germanization enacted by the German Empire, which added many Germanisms to the Silesian dialect within said country's pre-1914...
minority resides, and in Silesian Voivodeship. German speakers first came to these regions (present-day Opole and Silesian Voivodeships) during the late...
The Silesian offensives (Russian: Силезские наступления) were two separate offensives conducted in Silesia in February and March 1945 by the Soviet Red...
The Province of Silesia (German: Provinz Schlesien; Polish: Prowincja Śląska; Silesian: Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919...
ruled by various Silesian dukes. During this time, German cultural and ethnic influence increased as a result of immigration from German-speaking states...
Bohemia, Habsburg monarchy (Austria), Prussia, the German Empire, and modern Poland after 1945. Silesian tribes settled the lands at the end of the first...
were founded under German town law. Between the years 1289–1292 Bohemian king Wenceslaus II became suzerain of some Upper Silesian duchies. Silesia subsequently...
The Silesian Wars (German: Schlesische Kriege) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg...
large German minority lives in the voivodeship, and the German language is co-official in 28 communes. Opole Voivodeship is bordered by Lower Silesian Voivodeship...
Silesian Voivodeship's name, most of the historic Silesia region lies outside the present Silesian Voivodeship – divided among Lubusz, Lower Silesian...
The First Silesian War (German: Erster Schlesischer Krieg) was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's...
Silingi) List of SilesiansSilesian tribes Silesian language, West Slavic language/dialect Cieszyn Silesian dialect Texas SilesianSilesianGerman language (Lower...
Silesian and Masovian duchies remained independent Piast holdings. In the 12th to the 14th centuries, German settlers, most of whom spoke Low German,...
The Second Silesian War (German: Zweiter Schlesischer Krieg) was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1744 to 1745 and confirmed Prussia's...
Prussia following the First Silesian War. This was confirmed following the Second Silesian War in 1745 and the Third Silesian War in 1763. Following the...
German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language. Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath...
Silesian independence (Silesian: Samostanowjyńo Ślůnska; Polish: Niepodległość Śląska) is the political movement for Upper Silesia and Cieszyn Silesia...
The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław...
Ostravice around Cieszyn reached from the heights of the Western Carpathians (Silesian Beskids) in the south, where it bordered with the Kingdom of Hungary, along...
with slightly altered borders in 1990, following German reunification. Besides the formerly Silesian area of Saxony, which was mostly included in the...
The Upper Silesian metropolitan area (also known as Silesian metropolitan area) is a polycentric metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeastern...
Global Information
