Schleife (; hsb, Slepo, ) is a municipality of 3,000 in northern

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

district, northeast

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is the seat of the ''

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipul ...

Schleife'' (about 5,000 inhabitants). The municipality is part of the recognized

Sorbian settlement area hsb, Serbski sydlenski rum, dsb, Serbski sedleński rum, image_map=File:Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet.png, subdivision_type1=Country, subdivision_name1=Germany, subdivision_type2=State, subdivision_name2=Saxony, subdivision_type3=State, subdivision ...

in Saxony.

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as "Wendish", is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, which is today part of Saxony. It is grouped in the West Slavic language branch, together ...

has an official status next to German, all villages bear names in both languages.

Administration

During the 1990s there were municipal reforms in Saxony to make the administration more effective and less expensive. In that time Schleife was joined by the two villages of Mulkwitz and Rohne, and the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Schleife'', based on the parish of Schleife, was established. The parish of Schleife consists of eight villages, except for Lieskau the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Schleife'' is formed by them: Lieskau is a special case, it is located in the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

. Since 2003 it belongs to the town of Spremberg.

Sorbian culture

Schleife lies within the Sorbian habitat and marks the centre of the smallest dialect of Uppersorbian language, the

Schleifer dialect The Schleifer dialect ( wen, Slepjanska narěč) is a transitional dialect of the Upper and Lower Sorbian languages spoken in the Schleife region. Among the Sorbian dialects, the Schleifer dialect is most closely related to the , whose language ...

(''Schleifer Dialekt''). It is used in Schleife and the surrounding seven villages of the parish of Schleife (''Schleifer Kirchspiel''). Today it is only used by a small fraction of its inhabitants but there are efforts to reestablish it as a second mother tongue. The language is taught in one of the kindergartens ('' Witaj'' project) and in local school. Old Slavic traditions and festivals are celebrated - by individuals and by groups and organizations like the ''Sorbisches Folkloreensemble Schleife''. In the municipality there is a museum of the Sorbs.

Notable Natives

* Kito Lorenc: Sorbian-German writer, lyric poet and translator.

References

External links

Official website
(German)
Website of the "Sorbisches Folkloreensemble Schleife"
(German) {{Authority control Populated places in Görlitz (district)