The association Serbski Sokoł ('Sorbian falcon') is the umbrella organization of Sorbian sports associations. It originated in the Slavic

Sokol movement The Sokol movement (, ) is an all-age gymnastics organization founded in Prague in the Czech lands of Austria-Hungary in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of "Mens sana in corpore sano, a strong mind ...

and still feels connected with these ideals. It was founded in 1993, resuming the activity of its eponymous predecessor from the era of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. The main goal of Serbski Sokoł is to promote popular sports among Sorbs. Today, the association organizes competitions in different team sports and takes part in international Sokol unions. It had its own magazine called ''Sokołske listy'' 1994 to 2006.

History

The first Sorbian Sokoł unit (sorb. ''jednota'') in Germany was founded 1920 in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

. Its inspiration was the Czechoslovak Sokol movement. In 1924, the first association meeting took place in Panschwitz-Kuckau. The first president was Jan Skala. Until 1931, the movement spread across the

Sorbian settlement area The Sorbian settlement area ( , , ; in Brandenburg officially ''Siedlungsgebiet der Sorben/Wenden'') commonly makes reference to the area in the east of Saxony and the South of Brandenburg in which the West Slavs, West Slavic people of the Sorbs ...

with new units being founded in various Sorbian villages and cities. The association fostered Sorbian nationalism and encouraged Sorbs to do sports. Serbski Sokoł started to participate in Allslavic Sokol unions in Czechoslovakia and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Parts of the Catholic clergy had mixed feelings about Serbski Sokoł since it facilitated close contact between Catholic and Protestant members and because the Czechoslovak Sokol was judged to be anti-church. Therefore, Serbski Sokoł was split into a Catholic and a protestand section in 1930. Serbski Sokoł dissolved in 1933, while a decree to prohibit the association was already in preparation. The Eastern German government too did not approve of its revitalization in 1949. After its reestablishment in 1993, Serbski Sokoł took part in the 1994 12th Allsokol-Union in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

with about onehundert sportsmen. In 1996, it became a part of Domowina. Since then, Serbski Sokoł has its main office in the

Serbski dom The Serbski dom (, 'House of the Sorbs') is an administrative building on Postplatz 2 in Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. It is the cultural and political center of the Sorbian people. It was built between 1947 and 1956. It is the seat of Domowina and t ...

References

External links

Serbski Sokoł
Sports organizations established in 1993 Sports governing bodies in Germany Sorbian culture

History

References

Further reading

External links