Silesian German language

Silesian German is a nearly extinct German dialect once spoken in Silesia. It is also known as Lower Silesian to distinguish it from the West Slavic Silesian language, the regional Polish variety characteristic of Upper Silesia further east. Its name in German is Schlesisch or locally Schläsisch or Slä'sch. It is part of the East Central German language area with some Polish or Czech influences. Silesian German emerged as the result of Late Medieval German migration to Silesia, 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. 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.