Portal:Low Saxon

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Moin Moin and welcome in the portal on the Low Saxon or Low German language!

distribution area of the language (today, in Central Europe)

Low Saxon, also called Low German and in Low Saxon itself Plattdüütsch or Nedersaksisch is the language of northern parts of Germany, the Netherlands and many other regions in the world, where people from aforementioned regions settled. Those places include the US, Canada, Russia, Mexico, Brazil and some other countries in Southern America and elsewhere. Low Saxon has a rich history as a written language, going back till the 8th century. But even before it was spoken and was the base for the Anglo-Saxon language, which evolved into today's English language.

From the 8th century there are some writings left. But the time, when Low Saxon flourished the most, was the late Middle Ages. Low Saxon was the language of the mighty Hanseatic League, which was a leading alliance of traders in the North and Baltic Seas region. Low Saxon in this time had massive impact on the surrounding languages. Some scholars consider around 50% of the word pool of Scandinavian languages like Danish, Norwegian and Swedish as being of Low Saxon origin. Other languages such as English, Estonian, Icelandic, German and Russian experienced an influx of Low Saxon words. This time ended abruptly when the Hanseatic League dissolved and the Lutheran Bible made High German the liturgical language of the Low Saxon areas. Low Saxon was the language of the folks, but German was the language of the upper class and the church.

In the west a portion of the Low Saxon area got under Dutch influence. Only in the 19th century Low Saxon gained new status as a literary language with the writings of Fritz Reuter, Klaus Groth and others. Today Low Saxon is a language contending for recognition. It was recognized by Germany and the Netherlands by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1998, but remains a neglected language.

With Mennonite settlement and European emigration to the Americas the language spread to settings outside Middle Europe in the course of the 18th and 19th century. The Pomeranian and Prussian dialects of Low Saxon vanished with the expulsion of Germans from regions occupied by Poland after World War II. The dialects in Germany are struggling with increasing loss of speakers cause of language neglect and languid recognition, which depletes the language's usefulness in a world of modern mass media.

Important Writers:

Fritz Reuter (1810-1874) • Klaus Groth (1819-1899) • Johann Bellmann (1930-2006) • Gorch Fock (1880-1916) • John Brinckman (1814-1870) • Hermann Boßdorf (1877-1921) • Wolfgang Sieg (* 1936) • Rudolf Kinau (1887-1975) • Augustin Wibbelt (1862-1947) • Fritz Stavenhagen (1876-1906) • Johann Hinrich Fehrs (1838-1916) • Wilhelmine Siefkes (1890-1984) • Georg Droste (1866-1935) • Johann Hinrich Voß (1751-1826)

Important Works:

Heliand (~825) • Sassenspegel (~1220) • Seelentrost (14th century) • Reynke de Vos (1498) • Bugenhagen Bible (1528) • Low German Bible (1614) • Quickborn (1847) • Ut de Franzosentid (1860) • Ut mine Stromtid (1862) • Kasper Ohm un ick (1868) • Ottjen Alldag (1913) • Lüttjepütt (1983)