The German language in the Czech Republic is distributed locally in certain areas. Today, the German-speaking minority in the Czech Republic is only about 40 thousand people, which is less than half a percent of the total population of the Czech Republic . Mostly this population includes the remnants of Sudeten Germans who managed to avoid exile after World War II . German dialects , widespread in Bohemia until the second half of the 20th century and united by the concept of prager-deutch , are considered historical and no longer exist on the territory of the Czech Republic.
Today, the number of German speakers in the Czech Republic is gradually decreasing, due to the active assimilation of the Czech language . New generations - the descendants of Sudeten Germans living in the Czech Republic, almost do not speak German, although bilingualism is found, it is becoming less and less common from year to year.
After 1990, the very expression "Sudeten Germans" is practically not used. Instead, they say "Czech Germans" or "Germans in the Czech Republic" ( German: Deutsche in Tschechien ). Since that time, the Germans again acquired some rights, among which the right to freely use the German language. Since 1990, German organizations have been established, among which are the " Land Assembly of Germans of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia " and the " Cultural Union of German Citizens ". Despite the fact that the German-speaking infrastructure is very poorly developed (there are no kindergartens, schools, etc.), German-language newspapers are published in the Czech Republic, such as Landeszeitung der Deutschen in Böhmen, Mähren und Schlesien or Prager Zeitung ( German. Prager Zeitung ).
According to the declaration made by the Czech Republic upon ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , the German language in the Czech Republic is recognized as a minority language, but the Czech Republic was not obligated to provide any functions [1] .
Notes
See also
- Prague German
- German
Links
- Kulturverband der Bürger deutscher Nationalität in der ČR / Kulturní sdružení občanů německé národnosti ČR (German) . Date of treatment January 12, 2012. Archived May 18, 2012.
- Landesversammlung der Deutschen in Böhmen, Mähren und Schlesien / Shromáždění Němců v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku (German) . Date of treatment January 12, 2012. Archived May 18, 2012.
- Peter Josika. Mehrsprachig: Ein Faktor der Versöhnung. Mit dem Aufstellen zweisprachiger Ortsschilder tut sich Tschechien schwer (German) (21. 8. 2007). Date of treatment January 12, 2012. Archived May 18, 2012.
- Obyvatelstvo podle národnosti (Czech) (inaccessible link) . Český statistický úřad. Date of treatment January 12, 2012. Archived May 18, 2012.