Chronology of the History of the Sorb

6th century
In the course of the migrations of peoples, Slavonic tribes settle in the area between the Baltic Sea and the central low mountain ranges, between the Elbe and Saale in the West and the Bobr (Bober) and Kwisa (Queis) in the East.

631
The Sorbs as »Surbi« are first mentioned in Fredegar's chronicle.

932
Henry I subdues the Sorbian tribes of the Lusizi and the Milceni.

939
The Margrave Gero has thirty Slav Princes killed at a feast. Consequently, many uprisings of the Slavs break out.

1100–1300
Improvements in agriculture bring about an increase of population and the development in the cultivation of land in both Lusatias. With the coming of the Franconian, Flemish, Thuringian and Saxon peasants to the area east of the Saale, the assimilation process of the Sorbs accelerates mainly in what is to become West Saxony.

about 1327
The use of the Sorbian language at law courts is forbidden at Altenburg, Zwickau and Leipzig. The territory of the compact Sorbian settlement diminishes further eastwards.

about 1530
The oldest known Sorbian text – the Bautzen Burghers' Oath (of allegiance to the Czech Crown) is written down.

1548
Mikławš Jakubica – a priest in Laubnitz/Lower Lusatia (today's Lubanica in Poland) – finishes the first translation of the New Testament into the (Lower) Sorbian language. (It was not published until 1967).

1574
The first Sorbian book is printed. It is Albin Moller's »Sorbian Hymnbook« in Lower Sorbian also containing Luther's »Little Catechism«.

1635
The territory of Upper and Lower Lusatia is ceded as a hereditary fiefdom to the Elector of Saxony.

about 1650
Due to the devastating effects of the Thirty Years' War, the plague and other epidemic diseases, the territory occupied by the Sorbs further diminishes; nearly half of the Sorbian population dies.

1667
Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, orders that all Sorbian literature be immediately destroyed and Sorbian banned in churches.

1668
The predominantly Protestant Estates of Upper Lusatia begin to support the publication of Sorbian religious works.

1688
Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik starts to translate the Old and the New Testaments for the Catholic Sorbs, which he finishes in 1707. (The manuscript in five volumes has never been printed.)

1706
The Šimon brothers establish a foundation for the setting up of the Wendish Seminary in Prague. (It provided the education for young Sorbian Catholic clergy until 1922).

1706/1709
The New Testament, translated into the Upper Sorbian language by Michał Frencel and into the Lower Sorbian language by Bogumił Fabricius, is printed.

1716
Sorbian students of Protestant theology form their own Sorbian Preachers' Society in Leipzig.

1767
Jurij Mjeń lays the foundations of the Sorbian secular poetic tradition in his most notable work, a noble hymn to the Sorbian language (»Serbskeje rěče zamóženje a chwalba w rěčerskim kěrlišu« The Power and praise of the Sorbian language in a noble hymn).

1815
The Vienna Congress reorganizes the Sorbian settlement area; Lower Lusatia and northeastern Upper Lusatia become part of Prussia. Due to this arrangement the Sorbian population is in almost all regions put in the position of a minority. In the following years, because of various decrees and activities of the German clergy and teachers in the Sorbian-speaking areas, Sorbian further retreats from public life.
The use of Sorbian in some school subjects is enshrined in the new education law passed by the Saxon parliament.

1841/1843
Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt publish the two-volume collection of »Pjesnicki hornych a delnych Łužiskich Serbow / Volkslieder der Wenden in der Ober- und Nieder-Lausitz« (Folksongs of the Wends in Upper and Lower Lusatia).

1842
Sorbian press begins to appear periodically. Handrij Zejler, the poet of the Sorbian national movement (the first half of the 19th century), founds the »Tydźenska Nowina«, the predecessor of the daily »Serbske Nowiny« which has been coming out until today. (The first printed Sorbian newspaper appears in 1790, between 1809 and 1812 a monthly is published by Jan Dejka).

1845
The first Sorbian choral festival is held in Bautzen.

1847
The scientific and cultural organization Maćica Serbska as the first all-Sorbian association is formed.

1848
In the »Wulka próstwa Serbow« (A great petition of the Sorbs), 5,000 heads of Sorbian households ask the King of Saxony's Court to grant the Sorbian language equality in schools, churches, administration, and law courts. Sorbian peasants form associations and in furt her petitions they stress their social demands.

1854
The first emigration wave of the Sorbs to Texas and Australia reaches a peak.

1875
Under the leadership of Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, later to become a classic of Sorbian literature, and of Arnošt Muka, one of the representatives of Sorbian academic research in the coming fifty years, the Young Sorbians' movement is formed. Through art and culture, literature and science, it significantly helps to enhance Sorbian national consciousness. In Crostwitz (Chrósćicy), university and grammar school students organize their first meeting (the Schadźowanka – the assembly); since then it has been held every year. In Lower Lusatia, the greatest literary achievement is Mato Kosyk's work; students gather around Bogumił Šwjela and form the Lower Sorbian movement.

end of 19th century
The industrialisation of Lusatia brings along remarkable economic development as well as great immigration. In Prussia and Saxony, within the newly united Germany, a strong anti-Sorbian course sets in.

1904
The Sorbian House, built entirely out of resources raised from the Sorbs, is opened in Bautzen. It becomes the symbol of Sorbian vitality and the centre of their culture.

1912
Sorbian associations set up an umbrella organization called the Domowina.

1919–1932
The Constitution of the Weimar Republic guarantees free development to non-German ethnic groups. (Its implementation, however, had never been incorporated into adequate laws.)

1925
In Berlin, Jan Skala founds the journal of the Union of National Minority Groups the »Kulturwille« (»Kulturwehr« since 1926) pleading the rights of the Poles, Danes, Frisians, Lithuanians, and Sorbs living in Germany.

1933–1937
Sorbian organizations resist the Nazi assimilation pressures; arrests, repressive measures and bans follow.

1937
A ban is imposed on the right of the Domowina and other Sorbian organizations to assemble. All language and culture activities are considered to be hostile to the state.In the Nazi period Sorbian teachers, clergy of both denominations, and other intellectuals are banished from Lusatia. The publication of newspapers and books has to cease, the Sorbian House, the publishing house, the printing house, the bookshop and the museum are closed down and expropriated; later, the archives and the library of the Maćica Serbska are confiscated.

1945
On May 10th, the Domowina is newly reconstituted in Crostwitz (Chrósćicy) and immediately recognized as a democratic organization by the occupation authorities.

1948
The Parliament of Saxony passes the Law for the Protection of the Sorbian Population's Rights. A similar statute is enacted in Brandenburg in 1950. In accordance with the Constitution of the GDR, a number of statutory provisions is added later.

1948–1958
Due to substantial financial assistance from the state, many institutions are set up promoting Sorbian culture and research (these include, e.g. a theatre, folk ensemble, research and university institutes, a teachers' training institution and a publishing house). Simultaneously however, these institutions are gradually made to promote the monopoly of power of the SED party among the Sorbs.

1966–1989
Achievements in culture are highlighted at Festivals of Sorbian Culture which serve to boost the image of the GDR's policy towards national minority groups.

1989
In autumn, the Sorbian National Assembly calls for a dialogue with the state and demands a new political orientation of the Domowina.

1990–1992
Sorbian organizations, associations and institutions are established or re-established; among others the Domowina, Maćica Serbska, Sorbian Schools Association, Cyril-Methodius Association, Union of Sorbian Artists, Association of Sorbian Choirs, Sorbian Institute, Sorbian Further Education College of Social Pedagogy.

1991
The Federal Goverment, the Free State of Saxony and the State of Brandenburg jointly set up the Foundation for the Sorbian Nation whose task it is to provide support to and promote the development of the Sorbian language, culture and research. The Foundation is a body dependent on the State Office of the government of Saxony.

1994
The parliament in Brandenburg passes the »Law for Promoting the Rights of the Sorbs/Wends in the State of Brandenburg«.

1997
The Foundation for the Sorbian Nation is transferred into the reference of the Ministry of Science and Art of Saxony. At the same time, steps are being taken towards providing the Foundation with an indepen dent legal status.

E da ne greješim dušu postoji iz WWI jedan srpski general koji je došao iz Lužica i Kralj mu dao visok čin, e to je herojstvo bilo da u to vrijeme dođe iz osinjeg gnijezda i udari protiv svojih komšija i stane uz svoju braću sa kojom nikad u istoriji nismo imali neke značajne odnose , a ni sad ne pokazujemo interes! Recimo njihova djeca dolaze u  naše porodice, a naša u njihove, kao što smo sa Grcima radaili, pa kulturna razmjena i vidimo kako će to ići!