February 2006

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THE DANISH MINORITY IN GERMANY CELEBRATES THE LANGUAGE DAY

February 2006 – February 9th was the Danish language day in the German region of Sonderjylland/Schleswig. This region bordering Denmark is nowadays a part of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, and has been for the past centuries an object of dispute between the two countries. It suffered two wars during the XIX century, which resulted in the cession of the territory of Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia. However, after the First World War, in 1920, a referendum was held in the northern region of Schleswig and the territory rejoined Denmark, while the southern part remained in Germany. In 1955 the so-called Bonn and Copenhagen Declarations were signed, the main document that aims at protecting the rights of the Danish minority in Germany and the German minority in Denmark.

During the celebration of the Danish language day, Anke Spoorendonk, president of the parliamentary group SSW (Südschleswigsche Wählerverband) explained that the command of the German and Danish languages is a requisite so that the people of the region can work and live closer together, and that the lack of knowledge of Danish in the German side is what prevents a bigger and more transcendent development across borders. According to Sporrendonk, for German people the knowledge of the Danish language is not only an open door to the job market in Denmark, but also the key to a closer work with the northern neighbours and to a cultural understanding between the German majority and the Danish minority.”

The president of the Schleswig-Holstein Green Party, Anne Lütkes, explained that the language is an essential element for an understanding between both communities, more work mobility and economic integration. As the number of German Danish-speakers is lower than that of Danish German-speakers, Lütkes proposed to promote the teaching of Danish in the regional schools as part of their curriculum. The president of the Schleswig-Holstein Parliament, Martin Kayenburg, also attended some of the events commemorating the Danish language day.