The Sorbs in the Slepo / Schleife Region

Witajće k nam!

'Welcome' is the greeting extended to guests in the parish of Schleife. The precise location of the Schleife region is in the north-west part of the Muskau Heath, in the north-easternmost part of the Free State of Saxony. In this part of Central Lusatia the originality and individuality of Sorbian folklore have survived to the present day. The region consists of seven villages: Schleife (in Sorbian Slepo), Rohne (Rowno), Mulkwitz (Mulkecy), Mühlrose (Miłoraz), Trebendorf (Trjebin), Halbendorf (Brězowka), and Groß-Düben (Dźěwin).

Owing to its sandy soil this was always the poorest part of Lusatia. Here the Sorbian national costume has survived in its purest form and colour. It is the most harmonic and individual of the four costumes still worn today. But the Schleife region is also in folk-music, traditions, dialect, village architecture, and austere landscape one of the most original Sorbian regions. Especially attractive are the traditional songs and dances played by the Schleife musicians on the bagpipes (in Sorbian dudy, kozoł, or měchawa), the three-stringed little fiddle and the Sorbian big fiddle (in Sorbian huslički, fidle, or husle).

Shrove Tuesday without the traditional dressing up as bears (symbol of the winter), storks, horses (symbol of the spring), chimney-sweeps (who drive out the spirits of winter), policemen (symbolizing the authorities), and the famous egg-woman (standing for the gifts of the shrove-tide banquet) would be unthinkable. Similarly essential to Easter observances are the Easter singing in Rohne and the artistic decoration of easter eggs, which in recent years has experienced a real renaissance.

But also witch-burning, erecting may-trees, summer village festivals with processions, church-fair cakes, roast geese, and in Advent the masked girl, known in Sorbian as the dźěćetko, enrich the local folklore throughout the year. The Schleife region offers interesting destinations for excursions. The Sorbian Room (serbska śpa) in Rohne, a typical Schleife peasant room, is known far and wide. The high tip (Hochkippe) with its area of recultivation near Mulkwitz, the zoo at Trebendorf, and the Halbendorf lake offer good opportunties for relaxation.

Lenka Nowak, former Deputy President of the Domowina

Further information, including bookings to visit the Sorbian Peasant Room in Rohne, may be obtained from:
Gemeindeamt Rohne
Trebendorfer Weg 22a
02959 Rowno / Rohne
tel. 035773 / 79 90