18 May 2006
Germans of Slovenia demand official recognition
by Peter Josika
On the 10th of May 2006 the umbrella organisation of the German minority in Slovenia, "the Association of German cultural Organisations in Slovenia", sent a formal letter of request to the government demanding official recognition. A copy was also sent to the Austrian embassy in Ljubljana. The minority also appealed for Austrian government support to achieve this objective.
The list of demands covers various areas, including collective protection against hate speech; more German language education; the use of German in public- including speech, signs, inscriptions and monuments; the participation of the German minority in EU projects involving Slovenia; and to also secure funding for German minority organisations and their media. Another major area of concern mentioned in the letter is the preservation of Kocevje/Gottschee German, an archaic Austro-Bavarian dialect in extreme danger of extinction.
Slovenia is generally considered exemplary for their minority legislation, particularly compared to other former communist countries. However, the Slovene state has so far only extended minority rights to Italians and Hungarians, but not the Germans - historically the largest minority.
Slovenian officials argue that the number of German speakers is insufficient for official minority status. Critics say that Slovenia is in fact already recognising bilingualism based on linguistic heritage rather than the current percentage of minority speakers. The largest officially bilingual city of Slovenia, Koper/Capodistria, for example, has less than 3% of Italian speakers left.
August Gril, President of the Association of German Organisations in Slovenia, proposes to extend already existing legislation to the German minority. "Our status may be regulated in various different ways, however, we believe it easiest to apply current proven and tested mechanisms that Italians and Hungarians already use", Gril says.
At the end of World War II the German minority of Slovenia became the scapegoat for four years of Nazi occupation. This led to enormous anti-German sentiment, culminating in the expropriation and expulsion of tens of thousands of Germans from modern day Slovenia. Most of those that remained had no other option but to assimilate.
Although the post-War mistreatment and expulsion of Germans remain largely taboo issues to this day, there are an increasing number of Slovene historians that are re-evaluating the post-War period and call for gestures of reconciliation. They point to the fact that the Germans in Slovenia were largely innocent locals that have been robbed of their livelihood and identity as a result of political developments they themselves had little influence on.
The expelled former Germans of Slovenia in Austria, under the umbrella of the VLÖ, support the demands of the German Slovenes. They consider the recognition of German heritage in Slovenia as an important step towards European reconciliation, but also a formal recognition of their own roots and history.
Most of the remaining Germans in Slovenia live in and around Maribor/Marburg in Stajerska/Unterteiermark as well as the Kocevje/Gottschee area where Germans constituted the local majority until the 1940s. (Eurolang 2006)
Organisation of Gottschee/Kocevje Germans in Slovenia, in Slovene, German and English http://www.gottscheer.net
The letter of demand by the German Slovenes, on the website of the VLÖ, in German http://www.vloe.at/presse/berichte/2006/aus2006008.htm
Article on the website of the Slovene govt covering a meeting between Slovene and Austrian officials with Slovene and Austrian minority representatives, including Mr Gril, in March http://www.up-rs.si