Event organised by the Landesheimatbund Sachsen-Anhalt e. V. and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Lecture by Dr Franziska Buchmann (University of Oldenburg) on the topic:
"The relevance of writing and writing in Low German mediation between regional centres and periphery."

12 November 2024, 9:00-16:00

Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Following its foundation in October last year, the Low German Forum has planned a small evening event to mark its first birthday this year. On 17 October 2024 , together with the "Slamquadrat" association, we are inviting you to a High & Low German poetry slam at the Unikum at 7 pm.

Tickets for the poetry slam can be purchased online via the QR link on the poster or in the "Stube".

The 23rd Schoolmesterdag will take place in Wietze on 26 September 2024. Dr Franziska Buchmann will give a lecture on the topic: "Low German as a school and study subject in Lower Saxony - status quo, challenges, consequences".

The presence of written language in the public sphere is the subject of the relatively young research field of "linguistic landscape", which has received increasing linguistic attention in recent decades. Of particular interest are studies in multilingual regions or cities where different languages are spoken. Striking examples include Basque and Spanish in the Basque Country or Frisian and Dutch in the province of Fryslân, which coexist as official languages - and often compete with each other.

A similar situation can be found in northern Germany with the coexistence of regional Low German and the standard language High German. Around 2.5 million people in Germany speak Low German and around 12 million understand it. However, the language is often only used in private, not in public, so that the bilingualism often remains hidden. The situation is different when the language appears in written form in public: among many other aspects, this is also an indicator of the spread, acceptance and vitality of languages.

So how is the public visibility of Low German organised and perceived? Where and in what contexts does this happen and what effects can it have? Students of German studies specialising in Low German and Sater Frisian at the University of Oldenburg have investigated these questions and documented numerous examples of the various functions and forms of Low German text signs in the linguistic landscape in and around Oldenburg as part of a seminar on the subject.

A selection of the most interesting results of this survey will be presented in the exhibition "Low German in the Linguistic Landscape of Northwest Germany" on 27 May, 5 to 6 pm, as part of the pop-up store "Uni findet Stadt" with an introductory lecture. The contact person for the exhibition is Gabriele Diekmann-Dröge, lecturer at the Institute for German Studies at the University of Oldenburg (gabriele.diekmann-droege@uni-oldenburg.de).