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L O <span>W L A</span> N D S - L - <span>21 June 2011</span> - Volume 04</font><br><font style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span>lowlands.list@gmail.com</span></a>
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==============================</font><font style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">=======================</font></div><br><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt">From: <span class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color:#5b1094">Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc.</span> <span class="go"><a href="mailto:roger.thijs@euro-support.be">roger.thijs@euro-support.be</a></span></span></p>
Subject: <span class="gI">LL-L "Culture" 2011.06.21 (02) [EN]</span><br><br><div>Today and yesterday I was for a customer in Saarbrücken.</div>
<div>Yesterday at noon I had some free time and I used the opportunity to cross
the border and have a short visit to Forbach in France, just a few miles
South.</div>
<div>Forbach reputedly still is in in the Rheinfränkisch (Lothringisch) regional
language area.</div>
<div><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinfr%C3%A4nkisch" target="_blank">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinfränkisch</a></div>
<div><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbach_%28Moselle%29" target="_blank">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbach_(Moselle)</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>A total view on Franconian languages is at:</div>
<div><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A4nkische_Sprachen" target="_blank">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fränkische_Sprachen</a></div>
<div>I wunder whether this map makes sense - except for an element of the name -
since it combines Low German with Middle German.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I toured the main streets downtown Forbach:</div>
<div>no Rheinfränkisch, no German, only French I heard.</div>
<div>I toured the restaurants of Forbach: all "petite restauration" and
"restauration rapide" restaurants were kebab eateries.</div>
<div>I needed to have a check of my French Orange GSM: exept for myself,
in the Orange shop I saw only North-African looking staff and
customers.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>A bit of history: the area originally belonged to Germany.</div>
<div>A large part of Lothringen (the "3 bishoprics", including Metz) became
French in 1648 (Treaty of Westphalia).</div>
<div>Some borderline corrections were done in 1815 (Vienna treaty)</div>
<div>The Northen area became German in 1871.</div>
<div>Cultural cleaning followed after the take-over.</div>
<div>The Northen area became French in 1914.</div>
<div>Cultural cleaning followed after the take-over.</div>
<div>The Northen area was occupied by Germany in 1940</div>
<div>Cultural cleaning followed after the take-over</div>
<div>The Northen area became French again in 1945.</div>
<div>Cultural cleaning followed after the take-over.</div>
<div>This was followed by a strong immigration from the French colonies.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Although I still have some local Lothringish language stuff inhouse, in the
main town Forbach nothing of that language is visible nor audible.</div>
<div>The only German I saw were German looking names on the shields of some
lawyers and some physicans.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>On the overside of the border, in Saarbrücken, the plant with about 1000
workers I visited had no French personnel.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>When returning home today in the late afternoon through the Grand
Duchy, the motoway A13 was blocked and my GPS deviated me North from
Schengen-Perl to Remich, and from there over local roads to the Luxemburg
Ring.</div>
<div>Name shields of the municipalities are in French with, in small characters,
a subscript with the Lëtzebuergish version. Nowhere a single word of
German.</div>
<div>Before leaving the Grand Duchy, I stopped in Capellen (clearly for a full
gas filling primarely), had some snacks and did some shopping. Everywhere I
spoke German, everywhere the replies I got were French only.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>So clearly exclusive language use is part of the cultural behaviour.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Regards,</div>
<div>Roger<br></div><br><p style="text-align:center" align="center"><font style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">==============================</font><font style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">===========================<br>
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