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title: "The traditional Minorities in the Border Region"
url: "https://www.bbb-tourguide.eu/en/article/the-traditional-minorities-in-the-border-region"
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The traditional Minorities in the Border Region
===============================================

- Redaktioneller Artikel
- Culture

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The German-minded population in Sønderjylland (South Jutland), Denmark, formed a German minority in 

1920. They named their part of the country Nordschleswig (North Schleswig), and the 10-15,000 members 

label themselves „Nordschleswiger“. Their main organisation is the *Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger.* This 

federation represents the minority's associations and their kindergartens, recreation centres, libraries, schools, 

the grammar school, the church, the political party *Schleswigsche Partei*, and the newspaper *Der

*Nordschleswiger*. 

The Danish-minded people in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, call their homeland between the Danish-

German border and the Eider River „Sydslesvig“, and refer to themselves as „sydslesvigere“ or simply 

Danes. They organised themselves in 1920 as a Danish minority, which today comprises 40-50,000 

members. The minority has several own associations - including the *Sydslesvigsk Forening* (SSF) and, for 

young people, the *Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger* (SdU) - as well as kindergartens, schools, two 

grammar schools, recreational homes, libraries, churches, the *SSW* political party and the *Flensborg Avis*

newspaper. 

In the Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations of 1955, the German and Danish governments grant these two 

minorities the free choice of national affiliation, culture, and language. 

Approximately 50,000 North Frisians live on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein and on the offshore 

islands. They are recognised as a minority in the Schleswig-Holstein constitution. The *Nordfriesischer Verein*

(North Frisian Association) works to preserve and maintain the North Frisian language, culture, and nature, 

while the *Friisk Foriining* advocates equal rights for North Frisian language in Germany. The minority also 

runs the *Nordfriisk Instituut*, whose research mainly focuses on North Frisian culture, history, and language. 

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