TRDININA KRITIKA ŠVAPČARENJA U VARAŽDINU
TRDINA'S CRITICISM OF EXCESSIVE AND UNNECESSARY USAGE OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN VARAŽDIN

Summary/Abstract: In 1853, Janez Trdina arrived in Varaždin wishing to oppose the Germanisation by teaching the youth in the national language; however, very soon he had to face the fact that the majority of Varaždin people, intellectuals in particular, used the German language, not only in their workplace, but also in everyday speech situations when natives talked to each other. The young Slovenian teacher and proponent of the national language criticised the language phenomena and called out the supporters of the national movement on it, pointing out that they had fought against the usage of the Latin and Hungarian language, and now, instead in their mother tongue, they spoke in German whenever they had an opportunity. Namely, Trdina found it a shame that only five years after the uprising of Croats for their language, in Varaždin citizens avoided speaking in Croatian, and that it was a custom of Varaždin noble people to speak in German. Thus, he criticised them directly, not caring about the consequences. Varaždin people themselves became aware of the fact that the German language dominated their town only forty years after Trdina had left Varaždin. Therefore, he can be considered the forerunner of the criticism of the unnecessary and excessive usage of the German language by Varaždin people.

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