Von „unseren Schlesischen Alpen“ zur Euroregion – die Sudeten als Grenzgebirge einst und heute
From “Our Silesian Alps” to the Euroregion – The Sudetes as a Border Mountain Range Then and Now

Author(s): Jan Pacholski
Subject(s): Language studies, Regional Geography, Sociolinguistics, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Društvo germanista u Bosni i Hercegovini (DGuBiH) / Germanistenverband in Bosnien-Herzegowina (GViBH)
Keywords: Sudetes; Giant Mountains; history; border; language; literature;
Summary/Abstract: The Sudetes and their highest mountain range, the Giant Mountains (German: Riesengebirge, Czech: Krkonoše, Polish: Karkonosze), form a natural border between Bohemia and Silesia, and today serve as the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. This paper presents the history of this border, from the Middle Ages through the early modern period to the Enlightenment. During this time, the border was not a language boundary, but it still played an important dividing role. In recent times, it has become the Czech-Polish language border, yet it now seems to unite rather than divide. The conclusion is that the language border does not always divide more than a political one.

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