Low German (school subject)

Low German is a school subject in the northern German states Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bremen. In these states, it is part of Compulsory elective area, but in Bremen only as part of a pilot project. In Lower Saxony, Low German is partly integrated into the teaching of other subjects, there is no separate school subject. In North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, the northern parts of which belong to the Low German language area, there are voluntary Low German courses, mainly in the form of working groups. Low German is not taught across the board in any of the federal states; it is only offered at individual schools in the northern German states. In the Netherlands Low German is not generally given as a school subject, though the law gives the opportunity to teach in Low German alongside Standard Dutch. Occasionally Low German might be mentioned or being basically taught primarily on primary school and high school, especially during school subjects handling culture.

Low German has only been taught as a school subject for a few years, after the language had rapidly lost importance and was threatened with extinction. As the passing on of Low German as a mother tongue in the parental homes has now almost completely ceased, schools are now seen as the place where the language can be preserved. A decisive trigger for the establishment of Low German as a school subject was the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which was ratified by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1998 and came into force in 1999. In addition to the languages of national minorities (Danish, Sorbian, Frisian and Romanes), Low German was also included in the group of Charter languages as a regional language. The Language Charter forms the international legal framework for language policy in Germany. The signatory states commit themselves to protect and promote regional and minority languages. The concrete measures agreed include, for example, making it possible to teach and study the respective language at university. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, the protection and promotion of Low German has also had constitutional status since 1993 and 1998 respectively. The constitution of the state of Schleswig-Holstein also expressly provides for the teaching of Low German in public schools.

Hamburg was the first federal state to introduce Low German as a regular school subject at individual elementary school in 2010, followed by Schleswig-Holstein and Bremen in 2014 and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2016. Since 2017, Low German has been an oral and written examination subject in the Abitur recognized by the Kultusministerkonferenz. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the only state so far to have introduced corresponding lessons at upper secondary level.