Genealogy /
Are Sorbs Polish? Does anyone know about Sorbish enthnicity? [62]
Personally, I am fine when East Germans admit to their ancient Slavic heritage as it may happen in various circles of society, but obviously not everywhere. The past history of those lands between the river Elbe and the river Oder is now entirely the responsibility of the German people living there who indeed have Slavic roots and genetically they are a mixture of ancient Slavs and German settlers. Theirs cultural and political identity, however, is entirely German (or East German for that matter) now.
In Mecklemburg-Pommern, for example, there exist fine reconstructions of ancient Slavic fortified settlements (which I have not visited yet, unfortunately). Nothing of the kind exist in Poland. Many German archeologists have been actively researching the Slavic past of East Germany and there are quite a number of informative books on that in German. On the more popular front, I can regularly see articles on the Slavic past in the "Berliner Zeitung" online edition, so there must be segments of readers who are interested. Also, there is an informative site in German on the Slavic past of the Ruegen island with plenty of info on the local dynasty of Wizlawiden run by a guy who now lives in Hamburg where I have found an interesting info that the last person who spoke the Slavic language there died in 1404.