Having read all the discourse on Plattdeutsch, and especially the comments of Uwe Schaerff concerning the tour of Low German communities, I am compelled to comment. I was pleased that Uwe mentioned a stop in Cole Camp, Missouri. That is my home and from where I write tonight. In this regard let me point out that we present a Low German Theater each year in early October. It is written and performed by our Low German speakers. Should anyone be interested I invited you to check our web site at www.colecampmissouri.com. The story and pictures are there.
Our German community was established in the 1840s and 50s, with a second wave after the Civil War. Virtually all came from the area of Bremervoerde, mainly south although some of families came from north of Bremvervoerde, such as mine, which came from Ottendorf (Ostendorf) and Gräpel. They maintained the pure language of the mid 1800s while Low German in Germany evolved. Germans visiting us find this unique as our people still speak the old"language. This was presented in a Master's Thesis by Hella Albers, of Zeven.
Now to the Language. The term "Low"German undoubtedly comes from the description of the geographic areas where the language was paramount; the northern coast of Germany. It comes from the Old Saxon and evolved into the Low German of today. It somewhat parallels Frisian as the Frisians preceded the Saxons in moving down from the Danish peninsula and into what became Holland and parts of Belgium. Saxons stayed put where they are located today and planted their language. When the Saxons invaded/settled England they took their language with them and hence the British are Anglo-Saxons. And Old English is very much akin to Old Saxon, or Low German. This can be seen in reading (or trying to read) Beowulf in the original.
There is a common thread in the Low German from Prussia to Saxony and Friesland but with regional differences which would have evolved because of the limited travel and communication centuries ago. Still it was a viable language and the first known code of German laws, the Sachsenspiegel, is written in the Low German of the times. And Bibles were written in Low German. In fact, one is on display in the museum of the Wartburg in Eisenach, where Luther translated the Bible into what became High German. And the Low German Bible predates Luther's version. And it can be noted that the primary language of the Hanseatic League was Low German.
Luther's High German was based on what was known as Kanzlei Deutsch, or German of the Chancellery. While various versions and dialects were spoken in different areas of Germany they found it necessary to have a common language to use in government relations and business.
The Low German extended as far south as Berlin and the Berliner dialect of today reveals its Low German heritage.
Here I talk like I think I know something about Low German and I don't even speak it. I speak only High German but can somewhat follow Low German.
And if I may promote another bit of German culture and heritage we offer in Cole Camp we have an annual Sängerfest, or Singers Festival. This year, in addition to our own Männerchor, Damenchor and Kinderchor, we will be joined by a group from Tulsa, OK, three groups from St. Louis and one from Kansas City. It will be on June 21 and offers a great cultural event. Come join us. There is food and libation.
I hope I have not gotten out of line with promoting Cole Camp but we are doing quite well in preserving our German heritage.
Bob Owens (Please forgive my non-German name but I am still very German.)