Schleife

Schleife (German pronunciation: [ˈʃlaɪfə] ^ⓘ; Upper Sorbian: Slepo, pronounced [ˈslɛpɔ]) is a municipality of 3,000 in northern Görlitz district, northeast Saxony, Germany. It is the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Schleife (about 5,000 inhabitants).

Schleife Slepo
Municipality
Location of Schleife within Görlitz district
Schleife Show map of Germany Schleife Show map of Saxony
Coordinates: 51°32′N 14°32′E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Görlitz
Municipal assoc.	Schleife
Subdivisions	3
Government
• Mayor (2020–27)	Jörg Funda[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	41.87 km2 (16.17 sq mi)
Elevation	129 m (423 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[2]
• Total	2,531
• Density	60/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	02959
Dialling codes	035773
Vehicle registration	GR, LÖB, NOL, NY, WSW, ZI
Website	www.schleife-slepo.de

The municipality is part of the recognized Sorbian settlement area in Saxony. Upper Sorbian has an official status next to German, all villages bear names in both languages.

Administration

During the 1990s, there were municipal reforms in Saxony to make the administration more effective and less expensive. In that time, Schleife was joined by the two villages of Mulkwitz and Rohne, and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Schleife, based on the parish of Schleife, was established.

The parish of Schleife consists of eight villages, except for Lieskau the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Schleife is formed by them:

German name	Sorbian name	municipality
Groß Düben	Dźewin	Groß Düben
Halbendorf	Brězowka	Groß Düben
Lieskau	Lěsk
Mühlrose	Miłoraz	Trebendorf
Mulkwitz	Mułkecy	Schleife
Rohne	Rowne	Schleife
Schleife	Slepo	Schleife
Trebendorf	Trjebin	Trebendorf

Lieskau is a special case, it is located in the state of Brandenburg. Since 2003 it belongs to the town of Spremberg.

Sorbian culture

Schleife lies within the Sorbian habitat and marks the centre of the Schleifer dialect (Schleifer Dialekt) the small transitional dialect of the Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian languages. It is used in Schleife and the surrounding seven villages of the parish of Schleife (Schleifer Kirchspiel). Today it is only used by a small fraction of its inhabitants but there are efforts to reestablish it as a second mother tongue. The language is taught in one of the kindergartens (Witaj project) and in local school.

Old Slavic traditions and festivals are celebrated - by individuals and by groups and organizations like the Sorbisches Folkloreensemble Schleife.

In the municipality, there is a museum of the Sorbs.

Notable Natives

• Kito Lorenc: Sorbian-German writer, lyric poet and translator.