The Great Challenge: Education in North Frisia

Heinrich Bahnsen: Historically, Frisians have not spoken with a unified voice. The Friisk Foriining, founded in 1923 after the 1920 plebiscite, was more Danish-oriented and saw Frisians as a nationality rather than a minority group. Conversely, the North Frisian Association viewed Frisians as a cultural and linguistic minority within the German nation. This ideological debate lasted for decades. Today, we agree that we are part of the German nation.

Bahnsen: Yes, there is excellent and successful collaboration now. However, because we did not articulate our position collectively for many years, we were not perceived as strongly as other minorities. Since we started working together, we've seen more success. The protection of Frisians is now enshrined in the state constitution, not as a national minority but as a Frisian ethnic group. Yet, in federal politics, we align with other minorities and are viewed as a minority, not just a group.

Bahnsen: The foundation's primary purpose is to manage funding programs that were previously handled by the ministry and state chancellery. It centralizes funds from both state and federal levels.

Bahnsen: The foundation doesn't directly engage with the community. It primarily oversees fund administration. However, we've recently created a special unit within the North Frisian Institute called "Nordfriisk Liirskap," which aims to develop Frisian teaching materials for all educational levels, including kindergartens. Previously, there were no official materials—teachers had to create their own. We hope this will lead to a more systematic production of resources to teach Frisian more effectively and sustainably.

Bahnsen: Yes, these are voluntary courses.

Bahnsen: We would like to see Frisian included in the regular curriculum. We also wish for subject lessons to be taught in Frisian, but this requires training teachers at the university level for all school stages.

Bahnsen: No, but it's the most straightforward path to sustainable language preservation. In North Frisia, on the mainland and islands, there are about 85,000 Frisians who follow the principle "Anyone who identifies as Frisian can be one," without any prerequisites. Of these, an estimated 6,000 to 9,000 are native Frisian speakers. Fewer and fewer are learning Frisian as their mother tongue; instead, they learn it in kindergarten or school. Frisian is well-represented in primary schools, especially in villages where it is still spoken natively. It is much less present at the secondary level.

Bahnsen: There is a tendency for native speakers not to pass the language on to their children, often due to increasing mobility. In the past, many believed that teaching their children Frisian would cause them problems in school. Today, we know the opposite is true. There's also another problem.

Bahnsen: We have a very high average age among our volunteers and struggle to find younger people willing to get involved. This issue is separate from the language itself. We need young people, but in some areas, they are not present in the numbers North Frisia needs. We would benefit from offering compensation or the ability to hire staff.

Bahnsen: The entrance signs are the responsibility of the municipalities, while road signs on state and federal roads fall under state and federal jurisdiction and funding. The bilingual signs are based on the Frisian Law passed in the state parliament in 2004, which regulates the use of the Frisian language in official communications and public bilingualism.

Bahnsen: We hope so. It is very important that the Europeada takes place here, as it brings us great visibility.