assimilated  influences  from  West  and  East.  In  the  course  of  time  parts  of  the  local  elite
integrated  into  the  structures  of  the  Roman  empire.  In  the  crisis  of  the  third  century,  Palmyra,
emboldened  by  military  successes  in  the  East,  rose  against  the  Roman  emperor  and  Sasanian
king.  Guided  by  the  political  structures  and  symbols  of  both  empires,  the  uprising  failed  and
brought  about  the  demise  of  Palmyrene  culture.

Hans-Christian  Maner
Uniate  Churches  acting  as  Churches  in  border  Regions  and  in  the  Nationbuilding
  Process
As  a  border  region,  East-Central  Europe  has  received  much  less  attention  than  western  parts  of
the  continent.  One  special  phenomenon  of  East-Central  Europe  is  the  Uniate  Church,  which,
like  the  whole  region,  is  situated  between  East  and  West.  While  obedient  to  the  Vatican,  it
follows  the  rites  of  the  Orthodox  Church.  By  considering  the  genesis  of  the  Uniate  Churches,
this  paper  demonstrates  their  contribution  to  the  nation-building  process  in  Galicia  and
Transylvania.  A  comparison  of  these  churches  shows  that  not  only  was  the  process  carried  out
differently  in  the  two  regions,  but  their  conceptions  also  differ  from  the  Catholic  and  Orthodox
points  of  view.

Roland  Marti
Slavic  Islands  in  the  German  Sea  -  Border  Regions  without  Borders  as
Paradigms  for  “Mixed  Culture”?
Slavic  linguistic  islands  in  German-speaking  areas  are  the  result  of  the  eastward  expansion  of
the  German  language.  Four  such  islands  are  historically  attested:  Polabian,  Slovincian,
Kashubian,  and  Sorbian.  The  analysis  concentrates  on  Sorbian.  The  Sorbian  island  is
endangered  since  all  the  speakers  are  bilingual  and  the  tendency  of  a  language  shift  to  German
continues  because  the  external  factors  favouring  German  over  Sorbian  are  very  powerful.  The
language  shift  is  seen  as  a  danger  for  Sorbian  culture  in  general  since  language  is  perceived  as
its  pivotal  point.  The  situation  in  the  Lower  Sorbian  area  is  even  more  dramatic  since  the
language  shift  is  much  more  advanced  here  and  since  this  is  a  case  of  a  double  minority  (with
respect  to  German  and  to  Upper  Sorbian).
There  are  three  possible  reactions  to  this  state  of  affairs:  retreat  to  a  reservation,  compensation,
and  offensive.  The  first  was  adopted  in  the  past  but  failed.  The  second  is  generally  advocated
today  but  experience  shows  that  compensation  is  not  enough  to  offset  the  negative  external
factors.  The  third  is  best  represented  by  revival  phenomena.  In  the  case  of  Sorbian  it  is
especially  language  teaching  of  the  immersion  type  as  practiced  in  the  WITAJ  kindergartens.
It  has  to  be  emphasised,  however,  that  mixed  cultures  in  a  minority  situation  represent  only  a
transient  state  of  affairs.  They  evolve  towards  the  majority  culture  with  insignificant  changes

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