Dresden speaks … Russian

Today's Pujatin House in Kleinszschachwitz was donated by the eponymous Russian prince in 1823. Today it serves as a socio-cultural center.

The language

Originally, various dialects emerged in the Slavic region, from which the Old Russian language developed over time. In the Middle Ages, the Russian language was strongly influenced by the church and Byzantine culture. During the Tsarist era in the 18th and 19th centuries, many Western European words were integrated into the Russian language.

In the 20th century, the Russian language was further standardized and modernized. After the October Revolution of 1917, a spelling reform was carried out to simplify the Russian language. During the Soviet era, the Russian language was used as a common language in the various parts of the Soviet Union.

Russian is spoken by over 160 million native speakers worldwide. Over 11,000 speakers live in Dresden.

By the way, the word “bistro” originally comes from Russian and means “fast”. It was used in the 19th century during the Russian occupation of Paris. These restaurants were known for their fast service.

Russian script

Russian is written using the Cyrillic alphabet. Most of the letters were taken from the Greek alphabet or derived from it. The script contains 33 letters and is used in countries such as Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine.

The Cyrillic script was developed in the 9th century by the Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius, Byzantine monks. The brothers Cyril and Methodius traveled to Great Moravia on behalf of the Byzantine emperor to spread Christianity and create a script that was adapted to the Slavic languages.

Russia’s Cyrillic alphabet contains 33 letters, 2 of which have no sound on their own, but they carry grammatical meaning and are still considered letters.

The spread of the Cyrillic script was closely linked to the Christianization and cultural development of the Slavic peoples. It became the official script of many Eastern European countries, including Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine.


Dresden spricht …

Workshops, tours, writing and printing workshops under the motto “Dresden speaks many languages”

Period
03-12.2024

Porject coordination
Yvonn Spauschus (Projektleitung)
Yulia Vishnichenko · Moussa Mbarek · Nadine Wölk · Rosa Brockelt · Yuliya Firsova · Martin Mannig (workshop leader)
Rosa Brockelt · Rosa Hauch · Falk Goernert · Birthe Mühlhoff (moderation, documentation)
Adina Rieckmann · Lydia Hänsel (tourguides)
Inge · Mahsa · Karin (voluntary help)

Cooperation partners
JugendKunstschule Dresden – Standort Passage, Omse e.V., Nachbarschaftshilfeverein, Stadtteilverein Johannstadt e.V., Malteser Hilfsdienste e.V., Jugendhaus LILA as well as Chinesisch-Deutsches Zentrum e.V., Lebenshilfe Dresden e.V., GEH8 Kunstraum und Ateliers e.V., Umweltzentrum Dresden – ABC Tische and many more

Supported by

The project is funded by the State Ministry for Social Affairs and Social Cohesion. This measure is co-financed with tax funds on the basis of the budget passed by the Saxon state parliament within the framework of the state programme Integrative Maßnahmen.