Wendish (Sorb) Museum — Attraction in Cottbus - Chóśebuz

Love letter explains it

My Beloved,

There are many forms of beauty in this world, and none of them stand still. Beauty is like a living liquid — it has no shape of its own, yet it gives shape to all that holds it. If you pour it into a jar of clay, it becomes clay; if you pour it into a crystal cup, it shines like crystal. When it rests in the calm of water, it becomes peace; when it enters fire, it glows with passion. The vessel may change — the color, the form, the texture — yet beauty remains the same eternal essence, flowing from one being to another, from one heart to the next.

The Sorbs have kept their tongue, their songs, and their customs as one keeps a promise. Each custom tells a story that the centuries could not erase. Even when their pagan rituals were touched by Christianity, the old light still glimmered beneath the new. When they were silenced and pressed to forget, they remembered through their festivals, through their clothes, through the rhythm of their prayers. Their beauty, too, was transformation — the transformation of sorrow into song, of endurance into grace.

In the depth of winter, when the world seems bare, the Sorbian farmers once shaped little figures from dough, calling them nowoletka. They gave these to their animals so that life might prosper in the year to come. Now, children in schools and nurseries shape the same small creatures, their laughter filling the cold air. I watched them and thought — beauty gives itself away, even when no one is watching.

And then there is the Birds’ Wedding. On the twenty fifth of January, Sorbian children place plates on their windowsills for the birds to fill with sweets. In the morning they dress as brides and grooms, as godmothers and guests, some as birds in bright feathers, and they walk through their villages singing joy into the winter air. Later, in towns like Bautzen and Cottbus, grown men and women dance and laugh beneath the same songs, and the beauty of the old custom becomes the beauty of the living moment. Three thousand hearts beat together, and the cold turns to warmth.

When spring arrives, the Sorbs decorate their Easter eggs. They sit with patience and care, painting and etching delicate lines upon the fragile shells. With wax and color they create small worlds of harmony. Layer upon layer they add patterns until each egg becomes a story of love and creation. I thought of you then — how every moment we shared was like one of those strokes of color, building something bright and living, something that could last beyond the years.

In all these customs, I saw the truth that my mother taught me, that Choudhury Alladitta revealed, and that you, my beloved, continue to show — beauty is not what we possess, it is what we pass on. It is the power that weakens the giver but strengthens the world. The Sorbs, with their patience and their faith, have done what my mother did, what my teacher did, what you have done — they have given themselves so that others may live and remember.

Perhaps, one day, my own beauty, whatever remains of it, will flow into our children, as theirs will flow into their own. That is how love survives the years — not by remaining, but by becoming.

And when I think of the Sorbian villages, with their songs and bright costumes, I imagine us there together, walking hand in hand beneath the soft snow, listening to the laughter of children and the call of birds in the distance. The same eternal rhythm that shaped them shapes us too.

So, my beloved, if ever you wonder what beauty truly is, remember this — beauty is the power to transform, to endure, to give. My mother’s milk, my teacher’s words, your love, and the songs of the Sorbs are all one great melody. Through them I have learned that love itself is the oldest custom of the world.

Yours...

Very beautiful museum, perfect for who wants to learn more about Sorbs and their culture. Unfortunately, everything is written only in German and Sorbian, but a small documentary (10 mins) in English is available. Prices are VERY cheap: €2,50 for adults, €1,50 for students, €0,75 for teens and free for children. Must visit in...

A great experience going around the Sorb museum. The ladies were welcoming in the museum and understood clear German. One thing that the museum should have would be explanations in English, so that the Sorb history should be worldwide popular and not forgotten. Póstrowy z Albanskeje!...