ABSTRACT
This book discusses the applicability of the concept of sub-culture to present case studies from East-Central Europe (ECE), in particular from urban rather than rural settings. The Frisians are a long-attested people, first mentioned in Ancient Roman literature as resident in what is the Netherlands. Always living on or near the North Sea coast of present-day Netherlands and Germany, the Frisians have been divided into three principal groupings – North, West and East Frisians – for at least 1200 years. Until the 1920s, the fate of the North Frisians looked fairly similar to those of other smaller nations or ethnic groups in Europe. It was known that they existed, but no special recognition or treatment was provided nor felt necessary in the Duchy of Schleswig (a tributary of the Kingdom of Denmark, until 1864), a composite state of many nations and languages.
