Die essekerische Sprechart: Gesammelte Gespräche aus Gassen der Osijeker Peripherie, V. Band

Die essekerische Sprechart : Gesammelte Gespräche aus Gassen der Osijeker Peripherie (Essekerski govor – Sabran razgovori iz Gassen der Osijeker Peripherie) is the fifth volume of a collection published in 1938 by Lujo Plein (also known as Lujo Plein). The book belongs to a series in which the author during the 1920s and 1930s recorded and published authentic conversations in the specific Esseker dialect (esekeriš) – the urban German speech of Osijek.

Essekerski govor was a mixture of different German dialects (mainly Swabian), enriched with Croatian, Hungarian and Turkish words, with characteristic phonetic and grammatical changes. It was used mostly by Germans and Austrians born in Osijek or long-term residents of the city, especially in the lower and middle classes and on the outskirts.

Plein systematically recorded short dialogues from everyday life – conversations on the street, at the market, in pubs, among neighbors, about family topics, politics, prices, gossip and everything that makes up city life. The texts are written phonetically, as they were actually pronounced, which makes them an extremely valuable linguistic document.

The series was published by the author's own press and had several volumes (I. to V. bands are known). Plein's goal was to preserve this distinctive dialect, which had already begun to die out under the influence of standard German and political changes. The work is today an important source for linguists, Germanists and historians of Osijek culture and is often cited in works on urban dialects and multilingualism in the Danube region.

In 2002, the Union of Germans and Austrians of Croatia published a reprint of the entire series, which made this material more accessible. Luja Plein's books are considered the earliest and most comprehensive records of Essayist speech, along with later works by Vladimir Hafner and Ernest Dirnbach.

The work is priceless testimony to the multicultural and multilingual Osijek of the first half of the 20th century, when the German element was very strong in the city.