The last time I visited Germany, in 1999, I was told by people who had recently visited Schleswig-Holstein, that a lot of the locals were refusing to speak anything but Low German (Plattdeutsch) to visitors from other parts of Germany, even though they were all perfectly fluent in High German (Hochdeutsch). Apparently, this was seen as an expression of Schleswig-Holstein nationalism. I realize this is entirely anecdotal but I wonder is someone in or close to the area might be able to shed some light on this phenomenon and provide actual citations to show the extent and motivation of this movement?