The main objective of the article is to illustrate how language ideologies and language management at the macro-level (state language policy), micro-level (in families) and meso-level (local communities) influence language change and the conceptualization of multilingualism of immigrants from Upper Silesia residing in Germany. Language biographies of persons from Silesia demonstrate the significant influence of historical and political events on sociolinguistic processes. Original fragments of biographical interviews of the people surveyed constitute an integral part of the text.