The Satu Mare Swabians or Sathmar Swabians[1][2] (German: Sathmarer Schwaben) are a German ethnic group in the Satu Mare (German: Sathmar) region of Romania.[1] Romanian Germans, they are one of the various Danube Swabian (German: Donau Schwaben) subgroups that are actually Swabian in heritage,[1] and their dialect, Sathmar Swabian, is similar to the other varieties of the Swabian German dialect.[3]
Most were originally farmers in Upper Swabia who migrated to Partium (at the time Hungary, now Romania) in the 18th century, as part of a widespread eastward movement of German workers and settlers.[1] Their principal settlements were Satu Mare, Carei, Petrești,[1] and Foieni (German: Fienen) and they also settled in Urziceni (German: Schinal), Căpleni (German: Kaplau), Tiream (German: Terem), Beltiug (German: Bildegg), Ciumești (German: Schamagosch), and Ardud (German: Erdeed).
After World War II, many evacuated, migrated, or were expelled to what became West Germany.[2] Those who remain in Romania, along with other German-speaking groups in this country, are politically represented by the FDGR/DFDR (Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania); in Germany, the Landsmannschaft der Sathmarer Schwaben in Deutschland (Territorial Association of Sathmar Swabians in Germany) represents and assists them.[4] Nowadays, many are more or less magyarized and have become Hungarians.[5]
History
The Sathmar Swabians' ancestors stem from Upper Swabia (German: Oberschwaben) (situated in southern Württemberg area), present-day Germany when the first waves of agricultural colonists arrived in north-western and northern Transylvania during the 18th century, during the end of the Modern Age.
Further reading
- Povești din folclorul germanilor din România by Roland Schenn, Corint publishing house, 2014 (in Romanian)
References
- ^ a b c d e Monica Barcan, Adalbert Millitz, The German Nationality in Romania (1978), page 42: "The Satu Mare Swabians are true Swabians, meaning that their place of origin is solely Württemberg (today part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany). They were colonized between 1712 and 1815. Their most important settlements are Satu Mare (German: Sathmar) and Petrești (German: Petrifeld) in northwestern Romania."
- ^ a b Jacob Steigerwald, Tracing Romania's heterogeneous German minority from its origins to the Diaspora (1985), page 14: "Since the final stages of WWII, Romania has not been the only country where substantial groups of Sathmar Swabians can be found. For over thirty-five years now, there has been a growing community of Sathmar Swabians in West Germany also."
- ^ Helmut Berner, Die Mundart der Sathmarer Schwaben nebst einigen ihrer Besonderheiten Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Marianne Röhrig, Sathmarer Schwaben, Nürnberger Kulturbeirat, City of Nuremberg, retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Index - Sport - Magyarul idézi Aranyt a német vívás nagy legendája". 3 June 2020.