Sathmar Swabians
German: Sathmarer Schwaben
The coat of arms of the Sathmar Swabians
Regions with significant populations
Counties
Languages
German
(with the Sathmar Swabian dialect)
Religion
Primarily Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Germans (most notably Swabians and Danube Swabians respectively)
Native to north-western and northern Transylvania

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 commune of Urziceni (German: Schonthal) in Satu Mare County
Trilingual Romanian-Hungarian-German sign in Satu Mare (German: Sathmar)

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

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 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."
  2. 1 2 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."
  3. ↑ Helmut Berner, Die Mundart der Sathmarer Schwaben nebst einigen ihrer Besonderheiten Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Marianne Röhrig, Sathmarer Schwaben, Nürnberger Kulturbeirat, City of Nuremberg, retrieved 5 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Index - Sport - Magyarul idézi Aranyt a német vívás nagy legendája". 3 June 2020.
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