Transylvanian Landlers
German: Siebenbürger Landler
Detail of a church window in Sibiu/Hermannstadt dedicated to the memory of the Austrian Protestants of Evangelical Lutheran faith.
Regions with significant populations
Transylvania
Counties
Languages
German (with the Transylvanian Landler dialect as well)
Religion
Evangelical Lutheranism
Related ethnic groups
Austrians and Germans
A German-speaking community which has been living in Sibiu County and in Sebeș, Alba County, southern Transylvania since the 18th century onwards.

The Landlers or Transylvanian Landlers (German: Siebenbürger Landler or Die siebenbürgischen Landler)[3] are an ethnic German sub-group which has been living on the territory of today's Romania, more specifically in southern Transylvania (mostly corresponding to present-day Sibiu County) since the 18th century onwards.

Their ancestors were Protestants (more specifically Evangelical Lutherans), who were expelled and settled from Salzkammergut area, Austria to Transylvania near Hermannstadt (present-day Sibiu) from 1734 to 1756 under Emperor Charles VI and Empress Maria Theresa in the process of the Josephine colonization (German: Josephinisches siedlung or Josephinisches kolonization). This was done so given the fact that the Austrian Empire needed to be Roman Catholic by excellence and the Landlers refused to convert to Roman Catholicism.[4] They speak the Transylvanian Landler dialect (German: Landlerisch) which is a southern German dialect. During the 18th century, c. 4,000 Austrian Protestants were expelled to Transylvania.[5] They are part of the Romanian Germans.

Background

The areas from which the ancestors of the modern Transylvanian Landlers stemmed were Upper Austria (German: Oberösterreich), Carinthia (German: Kärnten), and Styria (German: Steiermark).[6] Since Transylvania had been depopulated by the Turkish wars and the plague, the 634 expelled Upper Austrians were given vacant farms to work. Some of the Landlers who were deported from Carinthia in 1755 joined the Hutterites in Transylvania. Transylvania was also a very tolerant country in the past with respect to other religions or confessions as well as a prosperous land in natural resources, hence the Landlers founded the needed impetus and environment to thrive in, just like the Transylvanian Saxons did before them (see Siebenbürgenlied). In total, c. 4,000 Protestant Austrians were expelled and settled in southern Transylvania during the Modern Age.[7]

The Transylvanian Landlers' German dialect is still maintained and is spoken by both those who moved to Germany as well as the few Landlers left behind in their former villages of Neppendorf (Romanian: Turnișor), Großau (Romanian: Cristian), and Großpold (Romanian: Apoldu de Sus).[8] As in the case of other German-speaking ethnic groups in Romania, the Landler are politically represented by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR).[9] A prominent member of the Transylvanian Landler community is Martin Bottesch who formerly served as the president of the County Council of Sibiu County between 2004 and 2012.

See also

Further reading

  • Povești din folclorul germanilor din România by Roland Schenn, Corint publishing house, 2014 (in Romanian)

References

  1. ↑ Ramona Găină (28 May 2015). "Povestea ultimilor landleri, germanii deportaţi în România pentru că au refuzat să accepte religia catolică". Adevărul.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  2. ↑ Claudia Siceanu. "The Landler from Sebeș" (PDF). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ↑ Michael Kroner (1997). "Über die Landler". Verband der Siebenbürger Sachsen in Deutschland e.V. (i.e. Association of Transylvanian Saxons in Germany) (in German). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  4. ↑ Nicoleta Ioniță (17 December 2014). "Landlerii Sibiului, răspund prezent. O publicație îi scoate la lumină!". SibiuNews (in Romanian). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Mathias Beer (2019). "Die Entstehung der Landler-Identität: Gruppenbildungsprozesse als Folge von Migrationen nach Siebenbürgen im 18. Jahrhundert". Central and Eastern European Online Library. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  6. ↑ Irmgard Sedler. "Wer sind die Landler?". Verband der Siebenbürger Sachsen in Deutschland e.V. [Association of Transylvanian Saxons in Germany] (in German). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  7. ↑ Răzvan Pop at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (December 2021). "Between Principality and Grand Principality: Landmarks of the Demographic Evolution of Transylvania in 17th and 18th Centuries". Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  8. ↑ "Turnişor/Neppendorf". Kirchenburgen.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "FDGR/DFDR" (in German). Retrieved 13 February 2023.

Further reading

  • Erich Buchinger: Die "Landler" in Siebenbürgen. R. Oldenburg Verlag, München, 1980
  • Martin Bottesch, Franz Grieshofer, Wilfried Schabus: Die Siebenbürgischen Landler. Eine Spurensicherung., Böhlau-Verlag, Wien, 2002; ISBN 3-205-99415-9
  • Dieter Knall: Aus der Heimat gedrängt – Letzte Zwangsumsiedlungen steirischer Protestanten nach Siebenbürgen unter Maria Theresia, Selbstverl. d. Histor. Landeskommission für Steiermark, Graz; 2002; 343 S.; ISBN 3-901251-25-1
  • Landler, Vergessene altösterreichische Tracht in Siebenbürgen von Lore-Lotte Hassfurther (Hrsg.)
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