Satu Mare Swabians

Sathmar Swabians

German: Sathmarer Schwaben
The coat of arms of the Sathmar Swabians
Regions with significant populations
Counties Satu Mare County Sălaj County Maramureș County (i.e. north-western and northern Transylvania)
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] Many Danube Swabians retain their cultural & ethnic heritage such as Klaus Iohannis the former Romanian President who served 2 terms & many other families who never took part in the forced Magyarization. A form of ethnic identity cleansing to that the vast majority of Germans rejected. ^[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. 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. 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. https://www.dw.com/en/romania-at-the-end-of-klaus-iohannis-two-term-presidency/a-71587157