Figure 2.--These Volksdeutsche (Banater Schwaben) school children were photographed in their classroom about 1960. Note the destinctive girl's outfits, especially the scarves, while the boys appear to be wearing more modern clothes.
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Figure 2.--These Volksdeutsche (Banater Schwaben) school children were photographed in their classroom about 1960. Note the destinctive girl's outfits, especially the scarves, while the boys appear to be wearing more modern clothes. |
All German-speaking people in Hungary and Yugoslavia were called Donau Schwaben (Danube Swabians). Swabians was just another name for Germans. Bantar is the area that this group of Germans settled. The area now known as the Banat came under the control of Austria in 1718 and was first settled by General Mercy. During the reign of Austrian Emperor Karl VI settlement was encouraged (especially during 1722-1726), Germans began moving into the area. They became known as the "Banater Schwaben". Some of the first Germans were Austrain administrators, clerks, tailors, merchantmen and most of all farmers from Lorraine, Palatinate and the Black Forest in the area. Most of the Banat region in the Southwest corner of Romania. Germans moved into the Banat area between the rivers Maros (Miersch) (North) Theiß (West) Danube (South) and in the south east bordered by the south capartian mountains. The area is about the size as Belgium and the soil is very fertile. Neary all the Swabians were Catholics. Franz Liszt is perhaps the best known Banter Schwaben. Before World War I, about 1.5 million people lived in the Banat: 30 percent Germans, 37 percent Romanians, the rest being Magyars (Hungarians), Serbs, and Bulgarians. The area used to be Hungarian. Part of the Banat still is Hungarian and a small section even Serbian (north of Belgrade). The Volksdeutsche who went to live in Hungary and the Romanian regions of Bessarabia (along the Russian border), Moldavia, Dobrutscha (in the Danube Delta) and Bukowina were all called Donau Schwaben as a collective name. Only the Transylvanian Germans were called Saxons, although many originally came from Alsace-Lorraine and the Rhineland. So the Banat Swabians also belonged to the Donau Schwaben.
Bantar is the area that this group of Germans settled. All German-speaking people in Hungary and Yugoslavia were called Donau Schwaben (Danube Swabians). Swabians was just another name for Germans. The term Donau Schwaben (Danube Swabians) derives from the part of Southwest Germany that is called Swabia. It is located in Baden -Württemberg, bordering on France (Alsace) and Switzerland. The Black Forest is also part of it, but the name Schwaben has nothing to do with the word schwarz (black). The Romans called the population Suevi.
Many people from this area emigrated to other parts of the world, incl. Hungary, Romania and Serbia. All along the river Danube they made settlements. For example Ofen at the left bank of the Danube, opposite Pest, got the Hungarian name Buda and later became Budapest, the Hungarian capital. The Swabian are known to be industrious, intelligent and thrifty. Many German inventors were Swabians: Rudolf Diesel, Karl Benz, Gottfried Daimler, Count von Zeppelin (airship) and Othmar Mergenthaler (linotype). [Stueck]
The area now known as the Banat came under the control of Austria in 1718 and was first settled by General Mercy. During the reign of Austrian Emperor Karl VI settlement was encouraged (especially during 1722-1726), Germans began moving into the area. They became known as the "Banater Schwaben". Some of the first ermans were Austrain administrators, clerks, tailors, merchantmen and most of all farmers from Lorraine, Palatinate and the Black Forest in the area. Emperess Maria Theresia gave considerable support to promoting German settlement (especially during 1766-70) and Emperor Joseph (especially in 1782) also promoted German emmigration. The settlers built farms, began trading, and helped develop the local economy to bloom and flourish in contrast to the stagnation of he Ottoman Empire by the 18th cenbtury. In 1779 the area was assigned to Hungary, a part of the Austrain Empire.
Most of the Banat region in the Southwest corner of Romania. Germans moved into the Banat area between the rivers Maros (Miersch) (North) Theiß (West) Danube (South) and in the south east bordered by the south capartian mountains. The area is about the size as Belgium and the soil is very fertile. There is also important natural resources such as coal and gold as well as other kinds of products.
Neary all the Swabians were Catholics.
Franz Liszt is perhaps the best known Banter Schwaben. Wjile he was born there, I am not sure to what extent his career is associated with this region. Franz Liszt was a Danube Swabian, but he was born in a village close to the Austrian border. His parents only
spoke German. Franz also never learned the Hungarian language. In school and church the language there was German. His career had little to do with the region he grew up, except for the fact that he heard gypsy music when he was young and mistook it for Hungarian folk music. The famous Hungarians rhapsodies have more gypsy elements than genuine Hungarian music. He left for Vienna when he was still very young and never lived in Hungary again. He worked in Paris and Rome and died at Weimar, Germany. His daughter Cosima married Richard Wagner.
Before World War I, about 1.5 million people lived in the Banat: 30 percent Germans, 37 percent Romanians, the rest being Magyars (Hungarians), Serbs, and Bulgarians. The area used to be Hungarian. Part of the Banat still is Hungarian and a small section even Serbian (north of Belgrade). After the War, the area was divided between Romania (2/3), Yugoslavia, and Hungary.
We have little information about the Banater Schwaben during World Wae II. We do not know their political orientation. Nor do we know if they were drafted during the War nd into which army. Also unknown is their participation, if any, in NAZI attrocities. Romania was a NAZI ally in World War II, but in the later phase of the War, Romania was essentially occupied by the Germans. After the War began to go against NAZI Germany, the Germans in Eastern European countries fled the advancing Red army in the last years of the War. Some, especially the Volkdeutsche attempted to remain in their ancestral homes. Many "Banater Schwaben" were executed by partisans, died on battlefields, or were forced to emmigrate. Many Volksdeutsche in the Banat were expelled by local authorities in 1945-46 as were the Batschka Swabians in Yugoslavia. The expulssion was less intense that what the Volksdeutsche experienced in other countries. I'm not sure why this was. I think as a NAZI ally, NAZI attrocities in Romania were more limited than in occupied countries.
The Volksdeutsche or Banater Schwaben population of Romania in 2005 is less than 50 percent of the 1930 population. This is, however, much higher than the population in many other Eastern European countries where there were pre-World War II German populations.
Some info on two adjoining villages Gárâna (Wolfsberg) and Brebu Nou (Weidental) near Timosoara (Temeschburg). These villages as well as the villages Wolfswiese and Lindenfeld in 1828 by Germans from West Bohemia. More than 500 families came from Vienna by train. Some families in 1833 moved to the lowland, because it was difficult to get along in the hilly area. But most
of them returned. After the Communist regime fell from power in 1989, many Germans sold their houses. Now most of them live in Bavaria (Chiemsee area). In Weidental there's only one German family and few Romanian left. In earlier times the 800-1000 inhabitants were about 98 percent Germans.
Romania which fought with the Allies in World war I, joined the Axis in World war II. We only have limited information at this time on how the the Volkdeutsche fared during World War II. We know that the Volkdeutsche in Bessarabia left when the Soviets seized the province from Romania (July 1940). The NAZIs encouraged the Volkdeutsche who had resided there for centuries to leave rather than stay under Soviet rule. Once safely across the River Prut, however, the Volkdeutsche were not allowed to resettle, but rather confined in camps. I'm not sure what happened to them after the NAIs invaded the Soviet Union. Presumably many tried to return to their former homes.
Muller Reinhard. Reinhard played a major role in compiling this page.
Ballas, Gerd. "Brebu Nou--Weidenthal," website accessed July 17, 2002.
Stueck, Rudi. E-mail message, July 8, 2005.
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