For Free Access to millions of genealogy records at Ancestry.com
|
Start your Family Tree
For Free Access to millions of genealogy records at Ancestry.com |
I always wondered how my German grandmother had come to be born in Hungary and why she spoke both German and Hungarian. Since she died before I was born, it seemed to me the mystery died with her. It was not until I found out about the ethnic group called the Donauschwaben or Danube Swabians that I was able to unravel the mystery.
In the late 1700’s, there was a large migration of pioneer families from Germany to settle the land in southeastern Hungary know as the Banat. These pioneers went by barges down the Danube River to reach their new homes. The Austrian empire had just chased the Turks of the Ottoman Empire from these lands, and wanted to populate the land with Catholic German families. They offered families free land and exemption from taxes if they settled this wild land.Eventually, over 800 towns were founded in Hungary by the German pioneers. The Hungarians called these pioneers Danube Swabian (Donauschwaben in German) because they arrived by the Danube River from the area of Germany known as Swabia. The first German pioneers had many skirmishes with the Turks as the Turks tried to reclaim the land. The pioneers and their descendants kept their German language and customs for the 200 years they lived in Hungary, but also learned the language of their new country.
By 1900, over two million Germans were living in Southeastern Hungary.
After World War I, these lands were divided among Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia, and many Danauschwaben found themselves living in a new country without having moved. Most Germans were expelled from their adopted country after World War II, and today there are few Germans left in these towns.
Many descendants of the Donauschwaben can be found today in Germany; Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, South Dakota, and St. Louis in the United States; Canada, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The most famous Donauschwaben descendant is Johnny Weismuller, the gold-medal Olympic swimming champion who later became Tarzan in the movies.
Links in English
Mailing Lists
The best mailing lists on the Internet.
Banat Mailing List
A genealogical mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information devoted primarily to the German settlers in the Banat area of southeastern Hungary. The purpose of the list is to learn more about methods of researching this area with much discussion of the Donauschwaben culture. Banat Mailing ListSearch the archives of the Banat Mailing List
Archives. Search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going from one message to another.
Donauschwaben Villages Mailing List
A bilingual English-German mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in the former Danube Swabian Villages situated in the six Donauschwaben regions of what was, until 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Swabian Turkey, Banat, Batschka, Syrmien, Slavonia and Bosnia) to discuss relevant research, ask questions and share discoveries. Donauschwaben Villages Mailing ListSearch the archives of the Donauschwaben Mailing List
Archives. Search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going from one message to another.
Google Translate
or