Satu Mare Swabians

The Satu Mare Swabians or Sathmar Swabians[1][2] (German: Sathmarer Schwaben) are a German ethnic group in the Satu Mare region of Romania.[1] They are one of the few Danube Swabian subgroups that are actually Swabian,[1] and their dialect, Sathmar Swabian, is similar to other varieties of Swabian.

Most were originally farmers in Upper Swabia who came to Partium (at the time Hungary/Austria-Hungary, now Romania) during the East Colonisation in the 1700s.[1] Their principal settlements were Satu Mare (Sathmar), Carei (Karol), Petreşti (Petrifeld),[1] and Foieni (Fienen), and they also inhabited Urziceni, Căpleni, Tiream, Beltiug, Ciumești, and Ardud.

After the Second World War, many evacuated, migrated or were expelled to Germany.[2] Those that remain in Romania, along with other German-speaking groups in Romania, are represented in politics by the DFDR (Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania).

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, their place of origin being Wurttemberg. They were colonized between 1712 and 1815. Their most important settlements are Satu Mare/Sathmar and Petresti/Petrifeld in North- West 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."


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