- Swabian Turkey
The term Swabian Turkey ( _de. Schwäbische Türkei) describes a region in southeastern
Transdanubia inHungary delimited by theDanube ("Donau"), theDrava ("Drau"), andLake Balaton ("Plattensee") inhabited by anethnic German minority. This present-day minority, the largest German-speaking minority in Hungary, primarily lives in the counties of Tolna ("Tolnau"), Baranya ("Branau"), andSomogy ("Schomodei") and are regarded asDanube Swabians .History
Background
After the
Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Battle of Mohács in 1687, theHabsburg Monarchy forced theOttoman Turks from most of theKingdom of Hungary . Because much of thePannonian Plain had been depopulated through warfare, theAustria nHabsburg s began to resettle the land with various colonists, includingCroats ,Slovaks ,Serbs , andGermans .Settlement
German colonization in southeastern Transdanubia began in 1689. While many came from
Swabia , the German settlers also came from theRhenish Palatinate ,Hesse , theWesterwald ,Fulda ,Bavaria , and throughoutFranconia . Because of the many Swabian colonists settling on land previously controlled by the Turks, the Danube-Drava-Balaton region became known as Swabian Turkey. The settlers were often induced to immigrate to Hungary with the promise of three years without taxes. The vast majority of German settlement was organized through private ventures run by the nobility or the Church. Most German settlement was in pre-existing Slav- or Magyar-inhabitated villages, although some new villages were founded by the Germans. The only two German-founded villages remaining in Swabian Turkey established through state ventures areDunakömlöd ("Kimling") andNémetkér ("Deutsch-Ker"). Germans also settled extensively in the major towns ofPécs ("Fünfkirchen") andMohács ("Mohatsch").Post-World War II
During the
German exodus from Eastern Europe afterWorld War II , many Germans from Swabian Turkey were expelled from their homes and replaced with Hungarians evicted fromCzechoslovakia ; the remaining Germans were often persecuted by theCommunist government. After the fall ofcommunism in 1989, the Transdanubian Germans receivedminority rights , organisations, schools, and local councils, as well as maintaining their own regional dialect of German. However, the Germans are gradually being assimilated.References
* Krallert, Wilfried. "Atlas zur Geschichte der deutschen Ostsiedlung." Bielefeld: Velhagen & Klasing, 1958.
See also
*
Danube Swabians
*Volksdeutsche External links
* [http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dsbaran.html Swabian Turkey at Genealogy.net]
* [http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/towns-baranja.txt Former German-inhabited villages in Swabian Turkey]
* [http://www.terrasoft.hu/kultura/schwaben/schwtude.htm Map of Swabian Turkey] de icon
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