Carpathian Germans
Encyclopedia
Carpathian Germans sometimes simply called Slovak Germans (German: Slowakeideutsche), are a group of German language
speakers on the territory of present-day Slovakia
. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl, and is also sometimes used to refer to Germans in the Carpathian Ruthenia
.
(territory of present day Slovakia) from the 12th to 15th centuries (see Ostsiedlung
), mostly after the Mongol invasion of 1241. There were probably some isolated settlers in the area of Pressburg
earlier. The Germans were usually attracted by kings seeking specialists in various trades, such as craftsmen and miners. They usually settled in older Slavic market and mining settlements. The main settlement areas were in the vicinity of Pressburg and some language islands in the Spiš
(Hungarian: Szepesség; German: Zips; ) and the Hauerland
regions. The settlers in the Spiš region were known as Zipser Sachsen ("Scepusian Saxons"). Until approximately the 15th century, the ruling classes of most cities in present day Slovakia consisted almost exclusively of Germans.
The Carpathian Germans, like the Slovaks, were subjected to Magyarization
policies in the latter half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. However, many Carpathian Germans voluntarily magyarized their names to climb the social and economic ladder.
On 28 October 1918, the National Council of Carpathian Germans in Kežmarok
declared their loyalty to the Kingdom of Hungary, but a Slovak group declared Slovakia part of Czechoslovakia
two days later. Slovakia was occupied by Czech troops in December 1918, despite a Hungarian counter-offensive in Summer 1919.
became its head in 1937 with Franz Karmasin as deputy. In 1935, both parties obtained a seat in both parliamentary assemblies. In 1939, the KdP was renamed Deutsche Partei with as führer Franz Karmasin, who had become in October 1938 state secretary for German Affairs in the Tiso government.
The status of Slovak Republic as a client state of Nazi Germany
during World War II
made life difficult for Carpathian Germans at the war's end. Nearly all remaining Germans fled or were evacuated by the German authorities before the end of the war. Most Germans from Spiš evacuated to Germany or the Sudetenland
before the arrival of the Red Army
. This evacuation was mostly due to the initiative of Adalbert Wanhoff and the preparations of the diocese of the German Evangelical Church
, between mid-November 1944 and 21 January 1945. The Germans from Bratislava were evacuated in January and February 1945 after long delays, and those of the Hauerland fled at the end of March 1945. The Red Army reached Bratislava on 4 April 1945.
no. 33, and they were interned in camps such as in Bratislava-Petržalka, Nováky
, and in Krickerhau Handlová
. In 1946 and 1947, about 33,000 people were expelled from Slovakia under the Potsdam Agreement
, while around 20,000 persons were allowed/forced to remain in Slovakia because they were able, on petition, to use the "Slovakisation" process, which meant that they declared themselves as Slovaks and changed their names into their Slovak equivalent or simply Slovakized them. , while others were simply forced to do so because their skills were needed. Out of approximately 128,000 Germans in Slovakia in 1938, by 1947 only some 20,000 (15.6% of the pre-war total) remained. The citizenship consequences of the Benes decrees were revoked in 1948, but not the expropriation. There were many massacres in 1944-45, such as that of 270 civilians from the Uppser Zips and Dobšiná
, Carpathian Germans who had fled to Bohemia as refugees and intended to return home after the war. Czechoslovakian soldiers under Karol Pazura forced them off the train at the train station of Přerov
in Moravia and ordered them to dig their own graves before butchering all of them including small children. When Communists took power in 1948 they made research of the site and investigation of the massacre impossible.
The most prominent member ethnic German in post WWII Slovakia is Rudolf Schuster
, the second President of Slovakia (1999–2004).
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
speakers on the territory of present-day Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl, and is also sometimes used to refer to Germans in the Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia is a region in Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast , with smaller parts in easternmost Slovakia , Poland's Lemkovyna and Romanian Maramureş.It is...
.
During the Kingdom of Hungary
Germans settled in the northern territory of the Kingdom of HungaryKingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
(territory of present day Slovakia) from the 12th to 15th centuries (see Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
), mostly after the Mongol invasion of 1241. There were probably some isolated settlers in the area of Pressburg
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
earlier. The Germans were usually attracted by kings seeking specialists in various trades, such as craftsmen and miners. They usually settled in older Slavic market and mining settlements. The main settlement areas were in the vicinity of Pressburg and some language islands in the Spiš
Spiš
Spiš is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland. Spiš is an informal designation of the territory , but it is also the name of one the 21 official tourism regions of Slovakia...
(Hungarian: Szepesség; German: Zips; ) and the Hauerland
Hauerland
Hauerland is the name for a region presently located in central Slovakia once inhabited by a German minority population belonging to three islands of German pre-WWII population in Slovakia. The other two were situated in Pressburg and Zips...
regions. The settlers in the Spiš region were known as Zipser Sachsen ("Scepusian Saxons"). Until approximately the 15th century, the ruling classes of most cities in present day Slovakia consisted almost exclusively of Germans.
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
policies in the latter half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. However, many Carpathian Germans voluntarily magyarized their names to climb the social and economic ladder.
On 28 October 1918, the National Council of Carpathian Germans in Kežmarok
Kežmarok
Kežmarok is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia , on the Poprad River.-History:...
declared their loyalty to the Kingdom of Hungary, but a Slovak group declared Slovakia part of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
two days later. Slovakia was occupied by Czech troops in December 1918, despite a Hungarian counter-offensive in Summer 1919.
During the First Czechoslovak Republic
During the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938), Carpathian Germans had a specific political party, the Zipser deutsche Partei (1920–1938) of Andor Nitsch, who was elected from 1925 to 1935 on a common Hungarian-German list for parliamentary elections. In 1929, another party, more nationalist-oriented, was formed in Bratislava, the Karpathendeutschen Partei, which made a common list at the 1935 parliamentary elections with the Sudeten German Party, whose leader Konrad HenleinKonrad Henlein
Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a leading pro-Nazi ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia and leader of Sudeten German separatists...
became its head in 1937 with Franz Karmasin as deputy. In 1935, both parties obtained a seat in both parliamentary assemblies. In 1939, the KdP was renamed Deutsche Partei with as führer Franz Karmasin, who had become in October 1938 state secretary for German Affairs in the Tiso government.
The status of Slovak Republic as a client state of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
made life difficult for Carpathian Germans at the war's end. Nearly all remaining Germans fled or were evacuated by the German authorities before the end of the war. Most Germans from Spiš evacuated to Germany or the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
before the arrival of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. This evacuation was mostly due to the initiative of Adalbert Wanhoff and the preparations of the diocese of the German Evangelical Church
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
, between mid-November 1944 and 21 January 1945. The Germans from Bratislava were evacuated in January and February 1945 after long delays, and those of the Hauerland fled at the end of March 1945. The Red Army reached Bratislava on 4 April 1945.
After WWII
After the end of the war, one third of the evacuated or fugitive Germans returned home to Slovakia. However, on 2 August 1945, they lost the rights of citizenship, by Beneš decreeBeneš decrees
Decrees of the President of the Republic , more commonly known as the Beneš decrees, were a series of laws that were drafted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II and issued by President...
no. 33, and they were interned in camps such as in Bratislava-Petržalka, Nováky
Nováky
Nováky is a town in the Prievidza District, Trenčín Region in western Slovakia. Nováky Power Plant, a thermal power plant is located near the town.The town is one of the centres of brown coal mining in Slovakia.-Geography:...
, and in Krickerhau Handlová
Handlová
Handlová is a town in the Prievidza District, Trenčín Region in the middle of Slovakia. It is made up of the three parts Handlová, Nová Lehota and Morovno.-Geography:...
. In 1946 and 1947, about 33,000 people were expelled from Slovakia under the Potsdam Agreement
Potsdam Agreement
The Potsdam Agreement was the Allied plan of tripartite military occupation and reconstruction of Germany—referring to the German Reich with its pre-war 1937 borders including the former eastern territories—and the entire European Theatre of War territory...
, while around 20,000 persons were allowed/forced to remain in Slovakia because they were able, on petition, to use the "Slovakisation" process, which meant that they declared themselves as Slovaks and changed their names into their Slovak equivalent or simply Slovakized them. , while others were simply forced to do so because their skills were needed. Out of approximately 128,000 Germans in Slovakia in 1938, by 1947 only some 20,000 (15.6% of the pre-war total) remained. The citizenship consequences of the Benes decrees were revoked in 1948, but not the expropriation. There were many massacres in 1944-45, such as that of 270 civilians from the Uppser Zips and Dobšiná
Dobšiná
Dobšiná is a town in the Slovenské rudohorie mountains in Slovakia, on the Slaná River, north-west of Košice.-Geography:...
, Carpathian Germans who had fled to Bohemia as refugees and intended to return home after the war. Czechoslovakian soldiers under Karol Pazura forced them off the train at the train station of Přerov
Prerov
Přerov is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic where the Bečva river flows through. Přerov is a statute town . It has population of about 47,373 to January 2, 2008. Přerov is about 22 km south west of Olomouc. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the...
in Moravia and ordered them to dig their own graves before butchering all of them including small children. When Communists took power in 1948 they made research of the site and investigation of the massacre impossible.
Today
According to national censuses, there were 6,108 (0.11%) Germans in Slovakia in 2007, 5,405 in 2001, 5,414 in 1991 and 2,918 in 1980. A Carpathian German Homeland Association has been created to maintain traditions, and since 2005 there is also a museum of the culture of Carpathian Germans in Bratislava. There are two German-language media financially helped by the Slovak governement, Karpatenblatt (monthly) and IKEJA news (Internet), plus minority broadcasting in German on the Slovak radio.The most prominent member ethnic German in post WWII Slovakia is Rudolf Schuster
Rudolf Schuster
Rudolf Schuster was the second President of Slovakia . He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. Schuster was defeated in the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he ran as an independent...
, the second President of Slovakia (1999–2004).
See also
- Ethnic Germans
- Germans in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)
- Oberlander JewsOberlander JewsOberlander Jews are Ashkenazi, Yiddish- and German-speaking Jews originating in the Oberland or higher land western region of Hungary and the district surrounding Pozsony...
- Upper HungaryUpper HungaryUpper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...
- VolksdeutscheVolksdeutscheVolksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...
- WalddeutscheWalddeutscheWalddeutsche Germans , sometimes simply called Polish Germans, the name for a group of people, mostly of German origin, who settled during the 14th-17th century on the territory of present-day Sanockie Pits, Poland, a region which was previously only sparsely inhabited because the land was...