Bukovina Germans
Encyclopedia
The Bukovina Germans were a German ethnic group
that mainly lived from about 1780 to the 1940s in Bukovina
, part of present-day western Ukraine
and northern Romania
. They formed a minority (officially counted, around 21% of the population in 1910, more Jews than Christians) until the Holocaust and the resettlement of the Christian population into the German Reich under the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1940.
. This group disappeared completely due to wars, epidemics and more gradually, assimilation during the 17th century.
(85.33%), with smaller numbers of Hutzuls, Ruthenians
, Armenia
ns, Poles
and Jews
also present. Since then the region has been known as Bukovina or Buchenland.
From 1774-1786 the systematic, but also in parts spontaneous, settlement of German craftsmen and farmers into existing villages increased. They originated from Szepes (Upper Hungary
), Banat
, Galicia
(Protestants), the Rhine Palatinate and the Baden
and Hesse
principalities as well as from impoverished regions of the Bohemian Forest
. Population growth and a shortage of land led to the establishment of daughter settlements in Galicia, Bessarabia
and the Dobruja
.
During the 19th century, the developing German middle class built up the intellectual and political elite of the region; the language of official business and education was predominantly German, which was particularly adopted by the upper classes.
From 1840, land shortage caused the decline into poverty of the German rural lower classes, so that after 1850 some of them emigrated
to America.
Between 1849 and 1851 and from 1863 to 1918, Bukovina became an independent crown land within the Habsburg monarchy. In comparison to the other Austrian crown lands, Bukovina remained a rather underdeveloped region on the periphery of the realm, supplying predominantly raw materials.
The University of Czernowitz
was founded in 1875 as the easternmost German-speaking university, Rumanization began in 1919.
In 1910/11, the Bukovinan Reconciliation (a political reconciliation between the Bukovina peoples and the political representation in the Federal State Parliament over the question of autonomous regional administration) took place between the representatives of the various nationalities.
During World War I
from 1914 to 1918 the total population of Bukovina fundamentally maintained its loyalty to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bukovina became part of Romania. As a result, 'Romanisation' measures were implemented against 'un-Romanian' societies, cultural institutions and schools, to suppress the independent German culture in Bukovina. A similar Romanisation drive, explicable given the strong ethnic minorities in the new 'Greater Romania', took place in other regions, such as Bessarabia.
From 1918 to 1940, conflicts between the different nationalities, particularly amongst the intellectual classes, led to the emigration of Germans, Jews and members of the elite of other countries. The political representatives of the Germans sought financial and political assistance in Germany.
From 1933-1940, some German societies and organisations opposed the propaganda
of the Third Reich and the National Socialist
-aligned 'Reformation Movement'.
Beginning in 1938, due repression by the Romanian state, the poor economic situation and the one-sided Nazi propaganda, a pro-Reich disposition emerged among the German population. Because of this, many increased their preparedness for evacuation.
in 1939, before the outbreak of World War II
, the end (unknown to those affected) of the Germans in Bukovina was sealed. In a secret supplementary protocol, it was agreed amongst other things that the northern part of Bukovina should fall to the USSR under a territorial re-organisation in Eastern Europe
, with the German subpopulations being compulsorily resettled. Because of this accord, the Soviet Union occupied the northern part of the country in 1940. The Third Reich resettled almost the entire acknowledged German population of Bukovina (around 96,000 so-called ethnic Germans) among other places in Poland
, where the incoming evacuees were frequently compensated with expropriated farms.
From 1941 to 1944, Bukovina was entirely Romanian. The majority of the Jewish population (30% of the population as a whole) were murdered by the Third Reich and Romania under the Holocaust.
moved closer, the Bukovina Germans settled in Polish areas, like the remaining German population, fled westwards or wherever they could manage. Some remained in East Germany while others went to Austria.
In 1945, the 7,500 or so remaining Bukovina Germans evacuated into the Federal Republic of Germany. The existence of the German peoples in Bukovina belonged thereafter, with the exception of a very few individuals, to the past.
In the post-war era the Bukovina Germans, like other 'homeland refugees', integrated themselves in the Federal Republic, Austria or Democratic Republic of Germany. Some emigrated overseas. The memory and cohesion of the lost homeland were kept alive through regular meetings.
A well-known descendant of the refugee Bukovina Germans is the Frankfurt
musician
Stefan Hantel
, better known by his stage name "Shantel".
).
After the Second World War the Bukovina Germans founded the following organisations:
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
that mainly lived from about 1780 to the 1940s in Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
, part of present-day western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and northern Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. They formed a minority (officially counted, around 21% of the population in 1910, more Jews than Christians) until the Holocaust and the resettlement of the Christian population into the German Reich under the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1940.
14th to 17th centuries
A small group of German craftsmen and merchants lived in the principality of MoldaviaMoldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
. This group disappeared completely due to wars, epidemics and more gradually, assimilation during the 17th century.
1774 - 1918: Bukovina under Habsburg rule
In 1774/75, the Habsburgs annexed north-western Moldavia, predominantly populated by RomaniansRomanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
(85.33%), with smaller numbers of Hutzuls, Ruthenians
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
ns, Poles
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Jews
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
also present. Since then the region has been known as Bukovina or Buchenland.
From 1774-1786 the systematic, but also in parts spontaneous, settlement of German craftsmen and farmers into existing villages increased. They originated from Szepes (Upper Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
), Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
, Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
(Protestants), the Rhine Palatinate and the Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
principalities as well as from impoverished regions of the Bohemian Forest
Bohemian Forest
The Bohemian Forest, also known in Czech as Šumava , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germany...
. Population growth and a shortage of land led to the establishment of daughter settlements in Galicia, Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and the Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
.
During the 19th century, the developing German middle class built up the intellectual and political elite of the region; the language of official business and education was predominantly German, which was particularly adopted by the upper classes.
From 1840, land shortage caused the decline into poverty of the German rural lower classes, so that after 1850 some of them emigrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to America.
Between 1849 and 1851 and from 1863 to 1918, Bukovina became an independent crown land within the Habsburg monarchy. In comparison to the other Austrian crown lands, Bukovina remained a rather underdeveloped region on the periphery of the realm, supplying predominantly raw materials.
The University of Czernowitz
Chernivtsi University
The Chernivtsi National University is the leading Ukrainian institution for higher education in northern Bukovina, in Chernivtsi, a city in southwest Ukraine....
was founded in 1875 as the easternmost German-speaking university, Rumanization began in 1919.
In 1910/11, the Bukovinan Reconciliation (a political reconciliation between the Bukovina peoples and the political representation in the Federal State Parliament over the question of autonomous regional administration) took place between the representatives of the various nationalities.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
from 1914 to 1918 the total population of Bukovina fundamentally maintained its loyalty to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1918 - 1940: Under Romanian rule
From 1918 to 1919 following the end of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bukovina became part of Romania. As a result, 'Romanisation' measures were implemented against 'un-Romanian' societies, cultural institutions and schools, to suppress the independent German culture in Bukovina. A similar Romanisation drive, explicable given the strong ethnic minorities in the new 'Greater Romania', took place in other regions, such as Bessarabia.
From 1918 to 1940, conflicts between the different nationalities, particularly amongst the intellectual classes, led to the emigration of Germans, Jews and members of the elite of other countries. The political representatives of the Germans sought financial and political assistance in Germany.
From 1933-1940, some German societies and organisations opposed the propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
of the Third Reich and the National Socialist
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
-aligned 'Reformation Movement'.
Beginning in 1938, due repression by the Romanian state, the poor economic situation and the one-sided Nazi propaganda, a pro-Reich disposition emerged among the German population. Because of this, many increased their preparedness for evacuation.
1940 - 1944: "Home to the Reich"
When Germany signed the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1939, before the outbreak of 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...
, the end (unknown to those affected) of the Germans in Bukovina was sealed. In a secret supplementary protocol, it was agreed amongst other things that the northern part of Bukovina should fall to the USSR under a territorial re-organisation in Eastern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, with the German subpopulations being compulsorily resettled. Because of this accord, the Soviet Union occupied the northern part of the country in 1940. The Third Reich resettled almost the entire acknowledged German population of Bukovina (around 96,000 so-called ethnic Germans) among other places in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where the incoming evacuees were frequently compensated with expropriated farms.
From 1941 to 1944, Bukovina was entirely Romanian. The majority of the Jewish population (30% of the population as a whole) were murdered by the Third Reich and Romania under the Holocaust.
1944 to present: Escape, eviction and a fresh start
During 1944/45 as the Russian FrontEastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
moved closer, the Bukovina Germans settled in Polish areas, like the remaining German population, fled westwards or wherever they could manage. Some remained in East Germany while others went to Austria.
In 1945, the 7,500 or so remaining Bukovina Germans evacuated into the Federal Republic of Germany. The existence of the German peoples in Bukovina belonged thereafter, with the exception of a very few individuals, to the past.
In the post-war era the Bukovina Germans, like other 'homeland refugees', integrated themselves in the Federal Republic, Austria or Democratic Republic of Germany. Some emigrated overseas. The memory and cohesion of the lost homeland were kept alive through regular meetings.
A well-known descendant of the refugee Bukovina Germans is the Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Stefan Hantel
Shantel
Shantel, real name Stefan Hantel , is a German DJ and producer of Bukovina German Romanian descent, known for his work with gypsy brass orchestras, DJing and remixing traditional Balkan music with electronic beats...
, better known by his stage name "Shantel".
People
- Stefan HantelShantelShantel, real name Stefan Hantel , is a German DJ and producer of Bukovina German Romanian descent, known for his work with gypsy brass orchestras, DJing and remixing traditional Balkan music with electronic beats...
(born 1968) - Alfred EisenbeisserAlfred EisenbeisserAlfred Eisenbeisser was a Romanian football player and figure skater of German ethnicity...
(1908-1991)
Organisation
The political representation of the Bukovina Germans and the other German-speaking groups in modern Romania is the DFDR (Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rumänien - Democratic Forum of Germans in RomaniaDemocratic Forum of Germans in Romania
The Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania is a centrist political party representing the German minority in Romania. It was founded at the end of 1989. Despite originally being a German minority party, the party is popular also with many ethnic Romanians, notably in parts of Transylvania...
).
After the Second World War the Bukovina Germans founded the following organisations:
- Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutschen (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) - Homeland Association of the Bukovina Germans (Federal Republic of Germany)