Swabian Turkey
Encyclopedia
The term Swabian Turkey describes a region in southeastern Transdanubia
in Hungary
delimited by the Danube
(Donau), the Drava
(Drau), and Lake Balaton
(Plattensee) inhabited by an ethnic German
minority. This present-day minority, the largest German-speaking minority in Hungary, primarily lives in the counties
of Tolna
(Tolnau), Baranya
(Branau), and Somogy
(Schomodei) and are regarded as Danube Swabians
.
was defeated in the Battle of Mohács
in 1687, the Habsburg Monarchy
forced the Ottoman Turks
from most of the Kingdom of Hungary
. Because much of the Pannonian Plain had been depopulated through warfare
, the Austria
n Habsburg
s began to resettle the land with various colonists, including Czechs, Slovaks
, Serbs
, Croats
and Germans
.
, the German settlers also came from the Rhenish Palatinate, Hesse
, the Westerwald
, Fulda
, Bavaria
, and throughout Franconia
. Because of the many Swabian colonists settling on land previously controlled by the Turks, the region of Tolna and Baranya counties 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-inhabited villages, although some new villages were founded by the Germans. The only two German-founded villages remaining in Swabian Turkey established through state ventures are Dunakömlöd (Kimling) and Németkér (Deutsch-Ker). Germans also settled extensively in the major towns of Pécs
(Fünfkirchen) and Mohács
(Mohatsch).
after World War II
, many Germans from Swabian Turkey were expelled from their homes and replaced with Hungarians evicted from Czechoslovakia
; the remaining Germans were often persecuted by the Communist government. After the fall of communism
in 1989, the Transdanubian Germans received minority rights
, organisations, schools, and local councils, as well as maintaining their own regional dialect of German. However, the Germans are gradually being assimilated.
Transdanubia
Transdanubia is a traditional region of Hungary.-Traditional interpretation:The borders of Transdanubia are the Danube river , the Drava and Mura rivers and the foothills of the Alps roughly along the border between Hungary and Austria .Transdanubia comprises the counties of Győr-Moson-Sopron,...
in 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...
delimited by the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
(Donau), the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
(Drau), and Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of its foremost tourist destinations. As Hungary is landlocked , Lake Balaton is often affectionately called the "Hungarian Sea"...
(Plattensee) inhabited by an ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
minority. This present-day minority, the largest German-speaking minority in Hungary, primarily lives in the counties
Counties of Hungary
Hungary is subdivided administratively into 20 regions which are the 19 counties and the capital city : Budapest...
of Tolna
Tolna (county)
Tolna is the name of an administrative county in present Hungary and in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Somogy, Fejér, Bács-Kiskun, and Baranya. The capital of Tolna county is Szekszárd...
(Tolnau), Baranya
Baranya (county)
Baranya is the name of an administrative county in present Hungary, in the Baranya region, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary ....
(Branau), and Somogy
Somogy
Somogy is the name of an administrative county in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary.-Somogy county:...
(Schomodei) and are regarded as Danube Swabians
Danube Swabians
The Danube Swabians is a collective term for the German-speaking population who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially alongside the Danube River valley. Because of different developments within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people...
.
Background
After the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
was defeated in the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács (1687)
The Second Battle of Mohács, also known as the Battle of 'Berg Harsány', was fought between the forces of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV, commanded by the Grand-Vizier Sari Süleyman Paşa, and the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, commanded by Charles of Lorraine...
in 1687, the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
forced the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
from most of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom 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...
. Because much of the Pannonian Plain had been depopulated through warfare
Ottoman wars in Europe
The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts.- Rise :...
, the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s began to resettle the land with various colonists, including Czechs, Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
, Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
.
Settlement
German colonization in southeastern Transdanubia began in 1689. While many came from SwabiaSwabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
, the German settlers also came from the Rhenish Palatinate, 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...
, the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
, Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, and throughout Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
. Because of the many Swabian colonists settling on land previously controlled by the Turks, the region of Tolna and Baranya counties 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
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Most German settlement was in pre-existing Slav
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
- or Magyar-inhabited villages, although some new villages were founded by the Germans. The only two German-founded villages remaining in Swabian Turkey established through state ventures are Dunakömlöd (Kimling) and Németkér (Deutsch-Ker). Germans also settled extensively in the major towns of Pécs
Pécs
Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economical centre of Baranya county...
(Fünfkirchen) and Mohács
Mohács
Mohács is a town in Baranya county, Hungary on the right bank of the Danube.-History:Two famous battles took place there:# Battle of Mohács, 1526# Battle of Mohács, 1687...
(Mohatsch).
Post-World War II
During the German exodus from Eastern EuropeGerman exodus from Eastern Europe
The German exodus from Eastern Europe describes the dramatic reduction of ethnic German populations in lands to the east of present-day Germany and Austria. The exodus began in the aftermath of World War I and was implicated in the rise of Nazism. It culminated in expulsions of Germans from...
after 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...
, many Germans from Swabian Turkey were expelled from their homes and replaced with Hungarians evicted from 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...
; the remaining Germans were often persecuted by the Communist government. After the fall of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in 1989, the Transdanubian Germans received minority rights
Minority rights
The term Minority Rights embodies two separate concepts: first, normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities, and second, collective rights accorded to minority groups...
, organisations, schools, and local councils, as well as maintaining their own regional dialect of German. However, the Germans are gradually being assimilated.