Zipser Germans

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The Zipser Germans or Zipsers (German: Zipser, Romanian: Țipțeri, Hungarian: Cipszer) are a German-speaking (specifically Zipser German-speaking) sub-ethnic group which developed in the Szepes County (German: Zips; Slovak: Spiš) of Upper Hungary—today mostly Slovakia—as that region was settled by people from present-day central Germany during the High Middle Ages, more specifically beginning in the 13th century.[1] Beginning in at least the 18th century, many members of the ethnic group migrated to southern Bukovina,[2][3] Maramureș, and Transylvania (today in Romania).[4] Former Slovak President Rudolf Schuster is partly Zipser German.[5]

The Zipser Germans can therefore be equated with the Germans of Slovakia (German: Slowakeideutsche) and are part of the broader group of Carpathian Germans (German: Karpatendeutsche), having chiefly been referred to as such along with the Germans of Carpathian Ruthenia since the end of World War II onwards.

Medieval history

Reconstruction of the Spiš Castle (German: Zipser Burg), depicting it during its peak in the 16th century, one of the best preserved medieval castles in Central Europe.
Spišská Kapitula (German: Zipser Kapitel) and Spiš Castle (German: Zipser Burg), as seen in winter.

German settlers (closely related to the Transylvanian Saxons) were invited to settle in present-day Slovakia, then the soon to become Szepes County (German: Komitat Zips) of Upper Hungary in the Kingdom of Hungary, beginning in the 13th century. As in the cases of other historical regions from Central and Eastern Europe, this migration of German settlers at the invitation of local kings (known as Ostsiedlung in German historiography) from Central-Eastern Europe had the main goal to enrich the local medieval communities with more trade and urbanization. In the particular case of present-day Slovakia, these German settlers stemmed from central-western present-day Germany as well as from neighbouring Luxembourg.

In the passing of time, as in the case of other local communities in Central-Eastern Europe colonized with ethnic Germans during the Middle Ages, these newly arrived German settlers became the dominant class and the majority ethnic group in the towns and villages they had founded. They eventually became collectively known as Zipser Germans given that they helped develop Szepes County.

As in the case of the Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania (another Central-Eastern European historical region which previously belonged to the medieval Kingdom of Hungary), the Zipser Germans founded imposing castles and fortified settlements.

20th century and contemporary history

Spišská Nová Ves (German: Zipser Neuendorf) in the Košice region, a town which was previously inhabited by a sizable Zipser German population during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

During and after World War II, most Zipsers evacuated or were expelled to West Germany. A community of speakers remains in the Zips town of Chmeľnica (German: Hopgarten) (their distinctive dialect is called 'Outzäpsersch', German: Altzipserisch, literally German: Old Zipserish),[6] and others remain in Romania where they and other German-speaking groups are currently represented by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR).

Some notable localities in southern Bukovina (contemporary Suceava County) previously inhabited by a significant number of Zipser Germans include Iacobeni (German: Jakobeny), Cârlibaba (German: Mariensee/Ludwigsdorf), and Fundu Moldovei (German: Louisenthal).[7] To this day, sparse Zipser German communities still reside in southern Bukovina and northern Transylvania.

Nonetheless, most of the remaining Zipser Germans in Romania live in Maramureș, northern Transylvania. Therefore, the main localities still populated by Zipser Germans in Maramureș County according to the 2011 Romanian census are the following ones:

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ Karl Julius Schröer, Die deutschen Mundarten des ungrischen Berglandes (1864)
  2. ^ Oskar Hadbawnik, Die Zipser in der Bukowina (1968) discusses the Zipserfest held in Jakobeny in 1936 to commemorate 150 years since the Zipsers migrated to Jakobeny in 1786.
  3. ^ І. Я. Яцюк, Тернопільський національний педагогічний університет ім. Володимира Гнатюка, Наукові записки. Серія “Філологічна”, УДК 81’282.4:811.112.2(477): Lexikalische Besonderheiten Deutscher Dialekte in Galizien und der Bukowina: “Die Siedler in den ursprünglichen Bergwerksgemeinden im Südwesten der Bukowina sprachen Zipserisch und zwar Gründlerisch, wie es in der Unterzips gesprochen wurde. Dabei wurde [v] im Anlaut wie [b] ausgesprochen: Werke – berka, weh – be, Schwester – schbesta. Anlautendes [b] wurde zu [p]: Brot – prot, Brücke – prik.”
  4. ^ Jacob Steigerwald, Tracing Romania's heterogeneous German minority (1985), page 8
  5. ^ Friedrich Gottas. "Sachsen (Zips)". Alpen-Adria, Universität Klagenfurt (in German). Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  6. ^ Somewhat confusingly, literature on the language also uses 'Altzipserisch' in two other ways: to refer to the dialect of the Upper Zips as contrasted with 'Gründlerisch', and to refer to the original Central German (German: Gründlerisch) dialect of the speakers who migrated to Romania, as contrasted with the Upper-Austrian-influenced dialect they now speak. For example, Claus Stephani in Zipser Mära und Kasska (1989) writes that the later settlers 'sprachen Oberösterreichisch, die anderen eine Gründler Mundart: Altzipserisch' (spoke Upper Austrian, [while] the others [spoke] a Gründler dialect: Old Zipserish).
  7. ^ Oskar Hadbawnik (25 June 2006). "Louisenthal". Bukovina Society. Retrieved 29 September 2022.

Further reading

  • Povești din folclorul germanilor din România by Roland Schenn, Corint publishing house, 2014 (in Romanian)
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