Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
The Carpathian Germans were German people living in the territory of Slovakia and the Ukraine from the 12th century until after World War II when they were expelled by the restored Czech Government. Germans began settling in the area of modern Slovakia and the Western Ukraine during the 12th century. These Germans are collectively known as the Karpatendeutsche or Carpathian Germans. They lived in the northern part of a large arc formed by the Carpathian mountains. The Carpathian Germans are destinct from another group of Folk Deutcsch--the Transylvanian Saxons, who settled the Southern region of the Carpathian arc. Both groups began to settle the Carpathians at about the same time. The Carpathian Germans settled in three principal areas: around Preßburg (Bratislava), in the Hauerland in Central Slovakia, and the Zips in the East. There were also a number of smaller settlements, including some in the regions of thge Carpathian Mountains in the Ukraine.
Before World War II in 1938, there were about 140,000 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia. About 10,000 Capathian Germans lived further west in the Ukraine which was part of the Soviet Union. After annexing the Sudetenland (October 1938), Hitler in total violation of the commitments he made at Munich seized the rest of Czecheslovakia (March 1939). Slovakia became an pupet state closely allied to NAZI Germany, but was recognized by many countries including the Soviet Union, France, and England. I am not sure what role the Carpathian Germans played in the Slovak state and in World War II. After the war, Slovakians were reunited with the Czechs in the reserected state of Czecheslovakia. The Czech Government after the War deported both the Carpathian and the Sudeten Germans. The deportations were often conducted brutally. Few Germans today are left today in Czecheslovakia. The Czech census of 1991 recorded 5,900 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia. Unconfirmed reports suggest that th actual number may be as high as 15,000. Another 3,000 Carpathian Germans may live in the Ukraine.
The Carpathian Germans people of German origins who settled in the territory of Slovakia, at the time, a region of Hungary beginning in the 12th century. Germans started to settle in Hungary and Slovakia (which belonged to Hungary also off and on) and Transylvania (now in Romania) during the 12th century. The Mongol invasions of the 13th century and the plagues of the 14th century had a devestating impact on the population of Hungary. Later the Ottomon Turks were also driven out. Large areas of Slovakia and other regions were were
left barren and largely depopulated. The Hungarian kings invited Germans to
settle the lands and establish towns like Hermannstadt (Sibiu), and Kronstadt
(Brasov) in Transylvania. Also Ofen what is now part of Budapest on the leftside of
the Danube was founded by Germans. [Stueck] The Germans possessed many skills unmastered by the local population. There status was different than that of the existing population in that they were not serfs. Hungarian kings granted many priviliges to them. They were, for example, allowed to build walled towns. They thus had a major impact on the economy and cultural development of Slovakia. Gradually the privliges obtained by the Carpathian Germans gradully were obtaind by the indigeous Slovaks as well as they slowly emerged from feudalism. There was also a gradual intermingling of cultures. Many Slovaks have German names. Rudolf Schuster, for example, is the current Slovak president. The German immigrants were mostly from the Rhineland, the Mosel region and Bavaria and even some Alsatians were among them.
Modern Slovakia was for nearly 1,000 years a part of the Hungarian kingdom. This combined with Karpatho-Ukraine was known as "Feldivék" or Upper Hungary. Feldivék was never, however, a separate administrative unit. With the demise of the Hungarian monarchy, Hungary became a Hapsburg province. After defeat in the Astro-Prussian War, Emperor Franz Josef reorganized his Empire the next year in 1867 into a joint momnarchy--the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Carpathian Germans are destinct from another group of Folk Deutcsch--the Transylvanian Saxons, who settled the Southern region of the Carpathian arc. Both groups began to settle the Carpathians at about the same time.
The Germans in Slovakia settled mostly in the the Carpathian mountains. I am not precisely sure why. Perhaps this region was most like their homeland or perhaps it was one of the more depopulated regions. The Carpathian Germans settled in three principal areas: around Preßburg (Bratislava), in the Hauerland in Central Slovakia, and the Zips in the East. German settlement was most significant in the Zips area. This was a region of high mountains, rough climate and bad soil. The Germans created the mining industry there. The main city was Leutschau. The Zips German (Zipser Deutsche instead of Karpaten Deutsche) lived there until 1945 when they also were expelled by Czechoslavakia, a fate similar to the Gottschee Deutsche in Slovenia (Yugoslavia) who also lived in an isolated mountain region. There were also a number of smaller settlements, including some in the regions of thge Carpathian Mountains in the Ukraine.
A HBC reader reports, "When I was in Vienna I took a tip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is a charming provincial town with a relaxed atmosphere. The population of Bratislava in 1910 when it was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was 1/3 German, 1/3 Hungarian and the rest Slovak and Gypsies. At that time the name of the city was Pressburg. The Hungarians called it Pozsony. Their kings were crowned in Pozsony for 2 centuries from 1541 to 1748. Their residence was the castle above the city overlooking the Danube. The borders of Austria and Hungary both are only a few miles away. There are many buildings and monuments reminding the German-Austrian and Hungarian past. I paid a visit to the Hummel House, where the composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born. He was a protege of Mozart and famous during his lifetime. He lived not only in Pressburg, but also in Vienna and London. The house has an interesting museum on the ground floor. There also is a beautiful church
that used to be a German Protestant house of worship, but is now Roman Catholic
Slovakian. [Stueck]
Before World War II in 1938, there were about 140,000 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia. About 10,000 Capathian Germans lived further west in the Ukraine which was part of the Soviet Union.
The Germans when they began migrating into Slovakia and the Carpathian Mountains during the 12th century were Roman Catholics. I am not sure how they were ffected by the Reformation.
The Carpathian Germans in the 19th century were part of the Astro-Hungarian Empire. We have little information at this time regarding the situation of the Carpathian Germans in the Empire.
The peace traties which ended World War I made decissions on the borders and ethnic make up of the new states that were carved out of the Astro-Hungaria Empire. The Treaty of St. Germain recognized the new state of Czecheslovakia. The Carpathian Germans were included in the new Czech state. In the political dicusssions leading to the creation of Czecheslovakia, there was talk of autonomy for Slovakia and the Karpatho-Ukraine. The Czech dominated state, however, did not grant autonomy. After Munich, the Czech Government finally granted autonnomy to Slovakia.
The NAZIs complained that Germans were mistreated in Czecheslovakia. After coming to power in 1933, incidents of alleged Czech abuse were promiently covered in the German media. Coverage was stepped up after the Anchluss (March 1938). Most of this press coverage focused on the Sudeten Germans. I'm not sure to what extent the NAZIs reported on the Carpathian Germans. The Sudeten Germans who had wanted to become part of Germany became embraced the NAZIs in the 1930s. The Carpathian Germans appear to have been much less politicized than th Sudeten Germans. The Germans in both Hungary and Slovakia were not politically involved like the Sudeten Deutsche. They lived for centuries in those countries as loyal citizens (admittedly with special privileges), but always keeping their culture, traditions and language. [Stueck] Unlike the Sudeten Germans, the Carpathian Germans were accutomed to living as a minority. Manylived in villages which concerned themselve wih local affairs, but much less in national politics.
I am not sure at this time how education was handled either in the Austro-Hungaian Empire or in Czecheslovakia after World War I. I assume there were Grmn-languag primary schools in Carpathian German villages, but have no details at this time.
The next target was Czecheslovakia which had beeen created by the Versailles Peace Treaty. After the Anchluss, Hitler began to escalate his tirades against Czecheslovakia, claiming that the erhnic Germans in the Sudetenland were being mistreated. The NAZI rearmament program, the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anchluss with Austria came as a shock to Czecheslovakia. Even more so, the lack of response from Britain and France. The Czechs who had defensive alliance with France were prepared to fight. Even with the Anchluss, many Europeans chose to see the NAZI actions as domestic German matters. This changed with Hitler's next target--Czecheslovakia. Hitler in 1938 demanded the Sudetenland in Czecheslovakia which had a minority German population. Neville Chamberlin, the British Prime Miniister mused how terrible it was that war should be threatened by a "... quarel in a far away country by people of which we know little." A prominent member of the British parliament displayed even more ignoramce when he told the press, "Why should we bother with those gypsies in the Balkans?", meaning the Czechs who were of course not located in the Balkans. In the end, The British and French gave in at talks held in Munich. Vhamberlain flew back to London and stepping off the plane waved the agreement signed ny Herr Hitler which he assured the waiting repoters guaranteed "Peace in our time." Churchill was apauled. Most British and French people were releaved. One European leader, Soviet Marshall Stalin, who was not at the conference drew the conclusion that the British and French could not be trusted as potential allies against Hitler. Less well recognized is the impact on the United States. There are many unanswered questions about Munich. Some maintain that if the Allies had honored their treaty obligations that the Wehrmacht would have arrested Hitler rather than gone to war. Others argue that if Hitler had gone to war in 1838, he wluld have not only overrun France, but the Luftwaffe would have defeated the RAF. After annexing the Sudetenland (October 1938), Hitler in total violation of the commitments he made at Munich seized the rest of Czecheslovakia (March 1939).
Hitler after invading what remained of Czecheslovakia, dismembered the country (march 1939). Slovakia which became a pupet state closely allied to NAZI Germany. The Slovak Provincial Parliament on March 14, 1939, declared independence. Poland annexed a small area of Slovakia as did Hungary, both areas were in Slovakia. The territory seized by Poland, as well as territory lost to the Poles in 1919, was returned to Slovakia on November 21, 1939 after the Germans invaded and dismembered Poland. The Hungarian border was also adjusted. Germany annexed Engerau, and the small city of Theben/Devin. Slovakia as part of Czecheslovakia in 1930 numbered some 3.3 Million people, but the NAZI puppet Slovakia was reduced to 2.6 Million people. Slovakia was, however, recognized by many countries including the Soviet Union, France, and England. I am not sure what role the Carpathian Germans played in the Slovak state and in World War II. Slovakia was one of the most slavishly submissive of the NAZI puppet states. The Slovaks egerlly complied with German orders to arrest and transport the Jews to the death camps contructed in NAZI-occupied Poland. I have no information at this time on the participation of the Capathian Germans, if any, in the Holocaust and other NAZI war crimes.
After the war, Slovakians were reunited with the Czechs in the reserected state of Czecheslovakia. The Czech Government after the War deported both the Carpathian and the Sudeten Germans. The deportations were often conducted brutally. The Carpathian Germans that had clung to their German identity were driven out of Czecheslovakia.
Few Germans today are left today in Czecheslovakia. The Czech census of 1991 recorded 5,900 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia. Unconfirmed reports suggest that th actual number may be as high as 15,000. Another 3,000 Carpathian Germans may live in the Ukraine.
Stueck, Rudi. E-mail message, June 26, 2003.
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