Michael Wei, former mayor of Media/Mediasch. Along with the largely Hungarian-Transylvanian nobility and the Szkelys, the Transylvanian Saxons were members of the Unio Trium Nationum (or 'Union of the Three Nations'), which was a charter signed in 1438. . ehrgeizig wurden, dieser Use the drop-down list to select a specific part of the site. The song of Transylvania) is the regional anthem of the Transylvanian Saxon community as well as an unofficial regional hymn of Transylvania, praising the region as a land of blessings and great natural beauty. Saxons in Wallachia also settled in Rmnic (i.e. Entire Site . [17], The first wave of settlement continued well until the end of the 13th century. Currently in Romania, about 60% of ethnic Germans reported being Roman Catholic and 40% Protestant (see Religion in Romania). whlen. The letters f and h only appear in loanwords. Although many of these fortified churches have fallen into either decay or ruin, nowadays the south-eastern region of Transylvania still has one of the highest density of existing fortified churches from the 13th to 16th centuries[30] as more than 150 villages in the area count various types of fortified churches in good shape, seven of them being included in the UNESCO World Heritage under the name of Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania. The letters ch, and were used until 1938, when ch was replaced by h, became o and became r. They were later reinstated, but were no longer used after 1957. Transylvanian Saxon/Siweberjesch-Sksesch Material. They got by on one name and used a personal identifier when needed. However: surname spelling has only recently become fixed, and people sometimes It was estimated that there are approximately 300 such villages with fortified churches built by the Saxons in Transylvania during the Middle Ages.[31]. Their native dialect, Transylvanian Saxon (endonym: Siweberjesch-Sksesch, German: Siebenbrgisch-Schsisch, Romanian: Dialectul ssesc) is close to Luxembourgish. All throughout this period of time, the Saxons in Transylvania served as administrators and military officers. Under the influence of Johannes Honterus, the great majority of the Transylvanian Saxons embraced the new creed of Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. Valea Viilor (German: Wurmloch) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church, Saschiz (German: Keisd or Hnenburg) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church, Viscri (German: Weisskirch) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church, The Mongol invasion of 124142 devastated much of the Kingdom of Hungary. He described the Transylvanian Saxons, who had for centuries preserved their language and customs among foreign peoples, as enlightened colonists par excellence. Today, relatively few still live in Romania, where the second last official census (carried out in 2011) indicated 36,042 Germans, out of which only 11,400 were of Transylvanian Saxon descent. Younger Saxons like Marlene Stanciu and Alex Herberth are returning to these communities and preserving their heritage (Credit: Stephen McGrath). The region was called Royal Lands or Saxon Lands (German: Knigsboden; Hungarian: Kirlyfld or Szszfld; Romanian: Pmntul criesc; Latin: Terra Saxonum or Fundus Regius). Although his actions were ultimately rescinded, many Saxons began to see themselves as being a small minority opposed by nationalist Romanians and Hungarians. Subsequently, taking into account the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, many Transylvanian Saxons became staunch supporters of national socialism, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church losing, eventually, very much of its influence in the community as time passed by. Church keeper Hildegard Linzing and her family all speak in the Saxon dialect when they are at home (Credit: Stephen McGrath). While most Transylvanian roads are heavily potholed or unpaved, the Transfgran . Erkennungsnamen wurden, As communities got larger and people were more mobile or prestige-conscious, Schuster emigrated to West Germany in 1984 after being sold by the Romanian government to the West German state. 50. [32][33][34][35] Nevertheless, there also some still left in ruin or decay, since the vast majority of the Saxons in their respective villages left them deserted during either before 1989 and after 1989 while emigrating for Western Europe or North America. The Transylvanian Saxons (German: Siebenbrger Sachsen; Hungarian: Erdlyi szszok; Romanian: Sai) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania (German: Siebenbrgen) from the 12th century onwards. The rural settlements were more protected with a series of fortified churches known as 'kirchenburgen' in standard German. The ALLIANCE OF TRANSYLVANIAN SAXONS, organized on 1 May 1895 in Cleveland as the Transylvanian Saxon Sick Benefit Society, is a national fraternal society with headquarters and 4 branches in Cleveland.Created by 27 men, George Sift, a machinist, served as the first president. The word means 'god-given' or ' gift of God .'. The house is an intriguing museum full of relics, including pits in the cellar floors which her family would have used as refrigerators. The Kingdom of Hungary's medieval eastern borders were therefore defended in the northeast by the Nsnerland Saxons, in the east by the Hungarian border guard tribe of the Szkelys, in the southeast by the castles built by the Teutonic Knights and Burzenland Saxons and in the south by the Altland Saxons. Fogg Germanic This surname appeared in Denmark during the time of the Vikings. Stephan Ludwig Roth, an Evangelical Lutheran pastor and intellectual who led the German support for Romanian political rights, eventually opposed the unification of Transylvania with Hungary and was executed by the Hungarian military tribunal during the revolution. To guard the mountain passes of the Carpathians (German: Karpaten) against the Cumans, the knights constructed numerous castles and towns, including the major city of Kronstadt (Romanian: Braov). Lots has changed [in our community], Linzing said. . The Saxons remaining in Romania are represented by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR), the political platform that gave Romania its fifth president, Klaus Iohannis, who was firstly elected in 2014 and then re-elected by a landslide in 2019. The most common names are Petru (11, 10.9%), Radu (8, 7.9%), and Stefan (8, 7.9%). Dunesdorf - Grosslasseln - Halvelagen - Kreisch - Malmkrog - Peschendorf The surrounding area became known as the Nsnerland. An alternative term for them in standard German is also 'wehrkirchen' (i.e. of those who, Noch eine Eigenheit von schsischen Namen ist das Vorherrschen von, Another peculiarity of Saxon names is the prevalence of But as the years passed, Schuster was drawn back to Cincor, where she found a very different place to the one shed left. Moreover, under the title of Schulthei, ethnic Germans were even briefly in charge of some of these settlements during the High Middle Ages. identifiers could change. Such an attack would often stem from the Cumans, for example, or from the Pechenegs. This word in Romanian means 'bushy beard.'. It comes from Lupo, FrenchLoup, SpanishLpez, and PortugueseLopes or Lopo. Typische Schsische Familiennamen - Typical Saxon Family Names, Mehr Siebenbrgische Familiennamen However, some younger Saxons, like Zakel, are proudly returning to these communities, focused on preserving what their ancestors left behind. wie wir sie wissen, nicht gebraucht. ( Mac / Adobe Stock) Transylvanian Fortified Churches as Heritage of Saxon Settlers . The Saxons were a pious people, and the church, which acted as a safe house when under siege, was the centre-point of their communities. . work-related (occupation name or an allusion to a extensive inner and outer walls and a fortified watch tower). You can visit the site to browse and explore issues of the Cleveland Siebenbrgisch-Amerikanisches Volksblatt, 1939-1954. Church keeper Hildegard Linzing, who was born in the village, arrives with her young daughter, both wearing a traditional tracht, a floral patterned, finely embroidered dress often worn on special occasions. The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Gza II of Hungary (11411162). . The colonization of Transylvania by ethnic Germans later collectively known as Transylvanian Saxons began under the reign of King Gza II of Hungary (11411162). When people lived in small groups, they didn't need permanent surnames as we The Web "Siebenbrgische Zeitung". Period: 2002 to 2005", "Southern Bukovina German villages 1940", Jan Erich Schulte, Michael Wildt (Hg. ara Oltului in Romanian, after the German name for the Olt river, or the old land as in a word for word translation from German) or Hermannstadt Provinz, based around the picturesque well preserved medieval town of Hermannstadt, today's Sibiu. sources for similar lists for other villages. At the time she didnt mind: as a young woman, it meant liberation from oppressive communism, a chance to forge a life on the back of newfound opportunities in a wealthier country. These names don't occur in the Keintzel-Schn book, however they are Although the Teutonic Knights had left Transylvania, the Saxon colonists remained, and the king allowed them to retain the rights and obligations included within the Diploma Andreanum of 1224 by Hungarian King Andrew II. Pejmer and its shelter rooms. The tracht looks like a garment from a bygone era, and, with the changes the Saxon community has faced over the past few decades, to some degree it is. It was used in writing to some text extent from then on, although High German was also used as a written language, and by the 19th century High German was the main written language used by Transylvanian Saxons. Most of the churches are big enough to house villagers fleeing from invaders - sheep flocks, cow herds and family dogs included. ". The rapid expansion of cities populated by the Saxons led to Transylvania being known in German as Siebenbrgen and Septem Castra or Septem Castrensis in Latin[d], referring to seven of the fortified towns (see Historical names of Transylvania), most likely: Other potential candidates for this list include: Other notable urban Saxon settlements include: In addition to fortifying their towns over the passing of time, the Transylvanian Saxons also had to fortify their villages by building their fortified churches (the Transylvanian Saxons were initially strongly Roman Catholic then Evangelical Lutheran after the Reformation). Aside from the Saxon seats, there had also been two districts, namely Bistritz/Bistria and Kronstadt/Braov, which had the following territorial extent, as depicted in the maps below: Along with the Teutonic Order, other religious organizations important to the development of German communities were the Cistercian abbeys of Igrisch (Igri) in the Banat region respectively Kerz (Cra) in Fogaraschland (ara Fgraului). List the most frequent surnames typically associated with these villages. [8] They are part of the Romanian Germans. [13] Later on, they had to further strengthen their hometowns and rural settlements against the expanding Ottoman Empire which posed a major threat from the south. This guy would be around 50% Transylvanian Saxon, right? . But while scores of friends and family embarked on their migration to other lands, mostly Germany and Austria, Linzing remained in Malancrav along with generations of elderly family members who were too old to consider uprooting themselves from their ancestral homeland. The Transylvanian Saxons, called like that since medieval times, are representing a western population with unknown origin, settled in the Arch of Romanian Carpathian Mountains in the earliest of the 12th century. Hence, taking in consideration the aforementioned regarding the Saxon title in high medieval Transylvania, the Transylvanian Saxons' ethnic consciousness subsequently solidified after the first waves of settlers from Western Europe arrived in Transylvania and was further reinforced or revitalised with new settlers from central and southern present-day Germany during the Modern Age, more specifically during the 19th century. The old wicker basket is almost full, but it is one of many tasks required by Zakel, who lives in Switzerland but visits regularly, as she goes about maintaining and restoring this old farmhouse to keep her ancestral heritage alive. The literal translation of this Romanian last name is 'black beard.'. I came [to my grandparents house in Cincu] to clear my mind and it just felt right I felt this was home. The new pro-Soviet government of Romania suppressed their historical rights and confiscated properties. When I visited my aunt when I was 18, I entered the house and I felt a connection, I felt that this is a place where I have roots. The lowest figure displays data according to the. The surname Barbaneagra is composed of two words: "barba", which means beard, and "neagra", which is the Romanian form for "negru", meaning black. Biertan fortified church (German: Birthlm) was the see of the Evangelical Lutheran Bishop in Transylvania between 1572 and 1867. Its weekly publication is the Volksblatt. About. Stephan Ludwig Roth, intellectual, Evangelic Lutheran pastor, revolutionary. Its 2018 U.S. Census population estimate is 34,215. In February 1942 and May 1943, Germany concluded agreements with Hungary and Romania respectively, following which the Germans who were fit for military service, although they were either Hungarian citizens (in Northern Transylvania, entered the composition of the Hungarian state through the Second Vienna Award) or Romanian citizens (in Southern Transylvania, remaining part of Romania), could be incorporated into the regular German military units, into the Waffen-SS and into war-producing enterprises or into the Organisation Todt. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed. This house was built by my great grandfather in 1911, and my grandparents lived here until they died in 2013 then I took over, she said. 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