Germans of Romania

Germans in Romania
Rumäniendeutsche

Herta Müller Klaus Iohannis Hermann Oberth Richard Wagner Karl Storck Michael Klein Johannes Honter Stefan Hell Peter Maffay Stephan Ludwig Roth Horst Köhler Christian Tell Johnny Weissmuller Nikolaus Lenau Stefan Hantel Michael Weiß Carl Filtsch Paula Seling Georg Maurer Josef Posipal Oskar Walter Cisek Samuel von Brukenthal Bernd Fabritius Edith Soterius von Sachsenheim Willi Schneider Hagen Rether Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu Hans Otto Roth Johannes Kelpius Francisc Iosif Rainer
Total population
(36,884 (2011 census) )
Regions with significant populations
Central and North East Romania (Eastern carpathians)
Languages
mainly German in the dialects or variants such as Swabian German and the Transylvanian Saxon dialect as well as Standard German (native language/mother tongue) also Romanian (official/national language for formal and commercial purposes to all fellow Romanian countrymen (especially native ethnic Romanians and other minority ethnic groups of non-German origin) as well as medium of communication amongst the current majority of the younger and older generations of the ethnic minority and also the first language of today's generation of ethnic Germans, being majority monolingual Romanian speakers including those whom confessed to be bilingual).
Religion
Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism

Germans in Romania (2002 census)

The Germans of Romania or Rumäniendeutsche are an ethnic group of Romania. They were of a number of 786,000 of Germans in interwar Romania in 1939,^[1][2] a number that had fallen to 36,884 by 2011 in modern Romania. They are not a single group; thus, to understand their language, culture, and history, one must view them as independent groups:

• Transylvanian Saxons – the largest and oldest, often simply equated with the Germans of Romania
• Satu Mare Swabians and most Banat Swabians, groups of Danube Swabians in Romania
• Transylvanian Landler Protestants
• Zipser Germans in Maramureş (Borşa, Vişeu)
• Regat Germans, including the Dobrujan Germans
• Bukovina Germans (Suceava, Rădăuți, Târgu Neamț, Gura Humorului and Câmpulung Moldovenesc, also indigenous to Cernăuți between 1918–1940)
• Bessarabia Germans (for the period 1918–1940)

See Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania for their official representation.

House of Hohenzollern in Romania

• 

  Karl I

• 

  Ferdinand

• 

  Michael I of Romania

• 

  Karl II

Members of the German family of Hohenzollern who ruled over Romania for a period:

• 1866–1914: Karl I (also Prince of Romania)
• 1914–1927: Ferdinand
• 1927–1930: Michael
• 1930–1940: Karl II
• 1940–1947: Michael (again)

Notable communities for the German minority (at least 1%)

• Petrești (Petrifeld) – 27.32%
• Urziceni (Schinal) – 23.91%
• Brebu Nou (Weidenthal) – 23.52%
• Cămin (Kalmandi) – 22.62%
• Beltiug (Bildegg) – 11.4%
• Tiream (Wiesenfeld) – 10.91%
• Laslea (Großlasseln) – 7.3%
• Anina (Steierdorf) – 5.65%
• Ațel (Hatzeldorf) – 5.38%
• Cârlibaba (Mariensee) – 5.06%
• Ardud (Erdeed) – 4.47%
• Vișeu de Sus (Oberwischau) – 4.03%
• Deta (Detta) – 4.02%
• Tomnatic (Triebswetter) – 3.88%
• Semlac – 3.6%
• Sântana (Sanktanna) – 2.91%
• Jimbolia (Hatzfeld) – 2.86%
• Lovrin (Lowrin) – 2.35%
• Carei (Großkarol) – 2.26%
• Buziaș (Busiasch) – 2.15%
• Periam (Perjamosch) – 2.15%
• Sânnicolau Mare (Großsanktnikolaus) – 2.1%
• Pâncota (Pankota) – 2.07%
• Lenauheim – 1.87%
• Lugoj (Lugosch) – 1.85%
• Miercurea Sibiului (Reußmarkt) – 1.84%
• Reșița (Reschitz) – 1.71%
• Ciacova (Tschakowa) – 1.64%
• Cisnădie (Heltau) – 1.51%
• Mediaș (Mediasch) – 1.48%
• Sighișoara (Schäßburg) – 1.43%
• Oțelu Roșu (Ferdinandsberg) – 1.42%
• Timișoara (Temeswar) – 1.37%
• Nițchidorf (Nitzkydorf) – 1.37%
• Merghindeal (Mergeln) – 1.32%
• Beba Veche (Altbeba) – 1.29%
• Hărman (Honigberg) – 1.22%
• Lipova (Lippa) – 1.19%
• Becicherecu Mic (Kleinbetschkerek) – 1.15%
• Caransebeș (Karansebesch) – 1.07%
• Bocșa (Neuwerk) – 1.04%
• Satu Mare (Sathmar) – 1.01%
• Sibiu (Hermannstadt) – 1%
• Mănăstirea Humorului – 1%
• Agnita (Agnetheln) – 1%

Notable German-Romanians

• Horst Köhler (Bessarabian German), the former President of Germany, whose parents were from Romania
• Herta Müller (Banat Swabian), Nobel Prize-winning author who has depicted the history of Romanian Germans
• Klaus Iohannis (Transylvanian Saxon), the current President of Romania
• Karl Schmidt (Bessarabian German), one of the best mayors of Chișinău, currently in the Republic of Moldova
• Hermann Oberth (Transylvanian Saxon from Schäßburg), pioneer of rocket development
• Helmuth Duckadam (Banat Swabian), former football goalkeeper
• Johnny Weissmueller (Banat Swabian from Freidorf, Temeschburg), gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer, actor noted for role of Tarzan
• Nikolaus Lenau (Banat Swabian from Lenauheim), renowned lyric poet
• Stefan Hell, (Banat Swabian), Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Robert Dornhelm, (Banat Swabian), prominent film and television director of Romanian ancestry
• Mattis Teutsch, (Transylvanian Saxon), painter, sculptor, graphic artist, art critic, and poet
• Artur Phleps, (Transylvanian Saxon from Birthälm in Sibiu County), Waffen-SS general
• Friedrich Miess, (Transylvanian Saxon), painter and art teacher; mentor of Mattis Teutsch.

Expulsion of Germans from Romania after World War II

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1887	50,000	—
1930	745,421	+1390.8%
1948	343,913	−53.9%
1956	384,708	+11.9%
1966	382,595	−0.5%
1977	359,109	−6.1%
1992	119,462	−66.7%
2002	59,764	−50.0%
2011	36,042	−39.7%
Starting with the 1930 figures, the reference is to all German-speaking groups in Romania.

See also

• Ethnic Germans

References

1. Dr. Gerhard Reichning, Die deutschen Vertriebenen in Zahlen, Teil 1, Bonn 1995, Page 17
2. Die deutschen Vertreibungsverluste. Bevölkerungsbilanzen für die deutschen Vertreibungsgebiete 1939/50. Herausgeber: Statistisches Bundesamt – Wiesbaden. - Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1958 Page 46