Hauerland (also called ''Kremnitz-Deutschprobener Sprachinsel'') is the German name for a region presently located in central

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

once inhabited by

Carpathian Germans Carpathian Germans (german: Karpatendeutsche, Mantaken, hu, kárpátnémetek or ''felvidéki németek'', sk, karpatskí Nemci) are a group of ethnic Germans. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl (1866–1930), originall ...

. Arisen from medieval '' Ostsiedlung'' population movements, it belonged to three German

language island A language island (a calque of German ''Sprachinsel''; also language enclave, language pocket) is an enclave of a language that is surrounded by one or more different languages. The term was introduced in 1847. Peter Auer, Frans Hinskens, Paul Ker ...

s within a greater Slovakian-speaking area. The other two were situated in Bratislava (''Pressburg'') and the

Spiš Spiš (Latin: ''Cips/Zepus/Scepus/Scepusia'', german: Zips, hu, Szepesség/Szepes, pl, Spisz) is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland (14 villages). Spiš is an informal designation of the territory ...

(''Zips'') region.

Geography

The area laid within the forested

Western Carpathians The Western Carpathians are a mountain range and geomorphological province that forms the western part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain belt stretches from the Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of Poland wit ...

mountain range around the towns of Kremnitz Kremnica (''Kremnitz'') in the south and Nitrianske Pravno (''Deutschproben'') in the north. The term ''Hauerland'' was coined by German folklorists in the 1930s referring to several German placenames in the region bearing the suffix ''-hau'' ("hew (off)", i.e. to clear woodland). Most Hauerland villages are laid out as ''

Waldhufendorf The ''Waldhufendorf'' ("forest village"; plural: -''dörfer'') is a form of rural settlement established in areas of forest clearing with the farms arranged in a series along a road or stream, like beads on a chain.Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''G ...

'' ("forest village") in areas of forest clearing with the farms arranged in a series along a road or stream.

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the Kremnica Mountains were an important

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, ...

area within

Upper Hungary Upper Hungary is the usual English translation of ''Felvidék'' (literally: "Upland"), the Hungarian term for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been ...

and directly subordinate to the Hungarian monarch. Numerous villages, mostly spread out in the mountainous and hilly areas, were agricultural and developed a special kind of German subculture. In 1328 King Charles I granted Kremnica

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

, followed by the foundation of Kunešov (''Kuneschhau'') in 1342, Sklené (''Glaserhau'') in 1360, Kremnické Bane (''Johannesberg'') in 1361, Turček (Dolný Turček, ''Unter-Turz'') in 1371,

Horná Štubňa Horná Štubňa (german: Oberstuben; hu, Felsőstubnya) is a village and municipality in Turčianske Teplice District in the Žilina Region of northern central Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1390. The ...

(''Oberstuben'') in 1390, Krahule (''Blaufuß'') in 1422, and Janova Lehota (''Drexlerhau'') in 1487. The largest Hauerland municipality was Handlová (''Krickerhau''), established in 1367 within the

Bojnice Bojnice (german: Weinitz; hu, Bajmóc) is a historical town in central Slovakia located on the Nitra river, near the city of Prievidza. The town is situated just below the Bojnice Castle. It has a population of around 5,000. Bojnice is best k ...

(''Weinitz'') Castle estates, where in the 19th century, coal deposits were discovered. In the northern part, the town of Nitrianske Pravno was founded about 1337, followed by Malinová (''Zeche'') in 1339, Kľačno (''Gaidel''), Tužina (''Schmiedshau'') about 1350, Vrícko (''Münnichwies'') in 1488, and Chvojnica (''Fundstollen'') in 1614 . Over the centuries, the German-speaking population diminished, decimated already in the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

of the 1420s and 30s, in the 16th century

Ottoman–Habsburg wars The Ottoman–Habsburg wars were fought from the 16th through the 18th centuries between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy, which was at times supported by the Kingdom of Hungary, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Habsburg Spai ...

, and again by insurgent Hungarian troops under Stephen Bocskay in 1605/06, succeeded by the forces of

Gabriel Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen ( hu, Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of th ...

and

George I Rákóczi George I Rákóczi (8 June 1593 – 11 October 1648) was Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death in 1648. Prior to that, he was a leader of the Protestant faction in Hungary and a faithful supporter of Gabriel Bethlen, his predecessor ...

Geography

History

See also