The Satu Mare Swabians or Sathmar Swabians (German: Sathmarer Schwaben) are a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

ethnic group in the

Satu Mare Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the ...

(german: Sathmar) region of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

.Monica Barcan, Adalbert Millitz, ''The German Nationality in Romania'' (1978), page 42: "The Satu Mare Swabians are true Swabians, meaning that their place of origin is solely

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

(today part of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

). They were colonized between 1712 and 1815. Their most important settlements are Satu Mare (german: Sathmar) and Petrești (german: Petrifeld) in northwestern Romania." They are one of the few

Danube Swabian The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...

(german: Donau Schwaben) subgroups that are actually

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

n, and their dialect, Sathmar Swabian, is similar to the other varieties of the

Swabian German Swabian (german: Schwäbisch ) is one of the dialect groups of Alemannic German that belong to the High German dialect continuum. It is mainly spoken in Swabia, which is located in central and southeastern Baden-Württemberg (including its capi ...

dialect. Most were originally farmers in Upper Swabia who migrated to Partium (at the time

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

, now Romania) in the 18th century, as part of a widespread eastward movement of German workers and settlers. Their principal settlements were

, Carei, Petrești, and

Foieni Foieni ( hu, Mezőfény, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Fienen) is a commune of 1,836 inhabitants situated in Satu Mare County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Foieni. The commune is located in the western part of the county, at ...

(german: Fienen) and they also settled in Urziceni (german: Schinal),

Căpleni Căpleni ( hu, Kaplony, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Kaplau) is a commune of 4,349 inhabitants situated in Satu Mare County, Romania along the border with Hungary. It is composed of a single village, Căpleni, and also included Cămin vill ...

(german: Kaplau), Tiream (german: Terem),

Beltiug Beltiug (german: Bildegg; hu, Krasznabéltek or ''Béltek'') is a commune of 3,228 inhabitants situated in Satu Mare County, Transylvania, Romania. It lies on the banks of the Crasna River south of Ardud, 35 km south of the county seat, S ...

(german: Bildegg),

Ciumești Ciumești ( hu, Csomaköz, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune located in Satu Mare County, Romania. The commune is located in the western part of the county, at a distance of west of Carei and from the county seat, Satu Mare. Compositio ...

(german: Schamagosch), and

Ardud Ardud ( hu, Erdőd, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Erdeed) is a town situated in Satu Mare County, Transylvania, Romania. It administers five villages: Ardud-Vii (), Baba Novac (), Gerăușa (), Mădăras () and Sărătura (). History It has ...

(german: Erdeed). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, many evacuated, migrated, or were expelled to what became

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

.Jacob Steigerwald, ''Tracing Romania's heterogeneous German minority from its origins to the Diaspora'' (1985), page 14: "Since the final stages of WWII, Romania has not been the only country where substantial groups of Sathmar Swabians can be found. For over thirty-five years now, there has been a growing community of Sathmar Swabians in West Germany also." Those who remain in Romania, along with other German-speaking groups in this country, are politically represented by the FDGR/DFDR (

Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania The Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (german: Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rumänien, DFDR; ro, Forumul Democrat al Germanilor din România, FDGR; in short or ) is a political party (legally recognized as an association of public ...

); in Germany the Landsmannschaft der Sathmarer Schwaben in Deutschland (Territorial Association of Sathmar Swabians in Germany) represents and assists them. Many are more or less magyarized and have become Hungarians.

References

Hungarian-German people Danube-Swabian people History of Transylvania (1683–1848) Maramureș Ethnic groups in Transylvania Ethnic German groups in Romania {{Germany-hist-stub