Sași

The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania (german: Siebenbürgen) in waves starting from the mid- 12th century until the mid 19th century.

The legal foundation of the settlement was laid down in the Diploma Andreanum issued by King Andrew II of Hungary that is known for providing the first territorial autonomy hitherto in the history. The Transylvanian "Saxons" originally came from Flanders, Hainaut, Brabant, Liège, Zeeland, Moselle, Lorraine, and Luxembourg, then situated in the north-western territories of the Holy Roman Empire around the 1140s.

After 1918 and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, in the wake of the Treaty of Trianon, Transylvania united with the Kingdom of Romania. Consequently, the Transylvanian Saxons, together with other ethnic German sub-groups in newly enlarged Romania (namely Banat Swabians, Bessarabia Germans, Dobrujan Germans, Bukovina Germans, Satu Mare Swabians, and Zipser Germans), became part of that country's broader German minority. Today, relatively few still live in Romania, where the last official census (carried out in 2011) indicated 36,042 Germans, out of which only 11,400 were of Transylvanian Saxon descent.

Historical overview

The colonization of Transylvania by Germans began under the reign of King Géza II of Hungary (1141–1162). For decades, the main task of these medieval German-speaking settlers was to defend the southeastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against foreign invaders stemming most notably from Central Asia (e.g. Cumans and Tatars).

The first wave of settlement continued well until the end of the 13th century. Although the colonists came mostly from the western Holy Roman Empire and generally spoke Franconian varieties, they came to be collectively referred to as 'Saxons' because of Germans working for the Hungarian chancellery. Gradually, the type of medieval German once spoken by these craftsmen, guardsmen, and workers became known locally as ''Såksesch''.

The Transylvanian Saxon population has been steadily decreasing since World War II as they started massively leaving the territory of present-day Romania during and after World War II, relocating initially to Austria, then predominantly to southern Germany (especially in Bavaria).

The process of emigration continued during Communist rule in Romania. After the collapse of the Ceaușescu regime in 1989 and the fall of the East German communist government, many of them continued to migrate to the unified Germany. As a result, today only approximately 12,000 Saxons remain in Romania.

Nowadays, the vast majority of Transylvanian Saxons live in either Germany or Austria. Nonetheless, a sizable Transylvanian Saxon population also resides today in North America, most notably in the United States (specifically in Idaho, Ohio, and Colorado), as well as in Canada (southern Ontario more precisely).

Origins and medieval settlements

The initial phase of German settlement began in the expansive mid-12th century, with colonists travelling to what would become or , based around the city of , today's Sibiu. Although the primary reason for Géza II's invitation was border defense, similar to employing the Székelys against invaders, Germans were also sought for their mining expertise and ability to develop the region's economy. Most colonists to this area came from Luxembourg and the Moselle River region (see for instance ).

A second phase of German settlement during the early 13th century consisted of settlers primarily from the Rhineland, the southern Low Countries, and the Moselle region, with others from Thuringia, Bavaria, and even from France. A settlement in northeastern Transylvania was centered on the town of , the later ( Bistrița), located on the Bistrița River. The surrounding area became known as the .

Continued immigration from the Empire expanded the area of the Saxons further to the east. Settlers from the Hermannstadt region spread into the Hârtibaciu River valley () and to the foot of the Cibin (german: Zibin) and Sebeș (german: Mühlbacher) mountains.

The latter region, centered around the city of ( ro, Sebeș), was known as . To the north of Hermannstadt they settled what they called the including the village of (Latin for / ) near ( ro, Mediaș). Allegedly, the term ''Saxon'' was applied to all Germans of these historical regions because the first German settlers who came to the Kingdom of Hungary were either poor miners or groups of convicts from Saxony.

In 1211, King Andrew II of Hungary invited the Teutonic Knights to settle and defend the in the southeastern corner of Transylvania. To guard the mountain passes of the Carpathians () against the Cumans, the Knights constructed numerous castles and towns, including the major city of ( ro, Brașov). Alarmed by the Knights' rapidly expanding power, in 1225 Andrew II expelled the Order, which henceforth relocated to Prussia in 1226, although the colonists remained in . The Kingdom of Hungary's medieval eastern borders were therefore defended in the northeast by the Saxons, in the east by the Hungarian border guard tribe of the Székelys, in the southeast by the castles built by the Teutonic Knights and Saxons and in the south by the Altland Saxons.

A common interpretation of the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, dated to 26 June 1284 and recorded in Hamelin town records (the earliest of such records dating from 1384: "It is 100 years since our children left"), when a group of 130 children from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), in present-day Lower Saxony, were led away from their native city by a piper (who may be a folk memory of a lokator) is that this related to an emigration event as part of the Ostsiedlung. The destination is usually supposed to have been Prignitz, Uckermark and Pomerania, but a minor alternative theory suggests settlement in Transylvania.

Medieval organization

Legal organization

Although the 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 Andrew II of Hungary. This document conferred upon the German population of the territory between Drăușeni (german: Draas, ro, Drăușeni) and Orăștie (german: Broos, ro, Orăștie) both administrative and religious autonomy and defined their obligations towards the kings of Hungary. They had to pay yearly tax to the king and provide military contribution to the royal army in case of danger of attack from abroad.

Otherwise, they enjoyed suzerainty; even Hungarians could not settle down in the Saxon territories. The territory colonized by Germans covered an area of about 30,000 km² (10,000 sq. mi.). The region was called Royal Lands or Saxon Lands (german: Königsboden; hu, Királyföld or Szászföld; ro, Pământul crăiesc; la, Terra Saxonum or Fundus Regius). During the reign of King Charles I of Hungary (probably 1325–1329), the Saxons were organized in the Saxon Chairs (or seats) as follows:

Religious organizations

Along with the Teutonic Order, other religious organizations important to the development of German communities were the Cistercian abbeys of Igrisch (Igriș) in the Banat region respectively Kerz (Cârța) in Fogaraschland (Țara Făgărașului). The earliest religious organization of the Saxons was the Provostship of Hermannstadt (now Sibiu), founded 20 December 1191. In its early years, it included the territories of Hermannstadt, Leschkirch (Nocrich), and Groß-Schenk (Cincu), the areas that were colonized the earliest by ethnic Germans in the region.

Under the influence of Johannes Honterus, the great majority of the Transylvanian Saxons embraced the new creed of Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. The first superintendent of the Saxons Evangelical Church, Paul Wiener, was elected by Saxon pastors at a synod on 6 February 1553.

Almost all became Lutheran Protestants, with very few Calvinists, while other minor segments of the Transylvanian Saxon society remained staunchly Catholic (of Latin Rite, more specifically) or were converted to Catholicism later on. Nonetheless, one of the consequences of the Reformation was the emergence of an almost perfect equivalence, in the Transylvanian context, of the terms Lutheran and Saxon, with the Lutheran Church in Transylvania being de facto a "Volkskirche", i.e. the "national church" of the Transylvanian Saxons (or the people's church of the Saxons).

File:Mănăstirea Cârța - panoramio (4).jpg, Cârța (german: Kerz) medieval monastery
File:Biserica fortificată din Hărman - vedere de ansamblu.jpg, Hărman (german: Honigberg) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church
File:Kirchenburg Birthälm.jpg, Biertan fortified church (german: Birthälm) was the see of the Evangelical Lutheran Bishop in Transylvania between 1572 and 1867.
File:Valea Viilor - Ansamblul bisericii evanghelice fortificate - vedere generala.jpg, Valea Viilor (german: Wurmloch) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church
File:Saschiz - Biserica Evanghelica fortificata - exterior.jpg, Saschiz (german: Keisd) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church
File:Biserica evanghelica fortificata din Viscri.jpg, Viscri (german: Weisskirch) Evangelical Lutheran medieval fortified church

Fortification of the towns

The Mongol invasion of 1241–42 devastated much of the Kingdom of Hungary. Although the Saxons did their best to resist and even trying to fight back the Mongol invaders, their resistance were eventually turned down by the Mongols and many of their settlements were destroyed/ruined. after the Mongols pulled out from Transylvania, In anticipation for another invasion, many Transylvanian towns were fortified with stone castles and an emphasis was put on developing towns economically. In the Middle Ages, about 300 villages were defended by ''Kirchenburgen'', or fortified churches with massive walls.

Although many of these fortified churches have fallen into ruin, nowadays the south-eastern region of Transylvania still has one of the highest numbers of existing fortified churches from the 13th to 16th centuriesVillages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre 1992–2010 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 rapid expansion of cities populated by the Saxons led to Transylvania being known in German as ''Siebenbürgen'' and ''Septem Castra'' in Latin, referring to seven of the fortified towns (see <