Germans of Romania

The Germans of Romania or Rumniendeutsche are 1 House of Hohenzollern in Roma-

an ethnic group of Romania. During the interwar pe-
riod in Romania, the total number of ethnic Germans
nia
amounted to as much as 786,000 (according to some
sources and estimates dating to 1939),[2][3] a gure which
had subsequently fallen to circa 37,000 as of 2011 in con-
temporary Romania. They are not a single group; thus,
in order to understand their language, culture, and his-
tory, one must regard them as the following independent
groups:
Karl I

Transylvanian Saxons the largest and eldest Ger-

man community on the territory of present-day Ro-
mania (often simply equated with all Romanian-
Germans)

Most Banat Swabians as well as the entirety of

Satu Mare Swabians[4] (representing sub-groups of Ferdinand
Danube Swabians in Romania)

Transylvanian Landler (expelled Protestants from

Salzkammergut, Austria to southern Transylvania
during the 18th century)

Zipser Germans, mostly from Maramure (includ- Michael I of Romania

ing Bora and Vieu), but also with a smaller pres-
ence in southern Bukovina beginning in the 18th
century[5][6]

Regat Germans (including the Dobrujan Germans)

Bukovina Germans (once with a consistent or Karl II

overwhelming presence in urban centres such as
Suceava, Gura Humorului, Siret, Rdui, Vatra
Dornei, and Cmpulung Moldovenesc; equally in- Members of the German family of Hohenzollern who
digenous to Cernui between 19181940) ruled over Romania for a period:

18661914: Karl I (also Prince of Romania)

Bessarabia Germans (Romanian citizens for the pe-
riod 19181940) 19141927: Ferdinand
19271930: Michael
19301940: Karl II
See Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania for their
ocial representation. 19401947: Michael (again)

1
2 5 NOTABLE GERMAN-ROMANIANS

2 Demographics 4 Media

2.1 German minority population by settle- Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung fr Rumnien (ADZ) is the
ment daily German-language newspaper in Romania. It is cur-
rently the only German-language newspaper from Eastern
Europe.[9] Regional German-language publications also
The data displayed in the table below highlights notable
include Banater Zeitung (for Banat) and Hermannstdter
settlements (of at least 1%) of the German minority in
Zeitung (for Sibiu).
Romania according to the 2011 Romanian census. Note
that some particular gures might be estimative.

2.2 German minority population by
county
Below is represented the notable German minority popu- Banat
lation (of at least 1%) for some counties, according to the
2011 census.
Herta Mller (Banat Swabian), novelist and
poet (Nobel Prize in Literature, 2009)
3 Education
Samuel von Brukenthal National College in Sibiu (Hermannstadt)
In Bucharest there are two German schools, namely
Deutsche Schule Bukarest and Deutsches Goethe-Kolleg
Bukarest. The Deutsche Schule Bukarest serves
Kinderkrippe, Kindergarten, Grundschule, and Gymna-
sium (high school).[7]
In Timioara, the Nikolaus Lenau High School was
founded during the late 19th century. It was named this
way in reference to Nikolaus Lenau, a Banat Swabian Ro-
mantic poet. Nowadays, the Nikolaus Lenau High School
is considered the most important of its kind from Banat.[8]
In Sibiu, the Samuel von Brukenthal National College
is the oldest German-language school from Romania
(recorded as early as the 14th century), being also clas-
sied as a historical monument. It was subsequently re-
named this way in reference to baron Samuel von Bruken-
thal, a Transylvanian Saxon aristocrat.
Additionally, there are two Goethe Institut cultural asso-
ciations in Romania: one based in Bucharest and another Bessarabia
one in Iai.
5 Notable German-Romanians
Below are represented several lists comprising selected
notable German-Romanians by historical region.
Stefan Hell (Banat Swabian), physicist (Nobel
Prize in Chemistry, 2014)
Richard Wagner (Banat Swabian), writer
Ovidiu Gan (Banat Swabian), Romanian
politician
Helmuth Duckadam (Banat Swabian), former
football goalkeeper
Petre Steinbach (Banat Swabian), professional
football player and coach
Rudolf Brger (Banat Swabian), professional
football player, one of the few to have partici-
pated in each of the three pre-war FIFA World
Cups
Adalbert Steiner (Banat Swabian), profes-
sional football player
Herbert Mller (Banat Swabian), handball
player and coach
Michael Redl (Banat Swabian), Olympic
handball player and professional coach
Josef Jakob (Banat Swabian), Olympic hand-
ball player
Werner Stckl (Banat Swabian), Olympic
handball player
Johnny Weissmueller (Banat Swabian), gold
medal-winning Olympic swimmer, actor
noted for the role of Tarzan
Nikolaus Lenau (Banat Swabian), poet
Robert Dornhelm (Banat Swabian), lm and
television director
Sebastian Kruter (Banat Swabian), Roman
Catholic bishop

Horst Khler (Bessarabian German), the for- Transylvania
mer President of Germany, whose parents
were from Rcani, then Kingdom of Roma-
nia
Karl Schmidt (partly Bessarabian German),
former mayor of Chiinu, currently in the
Republic of Moldova
Ewald Heer (Bessarabian German), aerospace
engineer
Heinrich Lhotzky (Bessarabian German),
Lutheran pastor and author
Immanuel Winkler (Bessarabian German),
Lutheran pastor
Jacob Schulz (Bessarabian German), Cana-
dian farmer and politician
Bukovina
Gregor von Rezzori (partly Bukovina Ger-
man), actor, journalist, visual artist, and
screenwriter
Francisc Rainer (Bukovina German), physiol-
ogist and anthropologist
Alfred Eisenbeisser (Bukovina German), pro-
fessional footballer, part of Romanias squad
at the 1930 FIFA World Cup
Stefan Hantel (partly Bukovina German), DJ
and producer whose maternal grandparents
stemmed from northern Bukovina
Elisabeth Axmann (Bukovina German),
writer, literature critic, and art critic
Constantin Schumacher (partly Bukovina Ger-
man; born in Flticeni), professional footballer
and coach
Moldavia
Iancu Sasul (John the Saxon; partly Transyl-
vanian Saxon), Prince of Moldavia between
1579 and 1582
Matilda Cugler-Poni (partly Austrian; born in
Iai), poet
Themistocles Gluck (born in Iai), physician
and surgeon
Constantin Meissner (born in Iai), pedagogue
and schoolteacher
Grigore Cugler (born in Roznov), poet and
writer
Anna Elisabet Weirauch (born in Galai),
writer
3
Arthur Coulin (Transylvanian Saxon), painter
and art critic
Oswald Thomas (Transylvanian Saxon), as-
tronomer
Friedrich Grnanger (Transylvanian Saxon),
architect (worked primarily in Bulgaria during
the late 19th century and early 20th century)
Johann Michael Ackner (Transylvanian
Saxon), archaeologist and researcher
Johann Sommer (Transylvanian Saxon), the-
ologian, poet, and biographer of Iacob Hera-
clid, Prince of Moldavia (1561-1563)
Christian Schesaus (Transylvanian Saxon), hu-
manist, poet, and Lutheran pastor
Michael Weiss (Transylvanian Saxon), histo-
rian and politician
Fronius family, (Transylvanian Saxon aristo-
cratic family)
Soterius family, (Transylvanian Saxon aristo-
cratic family)
Medard(us) family, (Transylvanian Saxon pa-
trician family)
Johannes Honter (Transylvanian Saxon), Re-
naissance humanist and theologian
Samuel von Brukenthal (Transylvanian
Saxon), baron of the Holy Roman Empire,
personal advisor of Maria Theresa, and
Habsburg governor of the Grand Principality
of Transylvania between 1774 and 1787
Georg Daniel Teutsch (Transylvanian Saxon),
Lutheran Bishop of Transylvanian Saxons dur-
ing the 19th century
Stephan Ludwig Roth (Transylvanian Saxon),
Lutheran pastor and scholar
Klaus Johannis (Transylvanian Saxon), mayor
of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) between 2000-2014,
and currently President of Romania
Georg Maurer (Transylvanian Saxon), poet,
essayist, and translator
Hermann Oberth (Transylvanian Saxon), pio-
neer of rocket development
Conrad Haas (Transylvanian Saxon), 16th
century pioneer of rocket propulsion
Hannah Monyer (Transylvanian Saxon), neu-
robiologist
Mattis Teutsch (partly Transylvanian Saxon),
painter, sculptor, graphic artist, art critic, and
poet
4 7 SEE ALSO

Friedrich Miess (Transylvanian Saxon), Oscar Walter Cisek (Transylvanian Saxon;

painter and art teacher (also mentor of Mattis born in Bucharest), writer, diplomat, art critic
Teutsch)
Andrei Folbert (Transylvanian Saxon; born in
Edith Soterius von Sachsenheim (Transylva- Bucharest), basketball player
nian Saxon), painter
Hagen Rether (Transylvanian Saxon; born in
Margarete Depner (Transylvanian Saxon), Bucharest), musician
sculptor, painter, and visual artist
Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpna (Regat German
Waldemar von Baussnern (Transylvanian
from Piteti), painter
Saxon), composer and music teacher
Wilhelm Georg Berger (Transylvanian Saxon), Henric Trenk (Alemannic Swiss-born; subse-
composer, musicologist, violist, and conductor quently naturalized Romanian citizen), painter
Peter Maay (Transylvanian Saxon), rock mu- Adolf Albin (Regat German from Bucharest),
sician chess player
Artur Phleps (Transylvanian Saxon), Waen- Adolf Edmund George de Herz (Regat Ger-
SS general man from Bucharest), playwright and journal-
Michael von Melas (Transylvanian Saxon), ist
Imperial Austrian eld marshal Henri Stahl (Regat German from Bucharest),
Johann Martin Honigberger (Transylvanian historian and writer
Saxon), Imperial Austrian traveller and physi-
Joseph Schubert, Roman Catholic bishop
cian
Michael Klein (Transylvanian Saxon), profes- Karl Storck (Hessian-born; later on settled in
sional footballer, 8th all time most capped Bucharest), sculptor
player for the Romanian national football team Wilhelm Knechtel (Austrian-born; later on
Roland Gunnesch (Transylvanian Saxon), settled in Bucharest), botanist and gardener
Olympic handball player
Peter Herbolzheimer (born in Bucharest), mu-
Hans Hermannstdter (Transylvanian Saxon), sician
Olympic handball player
Wilhelm Heidel (Transylvanian Saxon),
Olympic handball player 6 Expulsion of Germans from Ro-
Otto Tellmann (Transylvanian Saxon),
Olympic handball player
mania after World War II
Nicolae Breban (partly Transylvanian Saxon),
Main article: Expulsion of Germans from Romania after
writer
World War II
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (partly Transylvanian
Saxon), Romanian and German chess grand-
master
Rita Knig (Sathmar Swabian) Olympic fencer
7 See also
Monika Weber-Koszto (Sathmar Swabian),
Olympic fencer
GermanyRomania relations
Zita-Eva Funkenhauser (Sathmar Swabian),
Olympic fencer
Fortied churches in Transylvania
Susanne Knig (Sathmar Swabian), fencer
Gbor Gerstenmjer (Sathmar Swabian), pro- List of Transylvanian Saxon localities
fessional football player
Ethnic Germans
Wallachia
German culture

Christian Tell (Transylvanian Saxon), 19th German-speaking Europe

century Romanian politician, Mayor of
Bucharest between 1870 and 1871 Geographical distribution of German speakers
 5

8 References
[1] Ocial Romanian census from 2011

[2] Dr. Gerhard Reichning, Die deutschen Vertriebenen in

Zahlen, Teil 1, Bonn 1995, Page 17

[3] Die deutschen Vertreibungsverluste. Bevlkerungsbi-

lanzen fr die deutschen Vertreibungsgebiete 1939/50.
Herausgeber: Statistisches Bundesamt Wiesbaden. -
Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1958 Page 46

[4] Monica Barcan, Adalbert Millitz, The German National-

ity in Romania (1978), page 42: The Satu Mare Swabi-
ans are true Swabians, their place of origin being Wurt-
temberg. They were colonized between 1712 and 1815.
Their most important settlements are Satu Mare/Sathmar
and Petresti/Petrifeld in North- West Romania.

[5] Oskar Hadbawnik, Die Zipser in der Bukowina (1968)

discusses the Zipserfest held in Jakobeny in 1936 to
commemorate 150 years since the Zipsers migrated to
Jakobeny in 1786.

[6] . . ,
. ,
. ,
81282.4:811.112.2(477): Lexikalische Besonderheiten
Deutscher Dialekte in Galizien- und der Bukowina: Die
Siedler in den ursprnglichen Bergwerksgemeinden im
Sdwesten der Bukowina sprachen Zipserisch und zwar
Grndlerisch, wie es in der Unterzips gesprochen wurde.
Dabei wurde [v] im Anlaut wie [b] ausgesprochen: Werke
berka, weh be, Schwester schbesta. Anlautendes [b]
wurde zu [p]: Brot prot, Brcke prik.

[7] "Entstehung. Deutsche Schule Bukarest. Retrieved on 20

February 2015.

[8] (German) Geschichte Temeswars Schulwesen

[9] Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung fr Rumnien,

Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (in German)
6 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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