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About Swabian Turkey
Schwäbischer Türkei (German) / Sváb Törökország
(Hungarian)
The designation
Swabian Turkey
refers to three
bordering
counties of
southwest
Hungary south of
Lake Balaton
with the Danube
River forming
their eastern
boundary.
They are the
counties of
Baranya, Somogy
and Tolna.
The term itself
is an attempt at
describing the
fact that this
area contained
the largest
concentration of
Danube Swabians
in what would
remain of
Hungary after
the First World
War, numbering
over 200,000.
The local
population had
been decimated
during the 150
year Turkish
occupation and
this virtually
uninhabited
territory
received the
first of the
German-speaking
settlers
responding to
the invitation
of Emperor
Charles VI to
settle in
Hungary.
They were the
vanguard of the
future Danube
Swabians.
They came from
various
principalities
in southwest
Germany that
were part of the
Holy Roman
Empire.
The first of the
settlers in this
area were
Swabians and
arrived as early
as 1688,
forerunners of
the streams of
settlers that
headed down the
Danube
throughout the
18th century
that history
would remember
as the Great
Swabian
Migration.
Despite the
aftermath of the
mass expulsions
of the Danube
Swabians of
Hungary between
1946-1948 their
descendants
still living
there have now
marked over
three hundred
years of their
sojourn in the
Heimat they
brought to birth
in a wilderness
and called it
their home.
Unlike the
settlements in
the Banat and
Batschka that
were primarily
established on
Crown Lands and
subsidized by
the ruler, in
Swabian Turkey
they were
located on the
estates of
private
landlords:
nobles,
churchmen and
military
officers who
enticed them to
leave the
Imperial
transports
heading to the
Banat to settle
on their
domains.
This would lead
to a totally
different
experience on
their part that
would shape and
form their
communities.
Large numbers of
the settlers who
followed the
Swabians came
from the
Bishopric of
Fulda,
Württemberg, the
Pfalz
(Rhine/Palatinate)
and Hesse.
The Hessians who
settled in Tolna
County on the
estates of Count
von Mercy were
Lutherans and
Reformed and
were among the
earliest
settlers to
arrive along
with a Patent
from the Emperor
that promised
them the freedom
to practice
their religion.
The term Swabian
Turkey was
virtually
unknown to most
of the emigrants
who left for the
United States
and Canada.
In the past it
was primarily
used by
researchers and
now serves as a
way of
identifying the
region that
shared a common
history and
experience.
Introduction To
Swabian Turkey
By Henry Fischer
News &
Latest Site Additions . . .
The Settlement of Tolna County by the Swabians
by Johann Weidlein,
Article from his monograph entitled: A Tolnamegyei Német Telepitésé. Translated by Henry Fischer.
(10 Feb 2013)
Bátaszék in
the Tolna: A History (From the Bátaszék,
Heimatbuch der Grossgemeinde Bátaszék im Komitat Tolnau
(Ungarn) by Johannes Göbelt, Pécs and is partially a
translation and summary by Henry Fischer.) (15 Mar 2012)
Bonyhád: A Market Town in Tolna by Henry Fischer.
The
early history of the community it also identifies some of the original settlers and
their places of origin. Several sources were used for research, including the church
records. (15 Mar 2012)
The Nordschomodei in Swabian Turkey
- The source of the information in this article is taken from
the "Heimatbuch der Nordschomodei"
published in Münich in 1973. And the subtitle is "The History of a German
Linguistic Island in Swabian Turkey in Hungary." (15 Mar 2012)
Völkerkunde Schwäbischer Türkei (Sváb Törökország) carnival
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0OK3VLDj1w
The
Swabian Turkey is the largest
German-speaking enclave in what is
now Hungary. After the
Ottoman Empire
was defeated
in the Battle of
Mohács in
1687, the Habsburg
Monarchy forced
the Ottoman Turks
from most of the
Kingdom of Hungary. Because
much of the
Pannonian Plain had
been depopulated
through warfare,
the Austrian
Habsburgs began to
resettle the land
with various
colonists, including Croats,
Slovaks, Serbs
and Germans.
Hӧgyész (Tolna) in the 18th and 19th
Century
By
Josef Hoben;
Translated by Henry Fischer (Published
at DVHH.org 12 Sep 2011)
Karantsch H.O.G.
Chairman, Arpad Molnar invites village researchers
worldwide to visit
www.hog-Karantsch.de. Their goal is to keep in touch
with the villagers scattered around the world, so please
visit their message board
http://baranja.phpbb6.de (12 Apr 2011)
"I'm the Mayor in Györköny.
I was very happy, when I read information on DVHH about
Györköny. We have website:
www.gyorkony.hu.
You can read this website in Hungarian, we try German and
English too. We make the English version soon."
Yours sincerely, Zoltán Braun
Gerényes in Baranya County -
By Anonymous,
presented by Henry Fischer - Experiences of
a teen age girl from the village of Gerenyes in Baranya County in Swabian
Turkey, who desires to remain anonymous. Her story is very much like those
from the Batshcka and the Banat but with a different twist because it
occurred in Hungary.
(17 Mar 2009)
Bonyhád: A Market Town in
Tolna - by Henry Fischer. The
early history of the community it also identifies some of the original
settlers and their places of origin. Several sources were used for
research, including the church records. (17 Mar 2009)
Kötcse in Somogy County (Information
is taken from an article published by Johann Müller of Bissingen-an-der-Enz
and formerly of Bonnya, Somogy County, Hungary.) (17 Mar 2009)
Lifestyles Images
Village Images additions
09 Oct 2008
Závod in the
Tolna -
A summary and
partial
translation of
sections of the
Heimatbuch:
Závod in der
Tolna by Anton
Mayer.
Translated by
Henry Fischer,
2008.
Gadács and Szil:
The Two Sisters
- The
history of two
of the Danube
Swabian villages
in Somogy County
leading up to
the expulsion in
1948 that
attempts to
provide the
historical
context and
consequences of
the Potsdam
Declaration as
it applied to
the Danube
Swabians of
Hungary after
the Second World
War and the
expulsion of
their
populations as
an example of
what happened
all over Hungary
at that time. -
Henry Fischer,
14 Jun 2008
Emigration From
Somogy County To
Slavonia and the
United States. A
sociological
take on the
disproportionate
numbers of
Swabians who
left Somogy at
the end of the
19th and
beginning of the
20th centuries
and actually
provides
information on
individuals and
villages from
that area
(including my
own
grandfather). -
Henry Fischer,
15 May 2008

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