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Swabians In Scheindorf
Scheindorf (German), Sii/Sâi (Romanian),
Szinfalu (Hungarian) lies east of Erdeed and
belongs to the county of Sathmar
(Translator's note: Sathmar is in
present-day north-west Romania. It is close
to the Hungarian and Ukrainian border). The
name, "Zynfalwa", stems from the Middle
Ages. It was documented for the first time
in 1424. At that time, it was part of
Erdeed, the place where the noble families,
Dragffy, Bathory, and Rakoczy lived. In the
17th Century, the town virtually
disappeared. It is not mentioned except for
the place where coal miners' huts existed.
In the following decade, Romanians slowly
drifted into the area. At the time of the
Kurdish wars, Franz Rakocy II mortgaged a
large part of this property in order to
raise money for the war. Ownership of
Scheindorf changed, and in 1708, the new
owner became Alexander Karolyi. In time, as
he and his descendants settled more towns
with Swabians, the record in 1767 shows that
Scheindorf had only (ethnic) Romanian
inhabitants. Farmland and pastures only
constituted about 10% of the land. To clear
the forest and change the area to farmland
needed settlements of Swabian farmers.
Anton Mlinaricz, a civil servant of
Count Anton Karolyi, submitted a plan for a
town laying out streets and farms. The
surveyors presented in their report the
point of view that through clearing, 3,000
acres of farmland would be gained. This
could be done by new settlers. According to
the plan, young farmers, who would be in
charge of their own house or their own farm,
should be resettled from neighboring Swabian
communities. The appeal of the Count was
successful. 60 families from Maitingen,
Schinal, Kalmandi, Fremen, Bildegg, etc.
declared themselves, according to the civil
servant's report, ready to settle in
Scheindorf, but only after seeing the area
for themselves. A few farmers appeared in
November 1779, accompanied by a servant of
the count. The visit satisfied the
prospective settlers. It is not recorded
whether they moved to Scheindorf in the year
1779. By that time, it is known that
immigrants from Germany already lived with
the Romanians.
According to the
record of December 8, 1780, 35 Swabian
families already lived in the new town. 1780
can be considered the beginning of the
Swabian settlement in Scheindorf. The new
settlers came from...Germany: Jacob Scherer,
Josef Holerbach, Andreas Oberhofer, Ignaz
Zapf, Philipp Riber, Peter Perer, Martin
Jung; Bildegg: Josef Koch, Johann Link,
Johann Nagle, Martin Tepfenhardt, Martin
Pfefferkorn, Hansjorg Koch, Michael Koch;
Grosskarol: Jakob Keller, Friedrich Treer,
Josef Wolfgang, Joseph Pendl; Erdeed:
Heinrich Schneider, Johann Horber, Jakob
Amann; Sagas: Xaver Tepfenhardt, Michael
Zweifel; Petrifeld: Johann Weiss, Martin
Moor; Schinal: Jakob Holzli, Josef Holzli;
Wahlei: Peter Keller, Michael Pross;
Schandern: Joseph Weisser; Sukunden: Anton
Schmied; Kalmandi: Paul Wilhelm, Kapplau:
Johann Stadler; only Franz Babotschi has no
origin listed.
The
record of the first settlement shows that
four already had built solid houses, 7 had
the building materials for houses, 14 lived
in huts, while 10 were without a home.
According to the above record, 13 more
families were awaited from...Bildegg:
Kaspor Dietrich, Johann Holleiter, Michael
Steinbinder, Hansjorg Martin; Sagas: Johann
Bauer, Johann Mock, Martin Lipp; Schandern:
Johann Trendli, Josef Hausmann, Stefan
Schopper; Turterbesch: Martin Kringemaier,
Martin Strobeli; Sukunden: Josef Manz. About
the influx of more Swabian families, the
church records of Hamroth give us
information. Between 1781 and 1785, 26
farmers settled in. Of these, 19 were from
neighboring communities and 7 from Germany.
From 1792 to 1799, 22 new settlers came,
mostly from Germany. The total of settlers
who came from Germany came to 24. The
records of 1828 gives the count of farm
families as 61, and of merchants as 8. That
was the end of the German settlement. The
difference between the 96 families who moved
into Scheindorf, and the 69 who were listed
in 1828, can be explained by the fact that
some left to settle elsewhere. Such moves
were common to all the Swabian towns and
went on during all of the 19th Century.
According to the bishop's census, the
religion of the people of Scheindorf was as
follows:
| Year |
Roman Catholic |
Greek Catholic |
Reformed |
Orthodox |
Lutheran |
Jewish |
Total |
| 1820 |
413 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
413 |
| 1861 |
618 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
618 |
| 1912 |
855 |
360 |
2 |
- |
- |
4 |
1222 |
| 1930 |
772 |
250 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
19 |
1052 |
[Credits,
Originally Published by Jody McKim Pharr at the DVHH.org 29 Sep 2006]
[Published by Sarah Coraggio
at the DVHH on 2 October 2018]
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Last
Updated:
13 Oct 2018 |
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