French
DeutschBanat Highland Germans
German: Banater Berglanddeutsche  | |
|---|---|
 The coat of arms of the Banat Highland Germans (as part of the Banat Swabians and Danube Swabians in general) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Banat (south-western Romania), more specifically Caraș-Severin County | |
| Languages | |
| German (with the Banat Swabian dialect, a local type of the Swabian dialect) | |
| Religion | |
| Primarily Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Germans (most notably Swabians and Danube Swabians respectively) | |
Native to south-western present-day Romania |
The Banat Highland Germans or Banat Mountainous Germans (German: Banater Berglanddeutsche, Romanian: Germanii din Banatul montan) are an ethnic German sub-group which is part of the Banat Swabians (and the broader Danube Swabian group) who have been living in the mountainous part of the Banat (German: Banater Bergland or Montanbanat),[1] corresponding to Caraș-Severin County situated in present-day south-western Romania (and to a smaller extent Serbia as well).[2]
Within the larger community of Banat Highland Germans, there have also been Zipser Germans (German: Zipser Sachsen), an ethnic German minority group which mostly settled in Maramureș and southern Bucovina from Zips, present-day Slovakia. The Banat Highland Germans are part of the Romanian Germans.
Background
[edit]The Banat Highland Germans are a mixture of various German-speaking settlers from Salzkammergut (contemporary Austria), South Tyrol (contemporary northern Italy), Bohemian Forest (contemporary Czech Republic), and Bavarian Forest (including the historical region of Swabia).[3][4][5] There were also Zipser colonists in the mountainous Banat. Consequently, they speak a certain series of different German dialects than the Banat Swabians in the lowlands of Banat, hence the differentiation in their name based on altitude or elevation.
History
[edit]The Banat Highland Germans constituted themselves as an ethnic German sub-group in the present-day mountainous region of Banat during the modern period, in the time of Austria-Hungary.
Political representation
[edit]Like all other German minority groups in Romania, the Banat Highland Germans are represented by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR), more specifically by the local branch in the mountainous Banat known in German as Demokratisches Forum der Banater Berglanddeutsche.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "montanbanat.de" (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Sprachinseln in Europa - Banater Berglanddeutsche". Leemeta (in German). 2 June 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Banater Bergland". Deutsches Kulturforum östliches Europa (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ Dr. Horst Schmidt. "Das Banater Bergland". Heimatverband von der Banater Berglanddeutsche (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Banater Berglanddeutsche" (in German). 1 March 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Official website of the Banat Highland Germans" (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2023.