Germans of Romania
The Germans of Romania or Rumäniendeutsche represent one of the most important ethnic minorities of Romania. During the interwar period, the total number of ethnic Germans in this country amounted to as much as 800,000, a figure which has subsequently fallen to 36,000.
Overview and classification of Romanian-Germans
The Germans of Romania are not a single, unitary, homogeneous group, but rather a series of various regional sub-groups, each with their afferent culture, traditions, dialects, and history.This claim stems from the fact that various German-speaking populations had previously arrived in the territory of present-day Romania in different waves or stages of settlement, initially starting with the High Middle Ages, firstly to southern and northeastern Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary, then subsequently during the Modern Age in other Habsburg-ruled lands. Subsequently, the Romanian Old Kingdom was also colonized by Germans, firstly in Dobruja and then gradually in Moldavia and Wallachia.
and Banat, two historical regions situated in central, respectively southwestern present-day Romania.
Therefore, given their rather complex geographic background, besides major border changes took place in the region throughout history ;
- Transylvanian Landlers – expelled Protestants from the region of Salzkammergut, contemporary Austria to southern Transylvania during the 18th century;
- Most Banat Swabians as well as the entirety of the Sathmar Swabians – both representing sub-groups of the Danube Swabians in Romania;
- Bukovina Germans – once with a sizable or overwhelming demographic presence in all urban centres from the historical region of Bukovina or some rural areas of the nowadays Suceava County in northeastern Romania; equally indigenous to Cernăuți and contemporary Chernivtsi province in western Ukraine between the years 1780–1940. Moreover, even to this date, Suceava County is one of the Romanian counties with some of the most significant amount of ethnic Germans in the country;
- Zipser Germans, mostly from Maramureş, but also with a smaller presence in southern Bukovina beginning in the 18th century;
- Regat Germans ;
- Bessarabia Germans, Romanian citizens for the period 1918–1940, indigenous to Budjak in southern Bessarabia;
- Alsatians as well as small groups of Walsers vintners who also settled in Banat from Alsace, Lorraine, and Switzerland at the invitation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century ; Subsequently, these settlers came to be known as 'Français du Banat'.
Contributions to Romanian culture
- Romanian architecture ;
- Romanian language ;
- Romanian literature.
Royal House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in Romania
Pretenders to the throne of Romania :
| Nº | Portrait | Pretender | Pretending from | Pretending until |
| 1 | Michael I | 30 December, 1947 | 1 March, 2016 | |
| 2 | Crown Princess Margareta | 1 March, 2016 | present |
Recent history (20th century onwards)
Between the two World Wars, namely in 1925, 20,000 Swabians from Timiș County had to be relocated to neighbouring Arad County in order to create an ethnic balance in the latter administrative unit.Subsequently, large numbers of Romanian-Germans were deported to the Soviet Union for compulsory labour after World War II, as a war compensation to the Soviets. Later during the 1950s, the Bărăgan deportations forcibly relocated many from near the Yugoslav border to the Bărăgan Plain. Survivors of both groups generally returned, but had often lost their properties in the process.
Furthermore, during the 1970s and 1980s, tens of thousands of Romanian-Germans were 'bought back' by the West German government under a program to reunite families - and following the collapse of Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime in December 1989, around 200,000 Germans left their homes in Romania.
During Communist times, there have been several German-speaking opposition groups to the illegitimate Romanian Communist state, among which most notably there was Aktionsgruppe Banat, a literary society constituted in Banat by intellectual representatives of the local Swabian coomunity.
Eventually, although the German minority in Romania has dwindled in numbers to a considerable extent since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the few but well organised Romanian-Germans who decided to remain in the country after the 1989 revolution are respected and regarded by many of their fellow ethnic Romanian countrymen as a hard-working, thorough, and practical community which contributed tremendously to the local culture and history of, most notably, Transylvania, Banat, and Bukovina, where the largest German-speaking groups once lived alongside the Romanian ethnic majority.
Furthermore, the bilateral political and cultural relationships between post–1989 Romania and the unified Federal Republic of Germany have seen a continuous positive evolution since the signing of a friendship treaty between the two countries in 1992. Additionally, on the occasion of the election of Frank-Walter Steinmeier as President of Germany in 2017, current Romanian president Klaus Johannis stated, among others, that: " Last but not least, there is a profound friendship bounding the Romanians and the Germans, thanks mainly to the centuries-long cohabitation between the Romanians, Saxons, and Swabians in Transylvania, Banat, and Bukovina."
Demographics
Current population by settlement
The data displayed in the table below highlights notable settlements of the German minority in Romania according to the 2011 Romanian census. Note that some particular figures might represent a rough estimate.| Romanian name | German name | Percent | County |
| Brebu Nou | Weidenthal | 30.2 | Caraș-Severin |
| Petrești | Petrifeld | 27.8 | Satu Mare |
| Urziceni | Schinal | 23.9 | Satu Mare |
| Cămin | Kalmandi | 22.5 | Satu Mare |
| Beltiug | Bildegg | 11.4 | Satu Mare |
| Tiream | Terem | 10.9 | Satu Mare |
| Laslea | Grosslasseln | 7.5 | Sibiu |
| Anina | Steierdorf | 5.6 | Caraș-Severin |
| Ațel | Hatzeldorf | 5.3 | Sibiu |
| Cârlibaba | Mariensee/Ludwigsdorf | 5.1 | Suceava |
| Saschiz | Keisd | 5.0 | Mureș |
| Biertan | Birthälm | 4.6 | Sibiu |
| Ardud | Erdeed | 4.5 | Satu Mare |
| Vișeu de Sus | Oberwischau | 4.0 | Maramureș |
| Deta | Detta | 4.0 | Timiș |
| Tomnatic | Triebswetter | 3.9 | Timiș |
| Semlac | Semlak | 3.6 | Arad |
| Peregu Mare | Deutschpereg | 3.5 | Arad |
| Sântana | Sanktanna | 2.9 | Arad |
| Jimbolia | Hatzfeld | 2.9 | Timiș |
| Jibert | Seiburg | 2.8 | Brașov |
| Măieruş | Nussbach | 2.6 | Brașov |
| Căpleni | Kaplau | 2.4 | Satu Mare |
| Lovrin | Lowrin | 2.3 | Timiș |
| Carei | Grosskarol | 2.3 | Satu Mare |
| Parța | Paratz | 2.1 | Timiș |
| Buziaș | Busiasch | 2.1 | Timiș |
| Periam | Perjamosch | 2.1 | Timiș |
| Sânnicolau Mare | Grosssanktnikolaus | 2.1 | Timiș |
| Pâncota | Pankota | 2.1 | Arad |
| Cristian | Neustadt | 1.9 | Brașov |
| Lenauheim | Schadat | 1.9 | Timiș |
| Lugoj | Logosch | 1.9 | Timiș |
| Miercurea Sibiului | Reussmarkt | 1.8 | Sibiu |
| Rupea | Reps | 1.7 | Brașov |
| Sânpetru | Petersberg | 1.7 | Brașov |
| Ungra | Galt | 1.7 | Brașov |
| Reșița | Reschitz | 1.7 | Caraș-Severin |
| Ciacova | Tschakowa | 1.6 | Timiș |
| Cisnădie | Heltau | 1.5 | Sibiu |
| Mediaș | Mediasch | 1.5 | Sibiu |
| Moșna | Meschen | 1.5 | Sibiu |
| Sighișoara | Schässburg | 1.5 | Mureș |
| Oțelu Roșu | Ferdinandsberg | 1.4 | Caraș-Severin |
| Timișoara | Temeschburg/Temeswar | 1.4 | Timiș |
| Nițchidorf | Nitzkydorf | 1.4 | Timiș |
| Hălchiu | Heldsdorf | 1.4 | Sibiu |
| Merghindeal | Mergeln | 1.3 | Sibiu |
| Beba Veche | Altbeba | 1.3 | Timiș |
| Iacobeni | Jakobsdorf | 1.3 | Sibiu |
| Lipova | Lippa | 1.3 | Arad County |
| Homorod | Hamruden | 1.2 | Brașov |
| Hărman | Honigberg | 1.2 | Brașov |
| Matei | Mathesdorf | 1.2 | Bistrița-Năsăud |
| Sebeș | Mühlbach | 1.1 | Alba |
| Becicherecu Mic | Kleinbetschkerek | 1.1 | Timiș |
| Caransebeș | Karansebesch | 1.1 | Caraș-Severin |
| Bod | Brenndorf | 1.1 | Brașov |
| Brateiu | Pretai | 1.0 | Brașov |
| Bocșa | Neuwerk | 1.0 | Caraș-Severin |
| Satu Mare | Sathmar | 1.0 | Satu Mare |
| Sibiu | Hermannstadt | 1.0 | Sibiu |
| Mănăstirea Humorului | Humora Kloster | 1.0 | Suceava |
| Agnita | Agnetheln | 1.0 | Sibiu |
| Hoghilag | Halvelagen | 1.0 | Sibiu |
| Dumbrăveni | Elisabethstadt | 1.0 | Sibiu |
| Șeica Mare | Marktschelken | 1.0 | Sibiu |
| Codlea | Zeiden | 1.0 | Brașov |
| Gătaia | Gattaja | 1.0 | Timiș |
| Măureni | Moritzfeld | 1.0 | Caraș-Severin |
Current population by county
Below is represented the notable German minority population for some counties, according to the 2011 census.| County | Percent |
| Satu Mare | 1.5% |
| Timiș | 1.3% |
| Caraș-Severin | 1.1% |
| Sibiu | 1.1% |
Administration, official representation, and politics
In the wake of World War I, the German minority in unified Romania had been represented by a number of political parties which gradually gained parliamentary presence during the early to mid-early 20th century, more specifically the Swabian Group, the Group of Transylvanian Saxons, the German Party, and the German People's Party. In stark contrast to the political mutation of both aforementioned parties, the Anti-Fascist Committee of German Workers in Romania was formed shortly thereafter as a democratic counterpart. After the end of World War II, all of the political parties representing the German minority in Romania were either disbanded or ceased to exist.Subsequently, just after the Romanian Revolution, the entire German-speaking community in post-1989 Romania has been represented at official level by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania. The forum is therefore a political platform which has a centrist ideology aiming to support the rights of the German minority in Romania.
Since 1989, the DFDR/FDGR has competed both in local and legislative elections, cooperating in the process with two historical parties of the Romanian politics, namely the National Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party, most notably at local administrative level, in cities such as Sibiu, Timișoara, or Baia Mare. The DFDR/FDGR also adheres to a pro-monarchic stance regarding the matter of monarchy restoration in Romania.
Until 1 January, 2007, the DFDR/FDGR was also an observing member of the European Parliament, briefly affiliated with the European People's Party, between January and November of the same year.
Culture and education
In 1922, all political representatives of the German community in Romania founded the Cultural League of Germans in Sibiu which was initially led by Richard Csaki. The league was in charge of organizing post-university summer courses, sending books, and providing teaching material through various lecturers in the settlements inhabited by ethnic Germans.Nowadays, there are two German-language schools in Bucharest, namely Deutsche Schule Bukarest and Deutsches Goethe-Kolleg Bukarest. The Deutsche Schule Bukarest serves Kinderkrippe, Kindergarten, Grundschule, and Gymnasium.
In Timișoara, 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 Romanticist poet. Nowadays, the Nikolaus Lenau High School is considered the most important of its kind from Banat.
In Sibiu, the Samuel von Brukenthal National College is the oldest German-language school from Romania, being also classified as a historical monument. It was subsequently renamed this way in reference to baron Samuel von Brukenthal, a Transylvanian Saxon aristocrat. Additionally, there is one Goethe Institut cultural centre based in Bucharest as well as five Deutsche Kultzertrum based in Iași, Brașov, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Sibiu.