Danube Swabians

Uncommon card · No. 140039

The Danube Swabians (German: Donauschwaben [ˈdoːnaʊʃvaːbm̩] ) are an ethnic German population whose ancestors settled in the middle and lower Danube basin of east-central Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily under the recruitment of the Habsburg monarchy. Settlers came from various southwestern and central regions within the Holy Roman Empire, including Swabia, for which the group is named, as well as Alsace, Austria, Bavaria, Franconia, Hesse, and the Palatinate. Ethnic Germans first moved to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th century, but Danube Swabians moved in high numbers during the 17th and 18th centuries as part of an effort by the Habsburg monarchy to repopulate the valleys around the Danube and restore agriculture after the expulsion of the Ottoman Empire in the Ottoman–Habsburg wars. They were able to keep their language and religion and initially developed strongly German communities in the region which retained the German language, customs, and folklore. After...

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