Swabian Trek

  The following are the earliest German settlements in the Counties of Tolna, Baranya and Somogy an area collectively known as Swabian Turkey.

 

 

Tolna County:

 

Alsonana                           1750

 

Baatapati                           1730

 

Bikacs                               1736

 

Bonyhad                            1722

 

Felso Nana                        1723

 

Gyonk                               1722

 

Gyorkony                          1722

 

Izmeny                              1722

 

Kalazno                             1721

 

Keszohidegkut                  1723

 

Kety                                  1732

 

Kismanyok                       1720

 

Kistormas                         1724

 

Majos                                1720

 

Moragy                             1721

 

Mucsfa                              1724

 

Murga                               1740

 

Nagyszekely                     1720

 

Paks                                  1722

 

Szarazd                          1735

 

Udvari                           1730

 

Varsad                           1718

 

 

Baranya County:

    

Csikotottos                    1757

 

Egyhazaskosar              1757

 

Hidas                             1730

 

Kaposszeckcso              1757

 

Mekenyes                      1735

 

Nagy Hajmas                1740

 

Toffu                             1740

 

 

Somogy County:

 

Bonnya                          1745

 

Ecseny                           1754

 

Felso Mocsolad             1725

 

Gadacs                           1797

 

Kotcse                           1725

 

Somogydoroscke          1750

 

Somogyszil                   1820

 

 

Diaspora:  

Harta,

Pest County               1721

 

Lajoskomarom,

Veszprem County     1805

 

Mezobereny,

Bekes County           1725

 

Pusztavam,

Fehjer County          1720

 

Bátaszék, Heimatbuch der Grossgemeinde Bátaszék im Komitat Tolnau (Ungarn) by Johannes Göbelt, Pécs (Two volumes)

 

Bikács, Unsere Heimat 1736-1986 by Mathias Schmausser, 1986, Ostelsheim.

 

Bonyhádvarasd/Warasch, Heimatbuch by Andreas M. Patton, 1995 Budapest.

 

Branau/Baranya, Unvergessene Heimat by Mathias Volk, 1985, Karlsruhe.

 

Cikó, Ein Heimatbuch über die Ortsgeschichte unsere Dorfes in Ungarn, by Andreas Reder published in 1991 in Pecs.

 

Deutsche Kolonisten im Komitat Baranya/Ungarn 1688-1752 by Ferdinand Hengl, 1983, Darmstadt (Three volumes)

 

Die Deutschen Familien im Komitat Baranya-Branau Ungarn in den kirchichen Seelenlisten 1767-1768, by Ferdinand Hengl, 1990, Karlsruhe.

 

Die Deutschen Familien in Komitat Somogy-Schomodei/Ungarn in den kirchlichen Seelenlisten 1767-1771, by Ferdinand Hengl, 1990, Karlsruhe.

 

Die Deutschen Familien im Komitat Tolna-Tolnau/Ungarn in den kirchlichen Seelenlisten 1767-1768 by Ferdinand Hengl, 1990, Karlsruhe.

  

Die Schwäbische Türkei, Beitrage zu ihrer Geschichte, Sprach- und Volkskunde by Johann Weidlein, 1980, Schorndorf

 

Franken und Schwaben in Ungarn, Aufsätze zur Geschichte und Siedlungsgeschichte der Tolnau und der Oberen Baranya, by Heinrich Kéri, Neu-Zeitung Stiftung, Budapest 2002.

 

Herkunft deutscher Ansiedler im Komitat Tolnau (Tolna) by Josef Schmidt and Johann Müller, 1995, Sindelfingen.

 Hessische Zuwanderer in die Schwäbische Türkei der Komitate Tolna-Baranya-Somogy in Ungarn, by Johann Wolf, Rockenhausen, 2004 Mágocs, Markt Gemeinde in der Branau/Baranya by Franz Teufel, 1992, Weilhehim a.d.Teck. 

Majos, Heimatbuch und Ortschronik von Majos by Heinrich März, 1997, Olching.

 

Német-Boly: Gesichte der Grossgemeinde, by Bela von Németh, 1900, Pécs

Nordschomodei, Heimatbuch und Geschichte einer deutschen Sprachinsel der Schwäbischen Türkei in Ungarn, edited by Anton Tafferner, 1973, München.

 

Szárazd, Chronik der ev. Luth. Gemeinde Szárazd im Komitat Tolna Ungarn, by Johann Wolf 1993, Rockenhausen.

 

Szárazd, Orssippenbuch der Evang.-Luth. Gemeinde im Komitat Tolna/Ungarn by Johann Wolf, 1994, Rockenhausen.

Tevel, Zweieinhalb Jahrhunderte schwäbische Ortsgeschitchte in Ungarn 1701-1948 by Johann Eppel, 1988, Budapest.

 

Varsád, Ein Dorf Eine Heimat Unsere Heimat im Komitat Tolnau, by Heinrich Weissenberger, 1995, Rockenhausen.

 

Véménd, Die Geschichte by Johann Petri, 1986, Ettlingen.

 

Vertestolna, Dorfchronik im Rahmen der Geschichte, by Johann Engstner, 1985, Berlin.

 

Závod in der Tolnau, Heimatbujch zur Geschichte des Dorfes Závod und dessen Bewohnern, by Anton Mayer, 1990 Ettlingen.

 

Zwischen Donau, Drau und Plattensee, Heimatbuch der Gemeinden: Csikostöttös, Ág, Gerenyes, Tarrós, Tékes, Szabadi by Heinrich Friedrich and Franz Teufel, 1995 Weilheim a.d. Teck.

  (From the book by Stefan Stader: Auswanderer im 18. Jh. Nach Südosteuropa.)

Bitz Michael from St. Leon; 1748 to Hungary
Fischer Josef from Deidesheim; 1723 to Hungary
Fischer Jacob from Bous; 1724 to Hungary
Fischer Johann from Wustweiler, 1750 to Pest, Hungary

  (From the book by Anton Reimann: Auswanderungen aus Hessischen Territorien nach Südosteuropa)

Bitz Peter, farmer from Altenmittlau/District of  Freigericht/Gelnhausen, 4 persons passed through Vienna on 02.05.1803, heading to Hungary or Galicia
Frischkorn Gottlob, from Schick-Neu-Cronau in the District of Schwarzenfels, married Anna Margarethe Riess in Nagyszekely on 09.11.1756 
The Frischkorn children are living in Hungary.  The local magistrate from Neuengronau/Schlüchtern, George Drurschel carried out the the final disposition of their property in 1786.
Frischkorn Johann Georg from Bellings/Schlüchtern, left for Hungary in 1749

  (The emigration from Hessen-Darmstadt to Hungary by Wilhelm Diehl in Hessische Volksbücher)

District of ALSFELD 1721

Jungkurt, Hans Peter – Arnshain (to Varsad )
Corell, Johannes – Arnshain (to Varsad )
Hartstirn, Henrich – Arnshain
Zulauff, Konrad – Arnshain (Kalazno/Varsad )
Imhoff, Johann Henrich – Elbenrod (to Varsad )
Seibert (Seybert), Johann Henrich – Elbenrod (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Rausch, Niclas – Rainrod
Birckenstock, Johann – Rainrod
Nahrgang, Niclas – Rainrod (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Decher, Hans Merten – Rainrod (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Decher, Johann Curt – Rainrod (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Decher, Johann Sebastian – Rainrod (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Siepel, Johann Barthel – Rainrod (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Becker, Johannes – Rainrod
Helfenbein, Johann Elias – Rainrod
Schmitt, Dietrich – Strebendorf (to Varsad )
Schmehl, Hanß Conrad – Strebendorf (to Varsad )
Scheerer, Johann Henrich – Strebendorf (to Varsad )
Bonn, Johannes – Strebendorf
Lang, Johannes – Strebendorf
Schäffer, Friedrich – Kirtorf (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Schirmer, Johannes – Obergleen
Chomler (Gomler), Johann Adam – Obergleen (to Kistormas )
Moock, Johannes – Schwarz (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Hoxel, Johannes – Schwarz
Lux, Johann Henrich – Leusel
Weycker, Johann Conrad – Leusel (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Simon, Johannes – Leusel
Schlitt, Johann Henrich – Billertshausen (to Kalazno )
Koch, Johannes – Heidelbach

District of BINGENHEIM 1722

Kraft, Johann Henrich – Gettenau (to Majos/Kismanyok )
Herche, Johannes – Gettenau
Heck, Philipps – Dauernheim
Creutz, Georg Philipp – Dauernheim (to Majos/Kismanyok )
Walther, Henrich Peter – Dauernheim (to Majos/Kismanyok )
Walther, Johannes – Dauernheim (to Györköny )
Werner, Johannes – Dauernheim
Umbsonst, Felix – Dauernheim
Kröhl, Hans Georg – Dauernheim
Krailing (Crailing), Conrad – Dauernheim (to Varsad )
Alt, Johann Conrad – Echzell (to Varsad)
Steffan, Andreas – Echzell (to Izmeny/Kismanyok )
Rühl, Johannes – Echzell
Wolff, Johann Georg – Echzell
Schütz, Casmus (Erasmus) – Leidhecken (to Izmeny/Kismanyok )

District of BURGGEMÜNDEN 1723

Horst, Johann Caspar – Niedergemünden
Bornmann, Burkhard – Elbenrod
Fischer, Peter – Elpenrod (to Varsad )

District of GIESSEN 1723

Wagner, Johann Henrich – Daubringen (to Gyönk )
Schwalb, Martin – Daubringen

District of GREBENAU 1722

Edel, Johann Michel – Grebenau
Semmelrod, Johann – Grebenau (to Varsad )
Pfalzgraf, Philipps – Grebenau (to Varsad )
Schmidt, Eckard – Grebenau (to Izmeny/Kismanyok )
Sauer, Johann – Udenhausen (to Varsad )
Kalbfleisch, Caspar – Udenhausen (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Seipel, Andreas – Eulersdorf
Weiß, Johann Martin – Eulersdorf
Kindermann, Conrad – Eulersdorf (to Izmeny/Kismanyok )
Greeb, Hans Henrich – Reimenrod
Schmidt, Johannes – Reimenrod
Güldner, Johann Henrich – Reimenrod
Bramm, Johann Henrich – Reimenrod

District of HOMBERG an der Ohm 1723

Heß, Johann Henrich junior – Büßfeld

District of LISSBERG 1722

Falck, Peter – Schwickartshausen
Draut, Hans Georg – Schwickartshausen
Petermann, Henrich – Schwickartshausen
Petermann, Johann Henrich – Schwickartshausen (to Gyönk )
Asmus, Johann Karl – Schwickartshausen
Krepp, Johann Henrich – Schwickartshausen
Dihm, Niclas – Schwickartshausen
Gombel, Hans – Eckartsborn
Losekann, Niclas – Eckartsborn
Uhl, Johann Reinhard – Eckartsborn
Spitznagel, Johannes – Effolderbach (to Majos/Kismanyok )
Würtz, Johannes – Effolderbach
Batzheimer, Wittib des Joh. Adam – Effolderbach
Schmidt, Johann Conrad – Bobenhausen
Spahrer, Georg – Litzberg

District of NIDDA 1721

Hert, Martin – Fauerbach
Schmitt, Johann Jost – Eichelsachsen
Lupp, Johannes – Wallernhausen
Preusch, Johann Adolf – Wallernhausen
Stang, Conrad – Wallernhausen (to Izmeny/Kismanyok )
Meuerin, Anna Catharina – Peter Meuers daughter from Oberschmitten
Bauermeister, Johann Jost – Crainfeld (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Erck, Weigand – Bürger von Nidda
Eberling, Johann Conrad – Bürger von Nidda
Bingel, Johann Henrich – Bürger von Nidda
Erck, Christoph – Bürger von Nidda
Windecker, Johann Henrich – Bürger von Nidda
Daupert, Johann – Oberlais (to Felsönana )

District of STORNFELS 1722

Emmel, Erhard – Ulfa (in the book by A. Reimann he is listed as Emrich Erhard)

District of ULRICHSTEIN 1723

Seim, Anna Elisabeth, widow of Johann – Helpershain
Orth, Conrad – Helpershain (to Varsad )
Orth, Martin – Helpershain (to Varsad )
Kayser, Johannes – Helpershain
Schaarmann, Andreas – Helpershain (to Varsad )
Freyensehner, Johannes – Helpershain (to Varsad )
Guthmann, Kaspar – Helpershain (to Varsad )
Kehr, Johannes – Meiches (to Varsad )
Düring (Döring), Johann Conrad – Meiches (to Varsad )

District of DARMSTADT 1720

Sauer, Johann Michael – Pfungstadt
Sauer, Jost – Pfungstadt
Habich, Jacob – Eschollbrücken
Schleicher, Johann Georg – Wixhausen
Remler, Georg – Wixhausen
Hanßmann, Johann Adam – Wixhausen
Fischer, Niclas – Nieder-Beerbach
Otterbein, Conrad – Nieder-Beerbach (to Varsad )
Klein, Johann Philipp – Nieder-Beerbach
Reuß, Johannes – Nieder-Beerbach
Franck, Ernst – Nieder-Beerbach
Müller, Wittib des Jost – Nieder-Beerbach
Orth, Johannes – Erxhausen (to Varsad )

Seven families from Arheiligen left illegally for Hungary on the 26th of September 1723.

District of  DORNBERG 1723

Neumann, Johannes – Beisaß zu Leeheim
Kutscher, Johann Georg – Dornberg

District of JÄGERSBURG 1723

Würtzel, Johann Friedrich – Großhausen
Würtzel, Henrich – Großhausen
Matthäusin, Margaretha Elisabetha – Groß-Rohrheim
Krauß, Peter – Groß-Rohrheim (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Hoffmann, Velten – Groß-Rohrheim
Linck, Johannes – Groß-Rohrheim
Becht, Peter – Groß-Rohrheim
Krauß, Johann Jacob – Groß-Rohrheim (to Varsad )
Hoffmann, Ewald – Groß-Rohrheim
Krauß, Johannes – Groß-Rohrheim

District of  KELSTERBACH 1723

Lohr, Johann Jacob – Langen
Bloch, Conrad – Langen
Kohl, Johann Adam – Egelsbach
Blöser (Bleser, Plezer), Conrad – Egelsbach (to Györköny )
Avemaria, Jacob – Egelsbach
Koch, Johann Adam – Egelsbach
Feyrer, Conrad – Egelsbach
Schmidt, Adam – Egelsbach (to Györköny )
Reininger, Johannes – Mörfelden
Dülffer, Johann Henrich – Mörfelden

District of LICHTENBERG 1723

Maul, Johann Peter – Ernsthofen
Hellermann, Christoph – Brandau
Fritz, Johann Peter – Wembach
Maul, Georg Velten – Klein-Bieberau
Koch, Conrad – Nieder-Modau
Poth, Georg – Nieder-Modau
Boßler, Jost Burkhard – Ober-Modau
Grabecher, Johann Diether – Ober-Modau
Kling, Johann Kaspar – Ober-Modau
Wehner, Hans Georg – Groß-Bieberau
Storck, Conrad – Groß-Bieberau (to Kalazno/Varsad )
Schubkegel, Johannes – Groß-Bieberau
Schantz, Johann Georg – Lichtenberg
Arheiliger, Johann – Reinheim
Hartmann, Andreas – Niedernhausen
Feick, Johann Jacob – Ober-Ramstadt
Bechthold, Balthasar – Ober-Ramstadt
Frisenius, Johannes – Ober-Ramstadt
Handschu, Nikolaus – Ober-Ramstadt
Grohe, Peter – Ober-Ramstadt

During October of 1723 various families numbering 38 persons left Ober-Ramstadt by night and left secretly for Hungary.

District of RÜSSELSHEIM 1723

Hirsch, Johann Christoph – Groß-Gerau
Böß, Henrich Albrecht – Groß-Gerau (to Györköny )
Schmidt, Johann Peter – Groß-Gerau (to Gyönk )
Hirsch, Johann Lorenz – Groß-Gerau
Kuhlmann, Martin – Groß-Gerau (to Györköny )
Cappel, Johann Philipps – Worfelden (to Varsad, Filial of  Nagyszekely)
Vollhard, Johannes – Worfelden
Bruder, Johann Georg – Worfelden (to Kötcse)
Künold, Johann Michel – Wallerstädten
Deiß, Markus – Hof Rheinfelden
Lix, Wilhelm Bernhard – Hof Rheinfelden
Weingärtner, Peter – Hof Rheinfelden

District of SEEHEIM 1723

Hartmann, Johann Philipps – Jungenheim
Bracht, Johannes – Bickenbach

District of UMSTADT 1723

Holtzapffel, Johann Adam – Klein-Umstadt
Keck, Hans Georg – Klein-Umstadt
Roth, Ewald – Klein-Umstadt
Muhrmann, Adam – Richen
Burger, Velten – Richen
Triest, Michel – Richen
Beck, Johannes – Richen
Beck, Johann Adolf – Richen
Beck, Conrad
Leibig, Leonhard – Semd
Korn, Hans Georg – Semd
Rapp, Baltzer – Semd
Bick, Henrich – Semd
Hardy, Johann Georg – Umstadt
Schäffer, Michael – Umstadt
Seyfried, Johann – Umstadt
Seyfried, Jakob – Umstadt
Leßer, Henrich – Umstadt
Brücher, Johannes – Umstadt
Schütz, Leonhard – Umstadt
Haaß, Johann Philipps – Habitzheim

… in the years 1721-1723 in the space of less than two years aover 300 persons from Hessen-Darmstadt emigrated to Hungary.  In the years 1724-1725 the emigration continued.
…large numbers left from Dauernheim in Oberhessen, Bessungen, Arheiligen and Ober-Ramstadt.  The emigrants from Ober Ramstadt settled in the Banat in the vicinity of Temesvar in the village of Langenfeld.)
 

  (Emigrants from Hesse to Hungary reported by D. Ernst Wagner of Bensheim)

Altheim

Sauerwein, Michael – 7 Persons (1720)

Auerbach

Grabächer, Johann Tobiaswith wife and children (1723)
Grabächer, Johann Tobias uncle of the above (1723)
Keiling, Eva Maria unmarried (1723)
Michell, Henrich with wife and children (1724)
Nester (Neßer), Hans Adam, Zimmermann, with wife and children (1724)
Oswald, Dionysius, mason, with wife and children (1724)
Oswald, Simon with wife and children (1724)
Rodell, Johann Georg and his wife (1723)
Schneider, Johann Leonhard, stableman, with wife and children (1723)

Bessungen

Herzberger, Peter (ca. 1725)
Krug, … (1723)
Moz, Michael (1725)
Wittmann, Adam (1725)

Bleichenbach

Arndt, Hans Jakob with wife and 4 children (1721)
Deckmann, Johann Conrad and wife Anna Margaretha (1722)
Deckmann, Weigand with his wife and  7 children (1722)
Flug, Christoph, mason, with wife and 7 children (1722)
Liebegott, Katharina, widow of Hans, with 2 sons (1722)
Liebegott, Heinrich, court official, with wife and 7 children(1722)
Neue, Johann Joachim with wife Maria und 7 children (?)
Rauch, Johann Georg with wife Anna Katharina und children (1722)
Ritzel, Johannes with wife Elisabeth Margarethe und 4 children (1722)
Ritzel, Johann Heinrich with wife Elisabeth (1722)
Ritzel, Johann Wilhelm with wife Elisabeth (1722)

(All of the above families settleld in Majos)

Dauernheim

Bach, Johann Heinrich (1734)

Hochstädten

Lauth, Johann Adam with his wife (1723)
Schmuck (Schunk), Johann Georg, blacksmith, with wife and children (1722)
Weydermann, Barthold with wife and children (1723)

Ober-Ramstadt

Baumann, Conrad with wife and children (1723)
Daub, Nikolaus with wife and children (1723)
Feiler, Gertrud (widow from Frankenhausen) (1723)
Knorr, Johann with his wife (1723)
Kroll, Peter – 5 persons (1723)
Orth, Johann with his wife and 5 children (1723)
Österreicher, Heinrich mit wife and 5 children (1723)
Rampe, Georg Nikolaus with wife and 4 children (1723)
Ridfuß, Johann Peter with wife and 5 children (1723)
Schmitt, Heinrich with wife and 3 children (1723)
Schmitt, Johann with wife and 4 children (1723)
Schrobein, Heinrich and his wife (1723)
Seebold, Johann with wife and 6 children (1723)
Weiß, Jacob with wife and 2 children (1723)

Semd

Bucker, Heinrich with wife and 6 children (1723 to Bulkes)
Hermann, Philipp with 3 children (1720)
Karn, Hans Jörg (1723)
Leibig, Leonhard with wife and 2 children (1723)
Rupp, Balthasar, shoemaker, with wife and 3 children (1723)

  This article deals with the early history and development of the Lutheran congregations and Church District of Swabian Turkey in the 18th century taken from:  Beiträge zur Geschichte Des evangelischen Seniorats in der Schwäbischen Türkei by Gustav Schmidt-Tomka, published in München 1976, summarized and translated by Henry A. Fischer.

  (The Seniorat (Church District) of Tolna, Baranya and Somogy of the Lutheran Church in Hungary includes Hungarian, Slovak and German-speaking congregations.  What follows addresses only the early development of the German-speaking congregations in Swabian Turkey whose members would later be identified as Danube Swabians.)

  In 1718, the large-scale immigration of Evangelical Lutherans from Germany into Tolna County began.  Many of these settlers came from Württemberg and the Pfalz, but the major portion came from Hessen Darmstadt.  Hieronymous Schwarzwalder who accompanied some colonists served as the pastor in Varsád beginning in 1718.  He was ordained in Kremnitz in Upper Hungary (Slovakia) on September 29, 1718 by Daniel Krmann, who was the only remaining Lutheran Superintendent (bishop) who was still in office and not in prison.  The Varsád congregation was located on the land holdings of the Székely family who were Calvinists.  At the founding of the settlement there were also Hungarian Calvinists and Roman Catholics but they left shortly afterwards and Varsád would become a totally German village.  The first settlers in Varsád came from Württemberg.  They were only the vanguard.  Like the stars in the night sky after 1718-1719, here and there throughout Tolna County, Lutheran congregations came into being under the leadership of a pastor or Levite Lehrer (a teacher who also had theological training).  In the beginning there were only simple services of worship consisting of hymns, scripture reading, prayers and the reading of sermons if no one was prepared to preach in the absence of a pastor or teacher.

  Shortly afterwards, in 1718-1719 a congregation was formed in Kismányok made up of settlers from Württemberg under the leadership of an ordained pastor named Jeremias Walter.  On the pastor’s arrival from Germany, Count Wenceslaus Zinzendorf the Minister of Finance in Vienna who owned the estate on which the village was located officially appointed him to his pastorate.  According to several sources this pastor Walter also served the newly formed congregation in Izmény in 1720.  This village was part of the domains of Count Apar.  Walter appears to have come from either Württemberg or Hesse.  In 1744 the congregation in Izmény became an affiliate of Kismáyok after their young pastor, Stephen Barany and his family were banished and driven out of the village by County troopers under the orders of the County Administration and Roman Catholic church officials.

  Colonists from the Vogelsberg District from Upper Hesse came to Felsönana in 1721 and founded a Lutheran congregation.  These settlers came from the domains of Freiherr Riedesel.  Other emigrants from Hessen/Kassel and Hessen/Nassau joined them in the following spring.  The congregation became an affiliate of Varsád at the outset but after 1724 was served by the pastor in nearby Kistormás.  The first known teacher in the village was Georg Sutter in 1730, who had been preceded by one of the settlers who acted in this capacity and led in worship until a trained teacher could be obtained.  This was typical in most of the congregations and the men did so secretly and were called “emergency teachers.”  Their primary task was to teach the children in preparation for confirmation which meant a knowledge of reading, writing and Scripture and also served as the lay leader and preacher in the congregation.

  In 1722-1724, with the full consent of Emperor Charles VI a Lutheran congregation was formed in Mucsfa.  The inhabitants of this village had their origins in the Odenwald, now part of Hesse.  Because of their poverty they were unable to establish regular church life on their own and united with Izmény at first and then later with Kismányok.  The first teacher we can identify with certainty was Johann Thomas who began to serve in 1733.

  In 1722 a very important event took place that affected the majority of the Lutheran congregations in the Tolna.  General Count Claudius Florimundus de Mercy of Argentau purchased the largest domain in Tolna County.  He was the governor of the Banat and President of the Commission for Settlement and Colonization at Temesvár.  His land holdings in Tolna County stretched from Paulsdorf (Palfá) in the north to Abtsdorf (Batáapáti) in the south along the border with the Baranya.  In this settlement area he carried out an ambitious, innovative and effective colonization policy in which he protected and defended the religious rights of his subjects as far as it was possible for him to do so.  At the time of his purchase the Lutheran congregations in Varsád, Felsönana, Kismányok, Izmény and Muscfa had already been established.

  His policies were introduced and implemented by his cousin, Count Anton Ignaz de Mercy who was his designated heir.  Following the death of this younger de Mercy on January 22, 1767 his son, Count Claudius Florimundus de Mercy II who later served as the Habsburg ambassador in Paris and London succeeded him.  He sold the family holdings in Tolna County in 1773 to Count Georg Apponyi for over 700,000 Gulden.  The Mercy holdings had included the estates of Count Zinzendorf, Baron Schilson and the Székely family.  From 1722-1772 the Mercys were the most powerful and wealthiest landowners in Tolna County with all of the special privileges of a Hungarian noble and the right of the sword.  (They had the power of life and death over their subjects).

  The Mercys proved to be effective defenders and protectors of their Lutheran subjects in the face of the attempts to persecute them on the part of the County Administration that was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic and included their higher clergy.  The fate of the future Lutheran Seniorat would have been far different on the basis of any kind of human judgement, especially in light of the “quiet suppression” under Empress Maria Theresia, had the Mercys not been the landlords and protectors of numerous Lutheran congregations who were the seed out of which the future Church District would sprout.

  Count de Mercy carried out public relation activities in Hesse to recruit settlers in his role as President of the Colonization Commission for the Banat that would produce results other than those the Emperor had intended.  His own domain in Tolna County would be the chief beneficiary of his publicity efforts.  For this purpose he sent his authorized commissioner Captain Tobias Vátzy to Vienna to persuade immigrants who were bound for the Banat to choose to settle on Count de Mercy’s domains in Tolna County instead.  According to notes left behind by pastor Johann Balassa of Szarszentlorinc, Count de Mercy received an order for an audience with the Emperor in Vienna in which he was reprimanded for his manipulation of the Banat bound settlers while also charging him with having accepted Lutheran settlers on his estates and supported them in their heresy.  Count de Mercy did not allow any of this to influence him in any way and proceeded with his colonization project in the Tolna as before.  From 1721-1724 we can speak of a massive emigration as more Lutherans sought refuge and land with Count de Mercy on his domain.

  In the year 1722, Kalázno was founded by Lutheran settlers arriving from Upper Hesse and quickly joined themselves as a daughter congregation of Varsád in 1724, where at the time, Karl Johann Reichard was the pastor.  Only recently, he had been driven out of the Banat by the Jesuits and had become a fugitive from the law.  He had served two Lutheran congregations made up of Odenwalders from Hesse who had settled in Langenfeld and Petrilowia in 1718 as well as the neighbouring settlements of Orawitza, Russowa, Haversdorf and Saalhausen.  He had done so under the protection and official appointment of Count de Mercy.  These settlements were in the vicinity of Weisskirchen and close to the frontiers with Turkish occupied Serbia.  The Jesuits in Temesvár made the young pastor’s presence and activities known to the Court in Vienna and he was ordered banished.  It was only through the Count’s assistance that he was able to escape imprisonment and made his way to Varsád where the Count placed him in the pastorate there.  In the following months a trickle of Odenwalders, some eight-five persons in all arrived in small family groups and rejoined him in order to escape conversion.  All of the early Lutheran settlements in the Banat were destroyed by later Turkish incursions into the area and the population was massacred or carried off into slavery.

  The congregation in Abtsdorf (Batáapáti) was founded in 1724 under the Letters Patent they had been granted by the Emperor Charles.  Many of them visited Kismányok for pastoral services and the names of their families can be found in those church records and in the same year they officially became affiliated with that congregation.

  Kalázno belonged to the land holdings of Count de Mercy centred at Hogyész and was settled by colonists from Upper Hessen.  According to the church archives the village had a Bethaus (prayer house) and teacher from the beginning of the settlement.  In 1733, the bishop of Pécs sought to establish a Roman Catholic parish in Varsád and Kalázno for Magyar Roman Catholics.  This indicates that at the time of the coming of the German settlers there were still numerous Hungarians in the area.  It was only later that Kalázno would become entirely German in terms of its inhabitants.  In 1725, Michael Reulein became the resident teacher.

  In 1719, the Lutheran congregation in Györköny was established.  In that same year, Georg Barany organized the congregation in Gyönk and turned it over to Stephen Denes and went to serve the mixed language Magyar and German congregation in Györköny.  Daniel Krmann, the Lutheran bishop of Upper Hungary appointed Georg Barany the Senior (Dean) of the Tolna congregations on January 27, 1720 to give leadership to the growing fledgling congregations.

  Relationships between the two nationalities broke down in Györköny and Barany requested approval from Count de Mercy to establish a Hungarian Lutheran settlement on the puszta (prairie) at Szarszentlorinc.  On his approval, Barany and the Hungarian families left and established what would become the centre of Lutheranism and where he would lead the Church District in the turbulent decades ahead.  A Lutheran congregation was also formed in Nagyszékely and associated themselves with Barany’s parish.

  On May 9, 1724 in the evening, between seven and eight o’clock the wagons of Count de Mercy arrived at Tolna-on-the-Danube to pick up a small group of Lutheran settlers and dropped them off in the tall grass of the puszta of Tormash (Kistormás).  The colonists came from the vicinity of Wiesbaden.  The tall grass was their mattress and God’s free sky their only cover.  A pastor, Johann Nicolaus Tonsor (Latin for Schneider) accompanied the group.  He was born in Wallau in the Wiesbaden area on November 2, 1692.  He was ordained at Wertheim-an-Main on their way to Hungary.  In their emigrant train there was also a teacher along with his family, Johann Wolfgang Friedrich from Idstein by Wiesbaden.  When the congregation organized it numbered about sixty families.  At the same time other German settlers moved into Kolesd, which adjoined Kistormás and resided among the Magyar Lutherans who were living there.

  In Mucsi, owned by Count Zinzendorf, a small Lutheran “daughter” congregation was established in 1718.  The pastor in Bikács, Andreas Reiner attests to this in a document he presented to the Church District in assembly.  This congregation disappeared in the 1730s as most of the Lutherans moved on to other settlements.  It was a basic policy of Count de Mercy to establish settlements with only one religious confession and nationality to avoid conflict if at all possible.

  Between 1718-1724 there were eleven Lutheran congregations established on the domains of Count de Mercy in Tolna County of which nine were German-speaking and consisted of settlers from southwest Germany as well as Western Hungary in terms of the Heidebauern who had established Györköny.

  But Lutheran congregations also emerged in settlements belonging to other nobles and private landlords.  In particular they were:  Kun, Perczel and Schilson.  The Kun estate included Majos, which was apparently settled by Hessians prior to 1720 who formed a Lutheran congregation shortly after their arrival.  Georg Barany, however, indicates an earlier arrival of German settlers under the leadership of Friedrich Samuel Bertram of Magdeburg who was their pastor.  He was banished from the County and the members of the congregation followed him into exile but their destination is unknown.  Several pastors attempted to serve in Majos but all of them were imprisoned, banished or expelled from the County.  Their Bethaus was boarded up and all forms of worship were forbidden in the village.  The congregation was placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic clergy in Bonyhád but the vast majority of the members of the congregation went to Kismányok for pastoral services along with the other orphaned Lutheran congregations in the area.

  Congregational life was established by the Lutherans in Bonyhád between 1720-1724 on the Perczel estates.  Many families from Württemberg settled here and were the backbone of the congregation that was not permitted to have a school or teacher but managed to operate a clandestine one.  Some of the families sent their children to the school in Majos which was close by.  In terms of church jurisdiction they were placed under the authority of the local Roman Catholic priest to whom they had to pay their tithes and fees along with the Hungarian Calvinists in the town.  The congregation would undergo constant pressure and restrictions well into the 19th century even after the Edict of Toleration had been published and enacted.

  The village of Hidas, which now belongs to Baranya County, was on the estates owned by Franz Kun who settled some German colonists from Hesse and Württemberg in 1720.  The majority of them were Lutherans but there were also a sizeable number of Reformed.  The Lutherans formally organized themselves in 1730 with the landlord’s permission.  They associated themselves with the Kismányok parish.  During the episcopate of Bishop Berenyi of Pécs the congregation experienced intensive persecution along with the Lutherans in Bonyhád.

  In Cikó, where a Cistercian Abbey was located a small Lutheran congregation of some thirty families came into existence in 1719.  At first it related to the congregation in Majos when it had a pastor and then later to Kisjmányok when he was banished.  The village was on the lands of Baron Schilson, which was later sold to the Perczels.  In 1730, the Lutherans built a Bethaus and they shared a common bell with the Roman Catholics.  According to Roman Catholic records, the two groups built the Bethaus jointly.  In 1723 the Lutheran teacher in the village was Kaspar Faust.  During the episcopate of Bishop Berenyi due to the pressures exerted against them, to all intents and purposes the congregation was wiped out, with a sizeable number of the families moving to Gyönk where they laid the groundwork for a large future congregation while others moved to nearby Zsibrik where another small congregation was established.  They built a Bethaus and engaged a teacher but were placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic priest in Cikó.  This valiant little congregation experienced great difficulties throughout the reign of Maria Theresia at the hands of the Bishop of Pécs.

  In response to the colonization project of the Perczel family both Lutheran and Reformed settlers came to Mórágy in 1719-1720.  The Lutherans associated themselves with the congregation in Kismányok and a teacher by the name of Triebach was working there, but their numbers were small in terms of the Reformed and were gradually absorbed into their congregation.  Both groups had their origins in Hesse where these kinds of unions between the confessions on a local level had become common in many villages back home and was not considered to be out of the ordinary.

  Kéty was another case in point.  This Lutheran congregation established in 1732 had a significant number of Reformed members.  Sixty-five years later, eighty-six of the members still registered themselves as being Reformed.  Their settlement contract with Baron Schilson dates from May 30, 1732.  The congregation was placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic priest in Zomba and suffered a great deal at the hands of the fiercely catholic Bene family by the restrictions imposed upon them.  Their Bethaus was confiscated by the Bene family and converted into a stable and their two teachers:  Matthias Lämle and Peter Ernst were driven out of the community.

  Paks-on-the-Danube was located on the land holdings of the Rudnyanszky family.  The church records of the Roman Catholic church that begin in 1720 present a colourful confessional picture with Calvinist Hungarians, Orthodox Serbs, Lutheran Slovaks and Lutheran Germans as well as Roman Catholics of various nationalities. The last mentioned group among the Lutherans were primarily Heidebauern from Weisselburg County (Moson).  Their numbers increased with the arrival of German Lutherans from various Germans principalities.  Although they formed a Lutheran congregation it was not allowed to function nor were they permitted to have a school and teacher.  This was not a new experience for the Heidebauern who had existed in this manner for over one hundred years and continued to give expression to their faith as household assemblies in which the children were also taught scripture and the catechism.  They were obliged to pay their tithes to the Roman Catholic priest and if they sought the services of a pastor of their own confession they also had to pay whatever fee was deemed appropriate to the priest as well.

  On the Rudnyanszky estate, the village of Bikács was settled in the early 1720s although it was officially founded in 1736 in order to avoid paying some County taxes.  The settlers were Heidebauern from Moson County who began settling in the community on and off since 1725.  On forming a Lutheran congregation they associated themselves with the congregation in Györköny but met constant resistance from the Roman Catholic authorities in their efforts to develop any form of church life in the village.  Their first teacher, Stephen Salamon came from Tet in Raab (Györ) County and he served from 1727-1753 when he was banished and the congregation was placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic priest in Kajdács.

  The village of Zomba was situated on the estates of the Orthodox Monasterly family and later the Vitkovics heirs and was settled by Hungarian and German Lutherans.  In 1723 a Lutheran congregation was established and developed a relationship with the Majos congregation before 1726.  When the   pastor was expelled in 1729 they were left to fend for themselves. It was only later that they began to experience real difficulties when Zomba was purchased by the Döry family who were fiercely anti-Protestant and ordered their Bethaus confiscated and locked and banished their German and Hungarian teachers.  The German Lutherans left en masse after 1735 and settled in Mekényes in the Baranya, while their Hungarian co-religionists left to establish Oroshaza.  As the last teacher noted, “It is to the great honour of our German and Hungarian forebears that they sooner left house, land and home than to forfeit their faith and church.”

  There was another Lutheran congregation on the Monastery and later Döry estates at Szárázd.  The congregational archives indicate that the congregation was formed in 1737 and affiliated itself with the congregation in Gyönk.  The first settlers came to escape the fanatic Bene family leaving Kéty 1736-1737.  But here they were to suffer even more under the Roman Catholic priest in Sagetal.  An “underground emergency teacher” served here up until the time of the Edict of Toleration and by then the local Roman Catholics had left and the village had become entirely German and Lutheran.

  In nearby Murga, where the landowners were Stephen and Nicolaus Jeszenszky, both German Roman Catholics and Lutherans settled in the village in 1745.  The Lutherans were not permitted to engage in any kind of organized church life and were placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic priest in Zomba.  Their landlords handled both groups so badly that together they petitioned for redress to the Empress Maria Theresia from the exploitation and oppression they suffered at their hands.  Although the Lutherans were not allowed to have a teacher, one of the local tradesmen acted as one secretly until the Edict of Toleration.

  During the early 1730s Hessian Lutherans arrived and settled in Keszöhigkút and formed a congregation related to the Gyönk parish, while Hessian Lutheran families in Nagyszékely left there when they were not allowed to build a Bethaus by their landlord and moved on to Udvari among German Roman Catholics where they formed a Lutheran congregation but were placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic parish of Szakádát.  The two congregations were both served by “emergency teachers” until the Edict of Toleration.  Daughter churches would emerge in the area at the end of the 18th century but that goes beyond our present survey of the early development.

  The story would be slightly different in Somogy County.  Numerous Hungarian and Slovak congregations came into existence during this period but we will focus only on those that were German-speaking.  Unlike the situation in Tolna County, in Somogy County the German Lutherans who settled there did not come directly from Germany but had first settled in the Tolna and were usually the first generation to be born in Hungary.  In terms of the settlements themselves there are only two exceptions.  For that reason the others would be looked upon as secondary settlements by historians and researchers.

  Felsö Mocsolád is considered by many to be the first, with Hessian Lutherans arriving there as early as 1725 and they too were served by the teacher:  Kaspar Faust who we first met in the Tolna.  In the following years they was a steady stream of Reformed settlers who arrived there.  Most of them were Hungarian who eventually formed the majority and the village lost both its German and Lutheran character by the end of the 18th century.

  To the north, on the estates of the Protestant Berzsenyi, Antal and Benko families the village of Kötcse was founded by:  five Hungarian Roman Catholic families, twelve Hungarian Calvinist families, forty-seven German Lutheran families and seven German Reformed families.  The Germans were of Hessian origin having embarked for Hungary from Regensburg in the spring of 1723.  The Church District accepted the congregation in 1725 when it was being served by an “emergency teacher” until a Levite Lehrer was available.  In 1734 Dominik Haas who had been born in the Tolna arrived to serve them in that capacity and was succeeded in 1740 by Michael Harmonia who was secretly ordained by Georg Barany.  In 1745 Martin Biró von Padány the bishop of Veszprem took action against the congregation.  On the night of December 15, 1745 a mob of peasants led by the priest in Karad stormed the village, raided and ransacked the houses of the Lutherans and Reformed and confiscated all bibles and hymnbooks and devotional literature under the direction of the High Court Judge Johann Rosty accompanied by County troops.  A huge bonfire was built in front of the Bethaus that had only recently been built and the books were burned and the judge read a decree outlawing any form of Lutheran worship or household assemblies and placed the congregation under the jurisdiction of the priest in Karad.  He then ordered that the Bethaus be put to the torch by the unruly mob.   Michael Harmonia and leaders of the congregation were whipped and he was dragged off to the episcopal dungeons in Veszprem, where under torture, he converted to Roman Catholicism.  The congregation went back to its former underground existence under the leadership of several emergency teachers until the publication of the Edict of Toleration thirty years later.

 Some time after 1730 groups of Hessian and Württemberg Lutherans who sought to escape conversion in the Tolna made their way into the hill country of Somogy County and established new settlements, one of which was Bonnya.  The beginnings of this Lutheran congregation cannot be determined precisely but it is tied to the arrival of Jakob Becht who had been born in Württemberg, and was the banished Lutheran underground teacher from Bonyhád who had fled from the authorities who sought to drive him out of the country.  He and his young family arrived in Bonnya on April 11, 1730 and took on the guise of a local farmer while he also secretly served as the Levite Lehrer.  The oldest sons of the Becht family would serve in that capacity in the life of the village and congregation for the next seven generations until the expulsion of the Danube Swabian population in 1948.

  At about the same time, the private landowner Johann Nepomuk Hunjady welcomed German families to settle on his estates at Döröcske.  These first settlers came from the Tolna along with others from Kötcse because land was starting to run out to provide a livelihood for younger families.  The Lutheran congregation was formed in 1758 and was served by various men as emergency teachers because all of their attempts to have permission to have a Levite Lehrer were turned down by the Empress Maria Theresia.  They considered themselves affiliated with the Slovak Lutheran congregation in Tab.

  In the mid 1750s, some twenty-five Lutheran families from the Tolna and Baranya settled in Ecsény on the lands of several private landowners.  They were unable to form a congregation of their own and associated themselves with the Slovak congregation in Tab while officially they were under the jurisdiction of the priest in Barapati.  They were the first of the German-speaking congregations in Somogy County to receive permission to call a pastor and build a church at the time of the Edict of Toleration in 1781.

 There were also developments taking place in Baranya County, but only the congregation in Hidas was able to take root in the first half of the century.  The Bishops of Pécs were determined to nip in the bud any attempts at a Lutheran presence in the County.  It was only in the villages of Tofü and Mekényes that had formerly belonged to Tolna County that the Lutherans had been able to establish a bridgehead.

  The congregation in Tofü came into existence in 1719 and later became associated with the congregation in Kismányok.  Later in 1735 it related to the congregation in Mekényes that was much closer.  In 1743 the Bishop of Pécs had the Bethaus in both villages destroyed and placed both communities under the jurisdiction of the priest in Bikal.

  From its inception the congregation in Tofü supported an “emergency teacher.”  In 1739 they chose Philip Dieleberger as their teacher but the Roman Catholic authorities had him banished and in 1746 we find him listed in the church records in Kismányok as an ex-teacher.  Like the other congregations that managed to survive until the Edict of Toleration Tofü’s lay leaders held the congregation together and provided personal models of faithfulness with many of them ending up in prison.

  The beginnings of Lutheran church life in Mekényes can be traced back to 1735.  The first Lutheran settlers came from Zomba and Gyönk in the Tolna because they could not remain in those communities and practice their faith.  The first settlement took place on April 24, 1735.  The names of these colonists indicate that their origins were in Upper Hesse in the vicinity of Schlitz.  At the beginning the settlers had to suffer much at the hands of the local Serbs who preceded them and were to be found in most of Baranya.  Their landlord was the Esterhazy family that made no distinctions because they were Lutherans and acted towards them favourably.  In 1737 Mekényes was accorded the rights of an Artikular Church (a law that allowed for two Lutheran Churches to function in each county of Hungary) and called Franz Tonsor who was the pastor in Lapafö in Somogy County to be their pastor.  He served from 1737 to 1743.  After personal harassment and constant threats he was forcibly driven out of the village by troops sent by the Bishop of Pécs in 1743 and the Bethaus was locked and sealed.  Mass was celebrated annually in the Bethaus even thought there was not a single Roman Catholic resident to be found in the village.  The congregation supported a teacher secretly and kept him hidden from the authorities even though a Roman Catholic teacher had been imposed upon them.  This congregation endured much in the years before the Edict of Toleration.

  Rackozar received its name from its original inhabitants:  the Raizen who were Serbs and Croats and had settled in the area under Leopold I.  They were semi-nomadic.  For that reason the Esterhazys were interested in getting rid of them and replacing them with seasoned farmers, which meant German settlers.  In 1732 a single Lutheran family had settled there.  It was only in the mid 1750s when large numbers of German Lutherans first began to arrive.  A congregation was formed in 1756 and in the years ahead they faced a constant struggle to gain permission to have a pastor or teacher even though they sent delegations to petition the Empress Maria Theresia who turned a deaf ear to their requests.  Instead they were placed under the jurisdiction of the priest in Bikal and their teacher that they had been allowed to have was driven out of the community and was replaced by a Roman Catholic.  None of the children attended the school.  The congregation bribed the priest in Bikal to turn a blind eye to the fact that an “emergency teacher” was serving in their community.  None of this changed until the Edict of Toleration.

  The Esterhazys also settled German Lutherans from the Tolna among their Roman Catholic subjects in Gerénges, Nagy Ag, Tékes, Kaposszekcsö, Csikostöttös and Tarrós where Lutheran congregations were quickly formed and were faced with the same struggle for survival.  Again it was the local lay leadership that bore the brunt of the battle and the emergency teachers who were ofen apprehended and imprisoned.

  In light of all of this, it seems virtually impossible but it is a fact that Lutheran congregations and communities arose on the estates of Princes of the Church and other church lands.  Such Lutheran settlements were in Alsónána and Györe in the Tolna and Nagyhajmas in the Baranya.  Some time before 1740 Jacob Jany the Abbot of Bátasék brought Lutheran and Reformed Germans to settle among his Serb subjects in Alsónána.  It was only later in 1751 that the village became part of the state holdings of the Habsburgs.  The village was considered to be a filial of the Roman Catholic parish of Bátásek and no Lutheran church life was tolerated but clandestine household services were the norm, while several emergency teachers served here until the Edict of Toleration.

  On the other hand, Hessian Lutherans settled in Györe under the auspices of the   Bishop of Pécs.  The year of the beginnings of the congregation is uncertain but it became a filial of Zsibrik in 1739 and managed to carry on during this difficult period.

  Nagyhajmas was settled with Roman Catholic Germans and Croats by Count Philip Ludwig Zinzendorf the abbot of Pécsvarasd, a son of the well known Count Wenceslaus Zinzendorf.   But unknown to him, among his German colonists there were numerous Lutherans.  The year of settlement is uncertain as well as the point at which the Lutherans formed a congregation but we do know that they were placed under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic parish of Bikal.  There were numerous emergency teachers who served here, mostly peasant farmers like themselves.

  In summary we can verify the existence of at least twenty-nine German Lutheran congregations in Swabian Turkey by the end of the 18th century.  In addition there were four congregations with both German and Hungarian members.  These figures do not include the Hungarian and Slovak congregations.  The seed had been planted.  The harvest would come following the Edict of Toleration.

This article is based on “The Destruction of German Lutheranism In Swabian Turkey (Tolna, Baranya and Somogy Counties) by Heinrich Keri and translated by
Henry Fischer.

During the deportation to East Germany,
on the night of May 28th, 1948 my sister
Elisabeth gave birth to her son Konrad as
the rolling, packed, sealed  cattle cars moved
across Czechoslovakia into an unknown future.

There are records and short histories of the individual congregations and parishes of the Tolna-Baranya-Somogy  Seniorat (Church District) in the Evangelical Lutheran National Archives in Budapest.   At the request of the Dean of the District these histories were authored by the pastors of the Mother Churches, while in the filial daughter congregations of the Church District they were written by the schoolmaster, and are focused on the period from 1900 to 1950.  It should be further noted during the 1930s the task of writing the histories of the congregations from their beginnings up until 1900 had already been undertaken by the pastors at that time.

These later documents are now of great importance, since they are the only recorded source of information which we have of the destruction of German Lutheranism in the Tolna-Baranya-Somogy Church District as the pastors of the individual congregations experienced and lived it along with their parishioners.  It is remarkable how outspoken the authors are, in light of the political situation in Hungary in 1950, when others were arrested and imprisoned for far less, for giving expression to their moral outrage about the events they are recording and the injustices visited upon the Swabian population.

(Translator’s Note: The author provides a short history of the beginnings, development and spread of the German Lutheran congregations in Swabian Turkey in the 18th and 19th centuries before addressing the pre-war and war years which is the intent of this translation.)

The Volksbund (The Folk Union)

The Bund, as it was most commonly known by the Swabian villagers sought to recruit them into their movement that was National Socialist in its ideology.  (Translator’s Note:  National Socialist was the source of the term Nazi.)  Their aggressive followers allowed for no compromise and were on the attack in the face of any opposition.  Very often their local village “Fuehrer” or leader was an individual who was not a landowner and was not eligible to become the Richter or hold any other office in the life of the community.  These men set their communities at one another’s throats, which was such a sharp contrast to the two hundred years of village solidarity the Swabians had always known.  It was the beginning of the end.  It is understandable that the pastors opposed National Socialism and the Bund for more than one reason.  Throughout the Seniorat (Church District) not a single Lutheran pastor joined or supported the movement.

To characterize this situation, the following is the letter that Wilhelm Straner the pastor in Kaposszekcso sent to his Bishop, on February 6, 1941:

“With a heavy heart I have to inform you that my earlier concerns about the Bund and its activities has been more than validated.  They have put their own people on the Church Council, who instead of furthering the work of the Church are in fact hindering it.  The congregation is split into two parties as is the whole community.  We have faithful church members, regular participants at worship, who without exception oppose the agitation of the Bund members who come to church but keep their distance and seek to carry out their own aims.  The leadership of the Bund carries out public anti-church diatribes.  They work to disturb the work of the Church, whether the activity is religious or cultural.  We had a wonderful youth choir with some fifty       members.  As we began our winter programme the local Bund Fuehrer had all of them added to the membership list of the Bund even if they had never attended a Bund event of any kind.  He strongly forbade the young people and their parents who participated in the Singing Society (Singstunden) to participate in Church activities because as he put it, “Bund member has no place in the Church.”

Along with the “school question”, (Translator’s Note: the local decision as to which language  would be taught in the Church school) the Bund declared that the teacher must teach only that which the Bund promoted; so for example there could be no teaching or reference to the Old Testament in religion classes.”

This is one example of many.  But it would be wrong to blame the activities of the Bund as the only cause for what was to follow.  For even without the emergence of the Bund the later reprisals would have still run their course.  Both the Bund members and their opponents would all share the same fate.  While the Bund leadership and their chief representatives in many of the villages joined in the evacuation in the face of the rapidly advancing Red Army, the ordinary members and the other villagers were convinced of their own innocence and remained behind.  They would have to pay the price.  All of the pastors, without exception throughout Swabian Turkey remained with their frightened and terrified flocks, well aware that their position and the life of the Church was now even in greater jeopardy than under the Nazis with the coming of Communism and what that would mean for them in the future.

Deportation to Slave Labour in the Soviet Union

At the end of the November and the beginning of December 1944, the Red Army occupied all of the territory south of Lake Balaton without opposition and the sufferings of the German population reached its highpoint.  All of the German villages experienced what the pastor of Keszohidegkut describes:

“As a result of the war and the occupation of our village, the inhabitants suffered much in the loss of material wealth, as well as most of their livestock.  There was a great deal of wine in the cellars and because of that the villagers suffered much abuse and the women, young and old had unspeakable things done to them…”

Added to this, the occupiers and the “new authorities” loved to carry out their actions on Sundays and religious holidays.

Dezso Aisenpreisz, the pastor in Hidas writes:

“On the Second Day of Christmas, three hundred and fifty men and women were driven from their homes to provide labour service in the frigid winter cold.  The houses were filled with whimpering and crying family members and they ran      around like chickens with their heads cut off.  No one came to the worship service that day.  On New Year’s Day the able bodied were driven out to work and this time the minors who had been spared in the past were also included.

The bitterness and worry reached its high point when the people were forced to work day and night shoveling snow that was metres high, and then filling in trenches and having to walk several kilometers to and from work guarded by hateful sentries.

On arriving home, with heavy hearts, they watched their beef cattle, horses, pigs and fowl being taken away, but they were grateful to be in their homes.”

Much worse was the “malenki robot” (Translator’s Note:  Russian, meaning small or insignificant work.  It was the code word used for forced labour in the Soviet Union and would apply to all of the ethnic Germans in Eastern Europe which had been agreed upon by U.S. president, Roosevelt and British prime minster Churchill at Yalta at the demand of the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin.)

The pastor in Bikacs, Ferenc Rusznyak writes:

“On January 4, 1945 there were forty eight persons and on January 10th an  additional forty-two, ninety persons in all who were sent to the Soviet Union as slave labourers.”

“The majority of them worked in the mines in the Dombas region of Ukraine.  There were newly weds, single men and young women, and from among them, twenty-one of them perished there.  The number of men from the village who fell during the war numbered twenty-two.  With the deportation to Russia our war casualties doubled.”

Those who managed to return home often faced a tragic future.  Our pastor continues to write:

“Because of the deportations to Germany, many of the survivors found no family members at home.  Parents, who had both been in Russia found that their only daughter was gone because she had been deported along with other       relatives to Germany, and with broken hearts they tried to rebuild their lives because they were unable to join her.  Single young men and women found out that their parents were in Germany and had to find shelter with relatives or their Godparents.  Prisoners of war coming home from Russia learned that their wives and children had been deported to Germany and they were not allowed to join them.”

There were thirty-six persons in Keszohidegkut who were dragged off to slave labour in Russia as they left the New Year’s Day service at the Church and were loaded on open wagons.  Numbers of them died in Russia and after five years there were still some of them who had not yet been released.

In Mekenyes, it was on Christmas morning when sixteen young men (most of them sixteen and seventeen year olds) and thirty-one young women were taken to Sasd, and from there they were driven to Pecs on foot in the frigid cold.  On January 13th, five of the married women returned and the rest were transported to the Soviet Union.  From Kismanyok there were forty-five persons taken to forced labour in Russia and twelve of them would never return.  From Varsad, the Mother church of the Swabian Lutherans in Hungary over two hundred and fifty men and women were taken.   They represented twenty per cent of the population.  From Csikostottos there were sixty-seven persons, including the pastor’s daughter, that were taken to the Dombas region in Ukraine.  Seven of them perished there.

Internment

For those who remained behind at home further persecution was to be their lot.  Internment followed.  The purpose of which was to provide housing and farmsteads for new Hungarian settlers, who were refugees recently driven out of Czechoslovakia.

Sandor Andorka, the pastor in Kety writes:

“During 1945 the congregation experienced further losses.  On April 29th, the village was surrounded by armed units, and all of the inhabitants except the officials, were ordered to assemble at the market place by the beating of drums in the streets.  Using various lists of names, the assembly was sorted into groups.
The members of the Bund were loaded in horse drawn wagons and transported to Lengyel that afternoon to the castle of County Aponyi and interned there.

Their entire property and all of their possession were confiscated, while they were declared to be criminals.  They remained in Lengyel for three weeks, and then they began to sneak away and hid in Hidas, while some of them returned to their former homes, while others found shelter with relatives and friends.”

In the history of Kismanyok, submitted by Pastor Johann Lang, he writes:

“The 23rd day of May, 1945 was a sorrowful day for the village of Kismanyok.  The majority of the members of the congregation were interned in Lengyel.  Settlers from Bukovina came to our village.  After about two weeks many of the villagers came home secretly and found shelter with relatives or in their homes if the new settler owners would tolerate their presence.  Many of them fled to Germany.  The eighty new settler families soon exercised their rights as the  leading element and took over all authority.  They placed the former residents in their service, which they welcomed as they really had no other alternative.”

From Hidas, we can read the following in Pastor Dezso Aizenpreisz’s report:

“On April 29, 1945 at 6:00 am on Cantata Sunday, the whole population of the village was assembled in pouring rain, amid howling winds, in response to the beating of drums along all of the streets.  They were force marched to the village meadow.  Some where released, but the others were sent out on foot to Bonyhad in pouring rain at four in the afternoon, and then they were taken to the assembly       camp at Lengyel.   On this day the church was empty again.”

Pastor Ferenc Ruszyak of Bikacs provides us with this additional information:

“There were other reasons for internment.  Families who were not interned, continued to live in the village in houses that were assigned to them.  These previous inhabitants often came to verbal exchanges with the new settlers which   resulted in an action on the night of November 25, 1946 when a group of people, including whole families were brutally attacked, assaulted and forcibly assembled and driven out of the village on foot to Gyorkony, from where they were taken to Pari on board wagons driven by the residents of Gyorkony.  Later, they were allowed to return.”

The Expulsion from Hungary Ordered at Potsdam

As the expulsions began in 1946, entire congregations went out of existence.

“The years between 1945 and 1948 were filled with fear and worry about a possible expulsion.  No one showed any interest in the affairs of the Church, and no one took on any functions in the life of the congregation.  In August of       1947 and in March of the next year, around seven hundred persons were expelled from Hungary.  Through flight and the expulsion, the number of believers was reduced from  one thousand one hundred souls to one hundred and seventy-one believers.  The life of the congregation limped along from day to day.”  So wrote, Endre Liska the pastor of Varsad.

From Hidas we hear from Pastor Aizenpreisz:

“Those who returned to Hidas from internment were packed together in some of the smaller houses.  In some houses there were up to ten families, usually in one room, the kitchen, the kammer or hayloft.

This tragic, sorrowful, nerve wrenching and soul searching time lasted until the Expulsion Commission carried out the verdict of those to be expelled on March 31, 1946 and nine hundred persons were transported away.

On July 2, 1946 in the afternoon at 5:00 pm the second group of six hundred and fifty persons were taken away.  After being shuttled back and forth for three weeks they were sent back from the border and were interrogated in the village of Hajos.

On November 10, 1946 they were eventually delivered to Germany with the exception of some families who had returned to Hidas after their temporary stay in Hajos.

On May 23, 1948 the last group of ninety persons was expelled.”

The following is the report from Pastor Erno Hoffmann of Izmeny:

“The whole village was like a demolished anthill.  Village life was in a shambles.  There were new worries every day.  The danger and threat was not only directed to those whose homes were confiscated but also those who were still in their own homes.  The new “arrivals” sought the opportunity to take over their homes as had the others before them.  Because of the uncertainty and threats many villagers took    flight to Germany.  The Postdam Declaration was in the process of execution.  In fear of what was coming they chose to flee into the unknown.  June of 1946 was set as the time for the expulsion, but it was delayed.  But the unrest among the people continued unabated.  On May 23, 1947 on the basis of a government order all villagers had to leave their homes, even if they were not members of the Bund.

On August 19th, several families were expelled and the church membership had dwindled…

On March 2nd, 1948 a long wagon column brought three hundred persons to the railway station, where along with others from various neighbouring villages they were transported to the Russian Zone of Germany.  This was the most awful day in the life of the congregation and community.  Only a few people without land and property remained in their own homes.  They survived as day labourers.  Our large spacious church now is sorrowful to behold with so few worshippers.”

From Upper Baranya, and the village of Kaposszekcso the pastor, Dezso Havasi writes:

“In May of 1948 the expulsion of the Germans in Upper Baranya began.  In Kaposszekcso the names of seventy-five families (numbering three hundred and five persons) was posted on the village bulletin board.  On May 9th, all of them
received Holy Communion at the service of farewell.  The action began at 4:00 am on May 11th.  Several hundred wagons and teams of horses were prepared and stationed in various places where the expellees deposited the possessions they were allowed to take with them.  After an hour the officials set the column in motion with its cargo of weeping occupants proceeding towards an unknown destination.  It was at that moment when the church bells began to toll in defiance and continued until the last wagon was lost in the dust on the road to Dombovar.  From there the train       headed for Germany on May 13th.  On May 19th the village had to relive the same sorrowful sight again as six more families were expelled, including one Hungarian Lutheran family.”

Pastor Gyula Klenner from Alsonana writes:

“With the expulsion of the German speaking population, the congregation was  de-populated.  On May 27th, 1946 there were one thousand, one hundred and sixty-two persons expelled to Germany, followed by twenty-one more on February 17th, 1948.

Since then the congregation counts forty-five members.”

The story was much the same in Bataapati, as Pastor Adolf Klenner informs us.

“The expulsion of 1946 devastated the congregation.  Ninety per cent of the members of the congregation were expelled and those who remained were economically      impoverished and forced to live in smaller houses and could only have six to eight Joch of land.  Here in the Mother Church there are one hundred and one members and without the support from the wider Church the congregation will die out.”

While in Kety, Pastor Andorka reports:

“Our blooming congregation took a heavy hit and toll and has shrunk to being an “outpost”in the diaspora.  Of our one thousand members, over eight hundred were expelled.

Those who remain are looking elsewhere to find a future.  Three families have managed to stay in their own homes having married a Hungarian.  In all, only seventy-one members remain here as well as thirty others living in the vicinity.”

In Kistormas, Pastor Gross writes:

“On November 13th, 1946, and September 1st, 1947 as well as January and March of 1948 almost the entire population was expelled.  The congregation, which once had almost four hundred members is now reduced to twenty-nine, while in Kolesd there are eleven and all of what remains of the Felsonana congregation are five persons.

Seven to eight per cent of the population died as casualties in the war and forced labour in the Soviet Union.  Of those who were expelled, many of them have died, many from a broken heart, while large numbers have emigrated to North America.
(Translator’s Note:  The authour describes attempts by the struggling congregations to survive now reverting to the sole use of the Hungarian language in worship, with limited success, but some strong congregations were re-emerging in Gyonk, Bonyhad and Ecseny.  I end with his concluding words.)

We have no accurate statistics with regard to the losses experienced by the German Lutheran congregations in Swabian Turkey.  At the beginning of the Second World War there were about thirty-five thousand German Lutherans in Swabian Turkey.  The Dean of the Church District, in 1950 estimated the total losses to the Church were approximately 28,000 who were expelled, along with those who fell in battle, joined the evacuation or died as forced labourers in the USSR.   This leaves a remnant of seven thousand that to all intents and purposes is now almost fully assimilated.

Until the end of the Second World War the bells of the twenty-seven Mother Churches and over twenty daughter congregations called the believers to worship in their own language every Sunday throughout all of Swabian Turkey.  Today, you can still hear God’s Word proclaimed in the language of Martin Luther in Szekszard on alternate Sundays as well as in Bonyhad and Gyonk.