Transylvanian Saxons

Stages of the German colonization of Transylvania.

The Transylvanian Saxons are the ethnic Germans who made up the main population of the historical region of Bourzenland in Transylvania (present-day Romania ). For all German colonists in Romania, the name “ Saxons ” was fixed, although the majority left not from Saxony , but from the Moselle valley.

The German colonization of Transylvania unfolded in the middle of the XII century with the permission of the Hungarian king Geza II , who hoped to develop the local mining industry by attracting German miners. In addition, the German settlements around Hermanstadt (now Sibiu ) were to serve as a buffer in the event of an attack on the Hungarian kingdom of nomadic hordes from the east.

To provide resistance to the Polovtsy, they blocked the Carpathian passes with fortresses and castles, such as Kronstadt (now Brasov ). The independence of the knights alarmed Andrash II , who in 1225 insisted on their relocation to Prussia (see the history of the Teutonic Order ).

In 1438, together with the Magyars and Szeks, the Saxons formed the union of three nations , which held in their hands the administration of Transylvania until the end of the XVIII century.

German immigrants dubbed Transylvania Semigradiem ( it. Siebenbürgen ) on seven castles built by them in these parts. Many of the medieval Saxon fortress buildings still exist today, and the city of Shassburg ( Sighisoara ), as the center of their culture, is protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . In the 16th century, Lutheranism spread among the Transylvanian Germans.

After the transfer of control over Transylvania to the Habsburg of Vienna (the uprising of Ferenc II Rakoczy ), the social and political position of the Saxons began to deteriorate. The creeping Magyarization and the socializing of social life made the German Lutheran minority seek a union with the Romanian peasantry.

After the Second World War, a significant part of the Romanian Germans emigrated to Germany .

The sixth president of Romania from December 21, 2014 is Transylvanian Saxon Klaus Johannis .