Burgenland Hungary

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As Burg, Hungary (alternatively Burgenland Magyar , Hungarian Felsőőrvidéki magyarok , Lajtabánsági magyarok , várvidéki magyarok , burg Landi magyarok ) are the members of the Burg land -based native Hungarian minority designated. They are also the descendants of those border guards of the Gyepű system who had to protect the Hungarian western border.

Border guards

For centuries there were border guard settlements along what is now Burgenland, in which the "border watchers" and the "border guards" lived. Today's place names with the ending "wart" - such as Oberwart , Unterwart , Siget in der Wart - still refer to the settlement areas of the "Grenzwarte", while place names like Oberschützen , Unterschützen or Deutsch-Schützen mark the area in which the border guards lived . The border guard settlements were able to last for centuries, and the residents enjoyed royal privileges until 1848 .

Settlement areas

The Turkish wars of the 16th century not only brought the Croats into the country, but above all separated the Hungarian settlement area, which means that the border guards now had to live in so-called language islands . However, this did not change the special social position of the Hungarian border guards. They even received a larger influx from the hinterland , which was created by the centuries of primacy of the small nobility . Over time, a class difference developed between the immigrant Croatians and the resident Hungarians . The petty aristocratic Hungarians were in a much better legal situation than the Croatian settlers, despite their special royal status. The class antagonism intensified in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the Hungarians were able to maintain their position in disputes with the landlords, while the Croatians sank into the rank of subjects.

The closed Hungarian settlement area only prevailed in the border guard villages in the upper Wart, which is today's Oberwart district . The mixed settlement area remained unchanged until 1921 . Up to this point in time, the beginning of industrialization had caused an increase in the Hungarian population. The smelting boom gave rise to numerous businesses in which not only aristocratic smallholders found work, but also ensured the influx of other Hungarians.

Developments in the 19th and 20th centuries

The capitalist economy of the beginning of the 19th century had created a rising middle class , which was mainly Hungarian. The ethnic group of Hungarians was wedged between the interests of the House of Austria and those of their immediate neighbors, the Croats. They wanted the freedom of Vienna . The Croatians, however, were loyal subjects of the Habsburg dynasty . Many of the Hungarian intellectuals therefore emigrated into exile . The Hungarian population of Burgenland suffered a decisive weakening. However, the declaration of Hungarian as the official language in the Compromise of 1867 led to an upswing in their ethnic group. The number of Hungarian speakers rose to 25%.

The consequences of the First World War turned everything upside down. Burgenland came to Austria. Thus the Hungarians were suddenly a real minority, separated from the majority of the Hungarians. In one fell swoop, the important cities and with them the cultural, academic and economic reference points were lost. Only Ödenburg / Sopron, originally intended as the new Burgenland provincial capital, remained with Hungary after a manipulated referendum .

At that time, around 25,000 Hungarians lived in Burgenland. But just three years later the number of Hungarians had dropped to 15,000. They had emigrated to Hungary . The new state of Austria guaranteed the Hungarian minority all rights of the minority and the maintenance of their cultural uniqueness. There were enough Hungarian-language or mixed-language schools in the state. It was downright good manners among the intelligentsia to profess Hungarian culture.

The majority of Burgenland Hungarians now live in four large linguistic islands in Burgenland: Oberpullendorf / Felsőpulya, Oberwart / Felsőőr, Siget in der Wart / Őrisziget and Unterwart / Alsóőr. A larger number of Burgenland Hungarians also live in the provincial capital Eisenstadt / Kismarton and the 2001 census shows a Hungarian-speaking population of 5% - 10% of the total population for Frauenkirchen / Boldogasszony, Lutzmannsburg / Locsmánd and Schachendorf / Csajta. A large number of Burgenland Hungarians also live in Vienna. The Hungarian population of Jabing / Örijobbágyi and the district of Kleinjabing / Kisőrijobbágyi had almost completely assimilated into the interwar period.

Denomination

In probably no other ethnic group are there such clear confessional divisions and at the same time apparently problem-free coexistence. The Hungarian minority is divided into three denominations: Catholics , Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed . Thus Oberpullendorf and Unterwart Catholic, Oberwart is reformed and Siget in der Wart Lutheran. For the Lutherans and the Reformed, leaving the Hungarian federation also meant a church separation.

Demographic development

The territorial division of Austria-Hungary after the First World War
The Burgenland

In 1934, during the great emigration to America, only 10,000 Burgenland Hungarians remained. Various problems arose among the remaining Hungarians. The aim was to assimilate to the German population as quickly as possible . In addition, there was a new minority school law that put the Hungarian and Croatian population in a worse position. The minority language was therefore only the language of instruction if more than 70% of the population in a municipality belonged to the minority. With a percentage of 30% to 70%, the schools should be run with mixed languages.

The "annexation" of Austria to the Greater German Reich in turn brought about serious changes. The Hungarian teaching was abolished and there was a significant restriction in the maintenance of customs.

The end of the Second World War did not bring the Hungarians back to their previous minority status. There was a lack of organizational cohesion. In addition, there was something else: The complete closing of the Hungarian-Austrian border ( Iron Curtain ) and drastic disputes between the two social systems also interrupted the family and friendly relationships between the Hungarian ethnic group in Burgenland and the Hungarians at home.

Developments since the Hungarian uprising

Bilingual place-name sign in Oberwart (Hungarian: Felsőőr) in Burgenland

After the Hungarian uprising in 1956 , around 175,000 Hungarian refugees came to Austria . Most of them soon left Austria.

In 1968 the Burgenland-Hungarian Cultural Association was founded. It was an essential symbol for the Burgenland Hungarians to turn more strongly to ethnic group customs and "being Hungarian". Over time, cultural events were held and something like a communal Hungarian ethnic group gradually developed.

In 1976 the Bruno Kreisky government sent itself to summarize the minority issue in Austria in a new national minority law. The long-awaited equality with the Slovenian and Croatian ethnic groups was thus achieved. Nevertheless, the situation of the Hungarians is critical. The commuter system , mixed marriages, the still existing strong assimilation and the unsatisfactory school situation led to a further decline in the Hungarian resident population, however the place-name sign ordinance of the black-blue federal government in 2000 provided for a German / Hungarian place name for four municipalities ( Oberpullendorf , Oberwart , Unterwart , Siget in der Wart ). According to the 2001 census, the Hungarian minority numbered 4,700 people today.

The hope that the situation of Hungarians in Burgenland would improve has increased after the “Iron Curtain” was opened, but they are still part of a dying minority.

Personalities

Well-known Burgenland Hungarians or personalities who are of Burgenland-Hungarian origin:

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Minorities in Europe, Hungarian in Austria

literature

  • Valentin Inzko: The systematic Germanization. In Reinhold Henke (Ed.): Letting life is not enough. Minorities in Austria. Kremayr and Scheriau, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-218-00468-3 , pp. 80ff.
  • Austrian Rectors' Conference (Hrsg.): Situation and perspectives of the ethnic groups in Austria. Böhlau, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-205-05260-9 .
  • Klemens Ludwig: Ethnic minorities in Europe. A lexicon. Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-39215-6 .
  • Willi Sagmeister and Emmerich Baliko: The border guard descendants ... or the Burgenlander - a creature of the strange kind of satire

Web links