Country team of the Banat Swabians

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Country team of the Banat Swabians
logo
purpose Integration assistance for the Germans from the Banat in the Federal Republic of Germany, promotion of homeland maintenance, cultural property and international understanding
Chair: Peter-Dietmar Leber
Establishment date: 1950
Seat : Munich
Website: www.banater-schwaben.org

The Landsmannschaft der Banater Schwaben e. V. is a German expellees Association , which in 1950 was established. In Germany, the association represents the interests of the Banat Swabians from the part of the Banat that was attached to Romania as a result of the Trianon Treaty in 1920 .

origin

The Banat Swabians are a German population group in the Romanian Banat . They are combined with other German-speaking minorities from this region of Southeast Europe under the collective term Danube Swabia . Their ancestors were settled by the Austrian Court Chamber from different parts of southern Germany and Lorraine in the Pannonian Plain , which was partially depopulated and devastated after the Turkish wars . Before the First World War , the population was also known as the "Hungarian Germans". Until 1918, the Banat, together with the other settlement areas of the Danube Swabians, such as Batschka to the west, Swabian Turkey (today southern Hungary), Slavonia and the Sathmar region (today northwest Romania, Satu Mare district ) belonged to the Austrian Empire or to the monarchy Austria-Hungary . Since the end of the First World War, the Danube Swabians , who come from the Romanian part of the Banat, have been called Banat Swabians , most of whom left the country, mostly for Germany or Austria , at the latest after the Romanian Revolution in 1989 .

organization

The Landsmannschaft, which is a member of the Federation of Expellees , is divided into 6 regional, 63 district associations, 115 local communities and the German Banat youth and costume groups , in which the youth of the association are organized. The federal office is based in Munich . The federal state of Baden-Württemberg took over the sponsorship for the association.

In 2006 the association had over 17,000 members. In 2020, the monthly circulation of its association body Banater Post was 15,000 copies.

Members by age (2007)
Age between Number of members
20-30 25th
30-40 306
40-50 1072
50-60 2374
60-70 4289
70-80 4289
80-90 2053
older than 90 364
Some members did not provide any age information.

Regional associations

  • Baden-Württemberg regional association: 24 district associations and 6249 members (as of 2007)
  • Regional association of Bavaria: 29 district associations and 6,489 members (as of 2007)
  • Regional association Berlin and New Federal States: 89 members (as of 2007)
  • State association of North Rhine-Westphalia: four district associations and 702 members (as of 2007)
  • Regional association Rhineland-Palatinate: three district associations and 892 members (as of 2007)
  • Saarland regional association: 165 members (as of 2007)

Other facilities

  • German Banat youth and traditional costume groups
  • Aid organization of the Banater Schwaben e. V.
  • Culture and Documentation Center Ulm
  • Home of the Banat Swabians in Würzburg

Federal Chairperson

The first managing director of the Landsmannschaft was Hans Diplich in 1949 .

activity

The purpose of the association and activities are:

  • Research and documentation of the history of the Banat Swabians
  • Publication of the Banater Post , newspaper of the Banat Swabian Landsmannschaft
  • Customs maintenance of the ethnic group - support of music, theater and general cultural groups (language and dialect maintenance)
    • Publication and distribution of relevant literature
  • Advice on social and pension issues for members
  • Integration assistance for integration into the new societal and social environment

Sponsorships

The association and its individual subdivisions received the following sponsorships over the years and their work (in chronological order):

  • Sponsorship of the Saarland , December 9th, 1967, for the country team of the Banat Swabians from Romania in Germany eV
  • Sponsorship of the city of Leimen , June 6th 1987, for all Germans from Deutsch-Stamora and Keglewitschhausen
  • Sponsorship of the city of Ingolstadt , September 19, 1987, for the Landsmannschaft of the Banat Swabians - Bavarian State Association
  • Sponsorship of the state of Baden-Württemberg , May 20, 1998, for the state team of the Banat Swabians
  • Sponsorship of the city of Ulm , December 15, 1998, for the Banat Swabian country team

Criticism of the leadership staff of the country team

The first managing director of the Landsmannschaft from 1949, Hans Diplich , hindered after Mariana Hausleitner with others "a critical reappraisal of the war years". The historian also identified other NSDAP functionaries, Josef Schmidt and Anton Valentin, who had appeared “at the forefront” as federal executives in the Landsmannschaft.

In July 2009, the Nobel Prize for Literature Laureate Herta Müller described in an article in " Die Zeit" a long-term and extensive collaboration between key figures in the Landsmannschaft and the Romanian secret service Securitate . The Banat Swabian writer Ernest Wichner takes a similar view. The IM “Sorin” was Walther Konschitzky , who worked from 1992 to 1998 as the cultural advisor for the Banat Landsmannschaft, and who now works there on a voluntary basis.

In a conversation with Deutschlandradio Kultur at the end of 2009, the federal managing director of the Landsmannschaft Peter-Dietmar Leber mentioned that it was still unclear whether there were actually informers from the Romanian secret service Securitate in the ranks of the Landsmannschaft: “We don't know yet, but we are in the process of checking it. ”Affidavits were required from the functionaries of the association with regard to possible cooperation with the Securitate. The compatriot is in contact with the authority for the administration and the study of the Securitate files in Bucharest ( Romanian Consiliul Naţional Pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securităţii ( CNSAS .) ). "Of course we will also go to the archives, we will go to Bucharest, we will examine the files and we will clarify," explained Leber. The association was "caught off guard" by the topic: "We are just not ready yet, we still lack the facts, and that is the problem." Some voices in the country team classified the incidents as time barred. “But I think most of our compatriots are interested in knowing what it actually was like. So the management, the board of directors of the Landsmannschaft, is interested in facts and wants these facts on the table, ”said Leber.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ banater-schwaben.org , The Banater Swabians
  2. ↑ Karin Bohnenschuh: Advertisement prices . In: banater-schwaben.org, accessed on July 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Mariana Hausleitner: The Danube Swabians 1868 - 1948. Their role in the Romanian and Serbian Banat. Steiner, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-515-10686-3 , pp. 360, 361, 370.
  4. ↑ zeit.de The Securitate is still in service , Die Zeit, No. 31/2009
  5. ↑ a b dradio.de , Deutschlandradio Kultur in conversation with Peter-Dietmar Leber : Landsmannschaft der Banat Swabians promises clarification about Securitate entanglements - Managing Director Leber wants to check officials - The Landsmannschaft der Banat Swabians has a thorough explanation of possible Securitate entanglements within the Association announced , December 16, 2009