The History of Germans from Bukovina

German Settlement and Emigration in Austria's Eastern Crownland

Dec 28, 2008

German immigrants began arriving in Bukovina after the Austrian annexation in 1775, but emigration and repatriation reduced the Bukovina German population considerably.

The name Bukovina, or Buchenland means Land of the Beech Trees. Bukovina was first made a crownland of the Austrian Empire in the eighteenth century, but the rich history of this eastern European borderland principality goes back many centuries. Located in today's northern Romania and southwestern Ukraine, Bukovina was historically a border region overtaken through the years by armies of the east and west, north and south.

In its early history, it was invaded by Huns, Avars, Mongols, Tatars, Ruthenians, Vlachs, and Turks. From the 14th century, Bukovina was part of the Principality of Moldavia. In the 16th to 18th centuries, it was in the Ottoman Empire, before it was taken over by Russia in 1769. When it was annexed by Austria in 1775, Bukovina was a sparsely populated, multi-ethnic region, including Moldavians, Jews, Gypsies, Armenians, Hungarians, and Ruthenians.

Bukovina in the Austrian Empire: 1774 - 1918

Bukovina and other eastern regions were strategically important as buffer states for the Austrian Empire. Soon after arriving, the Austrians began a state sponsored immigration program to the region, to boost economic activity. Poles, Jews, Ukrainians and Romanians migrated on their own from neighbouring regions. Although Germans had settled in the region for centuries, immigrants from German regions began arriving in increasing numbers after the Austrians' heavy recruitment drives.

One of the first groups of Germans to colonize Bukovina at this time were the Swabians, who arrived in 1782 - 1787 via the Banat region, an area in present day eastern Serbia and western Romania. Mostly peasant farmers, the Danube Swabians, or "Donauschwaben", came from Swabia, Hesse, Bavaria, and other regions of Austria, and travelled to the Banat area in boats on the Danube River, which snakes through the south of this area.

German Bohemians from the Bohemian Forest drove another wave of German immigrants, beginning in 1793. Bohemians were recruited to settle in Bukovina to establish and work in specialized industries such as glass making and forestry.

"Zipsters", Saxons from the Zips region in Hungary, along with Transylvanian Saxons, began to arrive in Bukovina in 1784 to work in iron, silver, lead, copper, and salt mines.

German Emigration to North America

Due to decreasing economic opportunities and political strife in the region, many Bukovina Germans began to emigrate once again by the end of the 19th century. Many of them travelled to the US and Canada by ship, and some emigrated to Germany and South America. Those who left Bukovina during this time settled in large numbers in Kansas, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, USA; Saskatchewan, Canada; and Rio Negro, Brazil.

Romanian Bukovina: 1918 - 1944

During World War One, Bukovina was a battleground in the Austro-Russian war, and eventually came under control of Romania, as a result of the Treaty of Saint Germain. With the break-up of the Austrian Empire in 1918 came the dissolution of many Austrian institutions in the region. Romanianization of public schools, universities, government, press and cultural institutions marginalized most minority ethnic groups in the province.

Russian Annexation of Northern Bukovina and German Umseidlung: 1940

World War Two brought a wave of refugees into southern Bukovina after northern Bukovina was annexed by Russia in 1940. Agreements between Germany, Russia and Romania allowed the repatriation of Germans from Bukovina to German held territory, often in Poland. In the fall of 1940, 95,000 ethnic Germans from Bukovina embarked on train journeys to the Third Reich, often spending months first in resettlement camps, or sent to fight in the German army. At the same time, Jewish people in the region were rounded up and sent to the infamous concentration camps, where many thousands were murdered or died, especially in Transdinistria to the east. When Germany was overrun at the end of the war, the repatriated Germans who had settled in Poland and other German held land, were once again refugees when the Red Army approached.

After World War Two, northern Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, while southern Bukovina remained in control of Romania. Although always an ethnic minority in the Bukovina region, after the war, only a handful of ethnic Germans remained in the region.

A Case of History Cleansing in Romania, Eastern European Quarterly, by Randolph L. Braham

Reflections and Reminiscences: A Bukovina German Tells His Story, by Jakob Welisch

The copyright of the article The History of Germans from Bukovina in E European History is owned by Simone Hoedel. Permission to republish The History of Germans from Bukovina in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.