The Euromosaic study

German in Hungary

General information
Presence and use of the language in various fields
Conclusion

1. General information

1.1 The language

German is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West-Germanic subgroup of Germanic languages. As such, German is closely related to Dutch, English, Frisian and Yiddish. German is spoken by about 101 million people worldwide as a first or second language. Most of them live in Germany (approximately 81.5 million), Austria (around 7.6 million) and Switzerland (around. 4.2 million). German is a typical example of a pluricentric language characterised by an extensive geographical variation. The varieties of German used in Hungary are Rhenish-Franconian, Bavarian and Moselle-Franconian settlement dialects (Siedlungs-mundarten), that emerged as the result of a diachronic process of levelling (Ausgleich) of the idioms that were gradually brought into the country by settlers (Franconian, Hessian, Swabian, Alemannic, Bavarian and others) in the 18th century. It is thus possible to denominate the dialects used in Hungary as Bavarian, Franconian, or Swabian only when bearing in mind that they are in fact Hungarian varieties of the original inner-German Bavarian, Franconian, or Swabian dialects.

1.2 History, geography and demography

Two waves of German immigration to Hungary can be distinguished. The first period of German immigration occurred almost parallel to the settlement of the Magyars on the plains of the Danube river in 896. Forms of cooperation between the early German settlers coming mainly from the northern and central regions of the Holy Roman Empire with the Hungarians only started in the 10th century when the Hungarian state was formed following the western-feudal, German-Slavic example. The second wave of immigration, in which most of the Germans found their way to Hungary, started after the Turkish occupiers had been driven away from Hungary. During the 150 years of Turkish occupation a majority of settlements in Hungary had either been destroyed or depopulated. To ascertain the post-war reconstruction of Hungary the Hungarian rulers appealed to German colonists, who were eager to leave Germany that had been facing the Thirty Years War (Dreißigjährige Krieg, 1618-1648). The German colonists, mainly originating from southern and central Germany, were familiar with modern agricultural techniques, greatly contributed to the recovery of Hungary and managed to hold a relatively strong position in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The position of the Germans living in Hungary was fundamentally changed by the events that followed World War II. The enforcement of collective responsibility resulted in the complete transformation of the economic and social structures of their communities. Of those who declared themselves ethnic Germans in the 1941 census, approximately 135,000 people were sent to the American occupation zone in Germany in January 1946, and it is estimated that approximately 50,000-60,000 people were sent to the Soviet occupation zone.

Although Germans are dispersed throughout Hungary it is possible to broadly distinguish three German centres. One is situated in western Hungary along the Hungarian-Austrian state border. The history of this settlement goes back to the 10th century. A second centre is in the Hungarian central mountain range (Mittelgebirge) between the so-called ‘Donauknie’ and the ‘Plattensee’. A third centre is in the south of the so-called Swabian Turkic part of the country (Schwäbische Türkei), around the city of Pécs/Fünfkirchen.

The number of people belonging to the German national minority in Hungary is estimated to be between 62,233 (according to provisional results of the 2001 census) and 220,000 (according to minority organisations - country profile on Hungary, Table 1). Of those declaring themselves as belonging to the German national minority in the 2001 census about 9% belong to the age group ‘0-14’, about 29% to the age group ’15-39’, about 34% to the age group ’40-59’ and about 28% to the age group ‘60+’. Of the 40% Germans that according to the 2001 census are economically active about 3% work in the primary, 27% in the secondary and 65% in the tertiary sector.

1.3 Legal status and official policies

Information on the legal status of German and of official policies affecting German in Hungary can be found in section 4 of the country profile.

2. Presence and use of the language in various fields

2.1 Education

In 1999/2000 there were 263 pre-primary German schools. In all the German native language pre-primary schools (first type of minority pre-school education, see section 4 of the country profile) had 1,488 pupils, while the bilingual pre-primary schools (second type of minority pre-school education, see section 4 of the country profile) had 12,653 pupils. In the same school year 284 primary schools offered German education. 785 pupils attended native language primary schools (first type of minority primary education, see section 4 of the country profile), 4,911 pupils attended bilingual primary schools (second type of minority primary education, see section 4 of the country profile) and 40,585 pupils enrolled in German language teaching education (third type of minority primary education, see section 4 of the country profile). Secondary education in German was offered at 4 schools offering native language or bilingual instruction and at 9 schools offering German language teaching. 1,007 pupils attended native language or bilingual classes in grammar school and 692 attended German language teaching classes in grammar school. 122 pupils attended native language or bilingual classes in specialized schools and 157 pupils attended German language teaching classes in specialised schools. In 1999/2000, 4,746 students studied German in institutions of higher education (this number includes the students studying German as a foreign language, as well as students belonging to the German minority). Nursery-school pedagogue training for German is offered at Eötvös József College of Pedagogy in Baja, Pécs University of Arts and Sciences Illyés Gyula College Faculty of Pedagogy in Szekszárd, and the University of West-Hungary Benedek Elek College Faculty of Pedagogy in Sopron. Primary school teacher training is offered at ELTE Teacher Training College Faculty in Budapest, Eötvös József College in Baja, Pécs University of Arts and Sciences Illyés Gyula College Faculty of Pedagogy in Szekszárd, Apor Vilmos Catholic College in Zsámbék, and Vitéz János Roman Catholic Teacher Training College in Esztergom. Training of secondary school language teachers is offered at Eötvös Lóránt University of Arts and Sciences (ELTE) Faculty of Arts (BTK) in Budapest, Pázmány Péter Chatolic University in Piliscsaba, József Attila University of Arts and Sciences in Szeged, and Pécs University of Arts and Sciences BTK (Faculty of Arts) in Pécs. Secondary school teacher training takes place at Szeged University of Arts and Sciences Juhász Gyula Teacher Training College Faculty in Szeged, and Berzsenyi Dániel College in Szombathely. Research programmes are coordinated by the Research and Teacher Training Center of Germans in Hungary working under the aegis of the Institute of German Studies at ELTE University.

2.2 Judicial authorities

General information on this issue is given in section 4 of the country profile.

2.3 Public authorities and services

General information on this issue is given in section 4 of the country profile. According to the Second Report of the Republic of Hungary on the Implementation of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (February 2004), direct communication in the county office of public administration in Baranya county frequently goes on in German (that is, in the local Swabian dialect of German) in settlements inhabited by the German minority.

2.4 Mass media and information technology

The German press in Hungary is strongly represented. There is one state funded newspaper, Die Neue Zeitung (owned by the Neue Zeitung Foundation), founded in 1957, that appears weekly, has about 16 pages and prints approx. 3,000 copies. There are also two associations who have their own newspaper. The German Cultural Association (Deutscher Kulturverein) publishes the Deutsche Boten since 1990, as a critical alternative to the Neue Zeitung. And the Jakob Bleyer Association (Jakob-Bleyer Gemeinschaft) distributes the Sonntagsblatt (established in 1921 and re-founded in 1991) that concentrates to some extent on historical issues and also focuses on the day to day events of German minorities all over Europe. Apart from the newspapers already mentioned there is another independent weekly newspaper Pester Lloyd (existing from 1854 until 1945 and re-founded in 1994). Like the Budapester Zeitung it is printed in Hungary’s capital. The Budapester Zeitung, on the market since 1999, is a 16-page weekly newspaper of which 15,000 copies are distributed. There is one ‘holiday newspaper’ that appears once a month: the Balaton Zeitung (founded in 1998) of which 10,000 copies are distributed. Since 2003, the magazine PEP!, of which 15,000 monthly copies are distributed, reports on life style issues. The magazine Wirtschaft in Ungarn, published by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, gives information about the economic situation in Germany and Hungary in about 50 pages and has a distribution of 5,000 copies. A similar magazine is Ungarische Wirtschaft, published by the Hungarian Ministry of Economic Affairs three times a year. In addition, there are other magazines with specific target groups. Deutschunterricht für Ungarn (DufU), a magazine founded in 2001, serves as an information source for teachers of German. It appears twice a year. Germanistisches Magazin (GeMa), the magazine of the students at the German Institute at the University of Szeged, was founded in 2001 and appears twice a year. Das Schwarze Brett is an information letter for teachers of German and has been published since 1994 by the Goethe Institute in Budapest. The Hungarian Humboldt Association has its own Humboldt Nachrichten that is published twice a year. Óperencia is the monthly magazine of the Austrian school in Budapest. The Gemeindebrief der Deutschsprachigen Kirchengemeinden appears twice a month in Budapest (1,200 copies). And the Deutscher Kalender is published by the Self-Government of the Germans in Hungary. This list of German printed media does not include German articles and columns that sometimes appear in some local newspapers or magazines all over the country.

Hungarian public radio transmits a daily 90-minute regional programme and a daily country-wide half-hourly programme. The national programme is broadcast between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. The regional programmes are broadcast between 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. The German minority programmes are produced in the regional studio of Pécs/Fünfkirchen. More details are available on the website of Radio Pécs (www.pecsiradio.hu). Radio Budapest (the Hungarian world service) also broadcasts German programmes. Also popular is the programme ‘Gruß und Kuß’ (kiss and greet). No reliable information was found on the existence of private local German radio stations in Hungary.

Hungarian public television broadcasts a 26 minute weekly German programme called Unser Bildschirm between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on workdays on Channel 1 of the Hungarian television. The programme is repeated on Saturday morning on satellite Channel 2. The German public television programmes are produced in the studio in Pécs. Besides the programmes mentioned it should be noted that the religious editors of public television regularly broadcast masses in German. No information could be obtained as to the existence of private German television programmes in Hungary.

At the end of 2003, 23 websites operated by the Germans in Hungary were found on the internet. German magazines and newspapers have their websites (links are provided through www.press-guide.com/hungary.htm.). Links to several German organisations and institutions can be found via www.kisebbseg.lap.hu. (section 4 of the country profile for general information on the situation of the new media in the case of Hungary’s minorities)

2.5 Arts and Culture

Larger German associations are the Association of Hungarian Germans (Verband der Ungarndeutschen), the Jakob-Bleyer Association (Jakob Bleyer Gemeinschaft), the German Cultural Association (Deutscher Kulturverein), the Nikolaus Lenau Cultural Association (Kulturverein Nikolaus Lenau e.V.) and the Association of Young German Hungarians (Gemeinschaft junger Ungarndeutschen - GJU). The Association of German Writers and Artists in Hungary, founded in 1990, studies the past and present of the German minority in Hungary by literary and artistic means. In 1990, the first anthology of works of fiction written by Germans living in Hungary, titled "Bekentnisse eines Birkenbaumes" was published. Since 1992, five volumes have been published in the "VUDAK-Bücher" series. The Association has 45 members who are involved in the literary or fine art sections. The German Theatre at Szekszárd, founded in the mid-eighties, is another important cultural institution of the German minority in Hungary. In November 1994, the Deutsche Bühne Ungarn was provided with their own theatre which was refurbished with subsidies from Hungary and Germany. The German Nationality Museum has been operating since 1972. There are also regional folk houses in many settlements with German minority inhabitants. The National Council of German Song, Music and Dance Groups was established in 1996. Cultural activities of the German minority are organised by several associations, ranging from church and children choirs to several brass bands, dance groups and school or local amateur theatre groups.

2.6 The business world

General information on this issue is given in section 4 of the country profile.

2.7 Language use in family and society

While in the 1990 census 37,511 people declared German to be their mother tongue only 33,792 did so in the 2001 census. Although census figures have to be treated with great caution (section 3 of the country profile) this decline of 9.9% seems to indicate that the assimilation of Germans is still continuing. Germans in Hungary mostly are bi- or even trilingual (meaning that they use Hungarian and/or a local variety of German and/or standard German). There are clear intergenerational differences. The majority of the people belonging to the older generation is German-dominant bilingual, and the German they use tends to be a local variety of German. The younger people are Hungarian-dominant bilingual. The German they use is more the standard German that is taught to them in schools, since that is where most of them learn German. Learning German in school does not seem to encourage them to use German in everyday life. The use of German is characterised by bi- or triglossia, whereby (a local variety of) German is mainly used in the private sector and Hungarian is reserved for the public and most of the semi-public spheres. The downturn of the actual everyday use of (a local variety of) German does not seem to affect German identity. Apparently the view is starting to prevail that German identity (and German culture and traditions for that matter) can be upheld without a direct adherence to the German language.

2.8 The European dimension

The first partnerships were formed between the Republic of Hungary and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1992. In the documents which provide a basis for the co-operation, the Republic of Hungary undertakes to protect the identity and the language of the German minority living in Hungary. The co-operation focuses on the development of the teaching of German. This includes among others the extension of the system of German minority education and the development and support of the network of schools with dual language instruction in German and Hungarian. The agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the Republic of Hungary on co-operation in the field of education was signed in December 2000. It aims at raising the awareness of the German language and culture in Hungary, deepening the mutual cultural contacts of the two states, and establishing German-Hungarian sections in Hungarian schools. The South-Tyrol Autonomous Province renders assistance in native language instruction.

3. Conclusion

With estimates between 62,233 (2001 census) and 220,000 (estimates of minority organisations) the German minority is one of the largest Hungarian minorities. The Germans, whose predecessors settled in two waves in Hungary (in the 9th and 17th centuries), have largely assimilated to Hungarian over the past centuries. An extensive written German press, vital cultural organisations and the rather limited presence of German on radio and television contribute to the maintenance of German in Hungary. Attempts are being made to reverse German-Hungarian language shift by establishing German native language schools or German-Hungarian bilingual schools as allowed by the Education Act. The German community itself would like to deploy further activities especially in the field minority secondary education to counteract the sputtering intergenerational transmission of German as a mother tongue. Despite the sophisticated Minorities Act no coordinated measures to revive German have yet been taken. A lack of funding, the apparent gap between the legal framework and the actual implementation of the legal provisions in the field and the convictions of some minority members that German culture and identity can survive without the German language seem to be the main reasons for that. The German language might not yet be in immediate danger but it seems inevitable that complementary measures in different sectors of the German minority will have to be deployed to secure its present status in the future.

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	Last update: 27-10-2006