Originally posted by Achilles
has anyone ever heard of the donauschwabians?
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It was a large settlement programme by the Austrian empire starting in the late 17th century. Large numbers of mainly Southern-Germans, hence "Schwaben-Suebes" migrated into the areas, that the Austrians had conquered from the Turks, mainly in Rumania, Serbia and Hungary. In these areas "Schwaben" became the collective name for Germans. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire and after WW2, a large percentage emigrated either back into Germany or Austria or indeed to North-America. But there is still a significant ethnic German minority living there.
Edited by Komnenos