Zipser Germans

The Zipser Germans or Zipsers (German: Zipser, Romanian: Țipțeri, Hungarian: Cipszer) are a German-speaking (specifically Zipser German-speaking) ethnic group which developed in the Szepes County (German: Zips; Slovak: Spiš) of Upper Hungary—today mostly Slovakia—as that region was settled by people from central Germany beginning in the 13th century.^[1] Beginning in at least the 18th century, many members of the ethnic group migrated to southern Bukovina,^[2]^[3] Maramuresch, and Transylvania (today in Romania).^[4] Former Slovak President Rudolf Schuster is partly Zipser German.^[5]

During and after World War II, most Zipsers evacuated or were expelled to West Germany. A community of speakers remains in the Zips town of Chmeľnica (German: Hopgarten) (their distinctive dialect is called 'Outzäpsersch', German: Altzipserisch, literally German: Old Zipserish),^[6] and others remain in Romania where they and other German-speaking groups are currently represented by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR). Some notable localities in southern Bukovina (contemporary Suceava County) previously inhabited by a significant number of Zipser Germans include Iacobeni (German: Jakobeny), Cârlibaba (German: Mariensee/Ludwigsdorf), and Fundu Moldovei (German: Louisenthal).^[7]

References[]

^ Karl Julius Schröer, Die deutschen Mundarten des ungrischen Berglandes (1864)
^ Oskar Hadbawnik, Die Zipser in der Bukowina (1968) discusses the Zipserfest held in Jakobeny in 1936 to commemorate 150 years since the Zipsers migrated to Jakobeny in 1786.
^ І. Я. Яцюк, Тернопільський національний педагогічний університет ім. Володимира Гнатюка, Наукові записки. Серія “Філологічна”, УДК 81’282.4:811.112.2(477): Lexikalische Besonderheiten Deutscher Dialekte in Galizien und der Bukowina: “Die Siedler in den ursprünglichen Bergwerksgemeinden im Südwesten der Bukowina sprachen Zipserisch und zwar Gründlerisch, wie es in der Unterzips gesprochen wurde. Dabei wurde [v] im Anlaut wie [b] ausgesprochen: Werke – berka, weh – be, Schwester – schbesta. Anlautendes [b] wurde zu [p]: Brot – prot, Brücke – prik.”
^ Jacob Steigerwald, Tracing Romania's heterogeneous German minority (1985), page 8
^ Friedrich Gottas. "Sachsen (Zips)". Alpen-Adria, Universität Klagenfurt (in German). Retrieved 22 June 2020.
^ Somewhat confusingly, literature on the language also uses 'Altzipserisch' in two other ways: to refer to the dialect of the Upper Zips as contrasted with 'Gründlerisch', and to refer to the original Central German (German: Gründlerisch) dialect of the speakers who migrated to Romania, as contrasted with the Upper-Austrian-influenced dialect they now speak. For example, Claus Stephani in Zipser Mära und Kasska (1989) writes that the later settlers 'sprachen Oberösterreichisch, die anderen eine Gründler Mundart: Altzipserisch' (spoke Upper Austrian, [while] the others [spoke] a Gründler dialect: Old Zipserish).
^ Oskar Hadbawnik (25 June 2006). "Louisenthal". Bukovina Society (in German). Retrieved 21 June 2020.