When it comes to the culinary culture of peasant societies in Central and Southeastern Europe, there is still a lot to learn about it mostly because interest in a deeper understanding of nutrition only arose relatively recently. It was only after World War II that researchers began to adopt a more interdisciplinary approach to the complex cultural and social aspects related to food consumption. In this context, the interest in this topic came from directions that constituted separate research domains such as alimentation research (Nahrungsforschung in German),[i] the sociology of food (Ernährungssoziologie in German),[ii] and later culinary anthropology.[iii] Thus, aspects such as the social and cultural meaning of food and drink, cultural differences or changes in eating habits became the focus of many researchers. One of the most important innovations brought about by these kinds of studies was the relationship between food and cultural identity.[iv] Indeed, food and eating habits play an important role in shaping and constructing personal, communitarian, and national identities. However, belonging to a certain ethnic or religious group enforces a specific culinary culture or food-related preferences.
The Sathmar Swabians, who came mostly from Upper Swabia during the 18th century to what is now the northwestern corner of Romania, are an important example in this respect. Traditional cuisine and eating habits are still significant cultural elements that conferred a certain kind of uniqueness to the Sathmar Swabians. At the same time, one uses traditional food often as an argument in the debates and conflicts among the pro-German and pro-Hungarian Sathmar Swabians. Not least, “Swabian food and drink” (“Schwǫba Iassa und Trink”),[v] is still an important element of cultural heritage for the Sathmar Swabians who emigrated to Germany and the USA.[vi] However, there has been a lack of systematic research on this topic. Authors such as János Scheffler,[vii] Stefan Koch,[viii] or Dezső Kardos[ix] have approached this topic only marginally.
The case study of Sathmar Swabian traditional cuisine offers a fascinating example of survival and adaptation of food culture in a foreign environment. Similarly to other Danube Swabians, the colonists from Sathmar brought most of the recipes and eating habits from their homeland with them and they managed to keep them alive for centuries. Urbanization, industrialization or the food shortages that occurred during Nicolae Ceaușescuʼs national communist regime had almost no influence on Sathmar Swabian traditional cuisine.
In this article, I aimed to answer two research questions. Firstly, were the Sathmar Swabian recipes and eating habits brought by the colonists from Upper Swabia? Or were they adapted or created in the villages from the Carei and Codru areas? Secondly, what role did food and eating habits play in the process of forging and assuming Sathmar Swabian identity?
To answer these questions, I used the few existing written sources related to this topic. However, due to the lack of information, I had to create my own sources. Therefore, I conducted more than 100 life story interviews with Sathmar Swabians (or persons with Swabian roots) in more than 30 villages in Romania, and Hungary, between 2010 and 2023. I also interviewed Sathmar Swabians who immigrated to southern Germany, particularly to the regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
The life story type of interview allowed me to identify the main dishes consumed by an average peasant family. The semi-structured parts of the interviews helped me to obtain more detailed information regarding food-related habits and recipes. Additionally, I used participant observation, which is one of the primary research methods utilized in food studies. As a speaker of both Hungarian and German, and also of the Sathmar Swabian dialect, I had no problems in relating and interacting with the interviewees. My Romanian ethnicity and learning Sathmar Swabian as a non-native speaker motivated many people to interact with me. In some situations, I even asked my interviewees to cook some traditional dishes for me, and most of them accepted without any hesitation. Most of the interviewed persons were women between the ages of 45 and 90. However, a considerable part of the material relies on interviews conducted with men belonging to the same generations. These different perspectives according to gender helped me to explore the correlation between Swabian food or eating habits and the specificities of their mentality and work ethic. I conducted the interviews in Hungarian, standard German, or the Sathmar Swabian dialect, according to the preferences of each person. In certain cases, I gave priority to the Sathmar Swabian dialect, as it is an endangered linguistic variety. Parts of these interviews are available online on the website of the VLACH Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.[x]
From Upper Swabia to the Lowlands and Hilly Areas of Sathmar
The Sathmar Swabians are one of the smallest German groups among the so-called Danube Swabians (Donauschwaben in German).[xi] In 1712, the first Swabian settlers arrived on the estates of the Károlyi family in the lowlands of Carei (Großkarol in German, Nagykároly in Hungarian).[xii] Count Sándor Károlyi (1668–1723) invited colonists from the region of Upper Swabia (Oberschwaben in German). During the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century, the counts of the Károlyi family continued to settle German colonist families on their estates. Most of these settlers came from the rural areas situated near Biberach and Ravensburg, but also from these two cities.[xiii] Already in the 1850s, the Sathmar Swabians were to be found in more than 30 villages in the Sathmar region.[xiv] Most of these settlements were situated in two different parts of the former Sătmar County (Komitat Sathmar in German, Szatmár vármegye in Hungarian) in the Carei and Codru (Bikk in German, Bükkalja in Hungarian) areas.
According to historical and ethnographic literature, the Sathmar Swabians are rather a disputed group. This is mostly due to their loss of identity, mentioned in Hungarian, German and Romanian historiography under different terms such as cultural assimilation, Magyarisation, or forced assimilation.[xv] One depicted the Sathmar Swabians at the beginning of the 20th century as a peasant group without any intellectuals. Some authors mentioned that they only had a local identity, lacking consciousness of their Germaneness.[xvi] The phenomenon of assuming a Hungarian identity began in some villages from the Carei area as early as the second half of the 19th century.[xvii] It continued, under different forms until today, even though the Sathmar Swabians remained a distinctive, endogamous, and culturally relatively enclaved group until the 1990s. A good indicator is the distinctiveness of Sathmar Swabian traditional culture in comparison to that of its neighbors: Romanians, Hungarians, Jews and others.
The Winemaking Swabians: The Wine Cellars in the Codru Area and the Vineyards in the Lowlands of Carei
The Sathmar Swabians have a unique culinary culture. Winemaking is a significant aspect of their local culture. They brought superior grape-growing and winemaking techniques compared to the local Hungarians and Romanians when they settled in the region 300 years ago – although only those originating in the area situated between Lake Constance (Bodensee in German) and Ravensburg came from places with a winemaking tradition.[xviii] It is assumed that the Swabian colonists brought grape varieties with them from their homeland that are still being cultivated in Beltiug (Bildegg in German, Krasznabéltek in Hungarian), such as Grünspitz.[xix] However, there is no clear evidence to support this.
The Swabian colonists introduced the idea of constructing wine cellars, which was an innovation for the vernacular architecture of the region. In the Codru area, each Sathmar Swabian family used to have its own wine cellar. The colonists built the wine cellars together in a hilly area near the village. Thus, a small settlement of wine cellars was created in the vicinity of the village. Before the arrival of the Swabians, only a few Hungarian villages such as Orașu Nou (Avasújváros in Hungarian), Remetea (Kőszegremete in Hungarian), Dobra, and a mixed Romanian-Hungarian one, Viile Satu Mare (Szatmárhegy in Hungarian), had similar cellars.[xx] In comparison to these, the Swabian cellars are bigger and built compactly in rows on the same hillside.
The first military survey from the 1780s shows that in villages such as Beltiug, Șandra (Schandern in German, Krasznasándorfalu in Hungarian), Rătești (Sagass in German, Szakasz in Hungarian), Socond (Sukund in German, Nagyszokond in Hungarian), and Hurezu Mare (Nanten in German, Nantü in Hungarian), the Swabians built the first wine cellars after one or two decades of settling in the area.[xxi] This kind of wine cellar is not present in the surrounding Romanian villages of the Codru area.
These cellars became a distinctive element of the cultural landscape at the end of the 19th century, beyond their economic role. On Easter Monday, all the villagers would gather outside the cellars and organize festive meals there. They would usually invite Roma musicians, which led to spontaneous singing and dancing.[xxii] The Swabians used to organize similar smaller gatherings during Sundays or bigger feasts, under the pretext of bringing home wine from the cellars: “All of us went to the cellars on Sunday. All of us: the bigger ones and the smaller ones […] Six or seven mates, we went from one cellar to another, and we drank. But not like now. It was beautiful.”[xxiii]
Winemaking was not typical just for the Sathmar Swabian communities from the hilly area of Codru. This important element of cultural heritage is present in each village where Swabian colonists settled, even in those settlements with soil that is theoretically not fit for growing grapes. In the Swabian villages from the lowlands of Carei, grapes were cultivated in the yards and on less productive soil near the settlements. The Swabians preferred the sandy soil where it was available. Thus, in communities like Sanislău (Stanislau in German, Szaniszló in Hungarian), Ciumești (Schamagosch in German, Csomaköz in Hungarian), Petrești (Petrifeld in German, Mezőpetri in Hungarian), Urziceni grapes were cultivated on sandy terrain situated at a considerable distance from the settlements.[xxiv] Nowadays, most of these vineyards situated near the Romanian-Hungarian border are abandoned.
In comparison to the Codru area, the Swabians in the Carei area were not able to build wine cellars outside the villages due to the terrain. Instead, they built large cellars under the houses and sometimes under the barns, where they kept the wine barrels. This underlines the great importance of winemaking for the Swabians in the Carei area. During the 20th century, an average Swabian family used to make at least 500 to 1,000 liters of wine each year.[xxv] The members of the family would consume most of the wine. One would only sell insignificant quantities to friends or relatives on some special occasions.[xxvi] At the beginning of the 20th century, the vineyards of Sathmar Swabians from both the Carei and Codru areas occupied a large surface.[xxvii]
The Swabians grew wine grapes in the lowlands because of the importance of wine in their local culture. For the Sathmar Swabians, wine was at least as important as food and played a role in personal and communitarian prestige. Therefore, they always served wine to their guests first, followed by food on special occasions. Brandy – called “Prentellwei” in the local dialect – on the other hand, played only a marginal role for the Sathmar Swabians, unlike the importance that brandy had for the Romanians and Hungarians.
Wine consumption was not limited to special occasions but also played an essential role in the everyday lives of these communities: “Back then, we went in the morning. The father prepared the carriage. We went for ploughing or hoeing and one brought a liter of wine. Out in the fields, everybody used to drink it. After that, we went home, ate, and drank what we had at home. Nobody went to the village pub.”[xxviii]
Many interviewees believed that wine is much healthier than water and that one had to consume at least a glass of wine a day to maintain their health.[xxix] Additionally, many of the Swabians considered not having their own homemade wine to be a shame.[xxx]
Beer-making was absent from the Sathmar Swabian villages, even though most of the colonists came from an area where drinking brandy and beer was more important than winemaking. The lowlands were suitable for grain cultivation and members of the Károlyi family drank and produced beer. Yet they encouraged winemaking. An example is that during the 18th century, the Károlyi family encouraged the inhabitants of Carei to establish vineyards near the city.[xxxi] One explanation could be that winemaking was an easier process. Additionally, in Upper Swabia, beer was produced mostly in breweries that were the property of monasteries and noble families, not by the peasants themselves.
“Strudel, Noodles, Small Noodles, Thick Noodles” – Everyday and Celebration Dishes in the Sathmar Swabian Cuisine
Sathmar Swabian cuisine is entirely a peasant’s cuisine.[xxxii] However, nobody has conducted systematic research on this topic, despite publishing some Sathmar Swabian recipes in different contexts.[xxxiii] To fill this gap, I collected information on traditional Sathmar Swabian recipes, eating habits, and the cultural and symbolic meanings of food and drink from oral sources.
The interviews revealed that Sathmar Swabian cuisine is unique and distinct from the cuisines of neighboring ethnicities. One of the most notable features is the prevalence of pastry-based dishes (Mehlspeisen in German) such as Strudel, noodles, doughnuts, and Unkrietz (a variation of Kaiserschmarrn, also known as Umkrietz or Umkretz), as informants have confirmed: “The Swabians ate a lot of pastry-based dishes: Strudel, noodles, doughnuts, Unkrietz. These were the Swabian dishes.”[xxxiv] And again, “Strudla, noodles, small noodles, thick noodles – this was what the Swabians used to eat”.[xxxv]
During workdays, especially in the summer, Sathmar Swabians typically had frugal meals. For breakfast (“Morgisiassa” in Sathmar Swabian), they would have dairy products or something that could be quickly prepared: “In the morning it was milk or tea or something like that, pinched noodles soup.”[xxxvi] Milk (“Mil”), bacon (“Spiek”), ham (“Schunka”), and boiled eggs were common breakfast foods. In the past, it was also common to have soup for breakfast, particularly potato soup (“Krumbierasuppa”) and “Brezelesuppa” (also “Brezelasuppa” or “Breizele Suppa”.[xxxvii] During summer and autumn, when working in the fields was more demanding, Sathmar Swabians ate more substantial breakfast dishes based on cream and flour.[xxxviii] Such examples are the bacon sauce (“Spieaktunk”) or buttermilk sauce (“Dickimiltunk”). Adults would sometimes boil wine with sugar and bread (“Brout mit Wei”), an oddity of Sathmar Swabian breakfast.[xxxix]
Most of the Sathmar Swabians skipped lunch served at home: “In the afternoon, it was just bacon because we were in the fields. There one used to eat just bacon and cucumber or tomato or something like that.”[xl] Until the 1960s, they would also bring soup while working in the fields, which they ate without warming it up: “Before, when we went in the fields, we used to take soup with us, but by the time one got there the soup was already cold. […] It was already cold. And one used to eat it like that.”[xli]
Working in the fields was a significant factor that influenced Sathmar Swabian eating habits. Unlike local Hungarians or Romanians, Swabian women worked alongside their husbands in the fields,[xlii] which required considerable effort. During summer, the Swabian women had limited time for cooking, which is why they had to cook dinner for the whole family within one hour. Sometimes, they would go home one hour earlier than the men.[xliii] Under these circumstances, they had to cook under pressure and prepare dinner while the men fed the animals. This is why pastry-based dishes and quick-to-prepare soups remained popular in the Sathmar Swabian cuisine: “When the people came home from the fields, the man fed [the animals] and the woman began to cook. However, they made something quick, a pastry-based dish. They cooked food like potatoes, and milk.”[xliv]
The real Sathmar Swabian cooking took place on Sundays and bigger feasts. On such occasions, one used to slaughter a chicken, a goose, or a duck. Most of the Sathmar Swabians consumed fresh meat only on this one occasion:
“There was little meat, just on Sundays.”[xlv]
“We ate meat on Sundays. […] During summer, it was chicken because there was no fridge where one could store the meat. […] Back then it was not possible to store meat in the fridge. There was no electricity.”[xlvi]
Therefore, one can observe that there was a considerable difference between the foods consumed by Sathmar Swabian peasants for celebrations and on working days. Meat soup (“Fluaischsuppa”) with noodles was cooked only for special celebrations.[xlvii] Usually, the second course consisted of chicken, duck, or goose meat boiled in soup. A sauce always accompanied the boiled meat. Another dish cooked at a special celebration was fried pork or veal with potatoes and dill sauce (“gbrǫtanne Fluaisch mit Kǫpertunk”). They also cooked cabbage wrap (“Gfüllts Kraut”), sausages filled with meat and potatoes (“Grumpierawuorscht”), or goulash, especially at weddings.[xlviii]
A Classification of Sathmar Swabian Dishes: Noodles and Pastries, Meat Dishes, Soups, Sauces and Desserts
Sathmar Swabian cuisine includes a variety of noodles and pastries due to the intense cultivation of wheat, especially in the lowlands of Carei. Different varieties of noodles (“Nudli”) were a staple food for this traditional cuisine. Most of these varieties were named after the shape of the noodle: rolled noodle (“trolata Nudla”), sharp noodle (“Spitznudla”), thick noodle (“Spunkernudla”). In other cases, the name came from the side items used in preparing them such as noodles with cheese (“Tsigrnudla”) or noodles with poppy seeds (“Mohnnudla”).
“Strudli” was another important pastry-based dish for the Sathmar Swabians. Although its name suggests it may be a variety of the well-known German and Austrian Strudel, it is actually quite different. Sathmar Swabians made “Strudli” using a smooth dough made from flour, eggs, buttermilk, and sometimes pork fat.[xlix] One rolled the dough on a table and used three possible fillings: cheese (“Zieger”), potato (“Grumpiera”) and marmalade (“Latwierge”). Once the filling was spread on the sheet, one cut squares, sealed them up and fried them in oil or pork fat.[l] This dish became an emblematic for the Sathmar Swabians, not just because one prepared it very often, but also because one could not find it within other Danube Swabian groups. An interesting version of “Strudli”, dating back to the 18th century, is the one from Napokor, near Nyíregyháza in Hungary. The inhabitants of this village, who have Sathmar Swabian ancestry, claim that they are the keepers of the original “Strudli” recipe that has a cabbage filling.[li] In addition to “Strudli”, other pastry-based dishes were common among Sathmar Swabians. Such examples include spoon cake (“Löffelküachle”), yeast cakes (“Tarkerli”), a variety of pancakes similar to Austrian Kaiserschmarrn (“Unkrietz”), funnel cake (“Straubata”), apple cake (“Äpfelküachle”), doughnuts (“Krapfe”), fried dough pastry (“Zogene Küachle”), yeast braid (“Zöpfle”), yeast bread rolls (“Kipfel”), Pogatscha with pork cracklings (“Gruibepogätschle”), a variety of flatbread with bacon and dill (“Kǫpertinnet”).
Soups were also very popular among the Sathmar Swabians, who considered themselves to be “soup lovers”: “We had always soup.”[lii] They used to eat soup for breakfast, dinner, and lunch, both on workdays and celebrations. Therefore, one can find a considerable variety of soups in the Sathmar Swabian cuisine. Many of them are common not just to the regional Transylvanian cuisine, but also to the Central European one. Such examples are green bean soup (“Griene Kichala Zuppa”), bean soup (“Kichala Zuppa”), potato soup (“Krumbiera Zuppa”), cabbage soup (“Kraut Zuppa”), or sausage soup (“Wuarscht Zuppa”). Some more typical Sathmar Swabian soups that are missing from the traditional cuisine of the neighboring ethnic groups are “Breizele Zuppa” (made with pinched noodles and without any meat product) or “Strudli Zuppa” (made from the pieces left from cutting the Strudli pieces). Soups made from different fruits such as plum soup (“Zweckezuppa”), apple soup (“Äpfelzuppa”), sour cherry soup (“Griesazuppa”) are also to be found just in the Sathmar Swabians cuisine, even if Hungarians or Romanians have also adopted them.[liii] The soups prepared on special occasions such as meat soup (“Floaischzuppa”) or the soup cooked at pig slaughter (“Metzkrzuppa”) had to contain plenty of meat.
Another important type of dish was “Tunk” or “Tunkata”,which consisted of sauces or even stews. Most of these were sauces that accompanied boiled or fried meat[liv]: tomato sauce (“Paradeistunk”), apple sauce (“Apfeltunk”), horseradish sauce (“Gritunk”), egg sauce (“Uaiertunk”), dill sauce (“Kǫpertunk”), garlic sauce (“Knoblauchtunk”) or sour cherry sauce (“Griesatunk”). The most common stews were eaten just with bread. Such examples are bacon sauce (“Spiektunkata”), buttermilk sauce (“Dickimiltunk”), sausage sauce (“Wuorschttunkata”), or even chicken liver and heart sauce[lv] (“Tinkle vun Hierz und Leib”).
Sweets and desserts were rare in Sathmar Swabian cuisine. One used to bake doughnuts (“Krapfa”), bread rolls (“Kifli”), or bread backed with plums and ground walnuts inside[lvi] (“Tinnet mit de Zwetschke und gmalene Nuss”). On very special occasions such as weddings, the richer Swabian families would bake single-layer cakes (“Tortǫ”) covered with marmalade.[lvii] It is worth also mentioning that many Sathmar Swabian peasants avoided sweets or desserts during workdays because they did not consider them to be nutritious enough.[lviii]
Sathmar Swabian Cuisine: Brought from Upper Swabia or Invented Locally?
One important question about Sathmar Swabian cuisine is whether the dishes originated from the Swabian colonists’ homeland. Alternatively, whether they invented or adapted these dishes in their new settlements. To answer this question, one needs to make a comparison between Sathmar Swabian cuisine and the traditional cuisines of Baden-Württemberg, the Romanian and Hungarian ones.
A comparison with the traditional cuisine of Baden-Württemberg, particularly with the one in Upper Swabia, reveals similarities as well as considerable differences.[lix] Pastry-based dishes and noodles are a staple food in both Sathmar Swabian and traditional Baden-Württemberg. Both cuisines have the same varieties of noodles. However, some pastry-based dishes from Baden-Württemberg are missing in Sathmar Swabian cuisine, for example Maultaschen (a pasta dish similar to ravioli, with meat filling)[lx] or Spätzle (small egg noodles).[lxi] A common dish in both cuisines is dinette,[lxii] a Swabian flatbread. Potato sausage (with a filling consisting of meat and small potato pieces) (“Grumbierawuorscht”) typical just for the Swabians in the Codru area, also has a clear German origin (Kartoffelwurst in German).[lxiii]
On the other hand, the Sathmar Swabian potato-based casserole dish called “Schmoring” or potato pancakes named “Grumpierablietza” are not popular in Upper Swabian cuisine. The cuisine of Württemberg uses a limited number of dumpling (Knödel in German) varieties, but this type of dish is missing altogether from the Sathmar Swabian villages. Soups are essential in both cuisines, and the Swabians from Germany are nicknamed “Subba Schwob”.[lxiv]
The Swabian cuisine from southern Germany contains many fish dishes due to the proximity of the Ravensburg area to Lake Constance. However, this is not the case in Sathmar Swabian cuisine, as their villages in the Carei and Codru areas were far away from bigger lakes and rivers. Another category of dishes missing from the Sathmar Swabian cuisine but common in Baden-Württemberg is those that appeared in the area just after the 18th century. At that time, the Swabian colonists who settled in the Carei area had already left Württemberg. An example of such a dish is “Gaisbuger Marsch” (a hearty stew with ox meat, boiled potatoes and Spätzle).[lxv] Furthermore, the more complicated desserts typical of Swabian cuisine in Baden-Württemberg appeared only later and show French and Italian influences.[lxvi]
The Sathmar Swabian cuisine includes dishes influenced by the neighboring ethnic groups, particularly Romanians and Hungarians. Some of the dishes of Hungarian origin are chicken paprikash (“Pǫprikasch”), goulash soup (“Guiaschsuppa”), and Szekler goulash (“Szekleguiasch”). Rolled cabbage (“gfilts Kraut” or “Gukili”) show Romanian-Hungarian influences. The Swabians from the Codru area have also incorporated some Romanian dishes into their diet, such as Tokane (“mămăligă” or “tocană”) or mushroom dishes called generally “Hiriba”, which comes from the Romanian word “hribă” meaning the Boletus type of mushrooms. Examples of such dishes were “Hiribasuppa” or “Hiriba mit Rǫhm”. Moreover, there are significant differences between the Sathmar Swabian cuisine of the Codru area and the one of Carei. Some of the dishes from the Carei area, such as “Nudlisuppa” or “Unkrietz”, are missing entirely from the Swabian cuisine in the Codru area. This was because wheat was not as accessible for the Swabian families there as in the Carei area. On the other hand, in the Codru area, the Swabians used more fruit and cheese, which were more readily available than in the Carei area. An example of such a dish is a flatbread with plums and ground walnuts (“Tinnet mit de Zwetschke und gmalene Nuss”), which is missing from the Swabian villages from the Carei area.
During the interviews with the Swabian villagers, I discovered some dishes that vanished during the 20th century. One such example is a Swabian soup called “Ziegernudlasuppa”. Emma Toduț from Socond recalls that elders used to make this soup with cheese-filled ravioli during her childhood. However, this dish was not cooked anymore after that time: “They used to make little stuffed pasta with cheese. They made a soup with cream, but I don’t know what else they put there. I already forgot it. It was called cheese noodle soup.”[lxvii]
The Sathmar Swabian cuisine is more diverse than people realize. When compared to the Swabian cuisine of Baden-Württemberg and the local Romanian and Hungarian ones, it becomes clear that the core of Sathmar Swabian food is still the one brought by the colonist from their homeland. However, the dishes have been adapted to the lowlands and hilly areas in Sathmar. The first generations of settlers had to endure hardships and adapt their cooking and eating habits to the new geographical and cultural environment. For example, “Strudli” is more likely an adaptation of a variety of “Maultaschen” such as “Preiselbeermaultaschen”[lxviii] from Upper Swabia. Similarly, “Unkrietz” could be an adaptation of “Kratzete”.[lxix]
Eating and Food-Related Habits: “I like to eat pinched noodles soup/I like to kiss a Swabian girl”
Eating and food-related habits also lend a particular character to the Sathmar Swabian cuisine. These habits are unique, although partly also present in the traditional cuisines of the surrounding ethnic groups. For instance, the Swabian bread was much bigger than the one baked by the Romanians, Hungarians, and others in the Sathmar area. The Swabian bread used to weigh more than five kilograms.[lxx]
Another unique element was how the Sathmar Swabians slaughtered pigs (“Schwein metzga”).[lxxi] Unlike the local Romanians and Hungarians, the Swabians would put the pig soon after slaughtering it in a wooden vat filled with boiled water, which they believed helped preserve the meat better.[lxxii] They would then lift the pig using pulleys and chains, which made it easier for them to proceed with the necessary steps. This also prevented making a mess on the ground – the Romanians and Hungarians considered this process unnecessary.[lxxiii]
During the early 20th century, an average Swabian family from the Carei area would slaughter two to three pigs a year.[lxxiv] This was uncommon for their Romanian or Hungarian neighbors who used to slaughter just one pig. The Swabians believed that consuming more meat products such as bacon, sausage or ham was necessary for working effectively in the fields.[lxxv] They also wanted to highlight the superiority of their economic model, particularly when it came to their bacon, which had to be at least three to five fingers thick: “It was such a bacon, it was five fingers thick.”[lxxvi] The Swabian bacon was thicker and meatier compared to the one prepared by the Romanians from Sanislău or Ciumești.[lxxvii] Therefore, Romanian children used to exchange their bacon for the Swabian one in order to taste the difference.[lxxviii]
The Sathmar Swabians had a unique eating habit of consuming soups for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They enjoyed eating pinched noodles soup so much that there was a saying: “I like to eat pinched noodles soup/I like to kiss a Swabian girl.”[lxxix] Many of these soups were prepared without any meat or meat-related products.
The Culture of Hospitality in the Carei Area: “I ask you as a Swabian does …”
During my field research in the Carei area, I observed an important aspect related to food habits: the different kinds of hospitality cultures. The Carei area is ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse, which has led to different hospitality cultures coexisting separately for many centuries.
As a child, I had the opportunity to experience these different ways in which people related to their guests. I distinctly remember one encounter with a Swabian family from Petrești. An old Swabian woman offered me a delicious piece of cake, which I refused. To my surprise, she went back into the kitchen with the plate and never returned. This was the first cultural shock I experienced. For Romanians and Hungarians, accepting food without refusing it at least two or three times was a clear sign of poverty and greediness. However, this kind of unwritten cultural agreement did not exist in the Sathmar Swabian traditional culture at all. The Sathmar Swabians considered asking once to be enough and expected a sincere answer. For Romanians and Hungarians, the negotiation process between the host and the guests to accept something to eat or to drink played an important role.
During my field research, I was able to observe that many Swabians were not aware of these differences in hospitality culture. This was mostly true for elderly people and women who had fewer occasions to interact with other communities. However, I met a considerable number of Sathmar Swabians who were aware of this cultural difference. Most of them warned me when they offered me food or drinks, using the following words: “I ask you as a Swabian does, only once…”[lxxx]
I became more aware of the differences in hospitality culture during my field research in various villages of the Carei area in 2013. Through participant observation, I noticed how the Sathmar Swabians, Moți, Romanians, and Hungarians interacted with their guests and served food or drinks. In Moți villages such as Marna or Horea, one served to the guests an improvised mix of dishes such as bacon, cheese, vegetables, bread, plăcinte, and soup. At the same time, one was not paying too much attention to the dishes or the way one served it. The Hungarians or the Magyarized Romanians from Ciumești or Sanislău did not offer as much variety but paid more attention to presentation. Meanwhile, Swabians from Petrești, Tiream (Terem in German, Mezőterem in Hungarian), Dindeștiu Mic (Klein Dengldorf in German, Kisbesenyő in Hungarian), and even some Magyarized ones, such as those from Sanislău or Ciumești, focused on wine instead of food. During the week, Swabians would usually only offer guests wine and occasionally a snack such as bacon or pastry, as they considered time spent entertaining guests a waste of time. However, during important feasts, they provided an abundance of dishes.
“Not stingy Swabians, but thrifty Swabians” – Sathmar Swabian Cuisine between Austerity and Abundance
One can characterize the Sathmar Swabian cuisine by austerity and the rational use of available products. This is also paradoxical given the Swabians’ superior economic status, especially in the Carei region, where the land was more fertile than in the Codru area. Starting in the second half of the 19th century, most Sathmar Swabians were able to build larger houses and households thanks to their agricultural surplus. They improved their material situation through perseverance, knowledge, and rational land cultivation. Ironically, even wealthy Swabian families did not spend their surplus on clothing or food, but rather on urban objects and furniture. Thus, the austere way of eating was typical for both rich and poor families during the workweek. This eventually led to the formation of the stereotype of the “stingy Swabian”, which was not an accurate representation of their way of life.
In response to this stereotype, many Swabian interviewees claimed that their culture and way of thinking were often misunderstood: We are “[n]ot stingy Swabians, but thrifty Swabians,”[lxxxi] they would say. More accurately, the Sathmar Swabians were concerned with avoiding waste.[lxxxii] Therefore, they had a more rational, sometimes even rigid way of distributing and investing their resources.
An interesting narrative I heard in Moftinu Mare (Großmaitingen in German, Nagymajtény in Hungarian) was that “Strudli” was a gift from God to the Swabians. According to the story, God encouraged them to cook “Strudli”. This happened because one made this traditional dish from free ingredients that every Swabian family had: flour, eggs, buttermilk, pork fat, potatoes, marmalade or cheese.[lxxxiii] This narrative emphasizes not just the frugality and moderation that characterizes the Swabians, but also their willingness to find economic solutions, in this case with God’s help.
However, not everything about the Sathmar Swabian cuisine was about rationality and austerity. During the bigger feasts, things changed. They prepared significant amounts of meat dishes on Sundays, for larger feasts, and especially at parish fairs (“Kiarbe” or “Kirbi”)[lxxxiv], the most important celebration for the Sathmar Swabians. On this day, everyone had to eat and drink at a carnival-like banquet organized at home. The Sathmar Swabian families used to invite all the people they knew: relatives, neighbors, Swabians and non-Swabians from other villages, even Roma beggars.[lxxxv] Roma musicians used to play for the audience.[lxxxvi] One summed up the exceptionality of this celebration in a saying that was widespread even in non-Swabian villages: “Not each day is a parish fair.”[lxxxvii]
Food as a Shared Element by Pro-German and Pro-Hungarian Sathmar Swabians
I observed various aspects related to the traditional Sathmar Swabian cuisine, beside the ethnographical and historical particularities. Traditional food was a significant topic when talking about identity-related issues, and it played a crucial role in forging or assuming a Swabian, German, or Hungarian identity.[lxxxviii] One can identify many cases of diffuse identity or oscillation between more identities.[lxxxix]
When analyzing identitarian discourses, it is evident that traditional cuisine, as a common shared heritage, plays a crucial role for both pro-German and pro-Hungarian groups. However, the meaning of traditional food differs for each of these groups. For the pro-German Swabians, food is an indicator of their German legacy. It emphasizes that they have preserved their cultural heritage through everyday material elements, not through writings or an elite. For the Magyarised Swabians, who no longer speak the Swabian dialect or standard German, traditional food remains the only reminder of their non-Hungarian origin.
After 1990, cultural associations and local authorities started promoting Sathmar Swabian traditional dishes at festivals and other public events. This was mainly true for the Swabian villages Vállaj and Mérk from Hungary where one established the first Strudli festival.[xc] Soon afterwards, one organized the Strudlifest in Satu Mare, and other similar events to promote traditional Swabian cuisine. While organizing such events, one made the effort to point out that traditional cuisine is a shared heritage of both the pro-Hungarian and pro-German Swabians. Nevertheless, such kinds of events have also led to conflicts between the two groups. Magyarized Swabians monopolized some events, speaking exclusively in Hungarian and presenting their version of the story. This situation caused dissatisfaction among those who could still speak the Swabian dialect.[xci]
It is worth mentioning that the Sathmar Swabian diaspora in southern Germany has managed to preserve traditional dishes and food habits very well. During my field research, I had the opportunity to meet families who still cooked Sathmar Swabian traditional dishes. Anna and Nándor Probst from Tübingen, Erika Berner and her daughter Gerta from Weingarten, and Anton and Gertrud Geng from Biberach provided me with valuable information about traditional cuisine. Most of this information originates from the period when they lived in their Sathmar Swabian villages in Romania.
An unexpected aspect that I observed during my field research was the importance of winemaking for the families who came from villages in the Codru area. Anton Geng, for example, used to produce his own wine every year, even if he had to buy grapes from the supermarket. The families from Șandra, who mostly live near the city of Nürnberg, took this even further. Not only did they produce significant quantities of wine, but many also wanted to replicate the wine cellars from their native village. For instance, Martin Scherer’s cellar is a gathering place for many Swabians who come to drink and sing on special occasions, for example on Sundays. This highlights the strong connection between food and winemaking within the Sathmar Swabian cultural heritage.
Conclusion
Upon analyzing the Sathmar Swabians’ dishes, it is clear that their traditional cuisine and way of cooking remains a typical peasant one. They bear almost no influences from urban or “lordish” settings to detect. The Sathmar Swabian villages remained reluctant to the changes in cooking that occurred in other parts of Central Europe during the second half of the 19th century. This happened mostly because Sathmar Swabians were exclusively a rural population without having an elite or an urban population. Consequently, new cooking knowledge that spread in other places was not able to reach the Sathmar Swabians. As a result, cookbooks were not accessible to the Swabian peasants, whose only book was the prayer book.[xcii]
The Sathmar Swabian cuisine was based on the dishes and eating habits brought by the colonists during the 18th and 19th centuries from Upper Swabia. A comparison of the Sathmar Swabian cuisine with that of Württemberg reveals many similarities as well as some differences. This indicates that the Swabian colonists brought with them knowledge related to cooking rather than the recipes of the dishes themselves. An excellent example in this regard is the Sathmar Swabian “Strudli”, which most likely has its origins in the Upper Swabian “Maultaschen”. Other Danube Swabian groups also had to adapt or modify some of the dishes and eating habits according to the local specificities and the products available in the places they settled.
The Sathmar Swabians were also well-known for their frugality. They chose to use their existing resources rationally rather than improve their cuisine even if they had the means to do so. According to the interviews, their frugality was not due to stinginess or saving money but was rather a deeply ingrained cultural construct. They believed that frugality and diligence were spiritual virtues and disciplines that went beyond material goals such as buying more land or building a bigger house.
Their diligence significantly influenced their eating habits and local cuisine. They considered work more important than eating. As Johann Bertusch recalled, “Back then, the Swabians used to eat their pork meat in the fields, just on Sundays at home.”[xciii] Therefore, they were not interested in investing too much time in eating or creating dishes that were more elaborate. While these values are usually associated with the Protestant work ethic, even devout Roman Catholic Sathmar Swabians shared similar values.
The traditional cuisine of the Sathmar Swabians played a crucial role in forging their distinct identity as well as their image as perceived by others. It is one of the few cultural elements shared by both pro-German/pro-Swabian and pro-Hungarian factions, and the most promoted one during cultural events or festivals.
“Swabian Food and Drink”
An Important Element of the Sathmar Swabian Cultural Heritage
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between food and cultural identity in the Sathmar Swabian communities. This German group migrated mainly from Upper Swabia during the 18th century and settled in what is now the northwestern region of Romania. Some Swabian families began identifying themselves as Hungarians in the second half of the 19th century, a trend that continued in various forms until the present day. Despite this, the Sathmar Swabians were a distinctive, endogamous, and culturally relatively isolated group until the 1990s. Traditional cuisine and eating habits were from the very beginning important cultural aspects that helped forge a local identity and set the Sathmar Swabians apart from their Romanian and Hungarian neighbors. Nowadays, traditional food is one of the few cultural elements that is shared by both pro-German/pro-Swabian and pro-Hungarian factions. During my field research in 30 Sathmar Swabian villages where I conducted numerous interviews, I gathered unique information regarding food-related habits and recipes.
[i] Hans Jürgen, Gerhard Neumann, Alois Wierlacher (eds.): Essen und kulturelle Identität. Europäische Perspektiven. Berlin 1997, pp. 13–15.
[ii] Eva Barlösius: Soziologie des Essens. Eine sozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Einführung in die Ernährungsforschung. Weinheim, München 1999, pp. 146–150.
[iii] Jakob Klein, James L. Watson (eds.): The Handbook of Food and Anthropology. Bloomsbury 2016, p. 3.
[iv] Jürgen, Neumann, Wierlacher (eds.): Essen und kulturelle Identität, pp. 17–19.
[v] Stefan Mok, born in 1957, Dindeștiu Mic village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[vi] There were several waves of migrations in the 1940s, 1980s, and after 1990s, under different historic circumstances.
[vii] János Scheffler: Szatmártól Chicagóig. Barangolásaim a Szatmár megyei svábok ősházájában. Úti élmények és tapasztalatok [From Sathmar to Chicago. My Wanderings in the Ancestral Homeland of the Sathmar Swabians. Travels and Experiences]. Szatmárnémeti 2011, pp. 157–158.
[viii] Stefan Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben – Oberschwaben im Südosten.Weingarten 1984, pp. 303–305.
[ix] Dezső Kardos: A szatmári német (sváb) nemzetiségű falvak Vállaj-Mérk-Zajta néprajza [Ethnography of the Sathmar German (Swabian) Villages of Vállaj-Mérk-Zajta]. Debrecen 2010, pp. 107–112.
[x] Vanishing Languages and Cultural Heritage, <https://www.oeaw.ac.at/vlach/collections/sathmar-swabian> 20.7.2023.
[xi] See Mathias Beer, Reinhard Johler, Christian Marchetti (eds.): Donauschwaben und andere. Tübingen 2015.
[xii] Vonház István: A szatmármgyei német telepítés [The Sathmar German Settlement]. Pécs 1931, pp. 6–7.
[xiii] Ibidem, pp. 25–27.
[xiv] Ibidem, pp. 177–180.
[xv] See Ernst Hauler: Istoria nemților din regiunea Sătmarului [The History of the Germans in the Sathmar Area]. Satu Mare 1998; Heinrich Ferencz: Scheffler János – vértanú püspök. Szent földön született, vértanúkénthalt meg [János Scheffler – Martyred Bishop. Born in Holy Land, Died as a Martyr].Baia Mare 2011; Johann Forstenheizler: Șvabii sătmareni între identitate și căutarea identității [The Sathmar Swabians between Identity and their Search for Identity]. In: Istorie & perspective. Sibiu 2004; Marinka Melinda: Sváb visszatérők. Ujjáéledő hagyomány és lokális kötődés a szatmári svábok körében [Swabian returnees. A Tradition in Revival and Local Attachment among the Sathmar Swabians]. Debrecen 2016.
[xvi] Stefan Schmied: Die deutsch-schwäbische Volksgemeinschaft Sathmar. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Sathmarer Schwaben von 1918 bis 1940, Kempten-Leubas 1976, pp. 9–10.
[xvii] Răzvan Roșu: Zur Identität der Satmarer Schwaben. In: Zeitschrift für Balkanologie 51 (2016), pp. 237– 253, here: pp. 238–239.
[xviii] Josef Herold: Die Verbreitung des Weinbaus in Württemberg. Stuttgart 1907, p. 293.
[xix] Iuliu Gyöngyi, born in 1955, Hurezu Mare village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording. For more on the grape varieties cultivated by the Sathmar Swabians see Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben,p. 249.
[xx] Königreich Ungarn (1782–1785), Josephinische Landesaufnahme, Arcanum, 12.7.2023.
[xxi] Ibidem.
[xxii] Johann Forstenheizler, born in 1941, Rătești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxiii] “In de Khiare alle Sunnteg send mr nabganga. Alle de grousse, de gleine. […] Sechs sieba Kamrata vun ein gozege Khiar zum anandera Gsunga send mr ganga und trunka. Abr it a sou. Sche ischt gsai.” Vasile Boldan, born in 1953, Șandra village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxiv] Ilona Winkler, born in 1935, Urziceni village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxv] Anna Müller, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxvi] Ilona Winkler, born in 1935, Urziceni village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxvii] Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben, p. 250.
[xxviii] “Doumals send de Leit Moarga ganga. Dr Vater hot de Waga kricht. Send mr ganga de Acker odr send mr ganga de Hacka und hǫt a Liter Wei de nai taa. Dussa um Hatar hǫt alle trinka. Det hond ze giessa unt trinka. Nach send ze kumma und wieder giessa und trinka wa send ze ghätt hǫt dahui. Dou ischt niemǫl ganga ins Wirtshaus.” Johann Bertusch, born in 1930, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxix] Ibidem.
[xxx] Anna Müller, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxxi] László Nagy: A nagykárolyi szőlőskertről és szüreti szokásairól [About the Vineyards and Harvest traditions of Nagykároly]. In: Néprajzi Látóhatár [Ethnographic Horizon] 3 (1993), pp. 110–117, here: pp. 110–111.
[xxxii] Culinary anthropology identifies traditional food and dishes as those that are passed on and consumed through many generations. Thus, traditional cuisine was one inherited orally in the family and the community, and played an important role in shaping a local, regional (sometimes even national) identity.
[xxxiii] Daniela Bălu et al.: Bucătăria bunicii [Grandma’s kitchen]. Satu Mare 2010, p. 46, p. 58, p. 86, p. 89.
[xxxiv] “Schwǫba hǫnd vi Miehlspeise giessa; Strudla, Nudla, Placinta, Krapfa, Umkrietz. Deiz send de schwǫba Iassa gsai.” Josef Horn, born in 1956, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxxv] “Strdula, Nudla, gleine Nudla, dicke Nudla deiz hǫnd de Schwoba giessa.” Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxxvi] “Moarga a Mil odr Teia odr james, Breizalasuppa.” Justina Horn, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxxvii] Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxxviii] Lucia Smid, born in 1952, Moftinu Mare village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xxxix] Justina Horn, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xl] “Mittǫg a Spieck weil mr send uf Hatar gsai. Det hǫnd nur Spiek giessa und Gukumra odr Paradeis odr james.” Ibidem.
[xli] “Uf m Hatar hǫ mr friah Suppa gnomma, abr hiába, mire odaért már hideg vót az a levés. […] Ischt schǫ kalt gsai. Und sou hǫnd ze s giessa.” Johann Bertusch, born in 1930, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xlii] Borovszki Samu: Szatmár vármegye [Komitat Sathmar]. Budapest 1908, p. XIII, p. 200.
[xliii] Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben, p. 303.
[xliv] “Und wenn Leit vun Field huikumma send, dr Ma hǫt fuotart dahui und Weib hǫt akfanga zu kocha. Abr japas schnielles gmacht, Mielspeis. Bitzele Iassa gmacht: Grumpiera, Mil.” Josef Horn, born in 1956, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xlv] “Floaisch weinig gsai, nur am Sunnteg.” Anna Müller, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xlvi] “Sunnteg hǫ mr Fluaisch giessa. […] In Summer ischt Hennafluaisch gsai weil s kuia Frijider gsai da mr so kenna rai tua. […] Dou hǫt ma kuia Floaisch a wiek tua weil ischt kuia Frijider gsai. Kuia Arǫm gsai.” Justina Horn, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xlvii] Anna Müller, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xlviii] Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xlix] Maria Nagy (Rimili), born in 1952, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[l] Ibidem.
[li] László Gurály, born in 1941, Napkor village, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lii] “Zuppa ischt allawei bei eis gsai.” Justina Horn, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[liii] Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[liv] Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben, p. 305.
[lv] Brigitta Berner, born in 1976, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lvi] Ibidem.
[lvii] Elisabetha Horn, born in 1937, Dindeștiu Mic village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lviii] Ibidem.
[lix] Jochen Fischer, Walter Siebert, Gottfried Stoppel: Schwäbische Küchenklassiker fein gemacht. Tübingen, 2010, pp. 7–8.
[lx] Gerhard Zisler: Schwäbische Küche. Regionale Küche mit Tradition. Köln 2003, p. 38.
[lxi] Ibidem, p. 50.
[lxii] Ibidem, p. 58.
[lxiii] Ibidem.
[lxiv] Ibidem, p. 14.
[lxv] Ibidem.
[lxvi] Schwäbische Küche. Ein kulinarischer Streifzug von Heilbronn bis Tübingen. Köln 2005, pp. 115–125.
[lxvii] “Hǫnd tze gleine Teschkala gmacht mit Zieger und hǫnd ze Suppa gmacht mit Rǫhm abr wuiß it was i nou nai taa. I hǫnd schǫ fugiessa, Zigernudlasuppa hǫnd tze gsait.” Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxviii] Ibidem, pp. 96–97.
[lxix] Schwäbische Küche. Ein kulinarischer Streifzug, p. 50.
[lxx] Maria Nagy (Rimili), born in 1952, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxi] Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben, pp. 216–220.
[lxxii] Josef Horn, born in 1956, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxiii] Maria Guleş, born in 1946, Sanislău village, Satu Mare County, residing in Ciumeşti village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxiv] Johann Bertusch, born in 1930, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxv] Tiberius Pfeiffer, born in 1940, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxvi] “Hǫnd tze a sou Spiek fimf Finger, sou düke Spiek.” Johann Bertusch, born in 1930, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxvii] Ibidem.
[lxxviii] Gheorghe Igaz, born in 1939, Ciumeşti village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxix] “Brezelasuppa issa giern/Schwoba Mädla kisse giern.” Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxx] Tiberius Pfeiffer, born in 1940, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxi] Kinczler Mária, born in 1932, Cămin village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxii] Anna Müller, born in 1939, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxiii] Emma Toduț (Rotter), born in 1946, Socond village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxiv] Koch: Die Sathmarer Schwaben, pp. 427–429.
[lxxxv] Elisabetha Horn, born in 1937, Dindeștiu Mic village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxvi] Stefan Mok, born in 1957, Dindeștiu Mic village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxvii] Maria Guleş, born in 1946, Sanislău village, Satu Mare County, residing in Ciumeşti village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[lxxxviii] One has to deal with a complicated situation when it comes to the local and national identity of persons who consider themselves as being Sathmar Swabians. Before the 1920s, the majority of the Sathmar Swabians had only a local identity without developing any kind of German national identity. A considerable part of them already assumed a Hungarian national identity. During the interwar, many Swabians (re)discovered their German roots and identity with the help of the Romanian authorities. Especially in the villages of the Carei area a there were a series of conflicts between the Magyarized Swabians and the pro-German ones.
[lxxxix] Răzvan Roșu: Zur Identität der Satmarer Schwaben, pp. 248–249.
[xc] Răzvan Roșu: Monografien der Schwäbischen Ortschaften. Kurze Geschichte Sathmarschwäbischer Gemeinden. Satu Mare 2023, p. 52. See also Kardos: A szatmári német (sváb) nemzetiségű falvak Vállaj-Mérk-Zajta néprajza, p. 197.
[xci] Wilhelm Horn, born in 1955, Dindeștiu Mic village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.
[xcii] Johannes Straubinger: Die Schwaben in Sathmar. Schicksale oberschwäbischer Siedler im Südosten Europas. Stuttgart 1927, p. 72.
[xciii] “Friah hǫnd de Schowba das Schweinefleisch auf de Feld gegesen, nur am Sonntag zu Hause.” Johann Bertusch, born in 1930, Petrești village, Satu Mare County, interview by author, digital recording.