The Dobrujan Germans (Germ.: Dobrudschadeutsche) were an ethnic German group, within the larger category of Black Sea Germans, for over one hundred years. German-speaking colonists entered the approximately 23,000 km² area of Dobruja around 1840 and left during the relocation of 1940. Dobruja is a historic territory on the north coast of the Black Sea. German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... Ethnic Germans—usually simply called Germans, in German Volksdeutsche, or (less exactly but also less tainted by Nazism) Auslandsdeutsche (lit. ... The Black Sea Germans (German: Schwarzmeerdeutsche) are ethnic Germans who left their homeland in the 18th and 19th centuries, and settled in territories of the northern bank of the Black Sea, mostly in southern Russia. ... Dobruja, or sometimes Dobrudja (Dobrogea in Romanian, Добруджа—transliterated Dobrudzha—in Bulgarian, Dobruca in Turkish), is the territory between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Map of the Black Sea. ...

Colonization

German colonies in Dobruja

The first of these German settlers came between 1841 and 1856 from the Russian Empire. They were farming families from the neighboring areas of Bessarabia and Cherson, who immigrated because of an economic recession in their home territories. Thirty years later colonists from Swabia also moved into the region. During this period, Dobruja still belonged to the Ottoman Empire and the colonists were subject to colonization regulations from Turkey. Consequently, the Dobruja Germans were the only ethnic Germans to ever be Turkish subjects without actually moving to Turkey (as did the Bosphorus Germans). They contributed to the agricultural development of the fertile steppes. 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... 1927 map of Bessarabia from Charles Upson Clarks book Bessarabia or Bessarabiya (Basarabia in Romanian, Besarabya in Turkish) was the name by which the Imperial Russia designated the eastern part of the principality of Moldavia ceded by the Ottoman Empire to Russia in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish... Kherson (Ukrainian and Russian Херсон) is a city in southern Ukraine, the capital of Kherson Oblast, with 303,900 inhabitants (2004). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power (1683) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Söğüt (1299-1326), Bursa (1326-1365), Edirne (1365-1453), İstanbul (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanl... Ethnic Germans (usually simply called Germans, in German Volksdeutsche) are those who are considered, by themselves or others, to be ethnically German rather than anything else but who do not live within the Federal Republic of Germany nor hold its citizenship. ... Bosphorus Germans are those germans living and settled in Istanbul. ... A steppe in Western Kazakhstan in early spring In physical geography, a steppe (Russian степь or step and pronounced in English as step) is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes); it is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is generally considered as being dominated by...

Relocation

In the Fall of 1940, Bulgarian troops occupied southern Dobruja. The majority of the 16,000 Dobruja Germans, as well as the Bessarabian and Bukovina Germans, were relocated into Germany. This was done under the motto: Heim ins Reich (Home into the Empire). The refugees lived temporarily in relocation camps in Austria, but in 1941/1942 they resettled the German occupied eastern territories in Poland. At the end of the war, they fled west, and were found as refugees in all four occupation zones in Germany. The Heim ins Reich initiative (German: Home into the Realm) was a policy pursued by Adolf Hitler starting in 1939 and largely responsible for the outbreak of World War II. The initiative attempted to convince people of German descent living outside of Germany that they should strive to unify their... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The four occupation zones The Allied powers who defeated Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder River into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during the period 1945-1949. ...

References

• This page is a translation of the German, and these are the references of that page's authors.
• Dobrudscha. In: Handwörterbuch für das Grenz- und Auslandsdeutschtum. Band 2, Breslau. S. 278 - 290.
• Petri, Hans: Geschichte der Deutschen Siedlungen in der Dobrudscha. *Hundert Jahre deutschen Lebens am Schwarzen Meere. München 1956.
• Teutschländer, Willibald: Geschichte der evangelischen Gemeinden in Rümänien. Leipzig 1891, S. 240 f.
• Träger, Paul: Die Deutschen in der Dobrudscha. Schriften des deutschen Auslandsinstituts zu Stuttgart (Kulturhistorische Reihe Bd. 6), Stuttgart 1922.

See also

• Volksdeutsche