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| A map of the Danubia region. |
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The Danube Swabian Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity was formed in 1958 by ethnic-German immigrants from current day Hungary, Romania, and the former Yugoslavia. Ethnic Germas were sent by Queen Maria Theresia of the Austrian Hungarian Empire to work in these lands during the 1700s. This part of Europr was often referred to as "Europe's Bread Basket", and Germans, primarily those from the "Schwaben" section of Germany (near Stuttgart and Ulm) were asked to relocate, as they were skilled farmers.
After World War II, these nations became satellite nations of the U.S.S.R. and the ethnic Germans (the Donaushwaben or Danube Swabians) were forcibly relocated, losing all property and rights within their former homelands.
As a result, many Donaushwabens found their way to the United States and Canada, where 156 clubs now exist. They serve local population as a center for culture, sport and social clubs. The Danube Swabian Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity is a member of the National Association of Danube Swabians.
For more information on other clubs throughout the United States and Canada, please visit our Danube Swabian page.
We are currently looking to highlight a Donauschwaben town and it's history, along with a Donau family and their history. If you can provide us with any information that you would like to see presented on this site, please contact Fred Gauss at (215) 722-4253.
If you are a descendant of a Donau, a former member of our folk dancing or soccer club, or know of someone who is, please let us know for our "Where Are You Now?" segment.
The History of the Danube Swabian
by: Michael Leisch
A short, but thorough, history, written by Michael Leisch, can be found here.
The Donauschwaben in Writing!
There is a feature on the Donauschwaben in German World magazine, including a history of the group, and a picture of our own Jugend dancing group. The article can be found on page 30 of the July edition of German World.
A Land In A Suitcase
by: Nenad Novak Stefanovic
This book is a unique journey through the life stories of the Germans who used to live in Vojvodina and toda y live in America. The author spoke in Cleveland, Acron and New York with the witnesses of the history from the end of the first half of the 20. century. The moving confessions of the apatrides are coloured with the nostalgy of the idyllic Panonic plain in contrast to the bitter memories of the people being moved during the war and their sufferings in the camps. Stefanovic made a story which excedes the limits of the documentary prose.
The author`s previous work, A people on the Danube, which has become a key book regarding the fate of the Germans having lived on the Danube in Vojvodina, was translated into German and English.
The author`s E-mail: leta@yubc.net
You can order the book at the following address:
www.krugcentar.co.yu
A Visit To the Homeland
by: Heidi, Eva, Angie (Knoll) Junger and Robert Hessler