East European Germans

The chapter “Volksdeutsche: The East European Germans” in the book Plains Folk: North Dakota's Ethnic History, lists the following ethnic groups: 1) Banat Germans, 2) Bohemian Germans, 3) Brethren, 4) Galician Germans, 5) German-Hungarians, 6) Moravian Germans. Items relating to these East European Germans are listed below. Plains Folk: North Dakota’s Ethnic History can also be purchased online here.

These include resources housed at the North Dakota State University Libraries’ Germans from Russia Heritage Collection (GRHC), including books and periodicals. Also available are links to heritage societies that may provide more information. For additional resources search the NDSU Library Catalog or WorldCat.

• Banat Germans - The Banat Swabians were an ethnic German population in central southeast Europe. The Banat colonists are often grouped with other German-speaking ethnic groups in the area under the name Danube Swabians. Banat Swabians emigrated to the United States beginning in the 1950s. 
  • Banat German Map
  • Donauschwaben Settlement Region Banat
  • Aberle, Msgr. George P. From the Steppes to the Prairies. Bismarck, ND: Germans from Russia, 1993.
  • Banater Künstler in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Nürnberg, 21.-28. Mai 1988: Landestreffen der Banater Schwaben, Nürnberger Kultur- und Heimattage Mai 1988, Ehrenhalle im Alten Rathaus Nürnberg. Berlin: Westkreuz-Verlag, 1988. (Bernd Längin Collection)
  • Blum, Konrad. Liebling: Geschichte einer schwäbischen Gemeinde des Banats. Weilheim/Oberbayern: K. Blum, [1958]. (Walter and Alice Riedlinger Essig Collection)
  • Dreyer, David and Hatter, Josette Steiner. From the Banat to North Dakota: a history of the German-Hungarian pioneers in western North Dakota. Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 2006.
  • Dreyer, David and Hatter, Josette Steiner. Founding of the Banat Settlement in Southwestern North Dakota.
  • Engelmann, Nikolaus. The Banat Germans. Bismarck, ND: University of Mary Press, 1987. (Herb Poppke Collection)
  • Michels, John M. (Ed.) Josefalva. Bismarck, ND: University of Mary Press, 1992.
  • Michels, John M. North Dakota Pioneers from the Banat. Bismarck, ND: University of Mary Press, 1992.
  • Montee-Nelson, Theresa K. Bogner. The Banat German Hungarians who Came to Southwestern North Dakota: wiver Sach (women's stuff). Dickinson, ND: T. Montee-Nelson, 1998.
  • Paikert, G.C. The Danube Swabians. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1967.
  • Tafferner, Anton. The Danube-Swabians in the Pannonian Basin: A New German Ethnic Group. Milwaukee, WI: Danube Swabian Association, 1982.
  • University of Mary publications
  • Weifert, Mathias. Die Entwicklung der Banater Hauptstadt Temeschburg. München: Arbeitskreis für Donauschwäbische Heimat- und Volksforschung, 1987. (Bernd Längin Collection)
• Bohemian Germans (Sudetendeutsche) - The Province of German Bohemia was a province in the former Czech Republic. After World War II, the region that had been German Bohemia was reincorporated into the new Czechoslovak Republic. In the 1950s, Bohemian German families emigrated to the United States.
  • Bohemia Map 1
  • Bohemia Map 2
  • Aberle, Msgr. George P. From the Steppes to the Prairies. Bismarck, ND: Germans from Russia, 1993.
  • German-Bohemian Heritage Society
  • Images and information of Bohemian German homes in North Dakota (Father William C. Sherman Photograph Collection)
  • Sudeten Bulletin: A Central European Review, Vol. 6, No. 4, April 1958. Munich, Germany: Sudeten German Archive, pages 73 – 96. (George Rath Collection)
  • Sudeten Bulletin: A Central European Review, Vol. 6, No. 5, May 1958. Munich, Germany: Sudeten German Archive, pages 97 – 120. (George Rath Collection)
• Brethren (Dunkards) - The Dunkard Brethren have their roots in a Protestant movement known as Schwarenau Brethren or Dunkards. In 1719, twenty families left Europe and arrived in Germantown, Pennsylvania, where they settled.
  • Brethren Digital Archives
  • Brethren Historical Library and Archives
  • Brethren Heritage Center
  • Church of the Brethren. The Brethren Hymnal. Elgin, IL: House of the Church of the Brethren, 1959 (1951), pages 704. (Ed Babitzke Collection)
• Bukovina Germans - The Bukovina Germans were a German ethnic group which settled in Bukovina, a historical region situated at the crossroads of central and eastern Europe in the area of Romania. During WWII, many of the Bukovina Germans resettled in Germany. In the 1950s, Bukovina Germans emigrated to the United States. 
  • Bukovina Germans Map 1
  • Bukovina Germans Map 2
  • Ellingson, Irmgard Hein. The Bukovina Germans in Kansas: A 200 Year History of the Lutheran Swabians. Fort Hays, Kansas: Ethnic Heritage Studies,  Fort Hays State University, 1987.
  • Kaindl, Raimund Friedrich. Die Deutschen in der Bukowina. Berlin, Germany: Verein das Deutschtum im Ausland, 1919.
  • Jachomowski, Dirk. Die Umsiedlung der Bessarabien-,Bukowina- und Dobrudschadeutschen: Von der Volksgrüppe in Rumämoem zur, Siedlungsbrücke an der Reichsgrenze.  Munich, Germany: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1984.
• Galician Germans - The Galician Germans were an ethnic German population living in the Kingdom of Galicia in the Austrian Empire, established in 1772. After World War I, Galicia became part of the Second Polish Republic.
  • Galacian German Map
  • The Galician German Archive
  • Galizien German Descendants
• German-Hungarians (Donauschwaben) - The German Hungarians lived in the Kingdom of Hungary (today’s Hungary), Romania, Slovakia and several former Yugoslav republics. Many Hungarian Germans now live in Germany, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the USA. 
  • German Hungarians Map 1
  • German Hungarians Map 2
  • Aberle, Msgr. George P. From the Steppes to the Prairies. Bismarck, ND: Germans from Russia, 1993.
  • Hamm, Franz. Bei den Donauschwaben in den USA: eine Besuchsfahrt. Salzburg: [Donauschwäbische Verlags A.G.], 1952. (Bernd Längin Collection)
  • Images and information of German-Hungarian homes in North Dakota (Father William C. Sherman Photograph Collection)
  • Koehler, Eve Eckert. Seven Susannahs: Daughters of the Danube. Milwaukee, WI: Danube Swabian Societies of the U.S. and Canada, 1976.
  • United German Hungarian Club
• Moravian Germans - German South Moravia was a historical region of Czechoslovakia. After World War II, the area was returned to Czechoslovakia and is now part of the Czech Republic. The first Moravian German missionaries in the United States began in 1735. The Moravian Church in America includes churches in Minnesota and North Dakota. 
  • Moravian Germans Map 1
  • Moravian Germans Map 2
  • The Moravian Historical Society
• Other Resources
  • East European Genealogical Society (EEGS)
  • Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS)
    • Banat Genealogy Resources http://www.sggee.org/
    • Czech Genealogy Resources (Bohemian and Moravian Germans)
    • Galicia Genealogy Resources
    • Hungary Genealogy Resources (German-Hungarians)
    • Hutterite Genealogy Resources (Brethren)
  • Northern Plains Ethnic Cookbook. Dickinson, ND: Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, 1998
  • Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE)
  • State Historical Society of North Dakota
    • Archives - Naturalization Records