2 / why it sucks to be saxon
(originally written as part of a blog for a sociolinguistics undergraduate course)
Historically, Transylvania and its Saxon population were profoundly interconnected until very recently. I come from a region of rich mixed cultural heritage, where until a hundred years ago many of the urban centres boasted at least a balanced mix of ethnic Romanians, Germans, and Hungarians, if not a non-Romanian majority, even. It is undeniable that the Saxon and Hungarian heritage developed and defined Transylvania to this day, as one can witness walking through our medieval fortified citadels not present in other regions of Romania. The privileged status and international outlook of this population made Transylvania the most developed and even now most economically well-off region of the country. Before the First World War (when it was still a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Transylvania boasted a Saxon population of over a quarter million. According to the 2011 census, the current Saxon population of Romania is around 36 thousand, a negligible 2% of the population. There are so few native speakers of German (26 thousand) that it was not even a separate category within the census in terms of mother tongues. So where are the Saxons, and what happened to German?
Map is courtesy of http://www.map.language-diversity.eu/ .
Language and its speakers
The German language is intrinsically linked to its speakers. Language rights, therefore, imply group rights. While it was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German and Hungarian were governmental languages; after 1918, these ethnic groups lost a great deal of privilege with the absorption of Transylvania within the Kingdom of Romania. Ever since then, there has been a noted plight of Saxons back to (mainly, West) Germany and Austria, each wave for a different reason. One such notable wave was during Communism, when the Romanian state conveniently let people with concrete evidence of German origins and relatives in Germany relocate in exchange for a sum paid by the West German government after 1978; in this way, half of Romanian Saxons were sold. Most of the ones who remained left soon after the Revolution.
Moreover, Communism brought about a strong wave of “Romanianisation” that no predecessor form of governance ever tried imposing upon the country. Regional differences and, with it, languages, were stamped out, especially though imposed Romanian language education. Together with the regime’s aversion of all things traditional, this decrease in population and difficulty to use the German language meant that much of the Saxon heritage was quickly lost. Even now, despite the low numbers of Germans, each census notes double-digit drops in the native German-speaking population (a 40% decrease between 2002 and 2011). This is not an isolated phenomenon, but can be witnessed with almost every RML in Romania.
A notable current phenomenon, however, is the increasing separation between language and population — German language teaching is en vogue in Romanian cities, and while under 5% of the people being taught in German are ethnically Saxon (according to the Goethe Institut), the language is sought after nonetheless. Generations of elite bilinguals are thus shaped by their parents’ desire to offer them a worldly, Western-minded education through the medium of German. Most Saxons, residing in underprivileged villages in Transylvania, do not have access to proper German language education.
The status of German in Romania
Romania ratified the 1992 Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the year it joined the European Union. It accorded various degrees of status to twenty languages, among which German; this language of a national minority was therefore awarded status in education, the judicial authorities and public administration, media, cultural activities, economic and social life, and transfrontier exchanges (Articles 8 through 14 of the Charter). These aim to promote the use of German as an RML.
The report on the implementation of the Charter in Romania presents a grim prospect for native German speakers, noting migration, interethnic marriage, and lack of German-language socialisation to be some of the main reasons why there are fewer and fewer native speakers. Most of Romania’s efforts in regards to German language preservation focus on education and teacher training, but this is only contributing to the divide between the Saxon population and the German language, since as previously mentioned it is mostly non-Saxons who partake in German education.
In other aspects of life that the Charter covers, although everything happens in the one official language of Romanian, technically translations are available free of charge; the accessibility and quality of this is questionable. This is an area where, because of the advantages granted to the larger Hungarian and Roma populations, German stands at risk of marginalisation. The German language is barely encouraged by the Romanian state to prosper, and therefore most efforts for German maintenance and thriving are powered by private actors.
Die Zukunft
Right now, Romania has a Saxon President with a very German name but, other than visibility, it has done little to further the German-speaking cause in Romania. Whereas in 1900, Romania had the second highest percentage of foreigners on its territory in Europe (only overtaken by Switzerland), the fact that other countries offer better opportunities is driving away not only the Saxons but the whole population. The country is losing its regional differences and languages, in the process of becoming more of itself. I believe that slowly, Saxons will become mere memories in Romania’s history, and we will only be able to find their trace in the beautiful 17th century houses they long abandoned.
The German language no longer serves the dwindling Saxon population, but it is increasingly adopted by people from privileged backgrounds. So German is being uprooted and placed somewhere else in Romanian society, and while the ethnic minority is losing it, people from urban backgrounds are taking it up as a symbol of high education and a Western mindset. This is not the end of German in Romania, but I foresee a different path for it than the RML one.
Tangents to go on:
A visual story from National Geographic on Saxons reconnecting with their lost traditions.
An interactive map showing the language diversity in Europe.
