Robert A. Roth 

Photo Albums by rothrobi

About my home

Transylvania is a magnificent country, as a Saxon German and Hungarian I am living here in minority with ca. 1,6 million Hungarians and 300thousand Saxons. The history of Transylvania, now part of Romania is very interesting and too long to explain everything.

About the minorities. How happened that Hungarians and Saxon Germans live in Romania, you might ask? Well the question is very good and in the same time difficult to answer.

Transylvania was part for a long time part of the Hungarian Kingdom, Hungarian who live in Transylvania are called Transylvanian Hungarians and Szekler. The Szekler were watching the eastern and southern borders of the kingdom. Don't let yourself be fooled by the great variaty between the Hungarians, we all do speak one common language: the Hungarian - of course with many dialects, but this is common almost in every other culture.

Then in the mid 12th century the Hungarian kings have invited Germans, Schwabs and Saxons, to settle down in Transylvania. They settled down and formed seven bigger localities: Hermannstadt - Sibiu, Mediasch - Medias, Schässburg - Sighisoara, Kronstadt - Brasov, Bistritz - Bistrita, and Fogarasch und Broos - Orastie.
The Saxons were great craftsmen and put down the basement of the future industries.

Three nations had special rights during the history of Transylvania: the Hungarians, the Szekler Hungarians and the Saxon Germans. During the 15th - 17th century Romanian nationalities settle down as farmers and worked for the Transylvanian Hungarian rulers.

Unfortunatelly the history had many turns that didn't favorize the vision of the Hungarians and Saxons,living next to Romanians. Many riots, revolutions and finaly the 1st and the 2nd World War have changed forever the life of this country.

In the 1st WW, as part of the Great Habsburg - Hungarian Empire, the teritory of Hungary was chopped down to its one third, in the Treaty of Trianon in 1921 when the borders of Hungary were withdrawn to its now existing form. Many Hungarians and other nationalities suddenly woke up, that their home was not anymore in Hungary but in Romania. Many lives were distroyed, but many stayed.
So did my family, too.

In the second world war, in 1941 Hungary to regain her lost teritories accepts to fight on the German side. When the German troops invade Eastern Europe, including Romania, a greater part of Transylvania, but not the whole territory, is reattached again to Transylvania.

This memento lasted 3 years, untill 1944, when Russian and Romanian troops, brake through the enemy lines and eliberate Romania,Transylvania and Hungary.

Again Hungary looses Transylvania. Now for ever. However hard the upcoming ages were some of the Hungarians, Szeklers, and Saxons struggeled to stand up and accept the reality. Their culture, their self identity was allways very important for them, so they formed a strong ethnic group in Romania.

Of course during the communist eras, the Secret Police and the Nationalist Communist Party tried to erase every single particle of the being Hungarian, Saxon identity from the scene. Many attrocities and a fearfull cold war began between the nationalities. Many fled away to USA, Canada, Europe etc., but many again stood place and remained here.

Now Transylvania is part of Romania, many Romanians settled in and accepted to live next each other, so did the Hungarians and the Saxons, too. But from 2,6 million in 1944 the number of the Hungarians shrank to 1,3 million in 2003 and the 800,000 thousand Saxon Germans have lost almost 650 thousand people, when Ceausescu sold them for Germany, 7000 USD per person at that time.

In a nutshell this is a short story of Transylvania. I am proud to be here and to be a Saxon German – Hungarian. I can speak in German, Hungarian, Romanian and English and I feel that I am 200% the man that my ancestors wanted to be.

This is why I choose to work in the tourism and hospitality industry. Because this way I dont rise political debates, I am tolerant with the other nationalities, I know their culture and language, and I know that the freedom to use my mother tongue and other foreign languages how precious is.

I don't know any bounderies in the tourism and hospitality industry. For me the guest is the one that I have to satisfy, and not the Hungarian, Romanian, German or English, it is only the men or women who are interested to know my culture.

01/07/2009 11:40:24 AM