On The Early Settlement Of The Transylvanian Saxons

This article will briefly describe the early settlement of the Transylvanian Saxons, an eclectic population of Western and Central European origins (stemming from present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and even parts of north-eastern France) and one of the most important historical ethnic minorities in Romania as well as, at the same time, the eldest and one of the most numerous constituent ethnic German groups of the Germans of Romania (known in Standard German/Hochdeutsch as Rumäniendeutsche). Concomitantly, the Transylvanian Saxons are one of the most important ethnic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe since the High Middle Ages (i.e. Hochmittelalter in German). Consequently, this article will focus on the origins of the first waves of Transylvanian Saxon settlers, the overall context of their settlement in medieval Transylvania, the types of settlements they had founded, constructed, and fortified as well as the architectural styles of the well known UNESCO-recognised Transylvanian Saxon fortified churches and their roles/usages during medieval times and beyond to the present day.

1. The actual origins of the Transylvanian Saxons

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First of all, the Transylvanian Saxons are not Saxons per se, or at least not entirely, given the fact that only a very small amount of the early settlers rather incorrectly and misleadingly known as ‘Saxones‘ in Latin who emigrated to medieval Transylvania, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary, starting in the mid 12th century (more specifically starting in the 1140s and 1150s respectively, during the time/reign of King Géza II of Hungary) actually stemmed from present-day Niedersachsen (i.e. Lower Saxony, a land situated in northern Germany) or the other two Saxon lands in contemporary Germany (i.e. Saxony proper or Freistaat Sachsen, the Free State of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt or Sachsen-Anhalt). Furthermore, the blanket term ‘Saxones‘ was applied or given to them most likely because of a misunderstanding stemming from the medieval royal Hungarian chancellery wherein all Germans who had settled on the territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary would be simply equated with this term. Another theory regarding their name is that they personally ascribed it starting in the Late Middle Ages.

Whatever the actual historical truth regarding the origins of their name, they are known in German as Siebenbürger Sachsen, literally meaning seven citadels’/castles’ Saxons, after the seven important and historical fortified medieval towns and cities they had founded in the wake of their arrival, namely and most likely Hermannstadt/Sibiu, Kronstadt/Brașov, Klausenburg/Cluj-Napoca, Schäßburg/Sighișoara, Mediasch/Mediaș, Mühlbach/Sebeș and Bistritz/Bistrița respectively. In the Transylvanian Saxon dialect, they refer to themselves as Siweberjer Såksen (or just Soxen, the phonetic transliteration without the special character known in German as dumpfes å, i.e. dull å).

Other German groups in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary were the Zipser Germans or Zipser Saxons (who have common ethnic roots/origins as the Transylvanian Saxons), colonised in the historical Zips komitat (nowadays Spiš region in northeastern Slovakia and a little bit in southern Poland), as well as the Germans who had settled in Buda (or Ofen) and Pest which later formed Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The Zipser Germans were colonised approximately at the same time in present-day Slovakia as were the Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, Romania.

The origins of the Transylvanian Saxons are quite eclectic as they weren’t all Germans or entirely of German descent (the very same goes for their subsequent descendants throughout the passage of time). These ‘Saxons’ were actually a mixture of Flemings, Walloons, French/Franks, Luxembourgers, and, of course, Germans from various regions of present-day Germany, but, during their earliest settlement process in the High Middle Ages (that is between the 12th and 13th centuries) mainly the Rhine-Moselle river valley, so basically western present-day Germany. Consequently, these settlers spoke Flemish, Walloon, Old French, and, naturally, Old Middle German (i.e. Mittelhochdeutsch). Given this linguistic richness, the settlers created their own dialect starting in the High Middle Ages, henceforth known as Transylvanian Saxon (which is, of course, different from the Saxon dialects spoken in northern and central Germany, i.e. Upper Saxon German spoken from the west to the east of Germany as well as the Low Saxon dialects which are part of the Low Saxon language which is also spoken in the northeastern parts of the Netherlands). The Transylvanian Saxon dialect is a Moselle-Frankish German dialect which is mostly related to Luxembourgish given their phonetic, morphologic, and lexical similarities. This dialect includes regional sub-dialects which vary from area to area across Transylvania, most notably spoken more once upon a time (this syntagm sounds more like the beginning of a fairytale indeed) in southern, south-eastern, and north-eastern Transylvania which were the regions significantly populated by the Transylvanian Saxons in the past. The Transylvanian Saxon dialect has been traditionally spoken more in the rural areas of Transylvania native to the Transylvanian Saxons whereas the urban Transylvanian Saxon dwellers spoke High German or Hochdeutsch more than the dialect itself.

The first probable (not certain) well documented cases of Transylvanian ‘Saxon’ settlers in Transylvania date to the mid 12th century, those being a certain Hezelo of Merkstein and, later on, a certain Anselm of Braz. Hezelo of Merkstein was of German ancestry, stemming from Aachen (after selling his estate to the monastery of Rade/Rode) while Anselm of Brazon was Walloon (the story behind the coat of arms of the picturesque medieval well preserved town of Sibiu/Hermannstadt being linked to him in that he had allegedly crossed the two swords which appear on the said coat of arms on the soil of what was later the town of Sibiu/Hermannstadt). It is not certainly known whether these two historical figures actually emigrated to Transylvania, but it is certainly known that they both emigrated to the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. In this regard, they could have emigrated in other parts of the Kingdom of Hungary, not necessarily to Transylvania proper (which, at that time, was part of the Hungarian kingdom). Therefore, the actual historical accuracy regarding their arrival in Transylvania during the High Middle Ages is rather debatable, aside from Anselm’s legend still well ingrained in the popular culture.

In legendary regards, the arrival and colonisation of the first waves of Transylvanian Saxon settlers in Transylvania, Romania has been linked to the folk story of the Piped Piper of Hamelin (known in German as Der Rattenfänger von Hameln) wherein a certain piped piper who saved the northern German town of Hameln (situated in Niedersachsen/Lower Saxony) from rat infestation was not properly paid for his hard work and, in retaliation to the city’s then authorities, came back soon after in the city with his magical flute and played an enchanting melody which many children of the city adored, thereby luring them under a long, underground tunnel leading to… you guessed that right, Transylvania! In this regard, if you want to know more, you can listen to the story of the Ratchatcher from Hamelin from the Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang in audiobook format here (with the sole mention and correction that, once allegedly arrived in Transylvania, this foreign land to them then, these German children also found Romanians and not only Hungarians). And here you can listen to the instrumental version of a song on this legend entitled Wer ist der bunte Mann im Bilde (Rattenfängerlied) in German. Last but not least, below you can listen to a poem by well known German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on this quite interesting, spooky, sad, and bittersweet legend as performed by Hugo Wolf.

Below you can listen to a more lively, acoustic rock version of the legend/folk tale in German by Margot & Michael:

And this is how the beautiful and picturesque northern German town of Hameln/Hamelin looks like:

There is an other ending of this folk story or legend that I know of, namely the fact that the children lured by the Piped Piper of Hamelin, in revenge for the unkept bargain of the authorities of medieval Hameln/Hamelin, were never seen at all ever again after they went past Koppelberg Hill, a nearby hill around the city. As fascinating and as interesting (yet at the same time beautiful, sad, and bittersweet) as this legend or folk story might be, it has no solid fundamental historical basis for the arrival of the Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, Romania, then part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary (or very little, anyway). I wrote very little there in the brackets because there is actually some historical proof that many children from Hamelin (namely 130) who were gone for good can be linked to Transylvania afterwards, as found in the historical records of the aforementioned town (a 1384 record namely, stating: ‘It is 100 years since our children left.’). Furthermore, in his book The Pied Piper: A Handbook, German folklore academic Wolfgang Mieder claims that there are certain historical documents proving that people from the area including the city Hamelin in northern Germany helped settled parts of Transylvania (quite possibly as lokators, the intermediaries of Western European and German immigration to Transylvania during medieval times who knew the roads/routes towards this historical region situated at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe).

Regardless of the authenticity of this legend or folk tale, the first waves of Transylvanian Saxon colonists stemmed mostly from the Rhine-Moselle river region which includes present-day Luxembourg. In addition to this large area, the first Transylvanian ‘Saxons’ were also Walloons and Flemings, so they stemmed from Wallonia, Flanders, Hainaut, Brabant, Liège, or Zeeland (i.e. the Low Countries). The Transylvanian Saxon dialect is, as such, a mixture of Middle High German (i.e. Mittelalthochdeutsch), Flemish, Old French, and Walloon. In the passage of time, the dialect also included words from Romanian and Hungarian given the centuries-long cohabitation between these peoples in Transylvania. According to Transylvanian Saxon scholar, historian, archaeologist, and former president of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR), Thomas Nägler, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect has been traditionally spoken in approximately 240 localities throughout Transylvania, mostly in the rural ones, with a small minority in the cities, towns, and markets as well (Hochdeutsch or Standard German being the main language of communication of the ethnic German city/town dwellers).

2. The settlements of the Transylvanian Saxons

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The Transylvanian Saxons built many rural fortified settlements across the borders of Transylvania during the High Middle Ages (more specifically in their hundreds, many of which are well to very well preserved and have been restored from their previous state of decay and some of which were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites) in order to defend the then medieval Kingdom of Hungary against migratory Asian peoples such as the Cumans, the Pechenegs, and, ultimately, the Mongols or Tatars. These rural fortified settlements had strong churches which were local defensive strongholds in case of an imminent and/or sudden foreign attack, built with the purpose of sheltering and protecting the entire community of such a settlement.

Aside from their defensive military purpose, the Transylvanian Saxon rural settlements with fortified churches served (and still serve) other purposes, most notably, of course, the ecclesiastical/religious one as well as an economic/alimentary one, wherein the ham would be securely and rather intelligently stored high up in the keep of one of a fortified church. This tradition has been well preserved to this very day (as the meat itself, naturally). Initially, the main architectural style of these churches was the Romanesque style which was followed by the Gothic one later on.

In addition to the their rural fortified settlements with the well known defensive churches (known in German as Kirchenburgen or Wehrkirchen), the Transylvanian Saxons also founded fortified towns and cities, seven of which gave the well known German name of Transylvania, i.e. Siebenbürgen (which literally means seven citadels/strongholds/castles, in reference, naturally, to the seven medieval fortified towns and cities founded by these predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German colonists). In the Transylvanian Saxon dialect, the name of the region is known as Siweberjen whereas in Romanian as Transilvania and in Hungarian as Erdély.

Documentation sources and external links:

1. The Piped Piper of Hamelin on www.twinkl.com
2. The Piped Piper of Hamelin on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
3. Așezarea sașilor în Transilvania: studii (in Romanian) by professor doctor in history Thomas Nägler, Kriterion publishing house, Bucharest, 1981
4. Podcastul de istorie sibiană by Răzvan C. Pop (in Romanian) on Sibiu City App
5. Podcastul de istorie sibiană by Răzvan C. Pop (in Romanian) on YouTube
6. Personal knowledge