Germanistik, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur
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- Transylvanian Saxons (4) (remove)
The article intends to present some facts about the medieval history of the Saxons in the Wallachian town of Câmpulung Muscel/Langenau. German-speaking colonists were settled in Langenau around the 13th century, and their traces can be followed until the middle of the 18th century. A German language document from the 16th century will serve as an illustration, depicting the relations between the Transylvanian Saxons from Râșnov/Rosenau and the population of Câmpulung Muscel/Langenau. The linguistic peculiarities of the document are discussed, as well as the problems of its transcription, which led to different publication variants. This document is also interesting because it contains many Romanian names of persons.
The German minority emigrated massively from Romania after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, so the void left by it had to be filled with representatives of Romanian ethnicity. The main actors for the relations between the Saxons and the Romanians in Transylvania are the children who study in schools with German as a mother tongue. They will carry on the cultural heritage left by the Saxons. But how can we reach out for these children? The answer is given to us by the writer Anne Junesch in her book „Das Amenchen. Mäuseleben”, published in 2019. An attempt is being made to sensitize young readers to Transylvanian culture. With the help of a story centered around a fortified church and a main character from Germany, a world full of secrets and of the unknown is revealed to us. With small steps, an incursion is thus made into the almost lost world of the Transylvanian Saxons.
The German-speaking Saxon minority from Transylvania, a region in Romania, has almost disappeared due to the historical events after World War II and the fall of communism in December 1989. Therefore, the literary work that was created before 1990 is often considered to be a “lieu de mémoire”, a place of remembrance, for the Saxon culture. This article deals with the question whether Maria Haydl’s short stories can be considered as such or do they show too much influence of the politically imposed writing style in order to be authentic.
The novel “Wasserzeichen” was published at the Pop Publishing House in Ludwigsburg, Germany, in 2018. The destiny of the main character of the aforementioned literary work is undoubtedly linked to the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca. After finishing high school in Brașov, the young Eginald – who is not the same as the author of the novel – arrives in Cluj-Napoca where he first goes to the Faculty of Protestant Theology, from which he is relegated; afterwards, he starts the courses of another faculty, but before finishing his studies he is arrested by the Securitate. The life story of the young Transylvanian Saxon turns out to be a troubled one – full of defining experiences for his existence. Due to the relationships with the people whom he meets there, the romantic entanglements, and the betrayals he experiences, he matures quickly. The 1st person narrator becomes a true man in this predestinate space.