Danube Places

German heritage along the Danube – travel, encounters, experiences
Discover the Danube region with Danube Places, the virtual travel guide of the Danube Swabian Museum! Many towns between the Danube city of Ulm and the Serbian capital of Belgrade have a connection to the migratory movements of the 18th century. This website (www.danube-places.eu) introduces 80 towns and villages in Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Croatia and explores their historical links to migration from the southwest of Germany.
The website www.danube-places.eu presents more than 80 towns across four countries whose development was shaped in some way by German immigrants. In a number of villages, the German inhabitants still today play a role in shaping the local cultural and economic life. In others, only a few visible traces remain, in the architecture or in cemeteries, because the inhabitants either fled or were driven from their homes at the end of the Second World War.

Migration

More than 300 years ago, Germans began migrating to
Kingdom of Hungary
hun. Magyar Királyság, deu. Königreich Ungarn

The Kingdom of Hungary (Magyar Királyság) existed in changing borders since the year 1000. Already in the early modern period it fell to the Habsburg Monarchy, in which it later became the most important of the so-called Lands of the Hungarian Crown (also Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen or, after 1867, also called the Hungarian half of the Empire). Unlike other Habsburg territories - such as the lands of the Bohemian Crown or the Archduchy of Austria itself - the Kingdom of Hungary never belonged to the Holy Roman Empire.

in the south-eastern part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Over the course of the 18th century, more than 400,000 people came to settle in what was then the Kingdom of Hungary. Although they were of different origins, they were all referred to as Swabians. It was not until the 20th century that “Danube Swabians” became the generally accepted term for the German minority living in
Hungary
hun. Magyarország, deu. Ungarn

Hungary is a country in Central Europe, whose capital is Budapest. The country is home to about 10 million people and was part of the so-called Habsburg Empire for several centuries. Hungary has been a member of the European Union since 01.05.2004. The Danube is the largest river in the country.

,
Romania
deu. Rumänien, ron. România

Romania is a country in southeastern Europe with a population of almost 20 million people. The capital of the country is Bucharest. The state is situated directly on the Black Sea, the Carpathian Mountains and borders Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine and Moldova. Romania was established in 1859 from the merger of Moldova and Wallachia. Romania is home to Transylvania, the central region for the German minority there.

,
Serbia
srp. Srbija, deu. Serbien, srp. Србија, srp. Republika Srbija

Serbia (Serbian: Србија) is a country in southeastern or central Europe. The country is inhabited by 6.9 million people. Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. Serbia belongs to the so-called landlocked countries and is geographically classified as part of the Balkan Peninsula. The majority of the population are Orthodox Serbs.

and
Croatia
deu. Kroatien, hrv. Hrvatska

Croatia (Croatian: Hrvatska) is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe with approximately 4 million inhabitants. The capital and major city of the country is Zagreb. Croatia borders the Adriatic Sea and the countries of Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. Most of Croatia is geographically included in the Balkan Peninsula. Croatia is predominantly Roman Catholic. The country has been independent since 1991.

.

A virtual journey

Through the website www.danube-places.eu these historical connections have been made visible once more. On a virtual journey, you can travel from the places of emigration in southwest Germany via the Danube to the settlement areas of the Danube Swabians, for example to 
Budapest

Budapest (population 2023: 1,686,222) is the capital and largest city in Hungary. It is located in the center of the country, on the Danube. Budapest was formed from the merger of the cities of Buda on the left bank and Pest on the right bank of the Danube. Pest was already the capital of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century and from the 13th century often alternated in this function with Buda. When the both cities were merged as Pest-Buda during the revolution in Hungary in 1848, they already formed a single entity. After the restoration of the monarchy (from 1526 as part of the Habsburg Monarchy), however, this merger was abolished in 1849 and re-established 1873. In this context the Hungarians replaced the Germans as the majority in the city. After the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, Budapest remained the capital of a now independent Hungary. After Hungary's entry into the Second World War on the side of the German Reich in 1941, most of the city's Jews were ghettoized in 1944 and later deported to concentration camps or murdered. The 1956 popular uprising against Soviet tutelage in Hungary began in Budapest. In connection with the uprising and its suppression, the capital lost around 70,000 people. Today, Budapest is not only the country's largest economic and cultural center, but also one of the most important in East Central Europe.

Satu Mare
hun. Szatmárnémeti, yid. סאטמאר, yid. Satmar, deu. Sathmar

Satu Mare is a major city in northwestern Romania. It is inhabited by 102,000 people and is located in the historical region of Sathmar. The city is located near the border with Hungary on the Someș River.

Pécs
deu. Fünfkirchen, lat. Quinque Ecclesiae, srp. Pečuj, hrv. Pečuh, slk. Päťkostolie

Pécs is a large Hungarian city in the south of the country. It is inhabited by 157,000 people and is the seat of Baranya County in the South Transdanubian region.

Timișoara
deu. Temeswar, srp. Темишвар, srp. Temišvar, hun. Temesvár, deu. Temeschwar

Timișoara is a large city in western Romania, not far from the borders with Serbia and Hungary. It was a settlement center of the German-speaking Danube Swabians until World War II. Timișoara has just under 320,000 inhabitants.

 or 
Novi Sad
deu. Neusatz, hun. Újvidék, srp. Нови Сад, slk. Nový Sad

Novi Sad (German: Neusatz) is a large city in the north of Serbia. The city is home to 230,000 people, making Novi Sad the country's second largest city. It is the capital of the Vojvodina region and is located at the mouth of the Little Batschka Canal into the Danube.

. The website provides information about important buildings and monuments, explains historical developments and shows popular tourist destinations related to the history of the Germans in selected towns.