Germans of Romania

Germans of Romania
German: Rumäniendeutsche
Deutsche aus Rumänien
Deutsch-Rumänen
Map depicting the distribution of ethnic Germans in Romania (according to the 2002 census)
Total population
c. 22,900 (as per the 2021 Romanian census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Romania
Languages
Mainly German (i.e. Hochdeutsch and dialects) but also Romanian and Hungarian
Religion
Majority Roman Catholics (12,495), but also Evangelical Lutherans (Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania), Romanian Orthodox and other confessions[2]
Related ethnic groups
Mainly Germans and Austrians

The Germans of Romania (German: Rumäniendeutsche; Romanian: Germanii din România or germani-români; Hungarian: romániai németek) represent one of the most significant historical ethnic minorities of Romania from the modern period onwards.

Throughout the interwar period, the total number of ethnic Germans in this country amounted to as much as c. 800,000 (according to some sources and estimates dating to 1939, just on the verge of World War II),[3][4][5] a figure which has subsequently drastically fallen to c. 36,000 (according to the 2011 census) and dropped even more to c. 22,900 (as per the 2021 Romanian census, postponed one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted in 2022).

Following the decreasing trend of the overall population of Romania, the German community of the country is expected to continue shrinking in numbers as well, as it has already been officially reported by the partial results of the 2021 census.

  1. ^ Bogdan Păcurar (30 December 2022). "Recensământ 2022. România are 19.053.815 locuitori. Țara noastră a pierdut peste un milion de locuitori față de acum 10 ani". Digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  2. ^ Recensământ România. "Date provizorii" (PDF). 2021 Romanian census (in Romanian). Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  3. ^ Dr. Gerhard Reichning, Die deutschen Vertriebenen in Zahlen, Teil 1, Bonn 1995, Page 17
  4. ^ Die deutschen Vertreibungsverluste. Bevölkerungsbilanzen für die deutschen Vertreibungsgebiete 1939/50. Herausgeber: Statistisches Bundesamt – Wiesbaden. - Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 1958 Page 46
  5. ^ "Romania's ethnic Germans get their day in the spotlight". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 7 April 2020.