After the liberation of Hungary from the Turks very few of the Hungarian nobles and landlords were able to reclaim their estates or substantiate their ownership so that almost all of the Batschka became Crown Lands of the Habsburgs although a few private landowners were in possession of some of their land.  To all intents and purposes the Batschka was state owned. 

  During the first phase of settlement in the Batschka some 5,000 families were established in colonies; half of them were Magyars, Serbs numbered about one third and the German settlers were about one fifth or 1,070 families.  In the Josephinian phase of settlement 2,500 to 3,500 German families were settled in the Batschka.  Later in 1785   an additional 900 families arrived and in 1786 there were 1,450 more mainly Protestants from southwestern Germany from the Pfalz and Hesse. 

  Bulkes was settled by German colonists in 1786, most of whom were Lutherans with also a few Reformed among them under the gracious sponsorship of the Emperor Joseph II.  Bulkes was one of several totally Protestant settlements established following the Edict of Toleration.  The settlers came from the Rhineland, Pfalz, Duchy of Nassau, Zweibrücken and districts of Swabia.  They sold most of their belongings and property but also received financial assistance from the Emperor to cover the transportation costs.  There were hindrances placed in the way of the emigrants and passes and papers had to be obtained.  There were conditions and restrictions placed upon would-be-settlers:  only married men were eligible for land grants; the settler had to be approved by an Imperial agent and their feudal lord would probably attempt to restrain or prevent their emigration. 

  Next to Regensburg, Ulm, which was a river port on the Danube, was the major assembly point for the emigrants to the Batschka.  At these two cities the emigrants received their travel passes to Vienna from Imperial authorities.  If they left from Ulm they did so on rafts called the Ulmer Schachtel which were dismantled in Vienna and sold as timber.  If they started out from Regensburg they sailed on Kehlheimer ships that had a simple rudder for the 500 kilometre trip to Vienna which took about ten days. 

  When they arrived in Vienna those desiring to settle in Hungary had to report at the Hungarian Government Chancellery.  There the families were registered and given a new pass that was valid as far as Ofen (Buda) and each person was paid two Gulden as their travel money.  As each ship arrived in Ofen the emigrants were informed where they would be settled in Hungary and where to register for that purpose.  They received another Gulden per person to cover those travel costs that would take them to Sombor in the Batschka where the central administration for settlement for the Batschka was located.  The trip to the Batschka was approximately 1,200 kilometres.  The new settlers were billeted in existing German villages until their own houses were constructed. 

  The village was initially intended to be located elsewhere but because of floods a new site was chosen for the 230 families assigned to establish Bulkes.  Actually, only 215 families moved in numbering about 900 persons.  In addition to the houses there was a community centre, a home for the notary, a school and a wooden Bethaus (prayerhouse) and land for the upkeep of the pastor, school, etc.  The Bethaus had wooden pews, a pulpit, altar and chalice, bells and a tower.  The colonists congregated in areas of the village with their relatives, friends and neighbours from “home” and that is how the streets were named:  Pfalzer Strasse, Schwabeneck, etc. 

  The first years were very difficult for the settlers in Bulkes as it was true of all of the Batschka.  There were countless setbacks in reclaiming the wastelands.  To these were added major difficulties and catastrophes.  The climate was new to the settlers.  That was especially true of the heavy rains that had created all of the swamps and threatened to take over again.  The dampness in the quickly constructed houses and the contaminated water that was available led to sickness, swamp fever and countless victims. 

  Terrible fear emerged again after more severe flooding almost destroyed all of their attempts to develop fertile fields and an epidemic followed so that the survivors were homesick and felt betrayed.  They sought to find new homes and many left for Kisker, while others went to the Banat as well as Werbass and Sekitsch.  They usually went to places where relatives, friends or former neighbours had settled. 

  At the time of settlement Bulkes had a population of 900.  When the first pastor arrived in 1787 there were 1,000 souls.  By 1789 only 500 remained.  The death rate in Bulkes was higher than in any other community.  At that time there were 30 orphan children, an indication of the sorrowful condition of the community.  The survivors at Bulkes became known as “sturdy and tough” people.  Nor were they hesitant about expressing their grievances to officialdom and the community carried out extensive correspondence with Vienna over various issues and concerns. 

  The places of origin of the Bulkes colonists were as follows: 50 families from Alsace; 19 families from the Saarland; 111 families from the Rhineland Pfalz; 47 families from Hesse; 38 families from Baden Württemberg; 3 families from Bavaria; 1 family from Westphalia and 13 thirteen families from Saxony. 

  Later the people from Bulkes moved on to other areas and settlements as land ran out.  Chiefly to Lutheran communities in the Batschka but also in the Banat and some ventured as far as Poland and Russia.  They also established Swabian enclaves in Serbian and Hungarian villages often as artisans and tradesmen rather than as farmers. 

  Protestant settlement in the Batschka only became possible during the reign of Joseph II.  The Bulkes settlers spent the winter of 1785/1786 in Palanka which was a Roman Catholic settlement and the church records there indicate Protestants were served there by the priest in terms of baptisms, marriages and funerals. 

  The foundation for permitting Protestant settlement was the Edict of Toleration in 1781.  The Lutherans had the same rights as other confessions to practice their faith freely.  In communities where there were at least one hundred Lutheran families a Bethaus could be built without a tower and with no entrance facing the street with access only from a side entrance. 

  During the settlement period there was only one Lutheran pastor.  He was Samuel Spannagel of Kaschau (from the Zips).  At first he was the pastor in Neu Pasua, then in Torschau and finally at Bulkes where he enjoyed serving the settlers.  The Slovak Lutheran pastor Andreas Stehlo of Petrovac also served the settlers.  Nine Protestant villages were founded:  Torschau in 1784; Cservenka in 1785; Werbass in 1785; Kleinker in 1786; Sekitsch in 1786; Siwatz in 1786; Schowe in 1786; Bulkes in 1786 and finally Jarek in 1787. 

  In Torschau, Cservenka, Werbass, Siwatz and Schowe there were also Reformed settlers and congregations.  These congregations were in close relationship with the Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist) Church and also maintained connections with the Reformed Church of Switzerland.  The Lutheran congregations formed a Seniorat (Church District) of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Hungary as the Lutheran Church in Hungary was known. 

  In 1808 there were 7,874 Slovak Lutherans in the Batschka and 7,734 German Lutherans.  In 1846 there were 18,673 Slovak Lutherans and 23,449 German Lutherans.  In 1939 there were 85,369 German Lutherans in the Batschka and 15,437 Germans who were Reformed. 

  The first Lutheran settlers used the Marburg and Zweibrücken hymnbook.  The Magyar church authorities attempted to introduce the Pressburg and Neusohl hymnal in the Batschka but without success.  The congregation in Bulkes used another hymnbook:  Das Christliche Gesangbuch der evangelischen Gemeinde AB in Mezöbereny, Bulkes, Gyoma, Hartau, Sambok und Vadkert.  (The Christian Hymnal of the Lutheran congregations in the above named communities.)  The sixth edition was printed by Wilhelm Kraft in 1913 in Hermannstadt in Transylvania. 

  By 1830 there were no longer any Bethaus buildings in the Batschka.  Instead there were churches with organs and towers that stand to this day or are used for various purposes unless they were demolished by the Partisans. 

  The Bethaus was erected at the cost of the state.  If Reformed settlers were only a small minority both groups used and shared the one facility.  In the case of the Lutherans there was always a cross on the tower and the Reformed preferred the morning star.  In Bulkes there were only a few Reformed families. 

NEXT:  The Heimatbuch at this point deals with daily life in the village over the centuries and the customs and traditions that were observed but I will proceed to the period that begins with the Second World War that would have a devastating effect on Bulkes and its German inhabitants, the descendants of our early settlers, who were now  known as the Danube Swabians.