Valentin Oberkersch
|
The Swabians in Syrmia &
Slavonia Excerpts the book:
"Die Deutshen in Syrmien, Slavonien, Kroatien
und Bosnien"
by
Dr. Valentin Oberkersch Submitted by Joseph Esterreicher. Translated by Henry A Fischer.
Published at DVHH.org
by Jody McKim
Pharr |
Compared to the emerging
settlements in Syrmien, very
little development took
place in Slavonia. Germans
who came from Tolna County
Hungary settled Johannesdorf
(Jovanovac) in 1836. In 1843
Germans from Veszprem County
in Hungary settled Neu Zoljani.
To a large extent Slavonia
remained a wilderness. The
Swabian villages of Hungary
and Batschka were
overcrowded. The government
in Vienna Austria set the
stage for a new settlement
movement.
The Regulation and Decree
was issued by the Emperor on
December 31 1858 and was
addressed to Hungary,
Croatia, Slavonia, the
Serbian Vojvodina, the
Banat, and Transylvania with
a renewed call for
agricultural settlement and
development. Some of the
regulations included: homes
for 50 families or more, all
members of the community
must be of one nationality
regardless of origin, and of
one religion.
The results of the new
settlement decree was not
very successful in Croatia
and Slavonia. Only ten
German settlements were established in response to it. Three were established
in 1866. They were
Blagorodovac,
Eichendorf-Hrastovac, and
Antunovac. The settlers came
from Baranya, Tolna, and
Somogy Counties in Hungary. In the same year there were
settlements established in
Sokolovac, Miokovicevo and
Dobrovac. Filipovac was
settled in 1886. The village
of Kerndia was settled in
1880/1881. The last two
communities were Kapetanovo
Polje in 1882 and Franjevac-Strizicevac in
1886. The land involved was
heavily forested wilderness
and the main task of the
colonist was clearing it.