From its foundation, the Association demonstrated an interest in culture, is shown by the function of its elected librarian. Its various sections – culture (homeland history and geography), travel, welfare, sports, and others – conducted and coordinated a variety of activities.⁴   [….]

The lectures presented by the Association always found a grateful public; the presenters were Banaters studying in Vienna – such as the later Dr. Fritz Klinger and church president Franz Hamm – as well as recognized authots such Ella Triebnigg-Pirkert and Adam Müller-Guttenbrunn.

During and after WWI, when Vienna was subject to great deprivations and famine was always present, the "action children’s aid" ("Kinderhilfsaktion") was started, which between 1916 and 1930 sent about 40 000 Viennese children to a free stay in the Banat⁵.

In the “Temeswarer Zeitung” of July 4, 1922, the following can be read: "An important role was also played by the Romania-German social democrat press in the organization of aid to the children of Vienna during 1921 and 1922. This effort started in June 1921. More than 2000 Banat families struggling themselves for their existence, took over the care of these children, whose parents were mainly railway workers. The return transports took place on September 26, October 19, and November 8, 1921. During the summer of 1922, 650 children from Vienna found temporary accommodation in the Banat. Michael Schaut, editor of the socialist newspaper of Temeswar, was a member of the Banat Aid Committee that received the children trains from Vienna and organized the allocation of the children to their foster parents.

The people of Vienna expressed their thanks in an impressive “Swabian Celebration of the Viennese Child” held in the large Musikvereinssaal, through their mayor Karl Seitz.

Between May 1925 and December 1928 the Association “Banat Swabians in Vienna” published the monthly newspaper “Unsere Heimat” (Our Homeland), edited by Karl Kraushaar (*24.05.1858 Hatzfeld; † 08.03.1938 Budapest ), previously editor of the Banat newspaper „Der Landbote“. On the subject of “Aid for Viennese Children”, the January 1926 edition of the newspaper states the following:

“[….] If we look back at the end of the calendar year to the activity of the Association of Banat Swabians in Vienna, we see that for the accommodation of undernourished children in the Banat we owe thanks to the Deutsch-schwäbische Volksgemeinschaft and to the press, especially to Banater deutsche Zeitung, Temeswarer Zeitung, Arader Zeitung, Hatzfelder Zeitung and Banater Tagblatt.[….]

The alarming political developments in Austria in the 1930s and the ongoing tense economical and social situation made the work of the Association more and more difficult, until the measures taken by the Third Reich to enforce political conformity resulted in complete paralysis of the Association’s work.

In the hopeless political situation immediately following WWII it was understandable that the former members of the Association showed no immediate interest in the continuation of the Association. Tens of thousands of refugees from the Banat arrived in Vienna, and a few thousands could barely be accommodated.

In October 1945 the American Military Administration in Austria permitted a “Non-political Representation of Interests of Ethnic Germans from the Former Crown lands of Austro-Hungary”. Dr. Fritz Klingler was responsible for the Germans from Romania. After a year, that committee had to stop its activity. [….]

Martin Endres, who had been acting as chairman of the Association since 1925, was the victim of an air raid. On November 18, 1947, deputy chairman Hugo Butter officially dissolved the Association⁶.

The announcement of the dissolution focussed public attention on the “Association of Banat Swabians” and caused Hans Franz, member of the Advisory Council for Refugees at the League for Human Rights, to follow the traces of the dissolved Association. After numerous consultations with kindred spirits, he succeeded in setting up a committee to revive the Association and, for simplicity, to restore its old name “Association of the Banat Swabians”. [….] The police department in charge of associations insisted that the new name "Schwabenverein“ (Swabian Association) be used for the new entity. [….]

On April 16, 1948, official permission for the new association was received, and on May 22, 1948, the meeting launching the “Swabian Association” was held, and Hans Franz was elected chairman. He was the uniting factor, and always understood how to master the arising difficulties. By this accomplishment he laid the foundation for further fruitful work. [….]

The intention behind the creation of the new "Swabian Association“ was to ensure the survival of the “Association of Banat Swabians”. […] It is worth remembering that this initial step made possible the continuation of association work by the Banat Swabians from Romania residing in Austria. It produced the vital nucleus from which a new consciousness of history would develop. For Banaters, it was the hour of change, and the strong will of insightful persons was required to guide the fate of the participants, through their hard work, into a promising future. [….]

From the perspective of the Banat Swabians, the most important objectives after 1945 were the search for missing persons and family reunification of divided families. Because of the “iron curtain”, the former soldiers were unable to return home to their families in Romania or even to visit them. A reunification of these divided families was exceedingly difficult, as there were no official contacts between Austria and the Romanian People’s Republic. […]

Between November 1948 and April 1949 about 10,000 Banat refugees moved from Austria to France, and were resettled in La Roque sur Pernes, Provence).⁸  This action was the result of an agreement with the French government under Robert Schumann⁷ championed by Johann (Jean) Lamesfeld from Großsanktnikolaus.

According to the newspaper "Sozialistische Korrespondenz" on January 20, 1951, about 51,000 ethnic Germans from Romania were in Austria. It was natural that those originating in the Romanian part of the Banat had concerns specifically related to Romania and felt that these were not properly addressed by the "Swabian Association."  They split off from that organization, and on April 22, 1963, they formed the "Interest Community of Banat Swabians from Romania for Family Reunification and Property Compensation". […] At its general meeting on October 24, 1964, it was decided to change the name to "Country Association of Banat Swabians from Romania". [….] Another general meeting on October 4, 1974, decided to change the name of the organization to “Country Association of the Banat Swabians from Romania in Austria”. [….] On April 29, 1983, Franz Klein from Billed was elected chairman. He was a very committed organizer and author, highly decorated even by the Republic of Austria, and he was to run the affairs of the Association for more than 17 years. During the years, Franz Klein organized the dispatch of parcels, not strictly to the Banat and not only for Banat Swabians. Medications, medical instruments for hospitals and many other goods were taken to Romania under his leadership or guidance. [….]

When Franz Klein resigned due to age, on January 12, 2001, long-time deputy chairman Dr. Hans Dama from Großsanktnikolaus took over as chairman. He had been part of the executive committee for more than two decades and, as professor of Romanian Language and literature at the University of Vienna, had become a unifying link between two nations and cultures. [….]

On December 11, 2001, the proposal to rename the association to “Association of Banat Swabians in Austria” was approved by the authority in charge.

Without any doubt, the most important personality of the Banat Swabians acting in Vienna was   Adam Müller-Guttenbrunn (*22.10.1852 Guttenbrunn / Romania; †05.01.1923 Vienna). The illegitimate child born in poor conditions succeeded, through self-education, to become a respected journalist, director of the Raimund Theater (1893 to 1896) and the Kaiser-Jubiläums-Stadttheater (today’s Volksoper: 1898-1903) and celebrated writer. His cenotaph can be found in the Vienna Zentralfriedhof, Gr. 0, Reihe 1, Nr. 98. [….] His death found a great echo in the media of Romania. The Romanian poet and Philosopher Lucian Blaga (1895-1961), an alumnus of the University of Vienna, wrote a commemorative article (in: "Patria," 1923, Cluj/Klausenburg).

Professor Nikolaus Engelmann (*13.08.1908, Warjasch, +5.09.2005, Eisenstadt), teacher, writer, journalist, academic professor in Linz, and long-time chairman of the Country Association of Danube Swabians in Upper Austria, Staff member and from 1976 editor in chief of the Salzburg weekly  "Neuland," decorated in 1980 with the Prinz-Eugen-Pin of the Swabian Association Vienna, from 1981 chairman of the Sankt Gerhardswerk in Stuttgart, author of many literary and pedagogical works, spent his last years in Eisenstadt.

After WWII, which brought unspeakable suffering to many ethnic groups including the Banat Swabians – sweeping accusations “only” because they were Germans – Banaters in Austria stood with their compatriots in the old homeland and maintained its relations with them even under the precarious conditions of the communist era. In Austria, contacts were maintained with the "Österreichisch-Rumänische Gesellschaft" and with the cultural association "Unirea." Over time, even the contacts with the embassy of the Socialist Republic of Romania improved, making visits to the old homeland possible, despite the many formality involved.

During the past decades, our Association maintained friendly relations with other “sister associations,” the members of which came in large part from Romania and/or from former territories of the Habsburg monarchy: Transylvanian Saxons, Germans from Bukowina/Buchenland, Carpathian Germans, etc.

Following an invitation of the society "România," on October 1, 1975, the chairman of the "Country Association of Banat Swabians from Romania in Austria" Dr. h. c. Hans Androwitsch, and the cultural advisor that organization, Prof. Nikolaus Engelmann, and their spouses visited Romania. In addition to their talks with members of "România," the guests were received by the administrations of the city and region, and talked to the editorial staff of the newspapers "Tribuna României," "Neuer Weg" and "Neue Banater Zeitung," as well as the Publishing house "Kriterion." [….]

On May 8 and 9, 1985, former university professor from Temeswar and poet Prof. Dr. Rudolf Hollinger (1910-1997) was honoured on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of his promotion and the bestowal unto him of the Golden Doctorate Diploma by the University of Vienna…. In a two-day symposium the achievements of the honouree were celebrated in presentations by Dr. Herbert Bockel (Universität Passau), Mag. Hans Dama (Universität Wien) Dr. Walter Engel (Heidelberg), Prof. Nikolaus Engelmann (Linz), Dr. Horst Fassel (Universität Tübingen) and Mag. Radegunde Täuber (Nufringen). Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erwin Ringel (Wien), a native of Temeswar, presented the honouree with a copy of his book "Gedankensplitter aus dem Osten. Aus dem Tagebuch eines Südost-Europäers", published by his former student Hans Dama. [....]

To encourage and promote the common bond between Banat Swabians in Vienna, a “home evening” takes place on the premises of the Association every second Friday of the month, to discuss current topics and plan future activities. Mother’s Day celebrations and fall trips also took place, with visits to interesting historic and/or cultural paces. Individual or group tours of Swabians from Germany, USA, Canada, Hungary were thoughtfully supervised by Austrian members.