The Museum of the
German Minority
There
were numerous demolished or deserted villages on the land purchased by
József Esterházy in 1727. "Without hewers of wood and drawers of water
there is no flourishing manor" - after realizing the truth of this saying,
in the 1730s the settlement of the area commenced, among others from the
German-speaking territories. It was not only ploughmen who moved here:
the German joiners and shoemakers formed separate guilds and the mixed-nationality
guilds also had German members. The conditions of settlement made by the
landowner referred to the settler's religion rather than to his mother
tongue.
Populating Vértestolna, Baj (after expelling the Reformed), Dunaszentmiklós,
Kecskéd, Vértessomló, Várgesztes, Alsó- and Felsőgalla did not take long.
The methods of production and the folk-art of the German settlers were
valuable contributions to the country's culture.
Owing to the Second World War and the ensuing barbaric deportations their
number significantly decreased. Among those who remained here, the assimilation
has accreased. That which can be, must be preserved from their culture.
As the picture shows: there are things to be saved! (I nead a scanner!)
