The German-speaking population in the interwar Czechoslovak Republic, 23.6% of the population at the 1921 census, is usually reduced to the

Sudeten Germans German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of ...

, but actually there were linguistic enclaves elsewhere in Czechoslovakia, and among the German-speaking urban dwellers there were "

ethnic Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

" and/or

Austrians , pop = 8–8.5 million , regions = 7,427,759 , region1 = , pop1 = 684,184 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 345,620 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 197,990 , ref3 ...

as well as German-speaking Jews. 14% of the

Czechoslovak Jews Historical demographics table 1. Jewish population by religion in Czechoslovakia Table 2. Declared Nationality of Jews in Czechoslovakia Holocaust For the Czechs of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, German occupation was a period of br ...

considered themselves as Germans at the 1921 census, but a much higher percentage declared German as their colloquial tongue during the last censuses under the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

.Czechoslovakia

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, langu ...

Carpathian Germans and Sudeten Germans

The terms

Carpathian Germans Carpathian Germans (german: Karpatendeutsche, Mantaken, hu, kárpátnémetek or ''felvidéki németek'', sk, karpatskí Nemci) are a group of ethnic Germans. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl (1866–1930), originall ...

and

are recent and were not traditionally used. The former was coined by historian and ethnologue Raimund Friedrich Kaindl ('' de'') in the early 20th century. The latter was coined in 1904 by journalist and politician Franz Jesser ('' de'') and was used mostly after 1919.

Historical settlements

There were several subregions and towns with German-speaking absolute or relative majorities in the interwar Czechoslovakian Republic. Table. 1921 ethnonational census In

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

and

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...

(present-day

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

), there were

German Bohemia The Province of German Bohemia (german: Provinz Deutschböhmen ; cs, Německé Čechy) was a province in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, established for a short period of time after the First World War, as part of the Republic of German-Austria. ...

ns (''Deutschböhmen, Čeští Němci'') and German Moravians (''Deutschmährer, Moravští Němci''), as well as German

Silesians Silesians ( szl, Ślōnzŏki or Ślůnzoki; Silesian German: ''Schläsinger'' ''or'' ''Schläsier''; german: Schlesier; pl, Ślązacy; cz, Slezané) is a geographical term for the inhabitants of Silesia, a historical region in Central Euro ...

, in e.g. the

Hlučín Region Hlučín Region ( cs, Hlučínsko, german: Hultschiner Ländchen, pl, Ziemia hulczyńska) is a historically significant part of Czech Silesia, now part of the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. It is named after its largest town, H ...

(part of

Czech Silesia Czech Silesia (, also , ; cs, České Slezsko; szl, Czeski Ślōnsk; sli, Tschechisch-Schläsing; german: Tschechisch-Schlesien; pl, Śląsk Czeski) is the part of the historical region of Silesia now in the Czech Republic. Czech Silesia is, ...

but formerly part of the Austrian

Silesia Province The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

before

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

in 1756). In

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

there were two German-speaking enclaves in

Hauerland Hauerland (also called ''Kremnitz-Deutschprobener Sprachinsel'') is the German name for a region presently located in central Slovakia once inhabited by Carpathian Germans. Arisen from medieval ''Ostsiedlung'' population movements, it belonged t ...

and

Spiš Spiš (Latin: ''Cips/Zepus/Scepus/Scepusia'', german: Zips, hu, Szepesség/Szepes, pl, Spisz) is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland (14 villages). Spiš is an informal designation of the territory ...

. In the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

Szepes County Szepes ( sk, Spiš; la, Scepusium, pl, Spisz, german: link=no, Zips) was an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary, called Scepusium before the late 19th century. Its territory today lies in northeastern Slovakia, with a very small are ...

(

), there were according to censuses 35% Germans in 1869, 25% in 1900 and 1910. There was also a relative German-language majority in the border city of Pressburg/Bratislava: 59.9% at the 1890 census, 41.9% in 1910, 36% in 1919, 28.1 in 1930, 20% in 1940. There were also two linguistic enclaves in

Subcarpathian Ruthenia Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...

(present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

German-speaking urban Jews

Table. Declared Nationality of Jews in Czechoslovakia In addition, there was a sizeable German-speaking urban Jewish minority, for instance the writers

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

, Max Brod and Felix Weltsch, and Jewish politicians were elected as deputies, and even as leaders of German minority parties such as Ludwig Czech and

Siegfried Taub Siegfried Taub (1876, Telč, Margraviate of Moravia – 1946) was a Sudeten German Jewish politician from Czechoslovakia. Taub was the general secretary of German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic (DSAP) from 1924.B ...

in the

German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic The German Social Democratic Workers' Party in the Czechoslovak Republic (DSAP, ''Deutsche sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei in der Tschechoslowakischen Republik''; cs, Německá sociálně demokratická strana dělnická v Československé repub ...

or Bruno Kafka (second cousin of Franz Kafka) in the German Democratic Liberal Party.

German-language education in Czechoslovakia

Bohemia

German University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , under ...

(Karl-Ferdinands-Universität), first bilingual, from 1882 to 1945 two separate universities, a German-language and a Czech-language one * German Polytechnic University in Prague, first bilingual, from 1869 to 1945 two separate institutes, a German-language and a Czech-language one, from 1874 on different locations

Subcarpathian Ruthenia

In 1936, there were 24 German-language schools in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, grouping 2,021 students.

German-language press in Czechoslovakia

in Bohemia *''

Prager Tagblatt The ''Prager Tagblatt'' was a German language newspaper published in Prague from 1876 to 1939. Considered to be the most influential liberal-democratic German newspaper in Bohemia, it stopped publication after the German occupation of Czechos ...

'' (1876-1939) *''

Prager Presse The ''Prager Presse'' (Prague press) was a German newspaper published in the Czechoslovak Republic from March 1921 to 1939. History The newspaper Prager Presse was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk with the aim of integrating the German-speaki ...

'' (1921-1939) semi-official newspaperAndrea Orzoff,
Battle for the castle: the myth of Czechoslovakia in Europe, 1914-1948
', Oxford University Press, 2000 *Selbstwehr *Jüdische Volksstimme in Slovakia *Pressburger Zeitung, then Neue Pressburger Zeitung (1784-1945) ( sk) *Westungarischer Grenzbote (1872-1918), then Grenzbote (1919-1945) ( eo) *Jüdische Volkszeitung *Israelitisches Familienblatt *Jüdische Presse in Carpathian Ruthenia *Jüdische Stimme

German-language personalities in Czechoslovakia

Literature and journalism

Science

Sources

External Links

Die Selbstwehr (1907-1938)
digitized issues of the weekly periodical published in Prague, at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...