Donauschwaben Day – A Day of Culture, History, and Remembrance

Written by: Joe Ludwig

When people ask me where my family is from, I usually say Germany. While it’s technically not true, it’s the simplest answer. Most people, I’ve found, do not want an hour-long explanation of my family’s history.

The history on my dad’s side of the family is complicated. Both my grandma and grandpa’s (Oma and Opa) families are Donauschwaben. The Donauschwaben or sometimes called “Danube Swabians”, translates to “people of the Danube”. Their ancestors were part of a group of Germans who sailed down the Danube River and settled in the Banat region in central Europe, present-day Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Croatia. When they first arrived, the land was covered in mostly swamps but they found a way to turn it into fertile farmland. They were so successful that that area became known as “the breadbasket of Europe”.

After World War I the borders changed. We learn all about this in our history class. But what school fails to do is paint a picture about what this means for the average citizen. Imagine being a farmer minding your own business on the border of Indiana and Ohio. Then one day the government declares that you are no longer a citizen of Indiana, you and your land are now a part of Ohio. Not only that, but your neighbors down the street are part of Indiana and your neighbors up the other street are part of Kentucky. That’s the way it was after the borders changed after World War I but obviously at a larger scale (countries, not states.) Technically, my grandparents were born in present-day Romania, however, they were Romanian citizens in name only; growing up they spoke German, wore traditional German clothes, and hosted German festivals. 

Near the end of World War II, my Oma and Opa and their families were forced to flee their homes in fear of the advancing Russian army. There are a lot of details about the Donauschwaben people that I won’t go into here. To be honest, it’s a very complicated and sad story, especially what happened to them after World War II. I might write another blog post at a later time that goes into more detail.

My grandparents immigrated to the United States in 1950, five years after they were forced to leave their homes. They were not the only ones. Many Donauschwaben also fled Europe. The ones who came to the U.S. all tended to congregate in the Midwest region of America in cities such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. When they came to the states, these immigrants came to America with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They lost their land, they lost their livestock, and their small businesses. They lost their livelihoods.

Determined not to lose their history and customs from the old country, the Donauschwaben in Cincinnati met every week. At first, it was informal gatherings. They played soccer together, hung out, and socialized. As they grew older, got married, and had children, they realized they wanted something more. So in 1954, the Donauschwaben people in Cincinnati officially formed a club whose goal was to preserve and teach the next generation the history and customs of the Donauschwaben people. 

In its 67 years of existence, the club grew and flourished. Today, they host several cultural events a month, including a big summer festival in June, where they roast an OX, and their Oktoberfest, the first weekend of October where you can usually find up to 25 varieties of beer on tap, pit-roasted Bavarian pig and chicken, German sausage, stuffed cabbage, goulash with Spatzle (noodles), homemade desserts, and live entertainment from the Donauschwbaben’s dance groups.

This environment was my life growing up. Every Monday when I was a kid, I went to the “German club” to practice dancing traditional German dances, similar to the ones that they did back in the old country. At Christmas, we sang German carols. Sometimes we performed plays — in Schwabisch, a dialect of southern Germany — depicting what life was like before the Donauschwaben had to leave.

When I was in high school, I joined the Youth Group where we performed more complicated dances. We hosted the Johann Strauss Ball during the winter, where the ladies wore beautiful flowing dresses and the guys rented tuxes. We waltzed to the beautiful melodies of Johann Strauss to a full house. When I was in college I joined the Schuhplattlers or the “adult” group. And yes, I wore a lederhosen and a funny hat (think Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s European Vacation but way less violent).

In addition to performing at the many cultural events at the club, we also perform throughout the city — and the world. Every Labor Day weekend, one of the Donauschwaben Clubs in the U.S. and Canada hosts the “Landestreifen der Donauschwaben”. It’s basically a family reunion and one giant party. Every year, one of the clubs is invited to tour Europe, where they perform and stay with host families. I went with the Cincinnati Youth Group in 2006 and 2013.

This past weekend, Caroline and I took Lilly and Elliot to their first Donauschwaben or Schwaben Day, one of the many cultural events that the Cincinnati club hosts each year, usually in August. It is a day that pays special tribute to the founding of the club and its members who made it possible. This year, Donauschwaben Day was held outside in the shelter (and the 90-degree heat). They had really tasty food (I had the goulash!) and the beer was ice cold, so we didn’t mind. A live band played traditional German music on the stage. Lilly had a great time dancing with some of the other kids. Even though she never met them before, she walked right up to them and said hi. 

As a February baby, Elliot struggled in the heat. We weren’t there for more than an hour before we decided to take off his onesie. Luckily, Caroline found a battery-powered fan in the van so he could stay cool. The beer also helped, even though it was my beer and I never said he could have some (how rude!). Editor’s note: the beer in the below picture is empty and we took it for comical purposes only!

The main program started at 3:00 PM. Caroline and I were a bit concerned about how the kids would handle it being right in the middle of their nap time. Lilly was like the energizer bunny. Every time we tried to get her to “rest” in her stroller, she fought us tooth and nail because she wanted to keep dancing. We did eventually get her to nap, even if it was only for 30-minutes. Elliot was slightly easier to put down but he also ended up taking a short snooze.

Overall, we were glad we went. It was the first club event that we’ve been to since the pandemic started. It felt good to see our family and friends. But it felt even better to introduce our kids to the family’s history and culture.

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