Germans of Croatia
In Croatia, there are still around 2,800 people who consider themselves German, most of these Danube Swabians. Germans and Austrians are officially recognized as a minority in Croatia and therefore have their own permanent seat in the Croatian Parliament. They are mainly concentrated in the area around Osijek (German Esseg). There is a German culture centre in Osijek and a small number of German schools.
Outside of the main Germanic region of Syrmia (Croatian: Srijem, German: Symrien), other areas formerly settled by Germans include:
- Darda (Darda)
- Jagodnjak (Katschfeld)
- Josipovac-Kravice (Oberjosefsdorf-Krawitz)
- Kula (Kula-Josefsfeld)
- Osijek (Esseg)
- Sarvas (Sarwasch-Hirschfeld)
- Satnica Đakovačka (Satnitz)
- Slavonski Brod (Brod)
The Croatian German population reached a peak number of 85,781 in the 1900 census, while this number plummeted after the German exodus in the aftermath of World War II.[1] Today, they are organized into the Association of Germans and Austrians of Croatia.[2]