Over the years many of our members have written about our most traditional, most important cultural event: Kirchweihfest. None other than Emily Fricker has captured the strong feelings, the history, and the beauty with such words. We will be sharing a series of her writings on the German-Hungarian Kirchweihs here at ughclub.us.
We, the German Hungarians are celebrating our 101st year. The founders of our club called themselves German Hungarians. Who were they? What does the name German Hungarians mean? Simply stated, they were people of German descent who immigrated to the United States from Hungary. However, the story of these people is most certainly not simple but rather complicated to explain.
The heritage of these people has been well recorded, however mostly in the German language and only recently has there been an effort to make it available in English.
Groups of German peoples from various areas of German lands immigrated to the Hapsburg Austrian Empire’s lands in Hungary during the 16, 17, and l8 hundreds. This Hungary was not the small country Hungary is today but a huge empire which was once with Austria, one of the top powers of Europe. Our German ancestors settled in different parts of what is now, Hungary, Romania and the former Yugoslavia.
These people were also called “German Hungarian” by their Hungarian neighbors as the Germans, although loyal citizens to their new country, protected their language and customs throughout several hundred years.
(There is much history to tell but it is too much to fill this page, too much to fill a year’s worth of newsletters. We have done this before and perhaps we will do so again.)
Many of these people came to the USA during the large migrations between 1890 and 1910. Their immigration was disrupted during both World Wars but continued after each war. The last large group to immigrate to the US was after World War II.
Many of our members, our Executive Board, our Board of Governors, our Chairman, our Cultural Group Dancers and some of our soccer players are descendants of these people. And on November 12th, our dancers dressed in the Banater Swabian Tracht will perform some of the colorful Kirchweih customs that have been brought to the United States from the above various countries. Although there was a charming variety of different costumes or “trachts,” we have chosen the white pleated skirts, white blouse, black vest, various colors shawl and black apron that our founders chose in the early days of our club.
Although we do not have any Kirchweih photos prior to 1926, we feel certain that our ancestors celebrated this festival since their founding in 1910. In the early photos taken in 1926 to the early 1940s, the Kirchweih couples wore modern clothing. The boys wore dark suits while the girls wore either white fancy dresses or colorful gowns. Somewhere along the way, the girls changed to the Banater Tracht while the boys still wore their suits. However, the boys always wore their colorful, be-ribboned decorated hats and they always carried the Rosemary Bush. It was not until the early 1970s that the leaders of our Cultural Group decided that the men should also where their black, silver buttoned vests which up until that time they had only worn at Trachtenfest or when performing various folk dances.
As this fest was the major feast of the year, so it should be for us, especially since it is one of the only “German Hungarian” festivals we still celebrate. In the villages it was a long-awaited spectacle. The boys and girls carefully prepared their clothing and every mother, father and relative wanted to be proud of their “Kerweibu” or their “Kerweimaedel.” The Kirchweih procession was an exciting adventure for the onlooker as it was a scene of beauty, charm and joy. For the adults and guests, the Kirchweih was also spent with the delights of plenty of good food and drink. The Banat Kirchweih took place on a Sunday in autumn, where the Emperor Joseph II shifted it, so that work time would not be lost during the actual Kirchweih season.
We of the German Hungarian Club have always celebrated our festival in the fall, September to November. We have celebrated one, two or three days. Although the most well-known was our three-day Kirchweihs, we now celebrate with one day. Because our three-day celebration had so many different things going on, the original Kirchweih customs were slightly lost. Now we can devote all our attention to the original festivities. We are also trying a Saturday night this year since we feel this might be more feasible as it should not interfere with our soccer program.
Join us on Saturday, November 12, 2011. Call your family and friends! We all have family and friends who have not enjoyed a Kirchweihfest for a number of years, or perhaps they are not aware of the Kirchweih Customs and Traditions we still celebrate at our club.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: this piece was written in 2011 and was originally published in the “Monthly Progress.” It has been re-published here in 2023 with minor edits.
The featured image shows the 1926 Bogaroscher Kirchweih Group with Peter Noel as the “Geld Herr.”