Remember to Tell the Children

As the 19th Century dawned, the pioneering days of the Children of the Danube were now mostly behind them. The new generation no longer thought of Hesse, Baden and Württemberg when they heard their elders talk about home. Home was what they experienced in their own insular village enclaves scattered throughout Swabian Turkey in southwest Hungary. It was the quest for a new Heimat that had spurred their ancestors to come down the majestic Danube River almost a century before. Yet, three generations later, their descendants still remained Strangers and Sojourners in the land.

It was their language, faith and traditions that provided cohesion to their life together but at the same time separated them from those around them. They remained outsiders and were seen as foreigners who were resistant to every attempt at assimilation. Having established their identity in their heritage they were forced to adapt to changing situations constantly challenging them. This often meant venturing beyond their own communities and living alongside those who spoke another language, subscribed to a different creed, observed customs and traditions unlike theirs and lived an accompanying different lifestyle. In response to these outside pressures, what emerged among them was a distinct society, which was perceived as a desire to remain Strangers and Sojourners.

But history was not on their side as the Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe and left their mark on the political and social landscape. The following archconservative reaction set the scene for the upheaval known as the Revolution of 1848 that swept across Europe giving birth to the Hungarian War of Independence. All of this led to repercussions from which the Children of the Danube could not escape. As that history unfolds, Habsburg Emperors along with other notable historical personages will enter the story, but it will be the little known Archduchess Maria Dorothea, wife of the Viceroy of Hungary, who would have the greatest impact on the life and future of the Children of the Danube. All of this sets the scene for the next generations who will be remembered as the Emigrants and Exiles, and their story will constitute the final volume of the trilogy: Remember To Tell The Children.