According to the 2001 census, 33,792 people reported German as their mother tongue, 62,233 people reported their ethnicity as German, 88,416 people had ties to German ethnic traditions and 53,040 people used the German language with family or friends.
On 1 January 2009, there were 377 German local (town-level) minority self-governments and 11 county-level self-governments. As a result of the elections held on 3 October 2010, 424 town-level minority self-governments were set up – a growth of 12.2 per cent – and the number of county-level self-governments remained at 11 (Budapest and ten counties). 2,223 candidates from 48 minority organizations stood at the elections.
The National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary (MNOÖ) was set up on 22 January 2011, and the electors voted for a 37-member body. The MNOÖ supports the work of minority self-governments through 11 regional offices, and it cooperates closely with the national associations and institutions of ethnic Germans through its committees, paying special attention to educational institutions.
The network of German educational institutions in Hungary has been established and developed significantly in the last decade. In the academic year of 2008/2009, there were 198 bilingual kindergartens, 270 German primary schools and 21 German secondary schools (including 8 bilingual secondary schools) in Hungary. In the academic year of 2009/2010, there were 204 bilingual kindergartens, 242 German primary schools and 17 German secondary schools in Hungary. In several towns, the town-level German minority self-government runs kindergartens that promote ethnic German culture, and a town minority self-government operates a minority school as well.
Four universities train secondary school German teachers, and 7 teacher training colleges and college-level departments train primary and secondary school teachers. German language kindergarten teacher training is available at 3 colleges and college-level departments.
The number of German associations in Hungary is in the hundreds. These include cultural groups, choirs, orchestras and dance groups. National associations include the Nikolaus Lenau Cultural Association in Pécs, the Community of German Youths in Hungary, the National Council of German Singing, Music and Dance groups in Hungary (Landesrat), VUdAK, the Association of German Artists in Hungary, the Bund Ungarndeutscher Schulvereine, VUK-Verein für Ungarndeutsche Kinder, Deutscher Kulturverein, the Jakob Bleyer Association and the Association of German Students in Hungary.
The ‘Ungarndeutsches Landesmuseum Totis’ museum located in Tata is an important institution at the national level as well. There are 120 local historical collections, museums of country life and folk traditions in the country, and numerous studies were published of individual towns. The Budaörs German Minority Self-Government maintains the Bleyer Jakab Local Historical Collection (Heimatmuseum), which has been serving as the National Technical and Information Center of German Country Museums since January 2008.
The German Theatre in Hungary (‘Deutsche Bühne Ungarn’) is the only permanent German-language theatre in Hungary with its own building, and also the only permanent theatre in Tolna county. As the theatre of the ethnic German community in Hungary, its task is the preservation of the German mother tongue of the German community and the promotion of universal culture. Due to the geographically dispersed nature of the German community in Hungary, the theatre's performances held away from its seat in various major centres of the German community are crucially important. There are regular commemorations of the major events in the life of ethnic Germans in Hungary, their notable people and the major cultural events of the home country. Valeria Koch Day, held each year on 21 April, and organized as a competition since 2009, was introduced with the intention of creating a lasting tradition. The theatre regularly visits festivals in all neighbouring and countries and German-speaking areas, and works in close cooperation with partner theatres, the Bautzen German-Sorb Folk Theatre and the National German Theatre in Timișoara.
Amateur German minority theatres are mainly based in minority schools. School theatre groups regularly meet at youth theatre festivals and seminars. The supporters of the theatre movement also set up an association named ‘Förderverein für deutschsprachiges Laientheater in Ungarn’.
The libraries of the ethnic German minority have been attached to the county-level library network for decades, in some cases, with a scope of influence covering several counties. The Library of Germans in Hungary is a specialized public library, focusing on the entirety of the literature of the Hungarian ethnic German community including audio-visual material. The library is located in the House of Germans in Hungary, with the core of the collection made up by the book collection of the national self-government.
Most of the ethnic Germans living in Hungary are Roman Catholics, with evangelical towns located in Győr-Moson-Sopron, Tolna and Baranya counties. There are some reformed Germans in Hungary, as well. The largest Catholic German organization in Hungary is the Saint Gerard Sagredo Catholic Association, founded in 1991. The “Religious Music Working Group” of the National Council of German Song, Music and Dance groups in Hungary is working on reinvigorating and protecting the religious musical heritage of the ethnic German minority, and on collecting related objects.
The research of ethnic Germans in Hungary is coordinated by the Research and Teacher Training Centre for Germans in Hungary, which serves as an information centre for researchers, students working on their theses and teachers, and organizes meetings, conferences and exhibitions. Its employees publish several series of studies and ethnographic works every year.
Germans in Hungary have a 16-page public service weekly, ‘Neue Zeitung’. ‘NZ-Junior’, dedicated to the Community of German Youths in Hungary, is a regularly published supplement in the journal, as is the bi-weekly page of Catholic Germans in Hungary entitled ‘Ungarndeutsche Christliche Nachrichten’. The journal publishes a 12-page newsletter for the German School Associations in Hungary every three months, entitled ‘BUSCH-Trommel’. Once a year, NZ publishes a literature and art supplement entitled ‘Signale’. The almanac ‘Deutscher Kalender’, commissioned by the national self-government, is published every year.
Several national associations publish newspapers and publications. The best known is the ‘Sonntagsblatt’, published by the Jakob Bleyer Community. In many towns, the local newspaper has a German-language supplement, or it occasionally publishes articles or news in German, usually requested and edited by the local minority self-government.
The German minority radio editorial board, part of Hungarian Radio, is situated in Pécs. Hungarian Radio used to have a 2-hour daily German language radio show. The programmes of MR4 are broadcast via satellite 24 hours a day, and they are also available for download on the website of the public service radio.
‘Unser Bildschirm’ the nationally broadcast German minority television magazine of the Hungarian state television, which has been renowned for its high quality for decades, is produced in Pécs. In recent years, numerous local cable television channels have also started broadcasting bilingual programming.
The House of Germans in Hungary operates at 22, Lendvay Street in Budapest. The institution celebrated its 10-year anniversary in February 2010. It houses the editorial offices of Neue Zeitung, the Cultural Centre of Germans in Hungary and the Library of Germans in Hungary. The organization of the cultural life of the German community is a central element of the cultural plans of MNOÖ. The national self-government set up a limited company that operates the German House and downtown buildings bought in 1999.
The MNOÖ is in close contact with German-speaking countries and regions, with German minority organisations in European and other minorities German-speaking countries. The official representation of the ethnic German minority of Hungary is a member of FUEV (Föderalistische Union Europäischer Volksgruppen), and is a regular participant at the meetings of German workgroups and congresses.
Based on the Common Declaration (Agreement on the Support of German Minority and the German Language in Hungary) signed in 1987 and renewed in 1992, Germany regularly supports the ethnic German community in Hungary. Support is provided based on consultation with MNOÖ, organized by the Goethe Institut and the relevant ministries of the German Federal States (Länder) providing support, with the coordination of the Standing Subcommittee of the Hungarian-German Cultural Joint Committee and the Pedagogical Institute of Germans in Hungary. The Subcommittee meets every two years; the last meeting was held in October 2009 in Budapest.
Germans living in Hungary are supported from national, state and foundation resources, especially by Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, the Cultural Foundation of Danube-Area Swabians, the Institute for External Relations, the Goethe Institut, the Federal Office and the German Academic Exchange Service.
