Siebenbürgisch-Amerikanisches Volksblatt (Cleveland, Ohio)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
770 issues from 1939 to 1954, published in Detroit, Michigan, digitised for Chronicling America.
The Siebenbürgisch-Amerikanisches Volksblatt (“Transylvania-American Peoples Journal”) was established in Cleveland in 1907 to serve the many German-speaking immigrants from Hungary who had settled in the area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially known as Die Neue Hiemat (“New Home”), this German-language newspaper changed names twice before becoming the Volksblatt in 1917, and was “devoted to the interests of all German nationalities.” In 1919 it became the official organ of the Central Association of Transylvanian-Saxons in America, and after 1939 it also represented the Central Association and the Singers Association of the Transylvanian-Saxons of America and the Transylvanian-Saxons Juniors Association.
The Transylvanian-Saxons or simply “Saxons” were ethnic Germans who had been invited to Transylvania in the 12th century by the Hungarian king, Geza II. They called Transylvania “Siebenbürg”, meaning “seven towns,” for their original seven settlements. Having lived in Transylvania for centuries, the Transylvanian-Saxons no longer identified as Germans, though they continued to speak the language. In the mid-19th century, nationalism took root in the region, and the ruling Hungarians began a process of Magyarization, attempting to erase the languages and cultures of all non-Hungarians. At the same time, ethnic Romanians were trying to take over Transylvania to include it in a new Romanian state. These were the conditions that led many…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Detroit, Michigan, United States
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress