Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 54. (Miskolc, 2015)
Történettudomány - Bodnár Mónika: Adatok a miskolci németek történetéhez és kultúrájához, különös tekintettel a 18. századi evangélikus németekre
352 Bodnár Mónika DATA CONCERNING THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE GERMANS OF MISKOLC, ESPECIALLY OF 18TH-CENTURY LUTHERAN GERMANS Keywords: nationality, identity, nobles, craftsmen, Illés Trangus Before the end of the 17th century, Miskolc had rightly been regarded one of the most Hungarian towns, although foreign settlers, among them also Germans, had inhabited the settlement yet before that era. However, a greater influx of foreigners (Germans, Slovaks, Greeks, Jews etc.) reached the town in the 18th century, and the process reached remarkable advancement by the end of the century. As a result, 18th-century Miskolc may rightly be claimed a multicultural town. This multicultural character manifested itself, for instance, in the successful request of followers of Catholic and Lutheran confessions, who opted for a trilingual (Hungarian, Slovak, German) religious service. The majority of the Germans of Miskolc were craftsmen, but magnates and landlords belonging to the higher layer of nobility, and also landless and tax-paying nobles (lower rank nobility) were also to be found among them, however, most of them were middle-rank burghers. Opportunities provided by the progressing construction works at the middle of the 18th century attracted a particularly large number of settlers, mostly masons, stonecutters, carpenters, and tinmen. Further German craftsmen also arrived, such as boot makers, cobblers, blacksmiths, Cartwrights, saddlers, whitesmiths, hat makers, tailors, or bakers, and the line could still be continued: they were present in each guild and profession. German masters and craftsmen not only settled in Miskolc, but many of their heirs remained in the town and got married here: multiple generations of their family names emerge in parish registers. The Germans of Miskolc arrived partly from German, or partially German towns of Upper Hungary — Kassa (Kosice), Stósz (Stós), Betlér (Betliar), Dobsina (Dobsina), Wagendrüssel (Merény, Vondrisel, today Nálepkovo), Késmárk (Kezmarok), Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica), Selmecbánya (Banská Stiavnica) etc. —, and partly from German territories, mostly from Saxony and Bavaria, but also from other regions. The easiest way of settling was to find and marry a widowed wife of a master. There are numerous examples for this among the above cases. People arriving to Miskolc from the German towns of Upper Hungary often had a mixed self-identity already, therefore it is not simple to identify who can be regarded a German. Sometimes even the people in question were undecided in determining their nationalities. The society of Miskolc assimilated and integrated the majority of newcomers over the course of one-two generations. In this manner, the society of the first half of the 19th century was Hungarian, if not yet completely in its language, but in its mentality without concern. However, certain elements of the intellectual and material culture of Miskolc Germans are still visible today. [Translated by Agnes Drosztmér] Bodnár, Mónika
