A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Ethnographica 3. (Szeged, 2001)

Vass Erika: Társadalmi, térbeli és időbeli határok Kübekházán az 1850–1950-es évek házassági anyakönyvei alapján

Social, Space and Time Boundaries in Kübekháza Based on the Examination of the Marriage Registers between 1850 and 1950 From the examination of the marriage registers in the village of Kübekháza, which lies on the Hungarian side of the Hungarian-Yugoslavian-Romanian triple border region, and also from following the saga of the Hinkl family, in my study I introduced the boundaries that influenced marriages between 1850 and 1950. The space boundaries represent the connection network of the residents of Kübekháza. Although the village itself was always exogamic, it had the same roots as its fellow communities. The space boundaries are closely connected with the administrative and natural borders. After World War One reannexing the majority of the fellow communities changed the main direction of finding partners. In the 1920s and 1930s the state borders only set administrative boundaries for people to keep contact with one another, although in practice these boundaries could be crossed. In the last century ethnic boundaries played an important factor but their significance decreased by the first decade of the twentieth century. This was a result of the weakening of language boundaries as well as financial factors. However, with the removal of ethnic Germans into Germany in 1946 these ethnic boundaries disappeared. The month and the date of the weddings show the changes in leisure time, i.e. the correlation of opportunities that agricultural work and industry offered. Religious teachings were also essential. However, the weddings taking place at Lent and Advent from the 1940s illustrate the withdrawal of religiosity. This tendency was felt also at religious borders. While in the nineteenth century exogamy was only due to maybe social reasons (e.g. industrial workers), the number of mixed marriages grew by the 1940s. Social boundaries meant a significant factor and ethnic, religious and local boundaries also changed depending on that. Marriages therefore provide us with important data as for social norms since a marriage — although formally realised as an act between individuals — is rather a result of a consensus between groups of individuals. During my research it was proven that boundaries - despite their important dividing and regulative roles — have transitional parts and therefore do not form an impenetrable obstacle. Further, the different types of boundaries overlap and correlate. These correlations can be observed through the example of the Hinkl family. Among the criteria of a marriage, the social boundary played a key role, which could be removed by the job opportunities. This ensured that the wealth the family possessed continued to grow and their prestige in the village was maintained. The forced removal posed a political boundary for the family members and this boundary was lifted only after a long time. Turning points in life became opportunities for family occasions and the relatives in Germany and Hungary established godparental relationships with each other. However, despite all this, in 1946 the majority of the Hinkl family had to leave their homeland and the boundaries separating the family became deeply entrenched in their minds. 143