All of these areas were in the Kingdom of Hungary under Austrian rule, when the Crown recruited German immigrants, particularly farmers.

It wanted to repopulate the lands newly recovered from Turkish occupation and to revive agriculture in an area that had been frequently overrun by war.

They were transported on the Ulmer Schachteln (barges) down the Danube to Budapest or Belgrade, whence they set off on foot for their new homes.

However, most of the Banat was low-lying swampland unsuitable for growing food, so colonists had to build a robust irrigation system that eventually transformed the land.

[2] Some moved to Bulgaria, where they settled in the village of Bardarski Geran, Vratsa Province, founded earlier by Banat Bulgarians.

The United States of America, seeking to populate the midwest, sent recruiters to Hungary to encourage people to immigrate.

[2] During the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, Banaters attempted to declare their own multi-ethnic republic rather than be incorporated into any of the emerging nation-states.

The project was generally supported by Hungarians, Swabians, and Jews -- but opposed by Romanians and Serbs on the outskirts of the Banat region.

Between 1941 and 1943, 2,150 ethnic German Bulgarian citizens were relocated to Germany as part of Hitler's Heim ins Reich policy.

In the late 19th century, Hungary had undergone a period of rapid Magyarization, during which it attempted to assimilate all of its minorities.

The Wall Street Crash and the subsequent financial crises of the Great Depression in the 1930s hit the Banat hard.

After 1933, the Nazi Party gained some influence among the ethnic Germans of Eastern Europe, including the Banat Swabians.

During World War II, many ethnic Germans were conscripted into the Romanian Army and served on the Eastern Front.

Initially, some were virtually forced to serve in the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen, fearing there would be sanctions against their families if they refused.

In 1951 more than a thousand Banat Swabians were displaced to the Bărăgan Steppe of southeast Romania, where they founded new villages.

Others were helped by French Prime Minister Robert Schuman to settle in France as Français du Banat.

Nevertheless, many Banat Swabians chose to use the looser conditions to emigrate to Germany, since they no longer trusted Romania's communist government's promises.

The Transylvanian Saxons, who had lived in the region since the Middle Ages, made a similar decision.

An economic crisis of the communist state, as well as a rumor concerning a village destruction project, caused some 200,000 to flee Romania.

Some are returning, generally entrepreneurs with economic ambitions supported by the German non-returnable grants for development projects outside Germany.

Due to the high level of military conscription, mostly women, children and elderly people remained in the villages, and they were unwilling or unable to flee.

Near the end of the war, all Swabians who were suspected of having been involved with the Nazi military administration were placed in provisional internment camps.

[8] In the framework of agricultural reform, partisan families - mainly migrants from war-torn Bosnia, Lika and Montenegro— took over the confiscated Swabian farms and houses.

[9] The situation improved in 1947, when foreign humanitarian aid reached the camps, and their work routines were loosened.

The president, Andreas Biegermeier, stated the council would focus on property restitution, as well as marking mass graves and camp sites.

[17] Others have created online communities like Donauschwaben Villages Helping Hands which is a non-profit to keep the Danube Swabian legacy alive and to connect families and relatives with their ancestry.