Who were the Baltic Germans and what is their legacy?

[@tracywright6908]

Wow! What a treasure trove of Baltic history! I'm a product of the mixing of Baltic German/Lettish people. My grandfather was born in Riga, my grandmother in Cesis. In1937 my father was an infant when they left Latvia for New York. Officially due to my Grandfather's position as Latvian General Consul. I was told they were specifically fleeing Stalin's "Great Purge". They changed their name from Schiller to Shillers, and there is a theory they were somehow related to Friedrich Schiller. I recently started to delve into my Baltic family history and all I can say is, you just can't make this stuff up! I will definitely look for Mr. Egremont's and Hackmann's work. Liels Paldies!

[@OLIVCHEN77]

Vielen Dank für diese Diskussion. Thank you so very much. I know a very, very old Lady who had still the "Akzent" of the German Balts. Its a sort of german Language, which will dying out. Thanl you so very much.

[@geem8011]

Great panel discussion - quite a few things I did not previously know about this population. My fourth great grandmother was born in Tarto in the beginning of the 19th century.

[@VonRix]

Ernst Gluck was Baltic German, Gothard Friedrich Stender was Baltic German, August Bielenstein was Baltic German, finally Garlieb Merkel was Baltic German - all are heroes of Latvian culture and history, that shaped Latvian culture in a away that is very dear to us now. Like the Song Festivals - it’s a German tradition, that came here because of the presence of German high culture,It’s Russian/Soviet propaganda of “german” brutality. Because of course Russians always depicted themselves as natural for Baltic region even if Russians were colonial power like any other, and that Western European cultural presence as something strange and hostile.

[@artursbondars7789]

I'd like to point to two aspects. Baltic Germans wasn't unified group and there was cultural interaction within all groups who at that times lived in Estonian and Latvian teritories. What wasn't sad is that much of "Baltic German" identity was influenced by local Latvian and Estonian, and also Baltic Prussian peoples. Other thing I want to point out, that there are still small community of peoples, who identify themselves with ancient Prussian population and their direct descendants. They see themselves nothing more and nothing less than Prussian. They even speak Prussian (There I mean true Prussian.). So we can't say that Prussians was absorbed or that they do not exist.

[@geem8011]

Really interesting. Yes, they intermarried quite a bit with the local Estonians, Latvians (Livonians?) from what I've read. Do you know if the Baltic Prussians are separate from the Prussians in some fundamental sense? I know the Old Prussians were originally an ancient Baltic tribe.

[@rudolfkraffzick642]

Geem: in a modern sense, Prussians were all inhabitants in the state Prussia (Kingdom since 1701). In a narrow sense, only the inhabitants of the provinces West- and Eastprussia were considered to be Prussians. In the ethnic sense only the Baltic/Prussian speaking people were/are Prussians. These Prussians intermingled almost completely with Germans and Lithuanians and lost their language/culture. Around 1990 some groups started a revival and define themselves as Prussians.

[@MellerCurillos]

Live in Russia, have Baltic German origin. But my great grandfather who was called him self German, was of Dutch origin. Also with Sweden and Scottish fluent. As I remember one of my ancestors was Bolton 😂

[@Wolf-hh4rv]

Interesting conversation, a clear focus on chronology wasn’t apparent. Since the focus was the 20th Century a quick run through from the Teutonic Knights would have been a good introduction. The audio on the questions was awful. Fascinating subject matter. Probably better off with more Germans on the panel.

[@ryro3515]

My grand father (born in Liepāja, Latvia, 1932) and his family were most likely among the people to leave Latvia during this time. I wonder if he was in one of those old clips.

[@tamasmarcuis4455]

It's simply not true to describe these people as a monolithic German population. They are only identified as a part of the group because the individuals could use a dialect of Low German. Their ethnic and cultural background was mostly not of German origin. For example the so called German population around Danzig were called Olęders by the Polish speaking population. These people being descended from Scots, Poles, Lithuanians, Old Prussian, Latvian, Swedish, Danes and Dutch as well as some Germans. The very name being a corruption of Hollanders. There is also the practice of the German Empire of classing any bilingual person as German. In census data if the husband spoke a German language as well as his mother tongue he and his entire household was classed as German. Even if it was a second language and he was the only speaker is the house.

[@VilmaMare]

German colonists left a dark and oppressive shadow over Indigenous Baltic people. Most aggressive germanization was in Old Prussia. Do suggest reading native scholars' work, including Emanuel Kant from Kantvainių village, near Agluonėnai, Lithuania

[@privatepiano]

👍🏻☀️