Dobrodošli/Üdvözöljük
Welcome to our homepage
www.vendvidek.com!
What is the
„Vendvidék“?
“Vendvidék”
is a Hungarian expression meaning “the country of the
Wends/Windish-land”. This term primarily designates respectively
designated the Slavs/Slovenes living in the south-eastern Germanic language
area. Due to the immigration of the Slavs into the German-speaking part in the
7th and 8th century, this therm was used at once by the
Germans as a synonym for “the foreign”. This appellation became a
loan word in Hungarian, and even today it is still a term commonly used in
everyday speech to describe the Slovenes living on Hungarian territory
(Hungarian vend, and vendek in the plural form respectively*).
The area itself became known by the name of “Raba Region”, and of
“Slovene Raba Region” (Slovene Porabje/Slovensko Porabje) respectively. This terminology, and the practice to refer to the Slovenes in Hungary as “Slovenes from the Raba
Region” respectively originates from Slovenia itself. The expression
“Slovenes from the Raba” which designates the Slovenes living in
the catchment area of Monošter/Szentgotthárd appeared in the
Slovene press already after the First World War. After the Second World War,
they used to be called “Slovenes from the Raba river bank” more
frequently as well.
Where is the „Vendvidék“?
The “Vendvidék” is located in the
border triangle of Slovenia,
Hungary, and Austria, in the catchment area of the border
town of Monošter/Szentgotthárd
and is flown through by the small River Raba, which gives this hilly region the
name of “Raba Region”. The picturesque national park of Őrség
(Slovene Goričko), which lies in the south-west of Hungary and is
famous for its rich flora and fauna forms also part of the
“Vendvidék”. Within the Raba Region, which extends over an
area of about 94 km2, there are seven Slovene-speaking
villages: Gornji Senik/Felsőszölnök, Dolnij
Senik/Alsószölnök, Sakalovci/Szakonyfalu, Slovenska
ves/Rábatótfalu, Števanovci/Apátistvánfalva,
Ritkarovci/Kétvölgy, and Andovci/Orfalu. The small border town of Monošter/Szentgotthárd
with its inhabitants of Slovene and Hungarian descent is the economic and
cultural centre of the Slovenes from the Raba Region. The Slovene minority in Hungary lives in the Raba Region, in Szombathely (the principal town of Vas
County), and in other parts of this
West Hungarian county, furthermore in the counties of Somogy, Győr-Moson-Sopron and Budapest,
and dispersed in other regions of Hungary.
Who are we and what is the purpose of our website?
In a geographical, cultural, linguistic, and an ethnic
point of view, the Raba Region/Porabje belongs to the Mura Region/Prekmurje (Slovenia).
These two areas once formed a geographical unity until they were separated in
1919. The Mura Region was annexed to newly-founded Yugoslavia (SCS state), whereas the
Raba Region remained under Hungarian sovereignty. Due to the Treaty of Trianon
(1920) and later as a consequence of the existence of the Iron Curtain, the
Slovenes from the “Vendvidék” were separated from the rest
of the Slovene people for decades. Today, the community of the Slovenes from
the Raba Region consists of about 5 000 people who is in danger of falling into
oblivion not least because of the aforementioned historical circumstances. With
our website we want to make a contribution to the preservation of their
cultural heritage. It is our goal to introduce the Slovene population living in
the Hungarian Raba Region to a broader international public and in doing so to
particularly inform the Slovenes from the Raba Region, and their descendants
respectively (hence the bilingual version of our homepage) living in the
English and German-speaking areas about their origin in their mother tongues.
Driven by our distinct interest in the history and culture of ethnic minorities
we therefore explicitly pursue the goal of an active promotion of minorities,
in our case the preservation of the manifold history and language, and the
traditional habits of the Slovenes from the Raba Region in the cultural memory
of the people living outside the “Vendvidék”.
We are Tibor Horváth and Joël Gerber. Mr
Horváth has a Master’s Degree in Economics (minors Political
Science and Media Studies) from the University
of Bern (Switzerland),
and Mr Gerber has a Master’s Degree in Historical Sciences Contemporary
History (minor English Literature) from the University
of Fribourg (Switzerland).
The project of our website, in which we have been engaging with great
commitment since 2005 in addition to our actual professional activity under our
own auspices and without any financial support, enables us to discuss the
eventful history and diverse culture of the Slovene Raba Region. Furthermore,
Mr Horváth has an own, very personal connection with the
“Vendvidék” since he hails from
Apátistvánfalva/Števanovci from the father’s side.
During the last five years, we have frequently attended the public events and
festivities organised by Slovenia which took place periodically in the seven
Slovene villages of the Porabje, not least in order to gain personal
impressions on site which we then publish under the category of
“Articles” as brief reports on our website. This journalistic work
makes it possible to keep the Slovenes from the Raba Region living outside the
Porabje, who are neither able to speak Slovene nor Porabian, up-to-date on the
latest developments in their region of origin, and to give them an
understanding of the culture of their ancestors respectively. The numerous
positive entries in our guestbook encourage us on the one hand to continue
dedicating ourselves to our project in the future, and are on the other hand an
evidence for the importance of our pioneer work. Because he who wanted to get
informed about the “Vendvidék” before our homepage had been
launched and who possessed neither language skills in Slovene nor in the
regional variation of Slovene, a circumstance which, for example, applies to
the vast majority of the Slovenes from the Raba Region living in the U.S.
diaspora, used to search unsuccessfully for the traces of their region of
origin. In this context, see the comment of the user Mr Joseph Horvath from
Marshall, Virgina, USA (07/05/2006):
“Thank
you so very much Tibor and J. Gerber for keeping our History alive! I have
learned more about our heritage from this web site in only a few minutes than I
learned in my entire life of 40 years. I am also proud to use the history and
photos of Apátistvánfalva to honor my father, Steve Horvath, who
passed away this July 2, 2006. This means more to me than words can express. Thank you.”
Another U.S. citizen with
“Windish” roots, Mr Ron Dixon, made a similarly positive statement
about our website (08/02/2009):
“I just
discovered this website! Awesome! I had no idea this region had a name –
Vendvidek. My ancestors came from Eckersdorf according to Ellis
Island records and I recently figured out this is the other name
of Szakonyfalu. Thanks for the pictures of Szakonyfalu. Now I can see where my
Düh family came from. [...]”
Or
also Monica Raffaele Adamo (04.07.2006):
„For
now I can say that I like this website, I think it says a lot about the Raba
region, from many different point of views. Well done
Tibor Horvath and J. Gerber, it is important to preserve traditions and spread
knowledge about small regions and minorities. Ciao!“
Thanks to our category of “Old
Tombstones”, for which we have photographed the tombstones of the
cemeteries of the seven villages in the Porabje, it is now also possible for
the descendants of the Slovenes from the Raba Region living overseas to see the
last resting- places of their deceased family members and to do family research
with the help of the epitaphs shown on our website, as Mr Chuck Doncsecz Sr
from Bethlehem, PA, USA points out in our guestbook (10/06/2006):
“Great
information. Attempting to trace family tree
back. I will find your site very useful.”
What is more, we already guided members of the Slovene
diaspora in the USA through the Raba and the Mura Region several times and
introduced them to their historical roots at first hand making them perceive
the cultural diversity of the region as if they were a part of it; a personal
experience, which they would have hardly had without our personal dedication,
as for example also Jeanne Czvitkovics Brown from San Diego, CA, USA, whom we
guided through the “Vendvidék” in June 2007, takes into
consideration in her travelogue published on our website:
“With
special thanks to Tibor Horváth and Joël Gerber, without whose help
this journey would never have been possible.”
Many people have already been fascinated by the
Slovene Raba Region. Now it is your turn to go on an expedition to the
fascinating Raba Region and to get to know the rich history and culture of the
people of the “Vendvidék”!
* The “Vendvidék” is also called “Slovene Raba
Region”.