In which countries would you find communities of Aussiedlers that number over 10,000 people?

mibmob

...well I presume Germany....unless you count the new pope as an Ausslieder in italy ;) Apr 19 05, 12:32 PM

Flynn_17

Nope, if anything, there are no Ausseidlers in any of the German speaking countries. Any more offers. Perhaps Peasy can give us an answer? Apr 19 05, 1:33 PM

dejavucub4

Soviet Union/Russia? Apr 19 05, 2:00 PM

Flynn_17

I don't know the answer myself, so it's no good answering me with a question, really :) Be nice if we could get some statistics, if anyone can find them... Apr 19 05, 2:49 PM

bloomsby

Oh, Flynn. In recent decades the word "Aussiedler" has been used in Germany - jawohl in Germany itself - as term for ethnic Germans from former Eastern Bloc countries who have settled in Germany. Have a little look at this link: http://www.uni-bamberg.de/~ba6ef3/ds231b_d.htm Sometimes the term is used very loosely to describe _all_ ethnic Germans from Eastern and Eastern Central Europe who have settled in Germany since the end of WWII. Using this latter defintion, some websites give a figure of 14 million. This very high figure only makes sense if it includes Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia and Poland in the immediate aftermath of WWII. Ethnic Germans forcibly resettled from the then Soviet Union in Germany in 1939-41 (about 500,000) under the terms of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact under the Nazis' "Heim ins Reich" programme aren't referred to as "Aussielder". I hope this answers the question. Apr 19 05, 3:46 PM

peasypod

Why you would think I would have inside knowledge of Russian Germans 'resettling' themselves is beyond me (Although my real name is Russian of course...) , but I do see the reference to AUSSIEdlers in the word and wonder if you mean us dwellers of the Sunburnt Country, but I think not. But I am intrigued by mibmobs 'Ausslieder', Flynn's 'Ausseidler' and Bloomsby's 'Aussiedler'.... Hmmmmm Apr 19 05, 5:28 PM

bloomsby

Methinks Flynn has used both those spellings - one in the question and the other in his comments. (Most native speakers of English have excruciating problems with -ie and -ei when copying from German: it's well known). If you click on that link, you'll find the correct spelling ... Apr 19 05, 5:51 PM

Flynn_17

It's -IE-. Sorry about that. I should know by now, really. Been at it for ten years. Apr 20 05, 9:01 AM

mibmob

O. So there are some in German Speaking countries after all - hem hem. Apr 20 05, 10:14 AM

bloomsby

A little hint: think of "die Zeit" (-ie versus ei-) - /i:/ versus /ai/. Apr 20 05, 10:26 AM

Flynn_17

Easiest way. EI - pronounced like the name of the letter. I IE - pronounced like the name of the letter. E What I actually meant was are there any large colonies or Aussiedlers in countries that aren't German speaking? I mean, if it's in a German speaking country, they aren't actually Aussiedlers. Apr 20 05, 10:40 AM

lanfranco

You handle the "ie" and "ei" problem in German the same way I do, Flynn. Though in North America, many people routinely pronounce names containing "stein" as "steen." Kazakhstan still seems to have a substantial population of ethnic Germans -- about 300,000. This site offers an interesting article: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45321&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN Apr 20 05, 11:46 AM

bloomsby

Over in the quizzes section I've recently had to contend with a quizmaker who insists that Denmark is one of the "main German speaking countries". The fact that most recent estimates put the German speaking population of South Jutland at about 48,000 seems to have escaped him. 'Du heiliger Schreck!' or perhaps I could just say 'Great Dane!' Apr 20 05, 6:50 PM

lanfranco

I wouldn't put it that kindly, bloomsby. Apr 20 05, 7:34 PM

bloomsby

Agreed! "It goes against the grain / To keep it at 'Great Dane!'" Apr 20 05, 8:45 PM

Flynn_17

It's like my manager. He put an emails around the office asking for anyone who could speak Swiss. He refused to agree that Switzerland does not have it's own language, and usually uses either German or French. And why on earth would anyone think Denmakr is a major German speaking country? I mean, Germany, Luxembour, Leichtenstein, Autstria, Switzerland, and maybe Namibia at a stretch... has ne never heard of Danish? Apr 21 05, 9:15 AM