Communities all around the world are facing extinction without many of us even being aware of their past existence. How can communities, such as that of the Transylvanian Saxons, be maintained especially if they are not living in their ‘original’ environment? How do they adapt to their new ‘home’. Is this the end of their culture, tradition, and heritage?
The documentary will look through the eyes of the younger generations how culture, heritage and rituals can survive in a different context, and how the culture can be maintained after this emigration process. What does it mean to be Saxon? There is a sense throughout of a world which has been lost, a world which appears both idyllic and also rather spooky. Therefore, questions raised in this documentary examine what the future holds for a rich heritage such as that of the Transylvanian Saxons. How much of a culture is left in a place, and how much of a culture is brought into a place by its inhabitants? ? How does the views of the younger Transylvanian Saxons differ from those of their older generation, parents and grandparents? How will they upkeep their vanishing culture and heritage? What will remain for the next generation, and what is done to secure this future?
After all this can happen to any culture.
As the Transylvanian Saxons are a dying culture, it is vital to document and preserve the memory of the last inhabitants, as the only things that are remaining are the memories encapsulated within its past Saxon residents in one of Europe’s least known, but most fascinating regions, Transylvania.
Transylvania 
Hello,
looking for Transylvanian Saxons in the English speaking world (in fact in the US) I found your website (it’s nice to find out that there are some Saxons in GB, I had only heard of a writer of Saxon origin so far). Your questions are the same that are being asked by my generation (the 50s, 60s) of Transyslvanian Saxons in Germany: Should we preserve the culture? For whom? Do our children care? Can we preserve it? etc.
Well, there are some very engaged people in Germany, who try to do their best to preserve their culture, but there are also many who are too occupied with building up a new life (after having left Romania) and/or who don’t care at all about their past, saying that we have come to another country so we should integrate into the Geramn society and not look back at the past.
In my view it might be the second genaration who might be more interested in their forefathers’ culture and try to keep it up, but of course, they might have some problems because or if they haven’t experienced it directly. Even I (57) don’t know much about how life was in the Saxon villages or towns before the Second World War, so I can imagine my children not knowing anything. The town we moved to in Germany dind’t have a big community of Transylvanian Saxons, so they didn’t learn much about our history or culture (I could have told them something, of course, but I didn’t).
It’s encouraging to see that some young people are interested in the Transylvanian Saxons. I wish you lots of luck and success for all your projects.
I’ve only got a small falt, but if you need accommodation for some nights in Nuremberg, Germany, you can contact me.
Best whishes
Ilse Orendt
thank you very much. I am pleased to hear you are following this project!
I am so happy to have found this website! I was always told by my grandmother that her father, Janos Nicolas Lorenz came from “Austria Hungary”. I never knew any more than that. With a little research I learned he was from Elisabethstadt, which is now Dumbraveni, Romania. I had wondered why the US census had begun calling him a Romanian… With a little more digging I read about the Saxons and Translynania. My great-grandfather married a German woman when he immigrated to the US, and neither of them spoke English. I always wondered how he couldve known German. Finally things began to make sense. He must’ve been a Saxon Transylvania. I’m so sad to learn that there are not many Saxon’s left in Transylvania. I look forward to learning about the culture, and I hope to find information on my great-grandfather’s family. I haven’t been able to find anything so far. I am hopeful to connect with relatives through my Ancestry DNA test though. Thank you so much for your work! Do you know if there is a group comparing DNA results from decendents of Saxons from Transylvania?
Thank you,
Laura Beth
My great grandparents whom emigrated to Ohio circa 1900.
John Johann Seiverth was born in Kirchberg, Romania now known as Chipar, Romania
Marie Koch – was born in Wurmloch, Romania now known Valea Viilor, Romania. Barbara and I did not get here as we were both sick when we were there. It looks like its about 20 miles from Chipar.
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Transylvanian Saxons. My great-grandmother was from Hermannstadt (now Sibiu) and emigrated to the United States as a young woman. She lived a long life, and I remember her well. I feel a lot of affection for the Transylvanian Saxons, and I identify with them strongly.