The Zipser Germans (Romanian: Ţipţeri, Hungarian: Cipszer) were/are a German-speaking ethnic group in former northern Kingdom of Hungary, now in Slovakia and in the northwest area of Romania called Maramureş. Those who did not escape from the Red Army were mostly expelled from Czechoslovakia.
The name Zipser is applied to immigrants who originally came from Zips (then in the Kingdom of Hungary, now Spiš in Slovakia). The name stems from the Hungarian Szepesség. Especially during the reign of the Hungarian king Béla III, many Germans were invited into this area. This happened in the 1180s. They were engaged in mining and built towns. The leaders of the Zipsers were usually assimilated into the Hungarian nobility. In conflicts with Austria they always were loyal to their Hungarian masters. Today in Romania they still make up the main part of later immigrants from Upper German dialect-speaking areas. Traditionally, most of them have been employed in forestry. Their folk tales revolve around the spirits that inhabit the woods.
The Zipsers and other German-speaking groups in Romania are currently represented by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (DFDR).
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