Stepping it out

One of my best ever moments was accompanying my then girlfriend to pick out her wedding dress in a smallshop in Regensburg in Bavaria.

For some strange reason I recall that day more vividly than the wedding itself! She had decided to wear a traditional dirndl - a dress worn in Bavaria and the Tyrol - and we picked a lovely one.....even if I say so myself. It had the desired effect on the day when her father lead her down the aisle in a small village church in Ireland.
Culture and language are the spice of European life and I was reminded of this on Friday when attending a suberb performance of traditional German dancing by the Saarer Tanzgruppe. Too often this type of entertainment is cast as oompah and Oktoberfest but the group gave a performance that was top class and great fun. Whether German dance music is "better" than Irish ceilí music or Welsh choral or Spanish bolero is not the issue....it was a hand-clapping, foot-stomping evening that brought young and old, German and Hungarian together and one could only marvel at the enthusism of Peter S. and his group. He and the others taught everyone present a great deal within a few hours.

The immigration of German-speaking peoples into Hungary began around the year 1000. Another marriage, the marriage of Istvan, first king of Hungary to Giselle of Bavaria started the whole thing rolling.

The largest wave of German-speaking immigrants into Hungary took place when the Habsburgs expelled the Ottomans from Hungary. "Between 1711 and 1780, German-speaking settlers from Southern Germany, Austria, and Saxony immigrated to the regions of Southwest Hungary, Buda, Banat and Szatmár County. This influx of immigrants helped to bring economic recovery and cultural distinction to these regions. By the end of the 18th century, the Kingdom of Hungary contained over one million German-speaking residents" (Wikipedia) and German was spoken widely in Budapest.. Events since then have reduced German to a symbolically significant - but very much minority - language in Hungary.

The 2001 census recorded a 10% minority of German speakers but as with the number of Irish speakers in Ireland this figure is probably a bit misleading.

Anyway so much for my rambling, hope you like the shot...