Politički i društveno-kulturni kontekst njemačko-hrvatskih jezičnih dodira u Varaždinu
Political, social and cultural context of German-Croatian language contacts in Varaždin

Summary/Abstract: The first contacts of local people and the German language, society and culture occurred in Varaždin in the Middle Ages, when royal guests, the so called hospites, arrived in the town from primarily German-speaking area. Further arrival of Germans, along with the influence of their language and socio-cultural features, dates back to the establishment of the Military Frontier. Due to the military and political position during the existence of the Military Frontier, German and Austrian armies did not only pass through Varaždin, but their oficers and administration clerks also settled down there, representing the most influential people in the town who often caused trouble to the local people. In the nineteenth century, Varaždin’s influential citizens, officers and aristocrats primarily spoke the German language. During the reign of the Hapsburg Monarchy, the connections between Varaždin’s people and the Germans became even more intense, moreover, during the period of Bach’s Absolutism, Varaždin became a true German town, in which all inhabitants used German as the official language. When the First World War broke out, the people of Varaždin stopped looking up to everything originating from the German-speaking area, and for the first time the downward trend in the number of inhabitants who speak and study the German language occurred, which has continued until the present day.

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