Baltic Germans
Baltic Germans (German: Deutschbalten; also: German Balts / Deutsch-Balten or simply Balts / Balten in older literature) are members of the German people who, as ethnic Germans, are the descendants of the medieval (from the late 12th century) German settlers to the East in the Baltic states after the conquest of the then still pagan Baltic states through the Christian Order of the Brothers of the Sword or Schwertbrüderorden.
This German knighthood mainly represented the upper class in Lithuania and Latvia, especially among the nobility. They had a great influence on the culture and language of the local Latvians and Estonians and also played an important role in the history of Russia.
Numerous Imperial Russian ministers, politicians, generals and admirals came from the ranks of the Baltic German nobles. In the 19th century, the then German-speaking Baltic University of Dorpat played an important role in German cultural life. In the 700 years of Baltic history until the expulsion in 1919/1920, the Baltic Germans made up the nobility and the majority of the bourgeoisie in the Baltic provinces of Courland, Livonia, Estonia and Ösel.
External links
- The Germans from the Baltics, University of Alberta (Archive)
- Baltic Germans were the legacy of the 300 year old Teutonic State that ended in 1525
