The Volksdeutsche of Rudolfstal and Windthorst.
A story of the villages of Windthorst and Rudolfstal, the villages I have always known as Nova Topola and Aleksandrovac.
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The title for this post might seem a bit, "non Balkany", but please bare with me.
I can't tell you how many times over the years, I have travelled along the road from Gradiška towards Banja Luka, passing through the villages of Nova Topola and Aleksandrovac.
I would never have thought back on those trips, that for some 65 years at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries that these villages were actually German.
I also had never stopped at the Catholic church of St Joseph’s, otherwise I would have.
For me, this "Hidden History" lesson, started when Tamara and I hosted the Otto Family from Baden Würtemburg in Germany.
The two Otto brother's (along with their wives), came to the area near where we live, to see where their ancestors were born and lived.
Their family story told of the villages of Windthorst and Rudolfstal, the villages I have always known as Nova Topola and Aleksandrovac.
Apparently Windhorst was the given name when in fact it should have been Windthorst.
A spelling error omitting the “t” in official documents is the reason.
In 1897, German settlers arrived in what is today's northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They were farmers.
Some 6 families arrived initially and by the time these families were evacuated to Germany in 1944, there were some 2,000 people.
The Otto's relatives left earlier for Germany for education in the 1930s, and never returned.
A World War intervened.
For the Otto's, they found family graves, still being cared for by today's population and seeing where their family lived.
The inside of St Joseph’s
In 1879, a settlement called Windthorst was created by the settlement of German settlers. In 1881, a chapel was founded, and in 1884, a parish with the church of St. Josip, built in 1891. In the parish, a Trappist monastery and a monastery of the Sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ were built. The German population withdrew in Autumn of 1944 by order of the German administration.
The name Windhorst and Nova Topola
It is interesting that we have two names Windhorst and Windthorst. Poplar (Topola), should have been called Windthorst, but the man who entered the name in the decision on the name dropped the letter "t" and hence the official name is Windhorst.
1879, in September, in front of 20 families Johann Ernst and Michael te Best were sent to Bosnia to find and buy land. They stayed in the Marija Zvijezda monastery and started looking for land.
After 4 weeks, they found out that Arif Šibić was selling land near Gradiška. They came to Rovine on October 24, 1879 and bought land for 3500 florins. Celebrating the purchase, they discussed how to name the settlement and agreed that it should be named after Ludwig Windthorst (January 17, 1812 - March 14, 1891), the political leader of the Catholic Center Party, at the suggestion of Michael and Best. October 24, 1879.
It can be said that Topola was named Windhorst and that it is also the birthday of the settlement. Windthorst was given the new name Nova Topola upon completion
The First World War with the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS). In 1941, the Germans returned the old name of Windhorst to Nova Topola, and the name Nova Topola was returned to Nova Topola in 1945 after the Germans had left in 1944.
Rochelle.
This colony, located only two and a half kilometres from Middle Windhorst, belongs to the Serbian municipality of the same name. Its settlement began in 1892, but continues even today (1914). The German element comes mostly from Bačka, and then also from Galicia. Along with the Germans, Slovaks immigrated here as well. In 1914, the colony numbered 36 families with 250 souls. Although the Germans in this place are weaker compared to other nationalities (out of 550 inhabitants, only 250 are Germans), they would like them to take the lead. Their latest effort is to join Trošelji to Windhorst, in order to play tricks on the Serbs and Slovaks. There are 16 compulsory school children whose mother tongue is German, and a special German private four-grade school is held for them, which the German propaganda society "Gustav Adolf Verein" subsidises annually with 300 marks!
Josip Lakatoš, journalist in 1914
These past few days Tamara and I drove around the Nova Topola area, and found evidence of German settlement at the Catholic convent and 2 locally produced information signs near the village of Trošelji.
For those who can't read or understand Serbian in either Latinic or Cyrillic, then you can find out more about this story at this WikiLink.
Bosnia and Herzegovina. A country that never fails to reveal it's uniqueness in so many ways.
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Bests
David and Tamara.
Hi David and Tamara, it's me: Hans-Dieter Otto 😅 Very interesting post. I came across this page by chance. We have very fond memories of our time with you at Easter 2019. In the meantime, we were back in Akeksandrovac and Noval Topola last year. The Catholic Bishop of Banja Luka allowed us to view some of the archives.
We were there with my relatives from Canada and Munich in May 2023. We hope to see you again sometime. Best regards Hans-Dieter and Barbara
How did I missed this story...... so interesting.