Humanitarian Society of German Minority “St. Gerhard”

Deutscher Humanitärer Verein „St. Gerhard”

The Humanitarian Society of German Minority "St. Gerhard" was founded in Sombor in 1999. The central goal of the society is the preservation and promotion of Danube Swabian culture and identity. With around 700 members, the society is one of the largest and most active associations in Vojvodina. The majority of the members are senior citizens. Thanks to the varied programme, however, the society is enjoying more and more young people in the club. In addition, it has a considerable number of sympathisers, i.e. members of other nationalities who actively participate in the work.

The statutory objectives of the society include strengthening the identity of the German minority; preserving and strengthening the German language; maintaining the Danube Swabian heritage (preservation of monuments); maintaining Danube Swabian culture; conveying a positive image of the German minorities to the Serbian public; public presence of the German minority; strengthening civil society; networks and cooperation at home and abroad as well as humanitarian aid.

The society deals with the reappraisal of Danube Swabian history and language promotion on several levels. The Danube Swabian Museum, which was established in 2019 as a branch of the Sombor City Museum and is run by the city administration, is a sign of awareness of its minority. There is a bilingual kindergarten group in German and Serbian at the municipal pre-school facility. At the provincial level, the minority has succeeded in recent years in introducing German as a subject with elements of German culture in primary schools (grades 1 to 8). The unregulated responsibilities that keep the association busy are the care and maintenance of the old German churches and abandoned cemeteries, the lack of basic funding for the associations, genealogical research and procurement of personal documents for compatriots. Furthermore, the society has to struggle with declining interest in learners of German.
The mission of the society is that all those interested in the German language and culture find their place in the society.

The Humanitarian Society of German Minority "St. Gerhard" is a member of FUEN since 2023.