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The German
In Békés County the German ethnic group moved to some settlements in the frames of the organized resettlements after the age of the Ottoman occupation. The settlement happened in more waves between 1724 and 1744. The Germans in Gyula and Elek are Catholic and the ones in Mezőberény are Lutheran. The various religions resulted different folk traditions. Until the Dictate of Trianon, Elek belonged to Arad County and so Almáskamarás. Almáskamarás was a tobacco growing village in 1844 mostly the Germans from Elek filled it. Germans from Mezőberény moved to Gyoma where Hungarians lived. The German community that consisted only a couple of hundreds of people assimilated by the second half of the 20th century. Nowadays in Békés County considerable German population can be found only in four settlements. The German lived in a relatively closed community until the first half of the 20th century. Good examples of this are the civic names of the suburbs, like German Gyula or German End in Berény. Notably the Germans in Elek and Almáskamarás preserved their culture and folk customs. It is proved by historical and social studies that embourgeoisement started among the Germans, but first in Gyula. The Germans of Békés mostly lived in towns, except for Almáskamarás. In the second part of the 19th century in the towns with wide borders the changes in peasant farming led to the development of a civil-peasant society. The most civilized and town-like settlement was Gyula of the county. The German living in towns had leading position in embourgeoisement. The wealth of the civil-peasant society is represented by the changes in building style. The rich German farmers often built their considerable houses facing to the street. These buildings show the features of civil architecture. The houses with dry drives in Berény and the buildings with large stone-based gates in Elek are also noteworthy.
Getting civilized also appeared in indoor home culture, the furniture shows the outstanding talent of the local masters of Berény and Gyula. The interior of the room at the beginning of the 20th century follows the civil taste of the people. The clean room was changed to a representative interior which was enriched with new furniture items. The changes in clothing can be placed at this age. Instead of traditional peasant wear people bought clothes in shops or had them sewed. The culture of home-made textiles and embroidery was very popular until the middle of the 20th century.
Traditions and customs revealed longer in Elek and Almáskamarás than other settlements having German population because of the catholic religion and ethnic separation.
The objects, which can be seen at the exhibition, represent the special civil-peasant culture of the German.
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