Transylvanian Saxon culture
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The Transylvanian Saxon culture refers to the regional culture of the Transylvanian Saxons (German: Die Siebenbürger Sachsen, Romanian: Sași transilvăneni or sași transilvani, Hungarian: erdélyi szászok), an ethnic German group (part of the Germans of Romania and one of the most significant constituent groups therein; also significantly related in particular to the Luxembourgers) which has been living in Transylvania (German: Siebenbürgen, Romanian: Transilvania), present-day central Romania since the mid and mid-late 12th century onwards, thus being one of the oldest groups of the German diaspora still residing in Eastern and Central Europe, alongside the Baltic Germans (German: Deutsch-Balten) and the Zipser Germans (German: Zipser Sachsen).[1][2][3]
The regional culture of the Transylvanian Saxons includes their dialect, namely Transylvanian Saxon (German: Siebenbürgisch-Sächsisch, Romanian: Dialectul săsesc) which is one of the oldest German dialects (spoken since the High Middle Ages onwards), their cuisine, their literature, their folk dances, their traditional costumes (German: Sächsische Trachten), their celebrations and cultural festivals, their traditional music, their regional anthem (i.e. Siebenbürgenlied), their history, former regional governance as the Transylvanian Saxon University (Latin: Universitas Saxonum, German: Sächsische Nationsuniversität), local architecture represented by the many villages with fortified churches (German: Kirchenburgen or Wehrkirchen), and heraldic (including their coat-of-arms).[4][5][6]