A remarkable increase in settling Germans to Hungary can be traced back to the early 17th century. Germans in fact have been present in the country from the establishment of the Hungarian state in the 11th century. German communities in Vas County are as follows: Vaskeresztes (Grossdorf), Pornóapáti (Pernau), Kiszsidány (Roggendorf), Rönök (Radling), Rábafüzes (Raabfidisch), Alsószölnök (Unterzemming). Swabians established Kőszegfalva (Schwabendorf), and there is a significant minority in Kőszeg and Szentgotthárd as well. The forced repatriation of Germans after World War II meant the disappearance of several communities as they became almost depopulated (like Nemesmedves). The remaining small ones kept their old characteristic features almost entirely and even succeeded in stopping the migration to towns. Despite the constant efforts to assimilate them, German minorities did whatever they could to remember their past and cherish their traditions.

The retributions after World War II affected the German minority to the largest extent as in consequence of the government decree 12.330/1945 there were 2,778 people ( 37.5% of the county’s population) speaking German as their mother tongue or having German nationality who were driven from their homes, according to a census conducted in 1941)0. After 1945 only 4.900 Germans remained in Vas County.

The period between 1950 and 1953 was very cruel again, because „in order to protect western borders” a significant part of the German population was resettled to the east of the country, to the Hortobágy region.

Teaching German was mostly carried out in church founded schools in the period between the two World Wars.

After World War II these German classes were totally abolished in the county. Restructuring began in 1959, however, German minority education was only available in six communities after the so-called „districtisation”. This meant that pupils from Kőszegfalva had to go to a school in Kőszeg, from Alsószölnök to Felsőszölnök, from Kiszsidány to Horvátzsidány, from Pornóapáti and Vaskeresztes to Felsőcsatár and from the German speaking communities in the Rába valley to Rábafüzes and Szentgotthárd. The Antal Reguly Primary School had 97 pupils in German speaking groups in 2000.

The situation of children in kindergartens is not as good as that, despite the increase in the number of children of kindergarten-age. In Szombathely there are presently two such institutions offering German language teaching from 1996 onwards: Napsugár and Pipitér kindergartens.

Minority self-governments were established in eight municipalities in Vas County after the Minority Act was passed, in Kőszeg, Szentgotthárd, Szombathely, Alsószölnök, Kiszsidány, Pornóapáti, Rönök and Vaskeresztes. Although it is located in the neighbouring Zala County, the German minority self-government in Szepetnek decided to join Vas County. After a self- government was established in Vasszentmihály in 1995, their number has risen to 10.

Parallel to the general elections in 1998 members of minority self-governments were also elected. Apart from the 10 municipalities, two more minority self-governments were established: one in Bük, Vas County) and on in Fűzvölgy, Zala County.

It took a long time until German minorities living in the county started to cherish and protect their traditions. Rábafüzes, Pornóapáti, Vaskeresztes and Kőszegfalva began a slow development in the 1960s with the establishment of female choirs. The election of minority self-governments brought about a significant change and the organisation of choirs received a new impetus. The choirs in Vaskeresztes and Alsószölnök were reorganised and the teachers of Balog Béri Primary School founded the Alpensänger choir.

The idea to revive an old German tradition, the so-called Adventkranz popped up five years ago.

The fact that there is high demand for German as a mother tongue is neatly illustrated by the fact that presently 503 children are learning German in primary schools in German minority language groups. Pupils in Felsőszölnök (a Slovene-German group) and Horvátzsidány (a Croatian-German group) are enrolled to schools in the nearby towns. The following communities offer such language groups in our county: Kőszeg, Szombathely, Felsőcsatár, Szentgotthárd, Horvátzsidány, and Felsőszölnök (the order is established on the basis of the number of pupils attending minority classes).

Inhabitants of German speaking communities have long tried to established contacts with municipalities on the other side of the border in Burgenland (Austria).

German minority self-governments have also established their micro-regional association. The 10 Vas County self-governments joined the two operating in Zala County and formed the Vas-Zala Association of German Minority Self-Governments.