Dinkelsbühl (dpa/lby) - With a parade and around 2,300 people in traditional costume, the Transylvanian Saxons celebrated their homeland day in Dinkelsbühl in the Ansbach district at the weekend. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) acknowledged the contribution made by expellees and emigrants to shaping Bavaria. "They have made a decisive contribution to the development of Bavaria with their diligence, their skills and their ambition. They have been shaping our country for decades and enriching it with their culture," he said according to a statement on Sunday.

The Transylvanian Saxons are a German minority in Romania. However, many Transylvanian Saxons fled to the West after the Second World War. Others came to Germany as late repatriates between the 1970s and 1990s.