Baltic Germans

Baltic Germans is a historical community of German speakers living in the Baltic Sea region, mostly modern Estonia and Latvia. After 1945, their numbers drastically declined, with many relocating to Germany or elsewhere.

Since the Late Middle Ages, native German-speakers formed the majority of merchants and clergy, and the large majority of the Baltic nobility who effectively constituted a ruling class over indigenous Latvian and Estonian non-nobles. By the time a distinct Baltic German ethnic identity began emerging in the 19th century, the majority of self-identifying Baltic Germans were non-nobles belonging mostly to the urban and professional middle class.