Burgenland of Hungarians rapidly declined (14,931 people, 5%). This was due to the emigration of the Hungarian civil servants and intellectuals after the union with Austria. In 1923, emigration to the United States of America, which started in the late 19th century, reached its climax; in some places up to a quarter of the population went overseas. After the Nazi German "Anschluss" of Austria, the administrative unit of Burgenland was dissolved. Northern and central Burgenland joined the district of Niederdonau (Lower Danube) while southern Burgenland joined Steiermark (Styria). The policy of Germanization also affected other minorities, especially Burgenland Croats and Hungarians.
Burgenland 51 new bilingual village name signs were erected in Burgenland (47 Croatian and 4 Hungarian). The Burgenland Croatian language is an interesting 16th century dialect which is different from standard Croatian. In minority schools and media the local dialect is used, and it has had a written form since the 17th century (the Gospel was first translated to this dialect in 1711). Today the language is endangered by assimilation, according to the UNESCO's Red Book of Endangered Languages. The Croats of Burgenland belong to the same group as their relatives on the other side of the modern-day border with Hungary.