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Some say purgers are only those whose family lives in Zagreb for at least five generations. Some are milder and claim that you can be a purger if your grandparents are born in Zagreb. And for Croatians from other regions purgers are all born in our capital regardless of their origin. They are mentioned in Bad Blue Boy's songs. For our fellow citizens of old age who are always involved and have Viennese manners, we usually say, "Her, he is an old purger." Where did that word come from and what was its meaning?
To get the answer, we must return to the Middle Ages when Zagreb has not yet been. The established Gradec and the fortified Kaptol stood each on its hill, and there were gentlemen and craftsmen, or churchmen. Poor landlords did not have that privilege, but lived in the villages around these two settlements, left to the grace and helplessness of the barbarian peoples.
In the 13th century, the area of today's Zagreb was sacked by the Tatars. King Bela IV. recognizes that it is necessary to settle and therefore calls peasants, craftsmen and merchants from the friendly German Empire. By expanding the German population, German language is expanding, which in the coming cent
uries will have a great influence not only on Zagreb's speech, but also on the Croatian standard language. The Germans called the city of Agram, so we call Agramer Deutsch in the German language.
As we have already said, craftsmen and merchants lived inside the fort. In the German language fortress says Burg, and the one who lives in it is Bürger. Over time, the word turned into a purger. Thus, the purgers were citizens who differ from those from the surrounding villages such as Sestina, Vrapča or Črnomerc.
https://povijest.hr/zagreb/a-zakaj-s...pcani-purgeri/
Purger is a nickname that is primarily used for the inhabitants of Zagreb, whose ancestors were born back and forth in Zagreb and who lived there. Each Zagrebian is not Purger, though the word is used as a nickname for Zagreb's citizens or fans of Dinamo. The word can also indicate the inhabitants of other cities that are resident there for generations, but it is rarely used in that case. The word comes from German, from the word Bürger, and in translation means the resident of the city.
Purgeri was originally the nickname of the player and fan of the soccer club Civic of Zagreb since the club name was Citizen, and the purgers actually meant citizens.
https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgeri
Purger
purger (purgar). 1. A citizen (from Bürger <medieval buraurus), a member of the city community (primarily in the Middle Ages and early New Age), which as a whole is a legal entity. Historical literature sometimes distinguishes a citizen (a full-fledged resident of the city directly subjected to a sovereign) and a purger (a full-fledged resident of a township under the ownership of a government).
2. A citizen of medieval Zagreb; a general nickname for Zagreb, often for members of Zagreb's sports fan clubs.
3. In the Pejorative Meaning: a Mischief, a Philistine.
http://www.enciklopedija.hr/natuknica.aspx?id=51136
''I'm proud to be a Purger''
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