|
Speakers |
|
|
|
|
BSS means hospitable organizers, interesting and intellectual lecturers, new friends from around the world, amazing and unforgettable two weeks in Romania. Experience it!
Onur Tekin, Middle East Technical University
Turkey
|
|
|
|
Location
 |
LOCATION
Sibiu is the most important city in the county of Sibiu. It is situated in the longitude of 24° 29' East (in line with Lyon) and in the latitude of 45° 48’ North (in line with Athena), near the geographical center of Romania
POPULATION
The city community is made up of various ethnic groups.
|
|
The large majority of the population is Romanians (94%) speaking Romanian, the only Latin language in this part of the continent.
There are many small communities in Sibiu, the Germans represents around 2%, they are descendents of the German settlers who emigrated from area of today Luxembourg and Rhine Valley (Germany) in 12-th century.
The German dialect spoken in Sibiu is very similar to Frankish/Luxemburgish language.
Christian Orthodox dominates the religion, but there are also Catholics and Reformed.
ECONOMY
Sibiu was for centuries an important industrial center of Romania.
The prosperity and harmony of Sibiu has its roots in a capitalistic tradition influenced by a long standing German work ethic. New entrepreneurs have developed new businesses after the collapse of communism and the foreign investments have started to flow in.
There are mechanical engineering works and industries producing textile machinery, foodstuffs and lather. The city is also a market for farm products and cattle
|
CULTURE
Sibiu/Hermannstadt is perceived as a city of art and culture. A great number of cultural monuments, a diversity of museums, and various artistic and cultural events, make up the pillars of a complex cultural profile. Using this simple premise, an attractive and stimulating atmosphere has been created for residents and visitors who take the opportunity to experience cultural life in this Transylvanian city.
Sibiu/Hermannstadt has a Philarmonic Orchestra which performs weekly concerts of classical and modern symphonic music, also organises an international piano festival.
|
 |
|
A great number of festivals are organised yearly in Sibiu, the most prestigious being the International Theatre Festival organised each spring at the end of May.
Also, the oldest Jazz Festival in Romania is organised here, as well as a festival for young classical music artists, a documentary film festival, a medieval arts festival and many more smaller cultural events.In 2007, Sibiu was the European Capital of Culture. |
HISTORY
The Sibiu area shelters archelogical findings from Late Stone Age, Early Bronze and Iron Age to pre-Roman settlements inhabited by Dacian tribes. Traces of a Roman settlement named Cedonia puts Sibiu on the map of the Dacian Province of the Roman Empire.
The colonists, named in the documents “teutonici”, “flandres” or “saxones” established around 1150 a settlement called “Villa Hermanni” – Hermannsdorf, later Hermannstadt, mentioned first in a document in 1191 by Pope Celestin III. Hermannsdorf evolved towards urban life and got the rank of city – civitas in 1366.
The German colonists’ settlements united in seven Chairs, which towards the end of the 15th century formed a coherent administrative system called The University of Saxon Nation whilst Sibiu/Hermannstadt became the capital city of the Saxons.
The city grew in importance as it developed a prosperous trade with Hungary, Poland and the southern province of Wallachia.
The craftsmen in Hermannstadt also bartered goods - mainly clothes and tools - with the Romanian population. Production and trade developed and flourished, due to the activity of the guilds.
|
 |
Their first written regulations (1367) mentioned 19 guilds, with 25 trades. Their number constantly grew. The flourishing period was shadowed by the Turkish danger as invasions followed one after the other beginning with 1394, 1432, 1437 and 1438, when the town successfully resisted against a siege led by the sultan Murad th 2nd.
At the end of the 18th century the governor of Transylvania Samuel von Brukenthal had gathered an impressive library and rich art collections, mentioned since 1773 in the Almanach von Wien.
The collections were opened to the public in 1817 and became later the core of Brukenthal Museum. In the 18th century the town extended over the precinct walls, forming the district Josephin, Terezian and Lazaret. Since beginning with the 1541 only Saxons could have properties inside the walls of the town, the Romanian population settled in these districts.
|
Transylvania was annexed to Hungary since 1867. The city witnessed once again an economical flourishing. Between 1840 and 1918, a number of 33 industrial enterprises were active in Sibiu/Hermannstadt. The electric plant was founded in 1896 and the electric tramway appeared in town in 1905.
At the end of World War I, in 1918 the Romanian population decides to unite Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania, followed in 1919 by the Saxons’ Assembly voted for joining in.
Sibiu became the seat of the provisional government until the unification was completed.
Although the number of Romanians in town substantially raised, Sibiu/Hermannstadt remained the main centre of the German culture and education in Romania and witnessed a vivid cultural life of all the ethnic groups.
Sibiu did not suffer distructions during WW II but, after the war, the new communist authorities backed by Moskau began to nationalise the factories and the land while launching waves of pollitical trials and arrests against all oponents. For the population of Sibiu a long suffering began. The communist authorities considered Saxons guilty in corpore for collaborating with the German Reich and many of them were deported in the Soviet Union for forced labour.
As economic hardships and oppression grew during the 80’s, the population of Sibiu was fast to rebel against the communist regime in December 1989, when 91 persons lost their life in the armed clashes.
During the 90’s the city restored its democratical institutions and faces now the task of renewing the infrastructure and raising the living standard of its inhabitants. |
Milestones in Sibiu history
1292 - The first hospital in Romania.
1380 - The first documented school in Romania
1494 - The first pharmacy in Romania
1534 - The first papermill in Romania
1544 - The first book in Romanian is printed here.
1551 - The first experiment with rockets in the world by Conrad Hass
1671 - The methane gas is discovered near Sibiu
1782 - Franz Joseph Müller discovers the chemical element Telur
1795 - At Cisnadie is installed the first lightning rod in SE Europe.
1817 - Brukenthal Museum, the first museum in Romania
1852 - First issue of Telegraful Roman the oldest newspaper in SE Europe
1859 - The Liars Bridge, the first cast-iron bridge in Romania
1875 - The first engineering manufacturing in Transylvania
1896 - The first electric power in Romania and the first power line in this part of Europe.
1904 - The second city in Europe where an electric tramway is used
1928 - The first Zoological Garden in Romania
1989 - The second city in Romania rising against the Communists.
|
WHAT TO SEE IN SIBIU
|
 |
The Big Square (Piata Mare)
This is the historic center of Sibiu, first time mentioned in 1411 as corn market. The public executions and public meetings used to be held here. Here is the best shown the 'city eyes' the windows from the roofs.
For hundred of years the square changes the name from 'Grosser Ring' to 'King Ferdinand'.
The square has a length of 142 m and a wide of 93 m, being one of the largest in Transylvania. The southern side of the square is declared architectural monument with preserved medieval styles.
The Small Square (Piata Mica)
The Small Square is the second largest historic place of Sibiu and one of the most beautiful square in town.
This square is a magnificent place surrounded by preserved medieval buildings and it is connected to the Large Square through narrows passages.
Ocnei Street divides the square in two and is the main way to the lower town.
The Liars Bridge is spanning over the street and make the connection to the Huet Sq.
Museum of Pharmacy, Museum 'Emil Sigerus' and Museum 'Franz Binder' are located here, as well as The Art House and the Goldsmith's Tower (1567) that connects the square with the lower tower through the Goldsmiths Passage, one of the most beautiful places in town.
The Huet Square (Piata Huet)
The Huet Square is surrounded by historic buildings built in gothic style.
The square is dominated by the Evangelic Cathedral and the Brukenthal High School. Facing the north side of the cathedral at No 1 is the parochial house with a lovely Gothic entrance of interlaced stone, carved in 1502 by Andreas Lapisida. Beside the parochial house stands one of the oldest buildings in town, the 13C Defense Tower and archway through which you can descent once more into the Lower Tower. Before walking down on the right-hand side is a 17C courtyard of private houses that seems to be untouched by the 20C.
Lower Tower (Orasul de Jos)
Strada 9 Mai is the place where Sibiu began. Here and in the parallel Strada Noua, the houses still show the social development that took place between the 13C - 14C, when agricultural farmsteads gave way to craftsman's dwellings.
At the further end of strada Zidului (Wall Street) stands the circular Gunpowder Tower (Turnul Pulberariei)
Follow strada Zidului west into strada Pulberariei, and at next junction stands an octagonal tower built by the Tanner's guild, Turnul Pielarilor. Strada Ocnei named after the salt mines that lay to the north of Sibiu. The house at number 26 is one of the oldest on Sibiu. |
 |
 |
 |
|
Historic buildings (SELECTION)
|
 |
The Council Tower, Piata Mica nr. 1
The Council Tower was built in the 13th century being the first time mentioned in a document dated 1370. Its name is related to the next building, which was the first Town Hall of the city. The tower became the entrance gate of the second fortified walls. At the last floor, an observation desk allows a bird-eyes view over the historic town and one floor below you can see the clock mechanism |
 |
The Arts House, Piata Mare nr. 21
The Arts House is one of the most beautiful buildings in Sibiu and one of city's symbols. The Arts House, is the Old Butchers house built in 15th century and designed for shops, dominates the square with its silhouette with eight arches at the ground floor. Now hosts the "Emil Sigerus' Museum |
 |
Stairs Tower , Piata Huet
The tower, one of the oldest building in Sibiu, is raised on the foundation of the oldest element preserved from the first fortifications around the church existing here at the end of the 12-th century. The present tower is dated from 1542 |
 |
The Fortress
The most of the remaining parts of the old City Walls and Towers can be seen on the East side of the town along the Coposu Avenue and Manejului Street. On Cetatii Street there are three remaining towers from the third belt of fortifications. |
 |
The Thick Tower, Bd. C. Coposu
Built at the middle of the 16th century it used to be the infantry tower. The first town theatre was installed here in 1778. Recently renovated and incorporated in the new city theatre |
 |
Haller Bastion
Part of the protection edifice that surrounded the old town, built in 1552. Situated at the south-eastern end of the fortification, on the present Corneliu Coposu Boulevard, is an ample construction with brick structure. |
 |
In the Lower Town, at the further end of strada Zidului (Wall Street) stands the circular Gunpowder Tower (Turnul Pulberariei).
A circular massive tower built in 16th century as part of Ocna Gate Complex used to store gunpowder. In Pulberariei street stands an octagonal tower built by the Tanner's guild, Turnul Pielarilor |
 |
The Old Town Hall
A historic building used to be the Old Town Hall for 450 years. The building was built in 16th century in Renaissance and Gothic style.
There is a gallery in the yard, which leads to the tower. |
 |
Haller House, Piata Mare 10,
Built in Renascence style it preserves from the old edifice built in 15-16th century the arches, decorations, doorframes, and the portal with blazon. Haller family will be the owner of the building for 345 years. |
 |
Bobel House Str. Avram Iancu nr. 16
It is among the oldest dwelling from Sibiu. |
 |
The Liars Bridge, Piata Mica
The first iron-cast bridge in Romania built in 1859 over the way of acces that connects the upper town to the lower town, opened in 1851. |
|
AROUND SIBIU
Extraordinary natural beauties, magnificent towns and villages, first class resorts and historic sites surround Sibiu.
There are so many places of interest around Sibiu that make difficult to introduce all of them.
THE CHURCHES - MEDIAEVAL CASTLES
The south - eastern part of Transylvania, corresponding to the area where German communities have been colonised (Flandrens, Teutons, Saxons) by the kings of Hungary, has a specific character. It is conferred by the frequency of the fortified churches, dating since the XIIth - XVIth centuries, present in most of the villages colonised by the German population, known under the name of Saxons.
The churches, fortified or not, have been surrounded by walls, towers and bastions of defense of a various and picturesque diversity.
The greater frequency of fortified churches is found in Sibiu County, Orastie, Sebes, Miercurea, Sibiu, Nocrich, Cincu, Rupea, Biertan.
Paltinis - Health Resort
Touristic resort situated at 32 km North - West from Sibiu, Paltinis is the highest (1440 m altitude), and the oldest resort in Romania.
It was founded by the Transylvanian Carpathian Society (S.K.V.) in 1894. The layer of snow resists about six months a year, being Paltinis visiting card for winter sports.
At Schit (Hermitage), near the wooden church, was buried Constantin Noica, the philosopher (1907 - 1987).
Ocna Sibiului
is placed at an altitude of 450 m from the sea level at 12 km from Sibiu. It has access to the main road, the railway and the Sibiu Airport. It was documentary attested in 1263.
The resort was officially inaugurated in the 20th of June 1858. Between 1906 - 1909, the central pavilion and the bathing house were raised; they are still existing. They have spaces for warm bathing, mud packing, aerosols, and basins. Since 1948 - Ocna Sibiului becomes a permanent resort.
THE REGION MARGINIMEA SIBIULUI
In a larger sense, the region called Marginimea Sibiului represents a geographical historical and ethnographical entity, including the chain of Romanian villages situated at the feet of Sibiu Mountains.
The following localities belong to the region called Marginimea Sibiului: Boita, Sadu, Rau Sadului, Talmaciu, Talmacel, Rasinari, Poplaca, Gura Raului, Orlat, Fantanele, Sibiel, Vale, Saliste, Gales, Tilisca, Rod, Poiana Sibiului and Jina.
The greatest part of the villages in the area has preserved strong spiritual and ethno - folkloric traditions, conferring to these communities a specific aspect. The wonderful geographic site, the purity of the people and of the nature, the richness and the diversity of the cultural patrimony, turn this place into a region with a great touristic potential.
|
|
|
|
|
