Agnita

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Agnita
Agnetheln
Szentágota
Agnita coat of arms
Agnita (Romania)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Basic data
State : RomaniaRomania Romania
Historical region : Transylvania
Circle : Sibiu
Coordinates : 45 ° 58 '  N , 24 ° 38'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 58 '25 "  N , 24 ° 37' 37"  E
Time zone : EET ( UTC +2)
Height : 447  m
Area : 112.92  km²
Residents : 8,732 (October 20, 2011)
Population density : 77 inhabitants per km²
Postal code : 555100
Telephone code : (+40) 02 69
License plate : SB
Structure and administration (as of 2016)
Community type : city
Structure : 2 districts / cadastral communities: Coveș , Ruja
Mayor : Ioan Dragoman ( PSD )
Postal address : Piața Revoluției, no. 18
loc. Agnita, jud. Sibiu, RO-555100
Website :
Old coat of arms of Agnetheln

Agnita ( pronunciation ? / I , German Agnetheln , Transylvanian-Saxon Ognitheln , Hungarian Szentágota , outdated Ágotafalva ) is a town in the Sibiu district in Transylvania ( Romania ). Audio file / audio sample  

Geographical location

Agnetheln is almost in the middle of Romania, in the Harbachtal ( Valea Hârtibaciului ) on the upper reaches of the Hârtibaciu ( Harbach ) - a tributary of the Zibin -, on the district road ( Drum județean ) DJ 106, the connecting road from Sibiu ( Hermannstadt ) to Sighișoara ( Schäßburg ) . In the northeast of the Sibiu County, the city is about 45 kilometers southeast of the city of Mediaş ( Mediasch ); the district capital Sibiu is about 60 kilometers southwest of Agnita.

City structure

The villages of Coveș ( Käbesch ) and Ruja ( Roseln ) belong to the city of Agnetheln . The population of Agnetheln in the summer of 2004 was 12,119, of which around 500 were each in the two cadastral communities.

history

The fortified church

Agnetheln was founded around 1180 by German immigrants ( Transylvanian Saxons ) who were called into the country by the Hungarian king. Agnetheln was first mentioned in a document (according to different sources) in 1206 or 1280. Settlement of the place goes back much further. According to information from C. Gooss, G. Téglás and M. Roska , finds of a settlement from prehistory were made in the place called Langer Furleng by the locals . Further archaeological finds dating back to the Neolithic Age , as well as a settlement eight kilometers north of Agnetheln (on the Pârâul Cetății [castle stream]), and necropolises that point to the Late Bronze Age , were made on the site.

The name Agnetheln goes back to the legendary founder of the town, St. Agnes (synonym Agneta, Agnet, Agnetha ). The seal of the market office shows St. Agnetha with the palm branch in her right hand. Legend has it that she was one of three daughters of a count who built his castle on Mount Lempesch in the direction of Dealu Frumos ( Schönberg ). These daughters are said to have founded the villages of Roseln and Mergeln (Rum. Merghindeal).

Sacred buildings

Gate tower of the fortified church

In the Middle Ages , the later Protestant fortified church was built by the Saxon settlers in order to be able to withstand repeated attacks by Ottoman armies. The current form of the most important preserved architectural monument, which is located in the center of the village, dates from 1560. However, the curtain walls were torn down in the 19th century. At the end of the 18th century, the first Romanian Orthodox church was built on a mountain on the outskirts of the city.

Modern times

From 1867 to 1919 Transylvania fell under purely Magyar rule within the Habsburg dual monarchy . During this time, attempts were made to Magyarize in Agnetheln . Back then, as today, the Hungarians were only a small minority.

After the annexation to Romania in 1919, the German residents lost more of their centuries-old rights . The pastures and forests previously shared by the Saxon citizens of Agnetheln - the "community land" - were expropriated. B. There was a lack of significant funds to finance the German school. Many offices were filled by Romanian people due to new laws, the German residents increasingly pushed out of the administration.

Since the Second World War

In January 1945, the "able-bodied" German population (including 16 and 17 year olds) - as in other parts of Romania - were deported to the Soviet Union for forced labor. After the communist seizure of power in 1948, the German residents were discriminated against, repeatedly expropriated and driven from their homes. After 1990 a large part of the Transylvanian Saxons emigrated to Germany . Despite the period of disadvantage - immediately after the Second World War - and the wave of emigration after 1989 there are still German-language lessons at the Agnitas schools - for the majority of Romanian students, as there are now fewer than 50 residents with German roots.

Attractions

Portal of the Harbachtalmuseum
  • The Steinburg area above the city
  • The Protestant church, built in 1409, is a Gothic hall church that was built on the plan of a Romanesque church from the 13th century. In the 16th century the church was converted into a fortified church. With the defense towers: the potter (gate tower), blacksmith (in the east), tailor (in the southeast) and the shoemaker tower in the southwest, built in the 15th century, the fortified church is a listed building
  • The Harbachtalmuseum was founded in 1952 by Erhardt Andree in a residential building from 1800, which is now a listed building. Among other things, it keeps a work by Erasmus von Rotterdam . The museum is located in the city center, on the left (when coming from Sibiu) and is open every day except Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • The Romanian Orthodox Church of Sfântul Nicolae ( Saint Nicholas ), built between 1795 and 1797, is a listed building.

traffic

In 1898 the place got a rail connection from the direction of Schäßburg . In 1910 the narrow-gauge railway called " Wusch " by the German population was extended to Hermannstadt. In 1965 the connection to Sighișoara, and in 2001 also to Sibiu, was de facto closed by the Romanian State Railways ( CFR ).

Economy and Social

Agnetheln's cattle fire sign

Agnetheln is the center of the historical Harbachtal region and an old location for leather processing, less of textile production. The town developed as a small Saxon town shaped by the shoemaker's trade, small trades and small farmers into a rich small town. In the Middle Ages , the guilds were the organizations that coordinated the craftsmen and their activities on the basis of regulations. At the end of the 19th century, the German population founded their first industrial companies in the city: a spirit factory , a leather and shoe factory, and a cooperative bank based on the German Raiffeisen principle, which supported start-ups and small businesses. The economic development was supported by the transport connection to the small train “Wusch”.

Up to 1990, a large proportion of the population was employed in three larger industrial companies. In Agnita itself only the leather factory works today (2008), all other factories were closed after 1990 by the now private owners, most of the workers made redundant.

In addition, the plays Agriculture as Subsistenzbetrieb today a central role in the professional life of the inhabitants of Agnita. The number of people employed in the private sector rose from 2,500 in 2004 to 3,546 in 2006. The official unemployment rate in 2004 was 6.1%. From 1990 Agnetheln lost its role as the small industrial center of the Harbachtal more and more. Planned projects for the revitalization of Agnitas have so far not been successful. Many young people were and are forced to emigrate because there are too few jobs.

Personalities

  • Georg Daniel Teutsch (1817–1893), Bishop of the Protestant Church, was pastor in Agnetheln in the mid-19th century
  • Franz Friedrich Fronius (1829–1886), natural scientist and local historian, was pastor in Agnetheln between 1868 and 1886
  • Christian Friedrich Maurer (1847–1902), historian and playwright, born in Agnetheln
  • Friedrich Rosler (1855–1943), dialect poet, author and evangelical teacher, born and died in Agnetheln
  • Michael Barner (1881–1961), painter, born in Agnetheln
  • Trude Schullerus (1889–1981), painter, born in Agnetheln
  • Erhardt Andree (1911–1972), historian, founded the Harbachtalmuseum in 1961
  • Gottfried Lutsch (1908–1990), photographer, documenter of Transylvanian-Saxon popular life
  • Ioan Gyuri Pascu (1961–2016), comedian, composer, singer and actor, born in Agnetheln
  • Elena Cârstea (born 1962), singer
  • Bernd Fabritius (* 1965), politician, president of the worldwide federation of Transylvanian Saxons and member of the German Bundestag, born in Agnetheln

literature

  • Arne Franke: The defensive Sachsenland. Fortified churches in southern Transylvania. German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe, Potsdam 2007, ISBN 978-3-936168-27-3 .

Web links

Commons : Agnita  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2011 census in Romania at citypopulation.de
  2. ↑ a b Heinz Heltmann, Gustav Servatius (Ed.): Travel Guide Siebenbürgen. Kraft-Verlag, Würzburg 1993, ISBN 3-8083-2019-2 .
  3. ↑ Information on Agnetheln at sevenbuerger.de/ortschaften, accessed on October 7, 2012
  4. ^ Institute Of Archeology - Ocna Sibiului, accessed October 7, 2012 (Romanian)
  5. ↑ a b List of historical monuments of the Romanian Ministry of Culture, updated 2010 (PDF; 7.10 MB)
  6. ↑ Michael Barner in the local family book Agnetheln at ortsfamilienbuecher.de, accessed on October 6, 2012
  7. ↑ Gudrun-Liane Ittu: Trude Schullerus shaped the Transylvanian art scene on March 26, 2006 at sevenbuerger.de
  8. ↑ The Harbachtalmuseum in Agnetheln on the website of Uwe Andree
  9. ↑ Gottfried Lutsch at sevenbuerger.de/zeitung, accessed on October 6, 2012
  10. ↑ Ioan Gyuri Pascu's website ( Memento from April 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Elena Carstea ( memento of February 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on April 23, 2014 (Romanian)