Gura Humorului

Gura Humorului ( pronunciation ^?^/^I ; Polish and German Gura Humora or Gurahumora , Yiddish : גורא הומאָרא Gura humora ) is a place in the southern part of Bucovina , near the city of Suceava in northeast Romania .

The place, which formerly belonged to the Principality of Moldova , is located at the mouth of the Humora River in the Vltava ; the place name means mouth of humor . At the end of the 18th century, the Bukovina region , to which Gura Humorului also belongs, was occupied by Austria . From the 19th century until the Second World War , the then multicultural city was shaped by German and Jewish culture. As late as the 1930s, Bukowina Germans were the largest population group in the town. Today, Jewish life there, like the former German residents, has largely disappeared. In 1998 the Gura Humorului Jewish Community was founded, a community of former Jewish residents of Gura Humorului with the aim of preserving the memory of Jewish life in the city.

View of the Sfinții Împarați Constantin și Elena church in Gura Humorului.

history

In 1774 the Bukovina region, to which the then Gura Humora belonged, was occupied by non-belligerent Austria in the course of the Russo-Ottoman War (1768–1774) . In 1774 this was confirmed in the peace treaty of Küçük Kaynarca , officially as thanks for Austria's "mediating services" between the war opponents.

From the end of the 18th century, colonists from many parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy poured into Bukovina, which was then still very sparsely populated, including numerous Jewish families . The majority of the immigrants here, however, can be assigned to the Bukowina Germans.

In 1869 about a third of the city's population (880 people) were Jews . Together with the Bukowina Germans, German-speaking Jews formed a majority of the population in Gura Humora, but there were also significant Romanian and Ukrainian populations.

Due to its large Jewish population, Gura Humorului was a very important center of Jewish life and Jewish intellectuals in Bukovina until the beginning of the Second World War . In the 1930 census, when Bukovina was already part of Romania and the German-speaking part of the population decreased, the city had 6,042 inhabitants. Of these, 43.8% said German as their mother tongue, 29.4% Yiddish and 22.6% Romanian.

Intellectuals from Gura Humora

Teodor Bălan
Radu Bercea , Romanian painter
Olha Kobyljanska
Cătălin Țăranu , left, European Go master
Salomon Wininger

history

After the First World War , the Austro-Hungarian Crown Land of Bukovina, including Gura Humora, was added to the Versailles Peace Treaty by the victorious powers of Romania. Since then, Gura Humora has officially been called Gura Humorului in Romanian.

In 1940 the majority of the population of German origin was brought " home to the Reich ". On October 10, 1941, most of the city's Jewish residents were deported to concentration camps in the occupied area of Transnistria ; however, some survivors returned to the city in 1944 and 1945. The remaining German population was expelled after the end of the Second World War. Since the end of the Second World War, the city has been part of the Suceava district of Romania. According to the 2011 census, the town had 13,667 inhabitants, over 90 percent of whom were Romanians.

Attractions

The monastery Voroneţ
The place is very popular with tourists, especially because of its convenient and central location to the Vltava monasteries . In Gura Humorului there are several churches, a synagogue and an old Jewish cemetery .

Town twinning

Gura Humorului has been twinned with the town of Sulina in the Danube Delta since 2006 and with the port and district town of Puck in Poland since 2011 .

sons and daughters of the town

Olha Kobyljanska (1863–1942), Ukrainian poet
Anton Keschmann (1870–1947), Austro-Hungarian politician
Salomon Wininger (1877–1968), Austrian lexicographer, author of the Great Jewish National Biography
Teodor Bălan (1885–1972), Romanian historian, professor at the University of Chernivtsi and director of the Chernivtsi State Archives
Mano Zahl-Teschenbruck (1888–1968), Austrian film director, inventor and senior state official
Rixi Markus (1910–1992), British bridge player
Nathan Juran (1907–2002), American film director

Web links

Commons : Gura Humorului - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Gura Humorului - travel guide

Gura Humorului Jewish Community (English)
Gura Humora Portal (Romanian)
History of the Duchy of Bucovina, capital Chernivtsi deutsche-schutzgebiete.de
Born in Chernivtsi, murdered in Buchenwald bukowina.info
Second World War: The Romanian Army on the Eastern Front rri.ro
Resettlement from Bukovina III. Reich dhm.de

Individual evidence

↑ 2011 census in Romania at citypopulation.de

↑ Compare the Ethnic Map of Bukovina from 1930

↑ Recensământul general al populatiei româniei din 29 decemvrie 1930 - Internet Archive

↑ 2011 census in Romania ( MS Excel ; 1.3 MB)

↑ Resolution No. 183 on December 5, 2006 by Sulina ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 379 kB; Romanian) accessed on March 31, 2017 @1@ 2

↑ Information on the partnership with Puck at radiotop.ro (Romanian) accessed on March 31, 2017

[1] 2011 census in Romania at citypopulation.de

[2] Compare the Ethnic Map of Bukovina from 1930

[3] Recensământul general al populatiei româniei din 29 decemvrie 1930 - Internet Archive

[4] 2011 census in Romania ( MS Excel ; 1.3 MB)