Piața Libertății (Timișoara)

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Piața Libertății, view towards the military casino and headquarters (2017)

The Piața Libertății ( German  Freedom Square ) is a central square in the city center of the western Romanian city ​​of Timișoara .

Name of the place

The Jenő Herceg tér at the time at the turn of the century

At the time of the Austrian Empire , the city was expanded into a fortress and garrison city from 1716, and the square was named Paradeplatz . In the German population , this term is still in use today, the Romanian equivalent is Piața de Paradă . An alternatively common unofficial name in the Austrian period was Stadthausplatz .

As a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it was finally officially renamed Jenő Herceg tér after Eugene of Savoy , the German equivalent was Prinz-Eugen-Platz . With the beginning of the Romanian era from 1919/20, it was finally officially referred to as Piața Libertății , Romanian for Freedom Square . The reason for the renaming was the cession of Timișoara to Romania, stipulated in the Trianon Peace Treaty , which was propagandistically referred to as the liberation of Hungary .

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Video with a panoramic view (2016)
The Old Town Hall (Primăria Veche), 2016

In the square is the Old Town Hall ( Romanian Primăria Veche ), which was built from 1731–1734 according to the plans of the Italian architect Pietro del Bronzo on the foundations of a Turkish bath that was destroyed in the Turkish War , but underwent some changes in the following centuries. The facade is a mixture of style elements of the Baroque and the Renaissance and contains the city coat of arms with the image of strong towers in a fortress. Here is also the seat of the music faculty of the University of the West Timișoara . In this eastern part of the square there was also the former savings bank , which was built in 1855 by the architect Karl Mai , as well as the Biblioteca Județeană George Barițiu ( German district library George Barițiu ).  

Statue of John of Nepomuk and Mary (2016)

In front of the representative building of the town hall is the statue of St. Nepomuk and Mary . It was created from sandstone in 1753–1756 by the Viennese sculptors Blim and Wasserburger . In the center of the statue is Saint Nepomuk , the patron saint of the Catholic Banat people since 1727, holding a cross. Above him is the Virgin Mary with a wreath on her head. The statue commemorates the plague victims of 1738 and 1739.

On the western side of the square is the military casino , which originally served as the residence of the military commander. Today it is the command center of the city's military garrison ( Romanian Casa Armatei ). It was built in 1730 on the foundations of the old fortress ( Cetate ), previously the ruins of a Turkish bazaar were located here . In front of the building there is a monument with a bust of the last king of Dacia , Decebalus per Scorilo ( German  Decebalus , son of Scorilo ). There is also a small fountain in the square.

The square has been connected to the local tram network of the Societatea de Transport Public Timișoara (STPT) since 1899 , and it was also an important junction until 1989. The horse tram, which opened in 1869, stopped 100 meters east of Piața Libertății .

Tanks were deployed on the Piața Libertății during the Romanian Revolution in 1989 .

During a radical redesign in 2014/15, the trees, bushes and green spaces that had shaped the image of the square since the early 20th century had to give way to a striking paving of red and gray stones arranged in a pattern of concentric rings is. Now it looks more like the former parade ground again. After the pavement was laid, a number of young trees were planted again. The 37 million lei project, funded by the European Union, divided opinions among residents: while some regretted the loss of the tall, shady trees, others welcomed the more modern face of the square, which is to become an artistic center of the city. The statue of St. Nepomuk was also restored in this context.

literature

Web links

Commons : Piața Libertății (Timișoara)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Timisoara - old street names from Hans Gehl ( Memento from June 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. Rumaenien-erleben.de ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Timișoara (Temeswar)
  3. Muzica.UVT.ro , Timișoara Academy of Music, Piața Libertății No. 1, in Romanian
  4. Rumaenien-Info.at ( Memento of 5 April 2009 at the Internet Archive ), Timisoara - The Small Vienna
  5. ^ Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu: Romania. Proper travel . DuMont Reiseverlag, Cluj 2008, ISBN 978-3-7701-7614-4 , p. 382 .
  6. Spiegel.de , Der Spiegel 1/1990: This is our Ceauschwitz - The city of Timisoara after the uprising against Ceausescu
  7. Centru istoric, reabilitat. După doi ani de lucrări, Piaţa Libertăţii din Timişoara are o faţă nouă. Stirile TV, January 2nd, 2016.
  8. Statuia Sfântului Nepomuk din Piaţa Libertăţii din Timişoara hese din nou la Lumina ... restaurata. ( Memento from February 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: Ziua de Vest , September 30, 2015.

Coordinates: 45 ° 45 ′ 20 ″  N , 21 ° 13 ′ 37.9 ″  E