Romanian culture

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The Romanian culture was fundamentally due to the geographical position of Romania affects between Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, but it may of these regions are fully allocated to any of the cultures. It has its origins in a mixture of elements from the ancient Roman and Dacian cultures. However, this is still the subject of controversial discussions (see Dako-Romance continuity theory ). In late antiquity and the Middle Ages were Slavic influences of neighboring peoples of the Bulgarians , Serbs , Ukrainians , Poles and Russians added, also influences the Hellenistic dominated Byzantine Empire , who Hungary and later Ottoman decor and contributions of Transylvanian Saxons . For about 250 years, Romania has orientated itself more or less strongly to western cultures, especially to French and German. After the 1989 revolution , the cultural influence of France, which still dominated the 1930s, receded from that of the USA.

Historical development

The beginnings

The Romanians see themselves in the tradition of ancient Roman culture. However, this is still controversial in science , although the Romanian language is a Romance language and many customs and traditions are similar to those of other Romanized nations.

Between the 11th and 14th centuries, the principalities of Wallachia , Transylvania and Moldova emerged in the Carpathian Mountains , and they roughly represent the forerunners of today's Romania.

Transylvania fell under Hungarian influence at the end of the 11th century . From then on, the cultural development of Romania differed from that of other "Romanian" principalities. The Hungarians brought the Catholic denomination to the previously Bulgarian Orthodox country and allowed the Teutonic Order to settle German settlers.

See also: History of Romania

middle Ages

The Middle Ages in the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldova did not begin until the 14th century, i.e. at a time when this era was coming to an end in Western Europe and the Renaissance was in preparation. The belated establishment of the two principalities is due, among other things, to the fact that the region was the scene of the migration of peoples between the 4th and 12th centuries . Visigoths, Gepids, Slavs, Huns, Proto-Bulgarians, Magyars and Tatars crossed the region, settled here for a time and left many traces that are still visible today both archaeologically, in toponymy and in the Romanian language.

Modern times

Early evidence of Romanian literature were the Chronicles of the Principality of Moldova by Grigore Ureche (1590–1647), who first showed the Romanians' Latin origins, Miron Costin , an educated grand boyar and politician, Ion Neculce (1672– approx. 1745) and Dimitrie Cantemir , a polyglot historian, music theorist and humanistically educated encyclopedist, who was first in the Ottoman, then in the Russian service.

The high point of culture and art in Wallachia on the threshold between the Middle Ages and modern times is the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688–1714). The so-called Brâncoveanu style ( stilul brâncovenesc ) is a synthesis between Romanian medieval art and elements of the Western European Renaissance and Baroque.

In the dominion of the Habsburg counting Transylvania Romanians were a only by the Austrian state power "tolerated nation" and politically under-represented. At the end of the 18th century, the Școala Ardeleană ( Transylvanian School ) began a Romanian emancipation movement that emphasized the Romanesque origins of the Romanians. The Cyrillic alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet. The supremacy of the Pope over the Romanian Church was also accepted (see: Romanian Greek Catholic Church ). In 1791 a petition was written to Emperor Leopold II , the Supplex Libellus Valachorum was based on the French declaration of human and civil rights and called for equal political rights for all ethnic groups in Transylvania.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Wallachia and Moldova came under Hellenistic influence due to the rule of the Greek princely family of the Phanariots . There were Greek-influenced schools in both principalities. In 1818 the first Romanian educational institution was founded in Bucharest by Gheorghe Lazăr , which Ion Heliade-Rădulescu continued after his illness. Anton Pann was a successful writer at that time, Ienăchiță Văcărescu wrote the first work on Romanian grammar and his nephew Iancu Văcărescu is considered the first important Romanian poet.

The Romanian Revolution of 1848 also had an impact on Transylvania and the Romanian principalities. A new bourgeois elite emerged, including:

  • Mihail Kogălniceanu

  • Vasile Alecsandri

  • Andrei Mureșanu

  • Nicolae Bălcescu

  • Mihai Eminescu

  • Nicolae Grigorescu, By the Sea (around 1880)

The union of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldova in 1859 brought a further consolidation of the Romanian identity. Universities were opened in Iași and Bucharest , and an independent cultural life developed. The new prince and later king of Romania, Charles I, and his wife Elisabeth were great patrons of art. The literary society Junimea , founded by people around the literary critic Titu Maiorescu in 1863, had a great influence . Junimea published the magazine Convorbiri Literare , in which the most famous Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu and Romania's most famous playwright Ion Luca Caragiale , as well as the novelist Ion Creangă published parts of their works.

At the same time, the impressionist painter Ion Andreescu , Nicolae Grigorescu , who was influenced by French realism, and Ștefan Luchian, a representative of social realism, founded modern Romanian painting. All three depict life in the village. With Luchian, the portrayal of the needs of the rural population before the peasant uprising of 1907 takes on greater drama. The composer Ciprian Porumbescu also comes from this period.

In Transylvania also organized on the Romanian emancipation movement, 1861 was founded in Sibiu ASTRA, a society for the promotion of Romanian literature and culture, largely under control of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna . With their help, a large number of books and magazines could be published in Romanian. The founding of the Romanian Academy on April 1, 1866 was a high point of cultural emancipation. The first Romanian encyclopedia was written between 1898 and 1904.

The following famous people were born in Transylvania during this period:

  • Ioan Slavici

  • George Coșbuc

  • George Bariț

  • Badea Cârțan

Golden age

After the First World War , the country was faced with the task of uniting the people from different parts of the country with different cultural and political traditions and thus unifying between the highly cultivated, Western European-oriented Transylvania, the Russian-oriented and often illiterate Bessarabia and the old Kingdom of Romania To create balance.

The first half of the 20th century is considered the golden age of Romanian culture. During this period of rapid modernization, it found international recognition and was strongly oriented towards Western Europe. Bucharest was known as the “Paris of the East”: a cosmopolitan city ​​that produced a number of important artists and scientists. Some Romanian authors began to write in French, such as the poet Alexandru Macedonski and the novelist Panait Istrati , the " Gorky of the Balkans" (according to Romain Rolland ).

However, the epoch was also strongly influenced by Nicolae Iorga , who came from the rural Eastern Carpathians , a historian, university professor, literature, playwright, poet and Romanian politician who, as a representative of a popular, traditionalist direction, turned sharply against cosmopolitanism, more than 1250 Published books and wrote 25,000 articles.

The 1920s and 1930s were an extremely productive era of Romanian prose with personalities such as the writers Liviu Rebreanu , who wrote socially critical works and described the horrors of war, Mihail Sadoveanu , who wrote novels about medieval Vltava, and Camil Petrescu (1894–1957) who founded the modern Romanian novel. The playwright Mihail Sebastian wrote a variety of plays that were performed on the country's growing number of stages. A well-known actress of the time was Lucia Sturdza Bulandra (1873–1961). Well-known poets were Tudor Arghezi , who is considered a revolutionary of Romanian poetry, and George Bacovia . Ion Barbu was a mathematician and wrote original poetic works.

The painter Jean Alexandru Steriadi captured the hustle and bustle of the capital Bucharest in impressionist pictures. The sculptor Constantin Brâncuși , who had a strong influence on sculpture of the 20th century, the surrealist painter Victor Brauner , the co-founders of Dadaism Tristan Tzara and Marcel Janco , the writer Eugène Ionesco , who has lived in France since the 1940s, and was the most important French playwright of the post-war period, became world-famous and leading representatives of the theater of the absurd , the philosopher Emil Cioran and the religious scholar Mircea Eliade . The composer George Enescu and the pianist Dinu Lipatti also became world famous .

The orientation of many artists towards Western Europe, however, became the subject of heated arguments between the "traditionalists" and the so-called "Westerners". The playwright, expressionist and philosopher Lucian Blaga was an important figure of the traditionalists, while the novelist, translator, literary critic and founder of the literary society Sburătorul , Eugen Lovinescu (1881-1943), who represented Westerners and founded Romanian modernism .

Important Romanian painters were Nicolae Tonitza , Camil Ressu , Gheorghe Petrașcu , Lucian Grigorescu and Theodor Pallady .

After the Second World War

Romanians in exile

After Romania was integrated into the sphere of influence of the communist Soviet regime in 1947, large numbers of intellectuals left the country. Some achieved international fame, including: the playwright Eugen Ionescu , creator of the theater of the absurd and a member of the Académie française , who wrote in French since 1950; the religious historian and writer Mircea Eliade , who wrote his works in Romanian and French, and the essayist and philosopher Emil Cioran . The Romanian Ioan Petru Culianu continued the work of M. Eliade with great success in the USA.

Well-known musicians of this time were Sergiu Celibidache, first director of the Berlin Philharmonic and later the Munich Philharmonic and film composer Vladimir Cosma , as well as Constantin Silvestri , director of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra . Gheorghe Zamfir became known for his pan flute playing . The composer and architect Iannis Xenakis also comes from Romania. The singer and composer Peter Maffay , who was born in Brașov in Transylvania , made a career in Germany.

Also noteworthy intellectuals born in Romania but living in exile are the two Nobel Prize winners George Emil Palade and the Jew Elie Wiesel , who wrote his books mainly in French.

Some of the important German-speaking writers of the post-war period came from Romania, such as the Czernowitz- born poet Paul Celan , who had lived in Paris since 1948. The writer and Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller from the Banat has lived in Germany since 1987.

  • Mircea Eliade

  • Emil Cioran

  • Gheorghe Zamfir

  • Iannis Xenakis

  • Elie Wiesel

Culture in socialist Romania

literature

For the Paris exhibition Le Surréalisme en 1947 , Romanian artists and writers made important contributions, which led André Breton to remark that Romania could be identified with Surrealism. be. After this brief phase of departure after the Second World War until the Communists came to power in December 1947, literature became an instrument of socialist awareness-raising. In Romania, as in other socialist or communist states, cultural life was censored or understood by the ruling party as an instrument of political education in the sense of socialist ideals. Two main currents emerged: one glorified the regime, its work is now largely viewed as meaningless; the other current tried to create a culturally valuable art despite censorship. Probably the best-known personalities of this time are the writer Marin Preda , whose novels are of lasting validity, Eugen Jebeleanu (1911–1991), who wrote the surrealistic-expressionist anti-war poem “The Smile of Hiroshima”, the poets Nichita Stănescu and Marin Sorescu and the Literary critics Nicolae Manolescu and Eugen Simion . The “ Oneiriker ” Leonid Dimov and Dumitru Țepeneag should also be mentioned . Many had to work under surveillance by the Securitate secret service or even under house arrest. Some therefore withdrew to the seclusion of the Orthodox monasteries. Her works were not published until after the 1989 revolution, including the works of the philosophers Constantin Noica , Petre Țuțea and Nicolae Steinhardt .

In the second half of the 1960s there was an opening up in terms of cultural policy, the representatives of which were oriented towards French existentialism and Western European literary debates. Representatives were u. a. Ioan Alexandru (1942–2000) and Ana Blandiana (* 1942) with their subjective thought poetry. Numerous titles in international literature have been translated into Romanian. The poet Nora Iuga (* 1931) translated German-language literature into Romanian, including titles by Herta Müller and Oskar Pastior .

In the 1970s, there was an increased focus on national identity and the national romantic tradition of the 19th century, on the world of myth and symbols. Poets such as Ioan Alexandru also followed this trend. In the prose there was a temporary settlement with the arbitrariness of the communist organs of power, with dogmatism and personality cult, as in Alexandru Ivasiuc's novel Racul ("The Cancer", 1976). Until the 1980s, relatively "political" novels were published that addressed important aspects of Romanian society such as the there-city dualism or the situation of the intellectuals. However, the nationalist turnaround was quickly abused by the dictatorship or actively promoted in the course of the reorientation of foreign policy.

Publishers such as Cartea Românească and Editura Eminescu published books, some censored, some printed directly on behalf of the party, such as the Biblioteca pentru Toți ("Library for Everyone") with over 5000 titles in very high editions . In general, books were never published in print runs of less than 50,000. Libraries have been set up in almost every place, and because of the low prices, almost everyone could get a sizeable collection. The paper used for the books was of such poor quality at that time that a very large part has already fallen apart.

theatre

The communist party also subsidized the theater. This is how new theaters were built in many places, including smaller ones. This was done on the one hand to be able to transport the communist ideals, on the other hand to build a Romanian national consciousness. The National Theater Bucharest is worth mentioning . The Romanian theaters performed several hundred plays annually. In addition to classics such as Chekhov, Shakespeare and Molière, mainly national authors were played. The authors escaped censorship through ambiguous, metaphorical language. The smaller theaters were often semi-professional “workers' theaters”.

Movie

From the 1960s onwards, cinemas also appeared in which western films were shown. Western films became particularly popular. However, these were mostly very heavily censored, scenes were completely removed or the dialogues were ideologically adapted. In-house productions popular in Romania were short films based on plays by Ion Luca Caragiale as well as westerns and period films shot in Buftea . Among the internationally best-known directors of this era are Liviu Ciulei (awarded at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1965 for best director for his film adaptation of the novel Pădurea spânzuraților by Liviu Rebreanu ), Lucian Pintilie (his masterpiece Reconstituirea from 1968 was banned by the Communist Party and Voted best Romanian film of all time by the Asociația Criticilor Români de Film after the fall of the Wall in 1989 ) and Dan Pița ( Concurs 1982; Faleze de nisip 1983; Silver Bear 1985 for Pas în doi ). Mircea Veroiu ( Nunta de piatră 1973, together with Dan Pița) was also an important director . Ion Popescu-Gopo received the Palme d'Or (short film) in Cannes for his cartoon "Scurta istorie" and was nominated for the Golden Bear (Berlin) in 1975 for Comedie fantastică . The painter Sabin Bălașa was also active as a filmmaker. A well-known director was Sergiu Nicolaescu and popular actors were e.g. B. Amza Pellea , Florin Piersic, and Jean Constantin .

painting

In the late Stalinist phase, socialist realism also prevailed in Romania . In the context of the cultural and political opening in the mid-1960s, experiments were carried out with a painting of "socialist modernity" based on increasing abstraction, neo-impressionist or expressive painting styles. At the beginning of the 1970s, naive painting , which has a long tradition in Romania, was rediscovered. Some painters took up the surrealist tradition of the 1920s and 1930s. There were also international influences such as Op Art .

In the mid-1970s, ideological pressure and personality cult increased. Sabin Bălașa painted large frescoes and surrealist figurations . Painting flattened out overall, became more and more trivial, but quickly recovered after 1989. Throughout these phases Ion Bitzan tried to develop his own style and continuously experimented with new techniques and perspectives. He is also considered a pioneer of Concept Art in Romania. Even creators of plastic works such as Margarete Depner and graphic artists were partially able to evade the style guidelines of socialist realism.

  • Marin Preda

  • Ion Luca Caragiale

  • Liviu Rebreanu

  • Sergiu Nicolaescu

Development after 1989

literature

After the revolution in 1989, a large number of previously censored books could be published, and the number of publishers rose suddenly. However, due to the onset of the economic depression and the lack of funding, their number decreased just as quickly. In many cases, the publishers began to translate foreign titles into the national language, which had negative effects on the domestic literary scene, but at the same time the quality increased. The best-known publishers are Humanitas in Bucharest, Polirom in Iași and Teora, who specializes in scientific literature .

In 1989, the Uniunea Scriitorilor, a writers' association was established with the aim of supporting young writers. The best-known authors at the moment are Mircea Cărtărescu ("Die Wissenden", German edition 2007), Horia-Roman Patapievici , Andrei Pleșu , Gabriel Liiceanu and Mircea Dinescu , but they are often dependent on journalistic activities to make a living. Andrei Codrescu , who is popular in Romania, lives in exile , although he mainly writes in English. One of the younger authors is Dana Grigorcea (* 1979), who lives in Switzerland ("Baba Rada. Life is as transitory as the hair on the head", German 2015), in which she addresses the American secret service activities in the fight against terrorism in Romania. In 2010 Nora Iuga's first novel “The Sixty Year Old and the Young Man” was translated into German. In it she paints an almost documentary picture of the cultural life in Romania under Ceausescu.

After the economic crisis in 2008, the book circulation dropped again drastically. In March 2018, Romania will be the guest country at the Leipzig Book Fair .

theatre

The Romanian theater scene suffered on the one hand from the economic decline of Romania, on the other hand from the development of a new television landscape. The most famous theaters were able to survive with funding and investments in their own quality. Some experimental theaters are popular among students. Uniter , the Romanian national theater cooperative , presents awards annually. Notable contemporary directors are Silviu Purcărete , Tompa Gabor , Alexandru Dabija and Alexandru Darie , well-known actors are Ștefan Iordache , Victor Rebenciuc , Maia Morgenstern , Marcel Iureș , Horațiu Mălăele , Ion Caramitru , Mircea Diaconu , Marius Chivu . The emigrated Matei Vișniec , who also enjoys great international success with his plays, writes in French and Romanian and after 1989 became one of the most played playwrights in Romania.

Movie

The Romanian film industry suffered a lot in the 1990s. Above all, Dan Pița ( International Film Festival of Venice , Leone d'Argento, 1992 for Hotel de lux ), Lucian Pintilie (International Film Festival of Venice, Premio Speciale della Giuria, 1998 for Terminus paradis ), and Mircea Daneliuc enjoyed international recognition . Despite the initial difficulties, a new generation of directors grew up, and from around 2000 onwards they registered numerous international successes. Many speak of a "Romanian New Wave". Cătălin Mitulescu won the Palme d'Or in 2004 for the short film Trafic . Nae Caranfils Film Filantropica and Cristi Puius The Death of Mr Lazarescu also became internationally known at the Cannes Film Festival . Cristian Mungius 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 2007 as best film . Other successes: Cristi Puiu (Golden Bear 2004 for the short film Un cartuş de Kent şi un pachet de cafea ); Corneliu Porumboiu (Caméra d'or, Cannes 2005); Cristian Nemescu (Un Certain Regard for California Dreamin 'Cannes, 2007); Marian Crișan (Silver Leopard / Premio speciale della giuria, Locarno 2010 for the film Morgen ); Cristian Mungiu (Award for the best screenplay / Prix du scénario and Best Actress for the two leading actresses in the film Behind the Hills , Cannes, 2012); Călin Peter Netzer (Golden Bear 2013 for Poziția Copilului / Child's Pose ). In addition to its own productions, Romania is popular with foreign producers due to the diverse, largely untouched landscape, the interesting architecture of the cities and villages and the low costs.

Festivals

Romania is looking for a connection to the international art scene. The number of events such as the “Cow Parade” in Bucharest in 2005 is increasing every year. Medieval festivals, re-enactment of medieval battles, are very popular these days. The most important theater festival takes place in Sibiu , the most important film festivals are the “TIFF” Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca , the “Dakino” Film Festival in Bucharest and the “Anonimul” Film Festival on the Danube Delta.

music

The most important festival is the “George Enescu” Classical Music Festival , and the “ Jeunesses Musicales International ” and various jazz festivals in Sibiu and Bucharest are also recognized. Sibiu was named European Capital of Culture 2007. The most important contemporary composers include Doina Rotaru , Mihaela Stănculescu-Vosganian , Sorin Lerescu , Violeta Dinescu , Dan Dediu , Liviu Dănceanu , Dora Cojocaru , Adrian Borza and Irinel Anghel .

philosophy

Philosophy (which has always played a central role in Romania's cultural and scientific discourse, e.g. with Dimitrie Cantemir , Mihai Eminescu , Titu Maiorescu , Lucian Blaga , Camil Petrescu , Mircea Eliade , Emil Cioran and Constantin Noica , and during the communist The dictatorship of Marxism-Leninism to a large extent, but could never be completely suppressed) experienced a new bloom after the political change. The most famous philosophers are the two Noica students, Gabriel Liiceanu and Andrei Pleșu, as well as Horia-Roman Patapievici . In the last 20 years many professional societies and journals have been founded that have connected Romanian philosophy to the current international debates and networks, such as B. the Romanian Society for Phenomenology and its specialist body Studia Phaenomenologica, which is highly regarded abroad .

painting

After 1989, the movement of naive painters , which ties in with the old traditions of rural art, grew stronger . Adrian Ghenie is one of the most important contemporary Romanian painters , who developed an abstract-figurative style with surrealistic elements.

Romanian traditions

folklore

Traditional house in a local museum near Bucharest
The church in Borzeşti

Romania has preserved a very rich folklore, especially in the rural regions, whose customs and traditions can be traced back to the time of the Roman occupation (106–271 AD). Folk art includes wood carving, ceramics, weaving, traditional clothing, dances and a very rich treasure trove of folk songs.

The use of wood as an important building material resulted in a rich art of wood carving that can still be found on many old buildings in the country today. Local museums in Bucharest or the ASTRA Museum in Sibiu try to preserve this art.

Linen and wool have traditionally been the main material for clothing. This is adorned with embroidery that differs from region to region. Depending on the region, black, red or blue are the most important colors. Traditionally, men wear a white shirt and woolen trousers ( itari ) with a leather belt and a leather jacket. Women traditionally wear a white shirt and a white vest, an apron called șorț or cătrință , which is usually richly decorated, and a headscarf (basma) .

Music and dance form the liveliest part of Romanian folklore and show influences from Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans. A typical form of the ballad is the doina , an improvised free rhythmic singing style that is accompanied purely vocal or instrumental. Căntecul is a genre of songs that comes in many variations. Romanian folk musical instruments include the cobsă , the violin ( vioară ), the dulcimer țambal, as well as cylinder drums ( tobă , dubă ) and the frame drum dairea . Flutes (generally fluier ) are the beaked flute of the shepherd caval (cf. kaval ), the panpipe nai and the long flute without finger holes tilincă . There are also the bagpipes cimpoi , the long trumpet trâmbiță (similar to the Ukrainian trembita ) and the acordeon . The majority of professional musicians ( lăutari ) are Roma .

Maria Tănase is the most famous folk singer , as are Grigore Leșe and Taraful Haiducilor . The dances are quite lively and live on in a large number of professional and amateur dance groups. Hora is one of the most popular dances and the căluşari is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

Spirituality and religion

The Romanians are considered to be a very spiritual people who are heavily influenced by the churches of the East, but see themselves as unique. Only a few Romanians belong to the Roman Catholic denomination, the number of Protestants is negligible, 90% are Romanian Orthodox Christians. The Romanians themselves are considered to be very religious, and the church enjoys a great reputation among the people. Although there is currently a discussion about the Church's cooperation with the communists before 1989, priests like Dumitru Stăniloae are very venerated.

Especially in the country there are a large number of impressive churches and monasteries, which were usually built of wood. The wooden churches in Maramureș are most worth seeing . Architecturally, the Byzantine influence is clearly recognizable. In southern Bukovina there are some monasteries that are now part of the UNESCO World Heritage List , including those in Moldovița , Putna , Sucevița , and Voroneț . In Wallachia there is the cathedral of Curtea de Argeș , which shows Byzantine and Moorish influences.

Traditional cuisine

The kitchen shows the same influences as the entire culture. From Roman times there is a cake called plăcintă (from Latin placenta ), and the Turks brought a kind of meatballs with garlic, black pepper and savory into Romanian cuisine, grilled they are called mititei . The musacas , a casserole dish, comes from the Greeks ; from the Bulgarians a wide variety of vegetable dishes such as zacuscă , a stew made from tomatoes, eggplant and mushrooms; The Austrians took over the șnițel ( Wiener Schnitzel ) and the covrigi , hot pretzels, and the Hungarians have some popular baked goods.

One of the most widespread dishes is Mămăligă , a maize porridge that has long been considered “poor people's food”. Pork is extremely popular in Romanian cuisine, hence the saying: “Peştele cel mai bun, tot porcul rămâne” - “The best fish is still the pork”. However, there are also numerous fish and beef dishes. At Christmas, people traditionally eat cârnați - a type of long sausage made from liver and other offal, as well as piftie ( jelly ), a jelly made from the feet, head and ears of the pig ( aspic ), and tochitură , a kind of stew. In addition, sweet bread (cozonac) and traditional sweets from the Ottoman cultural area are served. At Easter we consumed traditional lamb dishes.

Wine growing has a two thousand year old tradition in Romania. Romania is currently the ninth largest wine exporter in the world. If the wines did not have a very good reputation so far, efforts are now being made to improve the quality. Cultivated varieties are the local Fetească , Grasă , Tamâioasa , but also internationally known such as Riesling , Merlot , Sauvignon Blanc , Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay , Muscat-Ottonel . In addition, Romania is the second largest plum producer in the world, from which a very well-known brandy is distilled , the țuică . As a German legacy, Pilsener is brewed according to the German purity law .

See also: Transylvanian cuisine

Monuments in the UNESCO World Heritage List

In 1993 and 1999, the following monuments were included in the UNESCO list: the Moldavian monasteries with exterior paintings; Horezu Monastery ; the fortified churches in Transylvania ; the old town of Sighișoara ; the Dacian fortress in the mountains of Orășties ; the wooden churches in Maramureș . In 2005, the Căluşari ritual was also included in the UNESCO list of intangible world cultural heritage.

Contributions from the minorities

Bran Castle

The legacy of the Transylvanians can be found in the architecture of the region, in churches, fortifications and cities. The first letter in Romanian was addressed to the mayor of Kronstadt , and the first book printed in Romanian was from Sibiu .

Romania is considered the cradle of the Jewish theater and there is still a State Jewish Theater in Bucharest today. The first Yiddish professional theater in the world was founded in the city of Iași in 1876 by A. Goldfaden, the "father of Yiddish theater".

Music in Romania today

Many Romanian rock bands from the 1970s and 1980s, such as Phoenix , Iris and Holograf , are still popular. At the same time, however, some "boy bands" and hip-hop groups developed. The pop rock band Taxi is internationally known. Spitalul de Urgență combines folklore and modern western elements. Jazz and blues are also popular in Romania . Otherwise the taste in music is based on that of Western Europe.

Well-known musicians from Romania include the black metal band Negură Bunget , the pop singers Alexandra Stan and Inna and the Fanfare Ciocărlia brass band , as well as the sopranos and opera singers Ileana Cotrubas and Angela Gheorghiu . Peter Maffay and Miss Platnum celebrated their successes especially in German-speaking countries.

literature

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ W. Schuster, M. Wieser (Ed.): Weltliteratur der Gegenwart 1890-1931 . Berlin 1931. Second volume: Romance and Eastern countries. P. 373.
  2. ^ Roland Prügel: In the sign of the city: Avant-garde in Romania. 1920-1938. Cologne / Weimar 2008.
  3. ↑ On the development of Romanian drama from the time of Stalinism to the nationalist socialism of the 1970s (with a list of the authors and works) see Gheorge Stanomir: The Romanian Dramatic After 1945. Attempt to determine the location and aesthetic evaluation. Critical interpretations and bio-bibliographical materials. Frankfurt / Bern / Cirencester o. J. Full text in the archive of the Heidelberg University Library (pdf).
  4. ^ Eva Behring: The literature of the post-war period. Continuation of: Martin Block: The Romanian Literature . In: Kindlers new literature lexicon, Munich 1996, volume 20, p. 98 ff.
  5. ↑ Ludwig Richter / Heinrich Olschowsky (eds.), BI-Lexikon Literaturen Ost- und Südosteuropas. A subject dictionary , Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, p. 138ff.