Schiltal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location of the Schiltal
The mining town of Uricani
Ceaușescu visits a coal mine in Lupeni, 1977
Coal mine in Aninoasa

The Schiltal ( Romanian Valea Jiului ) is a Romanian mining region in southwestern Transylvania . The valley was the most important coal mining area in Romania for a long time . The development of the region is closely linked to the industrialization of the country. The miners of the Schiltal and their unions intervened in the country's domestic politics several times, most recently through the Mineriades in the 1990s. Due to the long-term exploitation of the most productive deposits , the productivity of coal mining fell sharply and numerous mines were closed, causing severe social upheaval and unemployment.

Geographically, only the upper reaches of the Schil is called the Schiltal, before it emerges from the southern Carpathians and flows south into the plains of the Little Wallachia (Rum .: Oltenia ). The two main rivers of the Schiltal, the Western Schil ( Jiul de Vest , also Jiu Românesc ) and the Eastern Schil ( Jiul de Est , also Jiul Unguresc ), which unite south of the city of Petroșani , arise in the headwaters . Politically, the Schiltal belongs to the Hunedoara district .

history

The Schiltal was inhabited since the Dacian times. When the Romans took power over Dacia , they paid only marginal attention to the Schiltal. It is known that the Romans washed a small amount of gold from the reeds. During the time of the Great Migration , the Schiltal served as a retreat for the Dakoroman population. It is assumed that the small ethnic group of the Momarlanen (Momârlani) settled here, and in this isolation supposedly preserved particularly original Dacian traditions.

Little is known from the Middle Ages , the oldest documented places are Aninoasa (1442), Vulcan (1462) and Petrila (1493), while Petroșani , founded by settlers from Petros , was first mentioned in 1640, Lupeni in 1770 and Uricani in 1818 . During this time the valley was crossed and plundered several times by Ottoman troops ( Akıncı ) on their way to Transylvania, most recently in 1788 in the Russian-Austrian Turkish War (1787-1792) . Until the early 19th century, the Schiltal was largely uninhabited due to its isolated location surrounded by mountains. Only a few shepherds from Wallenthal and Strell Valley used the abundant pastures and pastures as summer pastures for their herds. These shepherds also established the first modern settlements, which later formed the core of urban development. In 1818 only 2,550 people lived in the Schiltal.

At the beginning of the 19th century, geologists found the rich coal deposits in the Schiltal and in 1840 the first mine was opened in Petrila by the brothers Karel and Hoffmann. At that time, the Principality of Transylvania and thus the Schiltal belonged to the Habsburg Monarchy . The first miners were recruited from all parts of the monarchy, including Poles from Silesia, Czechs from the Bohemian Ore Mountains, Slovaks and German-speaking Spiš , Austrians, Beech Germans , Croats, Hungarians and Romanian miners from the Transylvanian Western Carpathians and from Baia Mare in Maramures . Numerous mines were built in a short time, in Petroschen alone 25 coal mines were opened in 1845.

The Hungarian revolution of 1848/1849 interrupted the development of the region for a short time, after which the advancing industrialization of the Habsburg monarchy led to an increasing demand for coal. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Transylvania and the Schiltal came under Hungarian administration and on August 25, 1869 the construction of a railway began, which was supposed to connect the main town of the valley, Petroschen, to the Hungarian rail network via Simeria . During the construction work, a silver treasure consisting of 200 ancient coins was found, including coins of Philip II of Macedonia . In 1870 the railway was inaugurated and the coal from the Schiltal could now be transported to the industrial centers of the monarchy. Nevertheless, the development was slow and the entire Schiltal only had about 6,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 1880s. In 1870, the mining company in Petroschen opened a German-language school for miners' children, and a state Hungarian school followed two years later. In 1873 there was a cholera epidemic in the valley due to the poor sanitary conditions , after which 50 Franciscans came from Munich to care for the sick. From 1890 to 1892 the railway line was extended into the western Schiltal to Lupeni.

After the First World War , the region was annexed to the Kingdom of Romania in 1919 . In August 1929 there were protests by the miners in the Schiltal, which the national-conservative government under Iuliu Maniu violently suppressed. On August 5, 1929, 36 workers were killed and 56 injured in Lupeni. The situation deteriorated further in the course of the global economic crisis . Romanian demand for steel decreased by 41% between 1929 and 1932, and with it the demand for coal. In February 1933 there were again industrial disputes, major strikes and bloody riots in the Schiltal. Half of the coal mines had to close by 1934.

In 1948 the coal mines , which had been privately owned, were nationalized after the Communists came to power under Prime Minister Petru Groza and incorporated into the complex of Soviet-Romanian SovRom companies. In Urceni, hard coal was mined for the coking plant and thus for the steel industry from 1947 . In 1949 a mining university was established in the Schiltal and the industrialization of the country was massively promoted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Momârlani și obiceiurile lor - intervie cu Petre Făgaș . In: Revista româna de studii etnoistorice. 2004.
  2. ^ Birgitta Gabriela Hannover Moser: Transylvania. Around Kronstadt, Schäßburg and Sibiu. Trescher, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89794-157-1 , p. 226 .
  3. ↑ Norbert Mappes-Niediek : Chaos or new ideas - Romania's trade unions decide the fate of the country . In: Die Zeit , 1999.
  4. ↑ Damien Roustel: revolt of the miners - a Pyrrhic victory in Romania . In: Le Monde diplomatique , February 12, 1999.
  5. ^ Mariana Hausleitner : The Romanization of Bukovina. The enforcement of the nation-state claim of Greater Romania 1918–1944 (= Southeast European Works. Vol. 111). Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-56585-0 , p. 222. (At the same time: Berlin, Freie Universität, habilitation paper, 1999).

Coordinates: 45 ° 26 ′ 38.7 ″  N , 23 ° 22 ′ 54.5 ″  E