Seliştat

Seliștat
Seligstadt
Boldogváros

Help on coat of arms

Basic data

State :

Romania

Historical region :

Transylvania

Circle :

Brașov

Municipality :

Șoarș

Coordinates :

45 ° 59 ' N , 24 ° 52' E Coordinates: 45 ° 59 '12 " N , 24 ° 51' 48" E

Time zone :

EET ( UTC +2)

Height :

570 m

Residents :

224 (2002)

Postal code :

507219

Telephone code :

(+40) 02 68

License plate :

BV

Structure and administration

Community type :

Village

Seliștat ( German Seligstadt , Transylvanian-Saxon : Selijescht , Hungarian Boldogváros , formerly also: Szélistat ) is a place in the Brașov district in Transylvania , Romania .

Geographical location

Seligstadt on the map of the Josephinische Landesaufnahme , 1769 to 1773

Seligstadt is located in the Harbach highlands , about 30 km northwest of the city of Fogarasch (air line distance 18 km). The village belongs to the community Groß-Schenk (Rum .: Cincu ). It is very remote and can only be reached via an unpaved road from the neighboring town of Bekokten (Rum .: Bărcuț ) about 4 km away . To northwestern neighboring village, the upper Harbach valley located hundreds Bücheln (rum .: Movile ), there are dirt roads, but they are passable only with an SUV. South of Seligstadt in the direction of Groß-Schenk there is a training area for the Romanian army ( Poligon Cincu ), which is also used by NATO units and is closed to civilians. According to plans by the Romanian government, the A3 motorway is to be built near Seligstadt in the future and connect Fogarasch with Schäßburg (Roman: Sighișoara ).

history

The village is one of the oldest places founded by the Transylvanian Saxons . It was first mentioned in a document as “villa militum” in 1206 in a deed of donation from the Hungarian King Andreas II , the so-called Andreanum, and must therefore have existed as early as the late 12th century. The current place name appears in the form of "Selgestat" for the first time in 1355 in a document. The Latinized form "Locus Felix" is documented in a document from 1383. The Hungarian place name Boldogváros is a translation of the German name from the 19th century and also means blessed / happy city. The Romanian place name is a phonetic adoption.

The oldest part of the Gothic fortified church in Seligstadt dates from the first half of the 14th century and was fortified with a fortification in the 15th century due to the increasing number of Turkish attacks on Transylvania. In the 16th century, this defensive system was further expanded and its external appearance has remained almost unchanged to this day. However, the interior of the Protestant church was redesigned in the 19th century.

Seligstadt has belonged to the Schenker chair since the Middle Ages and was located on Königsboden through the privilege of King Andreas II . The Saxons who settled here were free farmers who were not subordinate to any noble landlords, but directly to the Hungarian crown. In return, in the event of war, they had to provide armed men with armed equipment at their own expense to defend Transylvania. Initially Catholic, the Saxons of Seligstadt converted to Lutheranism in the second half of the 16th century. The church, which was previously consecrated to St. Nicholas, became a Protestant place of worship. It is known from 1500 that 34 families lived in the village and that there was a mill and a school.

In the Middle Ages and early modern times, the isolated location largely saved Seligstadt from falling victim to war and destruction. Later this location, away from the main traffic routes, also prevented economic development and the village therefore remained small and exclusively agricultural. The newly arrived Romanians joined the Saxons in the village. In a nationwide survey of the Romanian population by the bishop of the Greek Catholic Church Inocențiu Micu-Klein , twelve Romanian families with around 60 people were counted in Seligstadt in 1733. However, these did not have their own church or pastor.

The Habsburg administration of Transylvania carried out another census in 1850, in which 748 inhabitants were counted in Seligstadt. Of these, 443 were Saxons, 222 Romanians, 76 Gypsies and one Hungarian. 447 people belonged to the Evangelical Church and 298 to the Romanian Orthodox . After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise , the old feudal administrative units were abolished and the grand donor chair was dissolved. In 1876 Seligstadt was assigned to the Groß-Kokel County . After the First World War, Transylvania and with it Seligstadt came to the Kingdom of Romania .

The ethnic composition remained almost the same until the Second World War. In 1941 the highest population in history was determined with 788 people, 406 of them Germans, 301 Romanians and 78 Gypsies. After that, the Transylvanian Saxons began to emigrate to West Germany (see Buying Out Romanian Germans ), while many of the Romanian residents left the village to move to the cities. This development was driven by the collectivization of agriculture carried out by the communists , which was rejected by many farmers. In 1977 only 381 inhabitants lived in the village, including 236 Romanians, 143 Germans and two Hungarians (Roma were not recorded separately in this census). After the revolution of 1989 , almost all of the remaining Saxons emigrated to Germany. In 2002 only 224 inhabitants were counted, of which 133 Romanians, three Germans and 86 Roma.

The German school and the Protestant parsonage, which were vacant due to emigration, have been converted into a youth hostel in recent years on the initiative of Pastor Johannes Klein from Fogarasch. Tourists and youth groups can stay there with advance notice.