Vršac

Vršac ( Serbian - Cyrillic Вршац [ Wrschatz ], German Werschetz , Hungarian Versec , Romanian Vârşeț ) is a city in Vojvodina , Serbia , in the Okrug Južni Banat .

geography

The city is located in the middle of the Banat , 80 km northeast of Belgrade and only 14 km from the border with Romania . The surrounding area is mainly characterized by the agricultural areas of the Pannonian Plain , at the southeast end of which the city is located. To the east are the Vršačke Planine ( Werschetz Mountains ), where there is extensive viticulture . The Deliblatska peščara dune landscape begins about 15 kilometers to the southwest .

Places of the municipality Vršac

The municipality of Vršac has 23 incorporated villages:

history

After the Romans withdrew from the Carpathian Arch in the year 271, the area around today's Vršac became one of the transit areas for nomads who established successive empires in the Hungarian lowlands. Slavs settled during the Avar period in the 5th and 6th centuries . Centuries later, Vršac fell to the Kingdom of Hungary . Whether the region was part of the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century is a matter of dispute.

In the 15th century, King Sigismund built a castle on Vršac Mountain to protect it against the advancing Ottomans . The castle was later given to the Serbian despot Đura bekam Branković as a fief . Around 1425 Serbian refugees settled at the foot of the Vršac mountain with its castle . The settlement was called Podvršac (Untervršac). Towards the end of the 15th century, more and more Serbian refugees settled in the Vršac area.

During the Ottoman siege of Sisak in Croatia, the Serbs dared to revolt against the Ottomans in the Banat in 1594 under the leadership of the Orthodox Bishop Theodor von Vršac (today the Orthodox patron saint of the city) and the voivod Grdan . As an atonement, the Ottomans u. a. the remains of the Serbian national saint Sava of Serbia from the Mileševa monastery to Belgrade and cremated the body. As a result, the rebellious Serbs were able to bring large areas of the Banat under their control; the uprising spread to Metohija and Herzegovina . Around 1606 the uprising was suppressed by the Ottomans, the bishop Theodor was skinned while still alive. Most of the population fled to Transylvania .

After the second Turkish war , Vršac only consisted of 70 houses. The first Germans settled there as early as 1718. In addition to Serbian Werschetz , German winegrowers from the Moselle region were settled in Deutsch Werschetz in three streets in 1723 . In 1792 the place counted 5212 Serbs and Romanians, 3145 Germans and 45 Jews; three years later (1795) the place was elevated to a town. In 1854 the German Teachers Award was opened and after twenty years it was closed by the Hungarians. The main occupation of the local farmers has always been viticulture . In 1881 the city had 22,329 inhabitants and was the seat of a Greek non-honored bishop. At the turn of the 20th century, the up-and-coming city had 25,199 inhabitants, including 13,387 Germans, 8112 Serbs, 2,635 Hungarians and 753 Romanians. Due to the division of the Banat in 1918, Vršac became a border town and could no longer develop economically. B. for the Germans still the intellectual and political center in the Banat. The Danube Swabians were expelled in 1945 as a result of the AVNOJ resolutions , with a large part being interned in labor camps. Due to the objection of Serbian residents, the expulsion of the Danube Swabians in Vršac was initially prevented, but carried out a few months later. Former Danube Swabian residents of the place later published their experiences of the expulsion in Germany and Austria.

“At the end of 1948 the Yugoslav state had released most of the German prisoners of war . However, around 1,000 prisoners of war, mostly officers, were detained on charges that they had committed war crimes. They were brought together in the Werschetz camp , where they were interrogated and brought to justice. "

The defense of the city by Hennemann

During the Turkish War of 1787–1792 , Werschetz was almost deserted at the end of September 1788. In the general uncertainty and fear, Johann Jakob Hennemann was only able to persuade 75 men to stay, namely 70 Germans and five Serbs, while the Wallachians (Romanians) in the area did scouting services for the Ottomans . Under the pretense that Werschetz was occupied by imperial troops, the 40,000 Ottoman soldiers could be moved to retreat from September 21 to October 18, 1788 by drums, bells, changing of the guard and smoking chimneys. On August 20, 1791, the municipal council of Werschetz issued him a “Well-earned Certificate” for saving the city from the Ottomans, which was signed by 28 citizens on behalf of the entire German Werschez community. The same was done by the 28 members of the Werschetz Raizian (Serbian) municipal council as a testimony to national unity in a mixed-language city. The 75 defenders were exempted from poll tax for life. During the German occupation in World War II (1941-1944) the place was renamed Hennemannstadt .

Music history of the city of Vršac

There have been concerts in Werschetz since 1775. The cantor teacher Johann Michael Watzelhan (born February 23, 1741 in Werschetz, † September 6, 1805 there) was also an important composer: he set the Seven Words of Christ on the Cross , a work that was carried out every year on Good Friday around the middle of the 19th century was performed in the parish church of Werschetz.

In 1861 a men's choir and a municipal music school were founded in Werschetz. Every boy could be instructed to play the violin or the flute free of charge. The former conductor of the Serbian-Banat border regiment, Wenzel Josef Hajek, was commissioned as a teacher. In 1920 this music school was closed. There were also instrument makers in Werschetz: around 1870 the violin makers Veit Horvath and Johann Moravetz worked as barrel organ makers. Around the same time, FJ Wettel founded a music publisher in which 94 works have been published. In Timisoara Wettel issued yet 228 musical works. In 1882 and 1883 the Banat music and singing newspaper, printed in Werschetz, was published in Timisoara.

Population development

Selected population figures (according to censuses):

1788: 75
1792: 8,402, of which 5,212 Serbs and Romanians, 3,145 Germans and 45 Jews
1881: 22.329
1891: 21.859
1901: 25,199, of which 13,387 Germans, 8,112 Serbs, 2,635 Hungarians and 753 Romanians.
1911: 26,370, including 13,556 Germans, 8602 Serbs and 3890 Hungarians.
1921: 27.011
1931: 29,411, including 13,121 Germans
1948: 23.038
1981: 37,513
1991: 36.885
2002: 36,623
2011: 35,701

Culture and sights

The city is the seat of the Serbian Orthodox diocese for the Banat and a Romanian Orthodox diocese, which is responsible for all of Serbia. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Gérard is now the largest Roman Catholic church in Serbia and was the second largest in the former Yugoslavia.

The house in which Tito resided in 1944 has been converted into a memorial museum.

Other attractions are:

the fortress of Vršac with a tower from the 15th century on the hill above the town
the Serbian Orthodox Mesić Monastery from the 16th century
the Roman Catholic mountain chapel of the Holy Cross (1720)
the Roman Catholic Chapel of Saint Roch (1739)
the Serbian Orthodox Bishop's Palace in Baroque style (1759)
the Serbian Orthodox parish church of the Assumption of Mary (1763)
the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas (1783–1785)
Serbian Orthodox Cemetery Chapel of All Saints (1837)
the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Gerhard in neo-Gothic style (1860–1863)
the well-preserved historic town center from the 18th and 19th centuries
the town hall (magistrate) in the Scottish country house style (18th century)
the city park in the style of an English landscape garden (19th century)
the Romanian Orthodox parish church of the Holy Savior (19th century)
the Serbian Orthodox Mountain Chapel of St. Theodore (2003)
the city museum with a rich archaeological collection

Sports

The city has one of the most modern arenas in the whole country, the sports, economic and cultural center "Millennium", which can seat 3600 spectators. This is also the home ground of the KK Hemofarm basketball club , which plays in the national ABA league .

“Banatski Rizling”, white wine from Vršac, 1993 bottle

Economy and Infrastructure

The most important employer in Vršac is the pharmaceutical manufacturer Hemofarm AD. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in Serbia and has been owned by the German Stada Arzneimittel since 2006 . There is also a well-known academy for airplane pilots in the city. The airport was reopened for regional flights in 2002.

Vršac is located in a wine-growing region. Among the numerous quality wines, the Welschriesling and Riesling stand out in particular. The local wine cellar is one of the three largest wineries in Europe.

Vršac is the border station with Romania . A pair of trains runs here between Belgrade and Bucharest North every day . In addition, two pairs of trains run between Vršac and Pančevo .

There are important road connections in the direction of Zrenjanin , Pančevo and Bela Crkva as well as to Timișoara in Romania .

Twin cities

Vršac maintains the following town partnerships :

city	country	since
Banská Bystrica	Slovakia Slovakia	2004
Kriva Palanka	North Macedonia North Macedonia
Lugoj	Romania Banat, Romania	2005
Novo mesto	Slovenia Dolenjska, Slovenia

Personalities

Born here

Johann Jakob von Hennemann (1744–1792), Banat folk hero
Jovan Sterija Popovic (1806-1856), Serbian writer
Marie von Augustin (1810–1886), Austrian writer
Leopold Magenbauer (1834–1901), Danube Swabian composer, choir director and teacher
Franz Julius Wettel (1854–1938), Danube Swabian historian
Jaša Tomić (1856–1922), Serbian politician
Felix Milleker (1858–1942), Danube Swabian homeland researcher
Paja Jovanović (1859–1957), Serbian painter
Milan Jovanović (1863–1944), Serbian photographer
Ferenc Herczeg (1863–1954), Hungarian writer of Danube Swabian descent
Sultana Cijuk (1871–1935), Serbian opera singer
Reinhold Heegn (1875–1925), Danube Swabian politician
Boris Kostić (1887–1963), Yugoslav chess grandmaster
Ladislaus Michael Weifert (1894–1977), Danube Swabian dialect researcher
Philipp Schwartz (1894–1977), Austro-Hungarian pathologist in Germany, Turkey and the USA
Jenő Vincze (1908–1988), Hungarian football coach
Vilma Lehrmann-Amschler (1910–1989), sculptor
Robert Rohr (1922–2008), German musician and writer
Nikita Ilyich Tolstoy (1923–1996), Serbian-Russian linguist, Slavist and university professor
Robert Hammerstiel (* 1933), Austrian painter, graphic artist and wood cutter
Stevica Ristić (* 1982), football player

Died here

Nikola Nešković (1739–1775), Serbian painter

Lived here

Vasko Popa (1922–1991), Yugoslav poet of Romanian descent

gallery

The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Vršac
The Roman Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Cross
City center
Vršac town hall
The Romanian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Gérard in the city center
Reconstruction work on the Vršac fortress
The new Arena Millennium in the city center
Street in the old town
Houses in the new housing estate Hemograd
National Bank building
Vršac City Park

Web links

Commons : Vršac - collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website

Individual evidence

↑ Harald Roth (Ed.): Banat, Batschka, Syrmien / Wojwodina - Study book Eastern Europe. Volume 1: History of East Central and Southeast Europe . Böhlau, 2009, p. 109-111 .

↑ Meyers Lexicon: Vol . 16 . 88, p. 16,156 .

^ Anton Scherer : Suevia-Pannonica: Studies on Southeast German and Danube Swabian regional studies, history and intellectual history . Self-published, Graz 2009, p. 38 .

↑ Anna Zentner: Freedom begins with the poplars. Memories of a Danube Swabian woman of the expulsion. Prokopp and Hechensteiner Buchverlag, St. Pauls 2006. ISBN 978-88-6069-000-5
Robert Hammerstiel : From icons and rats, a Banater childhood 1939-1949. Brandstätter Verlag, Vienna and Munich 1999

↑ DER SPIEGEL 46/1954 of November 10, 1954, page 11.

^ Anton Tafferner: East German Biography . Cultural Foundation of German Expellees, Bonn 88.

^ "In 1941 the Volksdeutsche Rat renamed the town of Werschetz to Hennemannstadt in his honor." In: Deutsche Arbeit. Journal of the Volksbund for Germanness abroad. Volume 41, issues 4–12, page 252.

↑ PDF at media.popis2011.stat.rs

^ Hans Gehl: Annotated Danube Swabian texts . Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 99, ISBN 3-515-07552-6 , pp. 157 .

^ Partnerské mestá ǀ Banská Bystrica. Retrieved September 29, 2019 .

↑ Збратимени градови ǀ Општина Крива Паланка. Retrieved September 29, 2019 .

^ Primăria Municipiului Lugoj. Retrieved September 29, 2019 .

[1] Harald Roth (Ed.): Banat, Batschka, Syrmien / Wojwodina - Study book Eastern Europe. Volume 1: History of East Central and Southeast Europe . Böhlau, 2009, p. 109-111 .