Among the medieval fortifications, museums and representative buildings of the city of Brașov, there are also smaller monuments, statues and artesian fountains that either remind people and significant events of history, or provide a space for relaxation. The presence of these monuments began to be known starting from the second half of the 19th century.
Statuary groups
editThe statue of the Virgin Mary
editThe statue of the Virgin Mary (patron saint of the city of Brașov) is located on one of the buttresses of the Black Church, facing the Council House, with the coat of arms of Brașov carved in relief below.
The statue of Johannes Honterus
editNear the Black Church is the statue of Johannes Honterus, unveiled in 1898, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the birth of the great humanist. The statue was made on the initiative of Franz Obert who started an action to collect the necessary funds as early as 1883. The monument is the work of the Berlin sculptor Harro Magnussen.
The statue, cast in bronze, 2.50 meters high, is placed on a granite pedestal 2.60 meters high. Honterus is depicted with his right hand raised, and in his left hand holding an open book, on the pages of which are written the principles of the religious reform he promoted in Transylvania. On the front of the pedestal is the inscription "Honterus 1498-1549". One of his most important activities - typography - is illustrated by a relief on the side of the pedestal.
Ioan Micu Moldovan, as a representative of the Romanian Academy, Ilarion Pușcariu and Dr. Corneliu Diaconovici from Sibiu, as representatives of Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People (ASTRA), participated in the unveiling ceremony of the statue. Guests from Germany were also present, including the doctor Rudolf Virchow.
The monument to the Heroes of Bartolomeu
editIn the fall of 1916, in the days of the withdrawal of the Romanian army from a superior enemy in terms of equipment, in the battle for the defense of Brașov, an infantry company received the order to defend at all costs the entrance to Brașov from its Bartolomeu district. After two days of resistance (September 24/October 7 - September 25/October 8), the 168 Romanian soldiers were surrounded and killed.[1] The heroes of the Battle of Bartolomeu were buried next to the railway. Later, on that spot, to the right of the Bartolomeu railway station, a cemetery of heroes, mostly unknown, with an area of 750 square meters was set up. The bones of 595 Romanian heroes from 10 infantry regiments, who died in the battles of Bartolomeu and around Brașov, were gathered and buried in 13 common graves, marked with concrete signs and metal crosses.[2]
The central monument of the cemetery has the shape of a funeral urn, with an eagle on top. On its front side, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania was fixed, and the names of the regiments from which the heroes came were engraved in stone. On an inscription it is written: „The country is grateful to its dear sons. Do not shed tears on the graves of heroes, but rather glorify them in song, so that the fame of their name may remain an echo through the legend of the ages".
The monument was unveiled on July 7, 1921, during a ceremony dedicated to heroes, in the presence of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria. On this occasion, the choir "Romanian Musical Meeting" from Lugoj, directed by Ion Vidu, performed military and patriotic music.[3]
In 1948, after the communists came to power, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania was removed from the heroes' monument, as was the text mentioning the regiments the heroes were part of. In 1972, for "urban considerations", the cemetery of the heroes of Bartolomeu was abolished, under the pretext of widening the railway and the road. The bones of the heroes were moved to the heroes' cemetery in Șprenghi (district of Brașov), with only the central monument remaining between the road and the railway, in a new location.[4]
Bust of Ștefan Octavian Iosif
editA monument was erected in the city's central park in memory of the poet originally from Brașov, Ștefan Octavian Iosif. As early as 1919, the Brașov press had started a sustained campaign to collect funds to erect a bust of the writer. An initiative committee is created and the bust is ordered from Transylvanian sculptor Corneliu Medrea. In 1929, the Ministry of Arts approved the organization of the unveiling ceremony of the bust, which was attended by Virgiliu Ștefan Iosif, the poet Ion Minulescu, the author of the bust, as well as many Brașov residents.
The bust of the poet is placed on a plinth of trachyte from Deva. A bas-relief with three planes is mounted on the plinth: on the left the grandmother with the spindle, in the center the inspiring muse Euterpe, and on the right a painting symbolizing the heroism of the Romanian troops in the Battle of Mărășești.
Bust of Cincinat Pavelescu
editThe idea of unveiling a bust of Cincinat Pavelescu in Brașov appeared the day after the poet's funeral, in 1934, at the initiative of some magistrates, his former colleagues, the press and his many admirers. In order to make the bust, initiative committees were set up, and public collections were organized.
The bust, cast in bronze, is the work of the sculptor Gheorghe Popa. It was decided that it should be placed near that of Ștefan Octavian Iosif. The ceremony of unveiling the bust was postponed several times, so that it finally took place on July 5, 1935.
The statue of the Unknown Soldier in Union Square
editIn Union Square in Brașov there is an important monument to the heroes of the First World War, unveiled in 1939 by the "Reunion of Romanian Women". The monument depicts a Romanian soldier with a weapon in his hand, in an attack position. On an inscription it is written::"Gratitude to the liberating heroes of the nation".
The statue of Andrei Mureșanu
editThe statue of Andrei Mureșanu in Brașov, the work of the sculptor Virgil Fulicea, was unveiled in 1973. It is located near the Dramatic Theater in Brașov.
The statue of George Barițiu
editThe statue of George Barițiu in Brașov, the stone work of the sculptor Nicolae Encea, was unveiled in 1973. It is located in front of the County Library of Brașov, which bears the name of the great Transylvanian publicist.
Bust of Ciprian Porumbescu
editThe bust of Ciprian Porumbescu in Brașov is a work of sculptor Vladimir Predescu. It is located in the park near the Andrei Șaguna National College, a place of culture that recalls the first performance of his operetta, "Crai Nou".
The statue of Deacon Coresi
editThe statue of Deacon Coresi is a stone work by the sculptor Ion Meiu. It is located in the courtyard of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Brașov, near the First Romanian School, a space of culture reminiscent of the first printings in the Romanian language.
The statue of Nicolae Titulescu
editThe statue of Nicolae Titulescu is a bronze sculpture located in the Central Park in Brașov, the work of the sculptor Doru Drăgușin, in memory of this great Romanian diplomat and politician. The reasons for placing a statue representing Nicolae Titulescu can be varied, but according to his will, he wanted to be buried in Brașov. Although he died in France in Cannes in 1941, his mortal remains were brought to Brașov in 1992 and reburied in the yard of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Şcheii Brașovului.
Bust of Andrei Șaguna
editThe statue of Andrei Șaguna is a bronze work by the sculptor Nicolae Daicu. Although it is a work created in 1998, the statue was mounted on a plinth built in front of the Andrei Șaguna National College building, being officially unveiled in 2004, until that time being located in the main hall of the high school.
Lupa Capitolina statue in Brașov
editA copy of the Lupa Capitolina statue, the symbol of the Latinity of the Romanian people, was made and installed in Brașov. The statue was placed in front of the festive entrance of Brașov City Hall.
The monument of anti-communist fighters
editThe anti-communist resistance in Brașov and its surroundings, one of the strongest in the period 1948-1989, required the creation of a monument to mark the sacrifice of all those who opposed communist crimes. The monument, made of red and black sandstone, has inscribed the torture centers and the number of victims in those places. The monument includes an eternal flame.
The monument to the 1987 rebellion
editIt was built in 1997 on Calea București, at the intersection with Carpatilor Street. It commemorates the rebellion in Brașov on November 15, 1987.
Bust of Iacob Mureșianu
editThe bust of Iacob Mureșianu was made by the sculptor Nicolae Daicu and inaugurated in 2005 in front of the General School that bears his name.
Bust of Ioan Meșotă
editThe bust of Ioan Meșotă was unveiled in 2019, in front of the Ioan Meșotă National College.
The statuary group of the Lapedatu Twins
editThe double bronze monument dedicated to Ion and Alexandru Lapedatu, "outstanding personalities of the Great Union Generation" (Univ. Prof. Dr. Ioan Opriș), is the work of the sculptor Ioan Bolborea. It was unveiled on November 8, 2019 in Gheorghe Dima Park, in front of the "Andrei Șaguna" National College (where their father, Ioan Alexandru Lapedatu, Ph.D. of the University of Brussels, was a teacher), and a short distance from the "Groaveri" historical cemetery where Ion's tomb and Alexandru's cenotaph are located (Alexandru died at Sighetu Marmației).
The statue of Avram Iancu
editThe statue of Avram Iancu is a bronze work, located at the entrance to Metrom Brașov (part of Romarm) and is the work of the Brașov sculptor Nicolae Daicu. At the initiative of the "Avram Iancu" Society - Brașov branch, president Univ. Prof. Dr. Ioan Vlad and with the support of the former director of the Metrom Brașov Company, Eng. Ioan Cristolovean, the Honorary President of the Society, the statuette was unveiled in 1993.
Statuary groups removed
edit
The statue of Arpad
editIn 1896, on Tâmpa, a column was erected, at the top of which was placed the statue of an archer, from the time of the Árpád dynasty. In 1913, Ilie Cătărău and Timotei Kirilov dynamited the base of the plinth, managing to damage it. Currently, the head of the statue is in the House of the Evangelical Parish in Brașov.[5]
The statue of a dorobanț (infantryman) in the 1920s
editIt was made by Ján Koniarek and placed in the Livada Poștei area in September 1918, as a tribute to the Austro-Hungarian army that liberated Brașov in October 1916.[6] After the Unification of Transylvania and Wallachia, the statue was renamed "statue of a dorobanț"; according to the former Mayor of Brașov, Karl Ernst Schnell, the honvéd head was replaced by the head of a Romanian soldier.[7] It was demolished when the construction of the Chamber of Commerce building (the current Barițiu Library) began, together with a military cemetery and the Firemen's Tower.[8]
The statue of Stalin
editAfter the establishment of the communist regime in Romania, in the center of Brașov, which had been renamed Stalin City (September 8, 1950)[9], a bronze statue of Stalin, of impressive dimensions, was placed. With the presentation of the "Secret Report", On the cult of personality and its consequences, held in the closed session of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in February 1956, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev denounced Stalin for the cult of personality promoted by him and for "violations of the Leninist norms of legality". In the Soviet Union and satellite countries, including the Popular Republic of Romania., a process of de-Stalinization began, with Stalin City retaking its name of Brașov (December 24, 1960), and the statue of Stalin, which dominated the center of the city, was demolished. The bronze was melted down and used to cast the Nicolae Titulescu's statue in the central park.[10]
Artesian fountains
edit
Artesian fountains with statues
editAfter the city's aqueduct was built, two fountains with statues were installed in 1894. One of them was in front of "Andrei Șaguna" National College. Some of the school's teachers considered that due to the "mermaids" in the composition of the ornamental motifs of the monument, the presence of the fountain in front of the school was not appropriate, due to pedagogical principles. For this reason, the fountain was nicknamed "Impudica". After 1920, it was dismantled and its fate is unknown. The other fountain can be found in the park in front of Military Circle. Recently, it was reconstructed based on old photographs, after almost all of its bronze elements had disappeared. For a while, there was confusion between the two, thinking that the one in front of the high school had been moved to the park. However, the details visible in vintage photographs show that the two differ both in architecture and statues.
The fountain in the Council Square
editIt is the main artisanal fountain in Brașov with multiple water games, being a favorite meeting place of both Brașov residents and tourists. Its construction was carried out in 1984, together with the restoration of the historical center, until that time the Council Square had the role of a parking lot.
Notes
edit- ^ Popovici, Bogdan-Florin; Monumentul eroilor de la Bartolomeu, Brașov; Magazin Istoric, July 2008, p.26
- ^ Kirițescu, Constantin; Istoria războiului pentru întregirea României (1916-1919); Editura Casei Școalelor, Atelierele "Cartea Românească"; Bucharest; December 1925; p.337
- ^ "Pași prin istorie". Oficiul Național Pentru Cultul Eroilor (MApN). Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ "Primăria Brașov va reabilita monumentul soldaților români căzuți în „tranșeea morții" și îl va muta la baza Dealului Șprenghi". Brașov Metropolitan. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ Aspera. "Muntele Tampa si simbolurile sale". Memoria.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2023-04-24.
- ^ L. Juhász Ilona (2010). Neveitek e márványlapon. Šamorín: Fórum. p. 29. ISBN 9788089249480.
- ^ Oltean, Radu (2010-01-09). "Masacrul de la Bartolomeu". bucurestiivechisinoi.ro. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
- ^ Aldea, Vasile (2016). Crâmpeie din Brașovul de ieri și azi. Ghimbav: Haco International. p. 303. ISBN 9789737706416.
- ^ DECRET pentru schimbarea numelui orașului Brașov în acela de ORAȘUL STALIN: "Art. unic.
- ^ Aldea, Vasile (2016). Crâmpeie din Brașovul de ieri și azi. Ghimbav: Haco International. p. 325. ISBN 9789737706416.
[[Category:Monuments and memorials]] [[Category:Tourist attractions]] [[Category:Tourism in Romania]]