Tag: Transylvanian Saxons

A Brief History Of Bukovina, Romania During The Middle Ages

Bukovina (Bucovina in Romanian and Bukowina or Buchenland in German) is a historical region situated at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe, nowadays divided between present-day Suceava County in northeastern Romania and Chernivtsi Oblast in western Ukraine. Prislop Pass and the high valley of the Bistrița (German: Bistritz; Romanian: Bistrița) river, connecting Bukovina with…


The History Of The Medieval Saxon Fortified Churches In Transylvania

Since the High Middle Ages, a German-speaking population known as the Transylvania Saxons has been continuously living in southern and north-eastern Transylvania, present-day Romania. One of their greatest historical achievements is represented by a series of fortified churches, compactly spread in the proximity of the Carpathian mountain range. These peasant citadels (as opposed to their fortified cities)…


Pioneering Spacecraft Propulsion In Late Medieval Transylvania

Conrad Haas was a Transylvanian Saxon engineer of Austrian origin (born in Dornbach, near Vienna) who lived in the city of Hermannstadt (Romanian: Sibiu) from the Principality of Transylvania at some point in the Late Middle Ages/Renaissance period. Prior to his arrival in Transylvania, present-day Romania, Conrad Haas was in charge of the arsenal of…


The History Of The Medieval Seat Fortress Of Suceava, Bukovina, Romania

Suceava (Old High German: Sedschopff; Standard German: Suczawa/Sutschawa/Sotschen) was the third capital of the medieval Principality of Moldavia between the late 14th to late 16th century (namely between the years 1388 and 1564), after the proximal town of Baia (most likely founded by Transylvanian Saxon traders and potters; also known in German as ‘Moldenmarkt’) lost…


The Transylvanian Saxon Citadel Of Reps (Rupea)

Repser Burg or Reps (also known in the Transylvanian Saxon dialect as Räppes, in Romanian as Rupea, and in Hungarian as Kőhalom) is a Transylvanian Saxon citadel located in Brașov county (German: Kreis Kronstadt), south-eastern Transylvania, Romania. In late Antiquity, on the site on which the citadel was subsequently built by the German colonists during…