The Transylvanian Saxon Citadel Of Reps (Rupea)
(Die) 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 (Kreis Kronstadt as it is known in German/Hochdeutsch), south-eastern Transylvania, Romania.
In late Antiquity, on the site on which the citadel was subsequently built by the German colonists during the High Middle Ages, there was a Dacian fortress by the name Rumidava (dava being a generic Dacian name for a settlement or an Oppidum, i.e. a Latin name denoting the main settlement of an administrative division), but throughout the passage of time its name was changed and it became known in Latin as Rupes (from which both the German and Romanian names of the settlement are derived) when the Dacian fortress became a Roman castrum, ‘rupes’ meaning cliff or rock. Additionally, the town of Rupea was also known in the past as Ripa in Latin.
Early 20th century postcard depicting Reps (Rupea) citadel.
The Reps/Rupea citadel, located on the hilltop of the Romanian small town of Rupea (numbering 5,300 permanent residents as of 2011, of which only 1.7% were ethnic Germans), was built in the 14th century by the Transylvanian Saxons, a group of predominantly German and German-speaking colonists brought from various regions of contemporary Germany (including Rheinland, Bavaria, and Saxony) as well as, to a lesser extent, from Flanders, Wallonia, Hainaut, Brabant, Luxembourg, and even from modern day France, starting as early as the 12th century, at the demands and invitation of the Kings of Hungary (starting with King Géza II of Hungary) in order to protect the eastern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary (of which Transylvania was a constituent part for most of the Middle Ages, with these colonists being placed in the south-eastern, north-eastern, and southern parts of the region) and develop the region economically by means of trade and urbanisation. Another important task of the Transylvanian Saxons was to develop the region economically by means of trade and urbanisation (which they also did, naturally).
A postcard written in German highlighting the citadel on the hilltop and the surroundings.
A German written postcard depicting the old town of Reps.
It was later on consolidated during the 17th century, with a series of stronger fortifications and palisades, being as such mainly locally used as a means of defence and shelter for the inhabitants of the nearby villages in the hypothetical case of a sudden attack of foreign invaders.
Bilingual Romanian-German postcard depicting the town of Rupea/Reps.
The citadel was the administrative capital of one of the Seven Saxon Seats in Transylvania. Reps represented the last redoubt of the Transylvanian Saxons against the Hungarian baron Thomas Szécsényi and the King of Hungary Charles Robert of Anjou during the early part of the 14th century.
Dated photograph of a group of Transylvanian Saxons and an ox cart near the citadel which lies in the background.
Early 20th century photograph depicting the citadel.
The rebel Saxons allied themselves with the Cumans and were led by a brave chieftain known as Henning of Petersdorf (Romanian: Petrești) who opposed the abusive Hungarian authority over the Saxon seats in Transylvania.
Old German-written postcard depicting the citadel.
During the Modern Age, the citadel became a possession of the Habsburg Empire and, later on, of the Austrian Empire. Following the end of World War II, along with the Treaty of Trianon, the citadel passed from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania in 1920.
Panoramic view of the citadel of Reps/Rupea today, after a restoration programme sponsored by the Romanian government along with the support of the European Union that spanned from 2011 until 2013, when it was reopened to the public.
Below you can watch a video depicting Rupea/Reps fortress on YouTube, published by the Discover Romania channel (credits go entirely to this channel for this video):
- Regio Touristic Brochure (Regio website for touristic development – www.inforegio.ro)
- Rupea Turistica – Cetatea Rupea (in Romanian)
- Reps on www.siebenbuerger.de (in German)
- Rupea Fortress on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- Cetatea Rupea on www.wikipedia.org (in Romanian)
- Rupea/Reps on the Josephine map of Transylvania on Commons Wikimedia
- The fortress and its surroundings prior to its restoration (in 2007) on Commons Wikimedia
- A sketch of the fortress from the German newspaper Die Gartenlaube (1884) on Commons Wikimedia
- A German-language article on the fortress from the newspaper Die Gartenlaube (1884) on Commons Wikimedia
