The Rupea Area

The Rupea Area
The ecclesiastic constructions in the Rupea area center round two distinctive monuments, Viscri and Rupea,
The fortified church of Rupea is the best-known edifice of the kind in the region, having been intensely
researched both historically and archaeologically. The old structures redesigned and widened in the 15th
century, soon after the 1421 foray by the Turks, and several times later on. Also, following in the footsteps of
city dwellers but lacking their material means to attempt complete fortification of the villages, the rural
communities turned their eyes to the only strong brick building in every village, the church, which they
strengthened and surrounded by walls. Thus, they created spacious, protected precincts around the church situated as a rule at the heart or on the edge of the settlement -, which, at times of peril, could shelter the
entire population of the commune.
Viscri (Deutsch-Weisskirch) - Introduction
Village and fortified church
UNESCO-World Cultural Heritage
Background: The present monument still has its old Romanesque altar within which there is a capital of the
so-called series of molding capitals, the only piece of the kind in Transylvania. The origin of this should be
sought in England, from where it spread to France, Germany and Austria, in the 12th century. This capital has
helped date the first stage of the monument to the early 13th century.
The inventory of the church includes a cup dating to the 16th century. The fortification around the current
church was erected in 1494, as shown by notes in The Affairs of Sibiu: “pro structura ecclesiae Vyszkirch".
The fortification consists of a double precinct that preserves the foundation of the exterior and interior ring.
The precinct had four quadrilateral towers, and a gate tower.
Viscri - short history
Aerial view – Village of Viscri #
The beginnings of the village in the High Middle Ages are
closely linked to the territorial expansion of the Hungarian
kings of the Arpadian dynasty who strove to integrate
Transylvania, which lay to the east, into their domain. For
this reason, Hungarian-speaking Szeklers were settled
here as border guards first, probably in the early 12th century. Here they built a small church made of white-green
limestone which the place name probably refers to. After
their resettlement further to the east, closer to the natural
border of the Carpathian Mountains, new settlers followed
in the second half of the 12th century who were referred
to as "Flandrenses" and were later entitled Transylvanian
Saxons.
The leader of these German-speaking farmers was probably a so-called "locator" who later had the title "Graf"
with a rank comparable to that of an "Erbschulze" (hereditary village chief). The place is first mentioned in a
document from around 1400 under the name "Alba Ecclesia". The Latin form of the name corresponds to the
old name Vyskirch, the Saxon Waiskirich and the Hungarian Szászfeherėgyháza. The Romanian name Viscri
derives from the Saxon name. Politically Deutsch-Weisskirch became a free commune with the
disempowerment of the Graf dynasty. This occurred in the second half of the 15th century at the latest. It kept
this status up until the 19th century and belonged to the Saxon-led County of Rupea/Reps which was named
after the nearby market town Rupea/Reps.
In religious
terms, the
place
was
part of the
Catholic —
after
the
Reformation
, Lutheran —
Chapter of
Kosd, later
Chapter of
Rupea. In the 18th century Romanian shepherds were
settled in the Saxon village and by the 19th century
around two thirds of the inhabitants were Saxons and
one third either Romanians or Roma.
Fortified Church of Viscri - Plan ##
1. Keep of the Church (Tower-House)
2. Gate Tower
3. Southern Bastion (Museum)
4. Eastern Bastion
5. Northern Fortified Tower
6. Western Fortified Tower
Between 1989-1993, after the Communist rule had
come to an end in Romania, a large part of the Saxon
population left Deutsch-Weisskirch and the rest of Transylvania
and immigrated to Germany. The huge reduction in the
population could only be made up tor in part by Romanians
and Roma moving to the area (the latter constitute the
majority of the population today). As a result, many houses
stood empty and started falling into decay.
However, the stock of historical buildings in the village was
saved thanks to the commitment of the families who live
there and the aid of a number of international organizations,
in particular the foundation Mihai Eminescu Trust (MET).
Since 1999, numerous projects have been realized by the
MET in order to preserve the historical structure and
architecture of the village. Some of the restored farmhouses,
together with their historical fixtures and fittings, are now
available as lodgings for tourists.
In 1999, the fortified church and the village were included,
together with six other places in southern Transylvania, in
the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List thus acknowledging
an ensemble which, in terms of its settlement structure, the
structure of the parcels of land as well as the architecture of
the buildings and their fittings, has almost completely
preserved the character of a typical Saxon Transylvanian
village over a period of centuries.
The standard type of farmstead remained the same from the
time of the wooden buildings over and beyond the appearance of the first stone ones at the end of the 17th century up
until the first third of the 20th century. The few younger
buildings inconspicuously blend in with the general
appearance of the village. Changes are only noticeable in the
design of the facades: The facade of the standard type,
Plan of Village of Viscri ###
which is only accentuated by differently shaped ventilation openings in the gable, is occasionally
supplemented from the third quarter of the 18th century on by isolated painted decoration. From about 1880
onwards, stucco, in an elaborate and varied manner, was preferably implemented as a means of decoration
and an architectural partitioning element.
Since the painter Eduard Morres (1884-1980) visited the village in 1912, Deutsch-Weisskirch has served as a
source of inspiration for the protagonists of Transylvanian-Saxon academic painting. This has contributed to
no small degree towards making the place well known and its fortified church has become one of the main
symbols for the Saxon civilization as a whole.
The mediaeval Transylvanian-Saxon dialect, which is similar to that of Luxembourg, is still spoken by the
German inhabitants of the village today. The names of each lane (“Gasse") and Saxon farmstead ("Hof") are
also written in this dialect in the description below.
The fortified church …
Situated above this is the castle forecourt with
the former house of the castle custodian which
was originally integrated in the outer ring wall
of the fortification. This wall, of which only
parts have survived, was built in the second
half of the 17th or in the first half of the 18th
century. In terms of its position, the church of
Deutsch-Weisskirch is a hill castle, from the
point of view of its construction and function it
is, like most Transylvanian-Saxon defensible
churches, a so-called fortified church, i.e. a
church within a ring wall defended by towers.
Building history … The church, which was originally dedicated to the apostle St. Andrew, began as a small
tower less hall church with a semicircular apse in the east. It was probably erected between 1100 and 1120 by
the Szeklers and after they had been resettled, was taken over by the Saxon settlers or rather by their locator.
Probably around the middle of the 13th century,
the successors of the latter, the Graf dynasty,
had a tower-house built to the west of the (from
the point of view of defense) advantageously
situated chapel. One may presume that the
tower and the chapel were surrounded by a ring
wall that was quickly replaced by an oval one.
Presumably, at the beginning of the 14th century
the apse was extended in the form of a trapeze,
once again semi circularly closed and surrounded
by buttresses. The extension of the church
towards the west, where it met up with the
tower-house, and the conversion of the latter into a keep, probably took place after the middle of the 15th
century because a Gräf of Weisskirch was still mentioned in a document of 1449.
It is possible that the Gräf - as in other Transylvanian-Saxon communes - lost his privileges in the second half
of the 15th century and also relinquished the church and keep to the community. At the same time, the church
was provided with a fire-resistant ribbed barrel vault. This process of fortifying the church as a refuge for the
village community in the event of attacks was a typical response at that time to the increased raids of the
Turks in the 15th century. This often included - as in Deutsch-Weisskirch - the conversion of the eastern end of
the church into a so-called "fortified choir": in front of the exterior wall, a hoarding was erected on top of the
high arches of an arcade. The gap between the wall and the arch served as a machicolation in order to defend
the foot of the wall. In addition, a new ring wall was constructed which partly incorporated the existing one
and was provided with so-called "Wiekhäuser" or “Kampfhäuser". These were curtain wall towers with an
enlarged base which are usually known in Transylvania under the general term "bastions".
The process of fortification probably came to an
end, at least for the time being, in the first half of
the 16th century, but was continued when the ring
wall was strengthened with fortified towers on the
steeper, and therefore less vulnerable north side in
1630 and on the west side in 1648/49. According to
the inscriptions, Johannes Hartmann from
Lovnic/Leblang as well as David Lanko and Stephan
Schuller from Ungra/Galt, master builders from
villages in the vicinity, were entrusted with this
task. The straightening of the curtain wall probably
went hand in hand with these measures in order to
improve artillery coverage. In addition, the gate
tower, which also served as a bell tower, was re-erected in 1650 on the foundations of its predecessor in the
first ring wall.
In 1717, on account of its dilapidated state, the church had to be given a general overhaul. Broad buttresses,
which were constructed in the south in the form of small porches for both portals, were added in order to
absorb the enormous lateral forces resulting from the vaulting. The second storey of the western porch, which
was reached by means of a wooden stairway, was also the entrance to the galleries. The old sacristy was
demolished in order to be able to erect the northeastern buttresses and was replaced with a new one nearby.
Because of cracks, the vault above the nave was dismantled and replaced with a coffered ceiling in 1743. With
the end of the so-called "Kuruc Rebellion” in 1711, times became more peaceful and a partial refortification
followed. The wooden rampart on the inside of the ring wall was dismantled and replaced by the gallery with
stonewall and pent roof which still exists today. Like the towers of the ring wall, it was used to keep stores
such as grain and bacon safe from fire. The hoarding around the top of the choir was also dismantled. The
choir vault was also removed and replaced with a simple stucco ceiling, but this was not done until 1870.
In the second half of the 19th century the bastions were provided with windows on the ground floor and a
kindergarten was set up in the southern tower and a school in the eastern one. Restoration work on the
fortified church was carried out amongst others in the 1930s, in 1970/1 and since 2003. Archaeological
excavations took place in 1942 and 1970/71.
The ring wall …
If you contemplate the fortified church from the outside,
it is the towers and the height of the massive defenses
(they belong to the most extensive ones in Transylvania)
which stand out and the small church almost totally
disappears behind them. Characteristic are the projecting
wooden hoardings of the towers and bastions with their
hipped or pyramidal roofs. Floorboards could be removed
in the hoardings to function as machicolations. The
bastions, ring wall towers as well as the ring wall itself are
provided with horizontal loopholes (with and without
pivoting shutters), loopholes pointing downwards as well as straight ahead for defense purposes using
gunpowder weapons. The southern bastion is connected to a tower that was intended as an additional
defense for the nearby gateway tower and the sally part (man-hole) between them. Sally port and castle
gateway both have oak gates which pivot on wooden door hinges and — as is usual in Transylvania — have
iron bars nailed to them on the outside.
The interior of the church …
The interior is dominated by a gallery from the 18th
century which extends along three sides of the church
and is supported by wooden columns. The panels of the
balustrade are decorated with Baroque marble painting.
The majority of the other furnishings also date back to
the 18th century and floral motifs from the repertoire of
rural furniture ornamentation play an important role.
The strict seating arrangements during the services are
dictated by age and gender and this is reflected by the
differences in the pews: The typical low plank pews in
the nave are reserved for women and children.
The renowned organ builder Johann Thois (1769-1830)
from the Burzenland created the neo-classical altar with
the organ above it along with the gallery in 1817.
Corinthian columns and pilasters flank the altarpiece that
was painted by Josef Pancratz at the end of the 19th
century in the Nazarene style. It portrays the motif "Let
the Children Come to Me" (Matthew 10, 13-16). The
organ front is richly decorated with vases and festoons
and, like the altar, was painted and gilded in 1827. The
eight-stop organ, the bellows of which are located in an
extension, was restored in 2007/08.
Particularly noteworthy is the font that was made out of
a Romanesque basket capital and part of a column. These spolia and two further capitals as well as some
bases and column parts which were found in the area of the fortified church and in the village may have
originally been parts of a west gallery from the middle of the 13th century which was supported by columns.
Some other fragments, amongst others, parts of the ribs of the net-vaulting, date to the Gothic period. Since
the church was extended, a simple Gothic pointed arch portal in the west wall has served as the access to the
former tower-house. This portal, which is in secondary use, probably dates to the beginning of the 19th
century and is to be seen in the same chronological context as the extension of the chancel. It is said that a
similar portal was once situated where today's eastern entrance is.
In the former tower-house, which is constructed of grey basalt, a stone staircase in the wall connects the
lower storey. The two lowest ones are vaulted. When it was converted into a keep, the tower-house, which
was provided with high loop-holes for crossbowmen in the upper floors, was made higher and provided with a
rampart walk. It also served as a clock tower for a time. One of the community's significant liturgical utensils is
a Late Gothic chalice of gilded silver that was made around 1500 and has a hexafoil truncated pyramid foot
and pearled cup. It is decorated using a technique, a kind of cloisonné, which was particularly widespread in
Transylvania. There is a relationship to pieces of gold craftsmanship from Bistriţa/Bistritz. In the vicinity
chalices from Şoarş/Scharosch and Seliştat/Seligstadt show a great similarity.
Museum of everyday rural life …
A museum which was set up in the southern bastion and parts of the
storage corridor in 2006 conveys a comprehensive image of Saxon life in
Deutsch-Weisskirch. Its numerous historical exhibits include furniture,
textiles, pottery, farming as well as domestic tools and utensils and also
liturgical books.
The traditional Saxon costume or the village, particularly the women's
headdress (veil), has apparently remained unchanged for centuries: there
are obvious parallels of the Flemish women in the 15th century.
The
so-called
“Nachbarschaftsladen”
are colorfully painted
chests
which
contained,
amongst
others, the carved
wooden emblems of
the corporations of
neighbors. These were
sent from farmstead to farmstead together with news
about social events in the village. The “neighborhoods”
they belonged to were corporations, organized according
to streets, which had the function of arranging mutual assistance, for example when a house was being built,
within the Saxon villages and safeguarding moral and church traditions.
The Romanian Orthodox Church …
The small hall church which was built in 1906 has a massive
square west tower with pyramidal roof and an eastern
annex with a straight end. The design of the facade is
unpretentious and dominated by round arched windows.
The painted depictions of saints were first added in 2008,
at the same time as the painting of the interior. The interior with its flat ceiling, pronaos, naos and a chancel
separated from the rest by an iconostasis shows an
arrangement which is typical for an Orthodox church.
The stone building replaced an older wooden one that
probably stood on the hill. This is a development which Deutsch-Weisskirch shares with many other places in
the vicinity because they all have stone Orthodox churches of a similar type which were constructed in the
19th century. The unostentatious hall churches with west tower often follow the building plan of the older
Saxon churches in the villages. This also applies for the Orthodox Church in Deutsch-Weisskirch which also has
great similarity, even in the details, with the Saxon church in Leblang which was also built in 1906. For this
reason, one may assume that both were constructed by the architects Johann and Karl Letz from
Sighişoara/Schässburg. As the youngest representative of the named group of Orthodox village churches, the
church in Deutsch-Weisskirch was built at a time when, in the urban centers of Sibiu/Hermannstadt and
Brasov/Kronstadt, endeavors were already being made to make a clear distinction between Orthodox
churches and those of other Transylvanian types by building them in the Byzantine style.
Material Source:
Foreward:
Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României
Noi Media Print (Discover Romania), Bucareşti
Biserici fortificate ale saşilor din Transilvania
Principal Author - Ioan Marian Tiplic; English Translation – Alina Cârâc
Photo – Archival
Short History and Main Body:
Site brochure - Viscri Deutsch-Weisskirch, Verlag Schnell & Steiner GMBH, Regensburg
# Photo - Siebenbürgen-Institut, Georg Gerster
## Graphic – Joachim Zwick adapted from a plan by Hermann Fabini
### Village Plan - Angela Gröber from plan by Paul Niedermaier
Images – Ed Rozylowicz