Făgăraş Castle
Făgăraş Castle is an extensive medieval fortress in the Braşov County of Romania. Its construction began in 1310. According to a legend local peasants were paid with money that were made from selling firewood to neighbors. Thus castle received its name fa garas or "wood money".
The city is characterized by a castle. Legend has
it that Prince Negru Vodă set out from this place to found the
Principality of Wallachia south of the Southern Carpathians. At the
end of the 12th century, the castle was only a wooden fortress,
which was then expanded in the 14th century to a stone fortress.
In the Kingdom of Hungary, the city was the administrative center
for Fogaras County and in the Kingdom of Romania for Făgăraş County.
About the river Aluta led a 270 m long covered bridge. In 1613 Gábor
Bethlen built a fortified castle. There were five churches in the
city in 1881; At that time there lived 5307 inhabitants, who trade,
trade and cultivate tobacco. The city was the seat of a district
court and had a Protestant gymnasium.
At Făgăraş on 12 July 1849 Józef Bem was defeated by the Russians.
In the 20th century, the place was considered an anti-communist
stronghold during communist rule. In the 1950s, the castle was a
prison in which many enemies of communism were interned. The castle
was restored during the communist dictatorship and now houses a
museum and a library.
Făgăraş had about 39,000 inhabitants in 2007. Of these, about 306
Transylvanian Saxons, as can be seen from an ecclesiastical list of
2009.
The Doamna Stanca Gymnasium has a German department where all
subjects are taught in German. The students are mostly Romanians,
rarely Transylvanian Saxons.