ROMANIA : TIMISOARA
Timisoara is a city in the Banat region of
western Romania. With a population of 305,977 in 2004 (329,554 in 2000),
it is the capital of Timis County. The city’s name has a lot of
variants. One of the most known is the German version: Temesvar. The
name derives from the Timis River, known in Roman Antiquity as river
Tibisis or Tibiscus. In 1019 Timisoara (as Dibiscos / Bisiskos /
Tibiskos / Tibiskon / Timbisko / etc.) was mentioned for the first time
in written documents by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, although not all
historians agree with this identification. The city is believed to have
been annexed into the Kingdom of Hungary in 1010.
The city consists of an inner town, which formerly was fortified, and
four suburbs that are separated from the inner town by parks. Timisoara
is a commercial centre and one of the largest cities in Romania. The
principal industries include oil refining and the manufacture of
machinery, textiles, electrical appliances, and chemicals. Buildings of
interest include an 18th-century castle, a museum, town hall, county
hall, and a Greek Orthodox cathedral. A Gothic column in the main square
of the city was erected in 1851 by Francis Joseph I, emperor of Austria,
to commemorate the resistance of Timisoara during a 107-day siege by the
Hungarian revolutionary army in 1849. The city has a significant
Hungarian population.
Timisoara is a multicultural city with influential minorities, primarily
Germans, Magyars, and Serbs, as well as Italians, Palestinians, and
Greeks. It was the birthplace of Johnny Weissmuller (an Olympic swimmer,
best known for his role as Tarzan). Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the
Eiffel Tower in Paris, built Timisoara's foot bridge over the Bega. The
first tobacco mill in today's Romania was set up in Timisoara. The city
was also the first town in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to have public
lighting using suet candles and lamps with oil and grease. Timisoara was
the first town to have an ambulance station in the Kingdom of Hungary
and later the Kingdom of Romania.
In December 1989 a major revolt against the rule of Ceausescu broke out
here in Timisoara. This revolt spread all over the country and
eventually led to the collapse of the ruling regime and the execution of
Ceausescu and his wife Elena. Ceausescu's son was accused of being
involved in all kinds of criminal "against the interests of the people"
activities. But the revolt was not without heavy losses in terms of
human lives; 1104 people died in December 1989. Before December 22nd 162
people died, 73 in Timisoara, 48 in Bucharest and 41 somewhere else in
Romania. 3352 people were wounded. Some of the first victims were sent
to Bucharest and cremated. The military had 260 dead, and 545 wounded.
The "Securitatea" 65 dead and 73 wounded.
