A Brief Monograph of the City of Arad

8/3/2019 A Brief Monograph of the City of Arad

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Geographical Outline

Arad County is situated in western Romania. Stretching on 7,754 sq. km, that is 3.2 per cent of

Romanias surface, it is the sixth county in size. Its neighbors are Bihor County in the north,

Hunedoara and Alba counties in the east, Timis County in the south and Hungary in the west. The

genetic elements of the climate in Arad County account for the moderate continental weather with

oceanic influences. According to the data provided by the County Statistics Department, the

population in Arad County numbered 477,711 inhabitants on 1 July 1997. Of them, 52.10 per cent

lived in the urban environment, and the remaining 47.90 per cent in the rural areas. In point of

administrative-territorial organization, Arad County features the Municipality of Arad, seven towns

(Chisineu-Cris, Curtici, Ineu, Lipova, Nadlac, Pancota and Sebis), 67 communes and 273 villages.Of the total 477,711 inhabitants, 201,820 persons represent the active work force in various

branches of economy. Thus, the structure of the active population in big domains of economic

activity is the following: agriculture 20.4 per cent; industry 37 per cent; construction 4.1 per

cent; education 3.8 per cent; health 3.5 per cent; transports and telecommunications 7.3 per

cent; services 15.6 per cent; silviculture, forest exploitation and pisciculture 1.4 per cent;

commerce 6.7 per cent; other branches 0.2 per cent. Arad County boasts an extremely

diversified labor market, a skilled and relatively cheap work force as compared to other markets.

Tourist Information

Being a main gate of Romania for the West-European travelers, the picturesque landscape of thehilly and mountainous zones of the Mures and Crisul Alb Valleys urge Romanian and foreign

tourists to visit its numerous touristic zones Moneasa, Lipova, Arad Vineyard, the Halmagiu land,

the Cladova Valley, Savrsin, Valea Mare-Caprioara. In the Municipality of Arad, in the towns of

Lipova and Ineu, in the Moneasa and Lipova Spas, in other touristic zones there are hotels, inns,

motels, holiday camps and cottages. The Arad County has a lot of scientific reservations, especially

botanic, forestry, zoological and spelaeologic ones. Remarkable by the rarity and variety of their

flora are: Moneasa natural reservation, the "Dosul Laurului" reservation from Zimbru, the Botanic

Garden at the Macea Castle, the dendrology parks from Gurahont, Bulci, Caplnas, Neudorf,

Savrsin, Odvos and Manastur as well as the forestry reservations from Runcu-Grosi, Rul Mare

Halmagel, Prundul Mare Securigiu. There are also a lot of hunting and fishing grounds. Well-known are the ones from Chisineu-Cris Socodor Adea, Savrsin Troas and Vrfurile

Halmagel. Old churches and monasteries situated in the Arad County have real art treasures and

some of them are exbibited there. The most known are the Orthodox monasteries from Hodos-

Bodrog, dated from 1177, from Bezdin, dated from 1334, from Arad-Gai built in 1760-1762, Sf.

Maria Radna Franciscan Monastery, built in 1727 1826 the Princely Orthodox Church from

Halmagiu, dated back to the XIV-th century, the Roman-Catholic Church from Snpetru German,

built in 1774. On the Crisul Alb and Mures Valley there are Orthodox wooden churches built in the

XVII XIX-th century. Authentic monuments of folk architecture are the wooden churches from

Bodesti, Corbesti, Cristesti, Grosii Noi, Ionesti, Luncsoara, Madrigesti, Poiana, Vrfurile, Julita,

Troas a.o. Of great architectural value are also the numerous castles and secular buildings situated in

this county. The most important are the Fortress of Arad, built in Vauban system in 17631785, theCastle-fortress from Ineu, built in 16451652, the castles from Savrsin, Bulci, Caplnas, Petris,

Conop, Odvos, Macea, Fntnele, Siria. The Arad County preserved an old and authentic folk art in


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Tara Zarandului, Ineu-Sicula and Birchis-Caplnas. The embroideries in red and black, the

sheepskin coats made by the furriers from Buteni, the sleeveless jackets made in Birchis and Bata

are famous. The traditional textures as well as the folk pottery can be found in the most of the

peasants households in Tara Zarandului, on the Mures Valley and the Crisul Alb Plain. It has to be

mentioned the remarkable preservation of some traditional peasants households mainly in the

villages situated in the mountainous zones.

Brief presentation of the economy of the Arad County

In the period 2000 2004 the privatization process and the process of incorporating new private

companies continued, so that at the middle of the year 2004 the following number and structure of

the economic operators was recorded:14 Autonomous State Administrative Units, 529 Stock

Holding Companies, 13,661 Limited Liability and other form of Companies, 151 cooperative

organizations and 9,743 authorized physical persons and family businesses. The main declared

activity sectors of these economic operators are: production activity 20%, services 30 %, trade 28 %,

export 15 %, and construction 7 % .At the end of the year 2003 the number of active companies has

been 9,953 distributed on activity sectors as follows: industry 1,990, agriculture 562, construction

696, trade 2,786, hotels and restaurants 456, transport and storage 478, imobiliary transactions and

services provided mainly to companies 2,985.The economy of the Arad County is balanced, the

main activity sectors being the industry and the agriculture. The Arad County has an important

agricultural potential and with an agricultural surface of 511,520 ha (66% of the total surface of the

county and 3.4 % of the total surface of Romania) it ranges 4th in the hierarchy of the counties.

Thanks to the fertility of the soil, agricultural production achieves very good results. The tillable

surface for cereals represents 80,2 % of all the crops. The main crops are wheat and corn (85.5 %).

The technical support for the agricultural works consists of 7,116 physical tractors (4th place in

Romania). In the year 2003 the Arad County ranged 2nd place at the corn production, 8th at the

wheat production and 5th at the vegetables production. The industry is mainly specialized in railway

wagons and rolling material, furniture, components for the automotive industry, garment andknitwear, machine tools, agricultural machinery and others. At this chapter, the Arad County ranges

1st place in the national economy at the railway wagon production, the 4th at the machine tools

production, the 5th at the textile production, the13th at the furniture production. As a consequence

of a competitive activity and of entering new markets, the companies that work in Arad exported in

the year 2003 commodities equivalent to 820 million . The industrial production is carried out in

the 1,520 companies with industrial profile. The preponderant volume of the countys production

consists in the activity of the processing industry (85 %), and within it the first place is occupied by

the textile industry, followed by the railway wagon production, components for the automotive

industry, leather and footwear. A special feature of the evolution of the economy of Arad is the

major interest that Japanese investors show for this location, two major Japanese companies

TAKATA PETRI and YAZAKI already being in place. The dynamics and the structure of theeconomy of the Arad County favored the development of the cooperation, with the neighboring

cross border counties, as well as with regions of Italy and Germany, which are practically the main

foreign partners and investors. The development of the economy of the Arad County was

characterized during the last three years by the investments made in infrastructure, a fact that

influenced substantially the economic scenery of Arad. In this respect Arad has a remarkable

advantage compared to other counties.


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THE INDUSTRIAL ZONES

The INDUSTRIAL ZONE ARAD NORD VEST represents the first industrial park to be put in

operation in Romania. This accomplishment was possible due to the decision of the Municipality to

sell real estate to foreign and domestic investors within a dedicated area, where it built the utilities

necessary to the construction works. Because the whole-dedicated area of 100 ha is already sold out

to investors, the Local Council of Arad prepared other two industrial zones in order to allow theexpansion of the economic capacities. By the end of 2003 these two zones were also sold out to

Romanian and foreign investors.

The INDUSTRIAL PARK NORD is a private initiative of the Aradian group of companies

CODLEA and is located on an area of 116 ha. The land is now in process of urbanisation

(connection to utilities) and will be soon at the disposal of interested investors.

The INDUSTRIAL ZONE CHISINEU CRIS, is a result of the effort of the City Hall to turn to good

account the utilities and infrastructures that remained available after 1989. The Local Council of

Chisineu Cris also sells real estate to investors and the fact that the distance to the border and to the

connection to the highway in Hungary is almost identical to the access from Arad, allowed severalimportant foreign investors such as ALKOA FUJUKURA and NEXANS to settle down in the

region.

The INDUSTRIAL PARC NADAB is also located at the entrance of the town Chisineu Cris and

covers an area of 24 ha, offering 18 plots equipped with all the main services. The park is operated

by the Italian company MODUS SRL from Montebelluna (TV). Inspired by these two examples, the

City Hall Pecica also prepares the INDUSTRIAL ZONE TURNU which is to be turned to good

account by means of the Italian company IDEA PRO SRL located in Arad.

THE FREE ZONE ARAD-CURTICI The free zone Arad-Curtici is a dedicated territory within

which the investors benefit of financial and custom incentives regarding their activity. The free zone

Arad-Curtici was founded on the base of the Decision of the Government of Romania No.

449/08/06.1999 and consists of two platforms:- The location of Curtici, proximal to the railway

border with Hungary - The location from the western part of Arad, adjacent to the runway of the

Arad International airport. Compared to other free zones of Romania, the free zone Arad Curtici is

the only free zone to be located on the traject of a Paneuropean Transport Corridor, the 4th Corridor,

in the vicinity of four border custom points. It may be accessed by three out of the four existing

transport modalities: by road, by rail and by air. The same, the free zone Arad-Curtici is the only

free zone located in the western part of Romania, the other ones being located in the southern and

eastern part of the country near harbors at the Danube or the Black Sea.

THE CARGO TERMINAL ON THE ARAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT This infrastructure

objective is the result of CBC PHARE project by means of which the County Council of Arad

qualified for a grant of 2 million with an own contribution of 700 thousand . This terminal is the

first terminal, after the one in Bucharest, which has been designed and constructed in a specialized

way to accomplish this function, allowing Arad to turn to good account its turning plate part for the

aerial movement of the commodities. The terminal was put into operation in June 2004 and offers

all requiered services 24 hours a day.

EXPO ARAD INTERNATIONAL This very important achievement for the city and county of Arad

is the first specialized fair capacity built in Romania in the last 50 years. The Arad Chamber of

Commerce, Industry and Agriculture has an experience of 12 years in the field of organizing fairsand exhibitions, having now a dedicated fair ground which fits European standards. With its 12

yearly fairs, out of which 10 specialized themes and 2 consumer goods fairs, the Arad Chamber of


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Commerce and Industry offers both to domestic and foreign companies the opportunity to meet their

competitors, to research and enlarge their markets and to promote their products.

The 1st Hall of the EXPO ARAD INTERNATIONAL was put into function in June 2002, with the

occasion of TRANSPORT ARAD 2002, when its 1,500 sqm already proved to be insufficient for

the demand of the companies. Anticipating this development, the Arad Chamber of Commerce,

Industry and Agriculture applied for a PHARE CBC grant, qualifying itself for 2 million with anown contribution of 700 thousand , in order to erect Hall No. 2 of the EXPO ARAD

INTERNATIONAL. The construction works are envisaged to start in the late autumn of the year

2004.

Historical Evolution until the XIth Century

The first traces left by human presence are about 40000 years old. A hunting expedition of a group

of Homo sapiens, coming from the Zarand Mountains, may be credited for them. Only the end of

the Vth millennium BC founded the first stable settlement. The villagers that occupied the northern

bank of the river were farmers. During the IVth millennium BC the settlement expanded to the

southern bank. These communities were part of the pre-indo-European civilization.

During the second half of the IIIrd millennium BC both riverbanks as well as the islands were

occupied by prosperous villages. These belonged to the Indo-European civilization of the Bronze

Age, which reached its evolution peak around the year 1000 BC. Violent events, certified by

archaeological discoveries made in the very heart of the modern city,(burned dwellings, the bronze

deposit from "Astoria"), have set an end to these settlements.

Dacian settlements took shape on both riverbanks during the first half of the I-st millennium BC. In

the Vth century a group of Scythians quartered nearby but was subsequently assimilated. The Mures

valley was one the major gateways for the Celtic invasion towards Transylvania. On the verge of the

IVth and III-rd century BC Celts stroke root on both sides of the river, nearby the Dacian

settlements. Their coexistence, not peaceful at all times, lasted for almost two centuries. In the end,the Dacian majority assimilated the Celts.

The Dacian settlement located it the southern limit of

Micalaca was shattered by the Roman troops in 101-102.

During the second Dacian War (105 - 106) Traian

conquered the territory north of the Mures (including

Crisana) making it part of the province Dacia. Within the

limits of Aradul Nou the Roman army built a fort that

hosted a vexilatio of the legio IIII Flavia Felix. Hadrian

(117-138) withdrew the border of Dacia to the East and

left the lower course of the Mures to the Sarmatians and

the free Dacians. Roman troops though continuedguarding the military and commercial road along the

Mures, a road that linked the provinces Dacia and Pannonia.

Through the II-nd to the IVth century some Dacian and Sarmatian settlements were located on the

territory of today's Arad. These had intense trade relations with the Roman world. During the major

crises that struck the Empire by the mid IIIrd century inhabitants of the province emigrated into the

barbarian world where they grounded settlements such as the one discovered at Ceala, Horia or

Vladimirescu - "Padurea vrabiilor" which were housed by potters. After the Romans withdrew from

Dacia the communities living in the area of Arad maintained their relations to the Roman provinces

situated to the right of the Danube despite of all the Goths, Huns, Gepidae and Avars that passed

through these places briefly dominating them. The earliest remains of the Slav presence along the

lower Mures are dated to the late VI-th century. The assimilation of the Slav element by theRomanic population (proto-Romanians) is considered to be the final stage in the molding of the

Romanian people.


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The settlements dated to the second half of the I-st

millennium were concentrated on the northern bank of the

Mures. Among these the one from Vladimirescu -

"Schanzen", dated to the VIII-th IX-th century, has been

archaeological examined.

During the X-th century the Hungarians started their

expansion towards Transylvania one of their majorpenetration ways being the Mures valley. This historical

moment is confirmed archaeological by the grave of a

Hungarian warrior unearthed at Ceala. Confronted with the

Hungarian peril, Romanians, subordinated to the

principality of Glad, built an earth fort at Vladimirescu -"Schanzen". The Hungarian warriors

devastated this at the middle of the X-th century. Rebuilt under the authority of the voivode Ahtum,

the fortress has been completely destroyed in 1028 by another Hungarian military expedition.

The Medieval Arad

The archaeological finds certify the existence of several villages in the area of the actual town and

its vicinities starting with the XIth century. Since the same period respectively the years 1080 -

1090, dates the first written mention of the toponym Orod. All that remained from the old

ecclesiastic and county residence are the ruins of the cathedral in Vladimirescu, indicating the

position of veterum Orod(old Arad). Starting with the XV-th century documents mention Arad as

civitas or oppidum. Historians disagree upon the possible relation between the old Orod, situated in

Vladimirescu, and the later mentioned Arad, located in the strict area of the modern city. Some

believe they are completely different settlements whilst others presume that in the XIV-th the old

Orod was displaced to the actual location of the city, more exactly to the area of today's Dragasani

district. Further research is expected to solve the dilemma.

In 1514 the inhabitants of Arad, mainly serfs, joined the rebel army of Gh. Doja. The nobilityrepressed the uprising and the peasants became subject to a cruel revenge. A new rebellion broke

out in 1526 followed by another bloodshed.

After the disaster from Mohacs (1526), Ioan Zapolya, the elected King of Hungary, established his

reign over Arad too.

While the Turks created the pashalik of Buda (1541), Transylvania became an autonomous

principality that included the Arad region too.

In 1552 the Ottoman troops conquered the town producing great damage. The territory of the former

county has been divided into three units (sanjaks), the one relative to Arad including the town and

113 villages. Between 1553 and 1555 the Turks built a square brick fort, on the right side of the

Mures, close to the actual Traian Bridge. The censii from 1567 and 1579, ordered by the Sultan,

register for Arad and the neighboring localities a number of 297 families, mainly farmers.Transylvanian troops liberated the inferior valley of the Mures in 1595 reintegrating Arad into the

Transylvanian Principality. After the victory from Selimbar (1599) the territory of Arad got under

the authority of Michael the Brave. Subsequent to his death Gabriel Bethlen gave the fortresses on

the Mures (including Arad) back to the Turks keeping Ineu instead.

The Town of the Modern Age

After the failure of the Ottoman siege on Vienna (1683), the Imperial troops started a huge offensive

towards East, reaching and conquering Arad in 1687. Two years later Eugene of Savoy had already

drawn the plans to rebuild the old Turkish fortress. Georg Haruckern was appointed to direct theworks. Following the Austrian army, the first German craftsmen and merchants arrived in Arad. The

Karlowitz Peace (1699) set the border between the Austrian and the Ottoman Empire on the Mures.


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Arad became the centre of the Austrian frontier guard zone. Therefore in august 1699 the first

frontier guard troops, recruited mainly among Serbs, where quartered in the town.

In 1702 Arad has been promoted to the rank of a

chamber town, a status that conferred some economic

facilities. The attack of the Kurutzy (anti-Habsburg

rebels), in the summer of 1707, left deep traces in the

town life, many buildings being destroyed.Following the victories of Eugene of Savoy the Habsburg

domination was instated in the Banat also, a situation

confirmed by the Passarowitz Peace (1718). As a part of

the economic development plan for the new conquered

regions the Imperial authorities settled German colonists,

among these some dozens of families from Franconia

were brought to Aradul Nou (1724). Romanians and Serbs inhabited the other surrounding villages.

The town population clustered around the fortress consisted of frontier guards and civilians

(peasants, craftsmen and merchants), Romanians, Serbs, Germans and Hungarians. The number of

inhabitants registered in the town and its vicinities reached 441 families in 1720.

From the administrative point of view, Arad and its subordinate area had an intricate evolution. TheHabsburg rulers first included Arad and Zarand counties in Hungary. In 1732 almost the whole

county of Arad has been to Duke Rinaldo di Modena who eight years later lost both, the Imperial

favor and the domain. Arad County became state property (Aerarial domain) and the town gained

new economic facilities. The frontier guard has been dismissed in 1746 and most of the Serbs,

former guardians, left for Russia. In the same year Arad was assigned the centre of the new

organized Nobility County.

During the reign of Maria Theresa (1740 - 1780) the town developed in almost all aspects. The

population grew to 1321 families in 1752. The weight of handicraft increased in economy. The

number of craftsmen grew from 90, in 1746, to 299, in 1774. They gathered in guilds and acquired

privileges from the authorities. The first officially registered guild was the one of the German

furriers (1702). Until 1845, only in the town, 44 guilds including 65 different trades have registered.The workshops processed mainly raw materials provided by the "agricultural sector" of the town,

still dominant in the XVIII-th century.

The construction of the new fortress, located on the

south bank of the Mures, marked the history of the town

deeply. A team of military engineers directed by

Ferdinand Philipp Harsch has designed the Vauban-

Tenaille style fortress. The works lasted over 20 years

(1763 - 1783) and were carried out by thousands of

serfs.

The fortress has a history of its own. The permanent

garrison consisted of the Infantry Regiment 33,

participant at all major military actions of the Empire. In

the centre of the Fortress there is a Catholic Church and

in buildings around it Franciscan monks were hosted. Until 1918, the fort also was one of the largest

military prisons of the Empire.

During the revolution in 1848/49 the fortress played a crucial role. Under siege of the Hungarian

republican army, the garrison bombed the town every day for nine months. In the summer of 1849

the Hungarian revolutionary army succeeded to occupy the fortress for 46 days, before it was

encircled by the Russian and Austrian armies and forced to surrender. The Habsburg troops used it

once more as a prison and incarcerated 500 officers of the revolutionary army, the majority of them

sentenced to death. Among the executed were the 13 generals of the revolutionary army who werehanged respectively shot on October 6th 1849 in the outer pill boxes. In 1752 the emperor Franz

Joseph I visited the fortress himself and lessened the sentences of the imprisoned officers.


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In the next decades the Arad fortress was a prison for many war

prisoners. Between 1914 and 1918 a camp has been improved in the

outer pillboxes hosting civilian and military prisoners from Bosnia-

Herzegovina.

In November 1918 the fortress has been occupied by French-Serb

troops and in July 1919 the Romanian army took it over.

The inhabitants of Arad tried since the XVIII-th century to obtain thestatus of a free royal town, but only in 1826 succeeded to ransom its

privileges. In 1834 the emperor Francis I handed over to the local

authorities the diploma certifying this title.

The new condition created an optimal environment for further

economic development. First, the number of merchants increased up

to 686 in 1870. The industrial activity remained relatively modest in

the first half of the XIX-th century. In 1825 a machine-tools factory

functioned and in 1836 Anton Dangl started a factory producing

organs, the only one in the eastern part of Europe. Most of the products were still manufactured in

workshops.

Only in the second half of the XIX-th century the wind of change was to be felt. The first steptowards great industry was the opening of the alcohol and yeast factory by the Neumann brothers,

1851. The official statistics recorded for the years 1869 - 1870 a number of 5074 entrepreneurs,

6839 clerks and 11913 workers. Meantime, 2645 city inhabitants were farmers.

At the end of the XIX-th century and the beginning of the XX-th the industrial output got more

diversified. In 1872 the machine factory "Hendl" was set up, cement and a brickyard followed. The

Lengyel brothers founded a furniture factory in 1891 and next year the wagon Factory of Johann

Weitzer started production that at the beginning of the next century was enlarged including cars,

utility vans and planes. In 1909 the local industry enriched with a textile plant, property of the

Neumann family.

By the beginning of the XX-th century Arad was a major industrial metropolis with 25 factories and

7 banks.The industrial growth stimulated the expansion of the city to the North and West detrimental to

agricultural districts. The rapid pace of urban life requested a public transport system, so in 1878 the

first horse-trams were put in use, linking the railway station to the main points of public interest in

the city. At the beginning of the XX-th century the first urban bus lines got into operation. In the last

decade of the XIX-th century the water supply and sewage utilities were completed. Public lighting

based on oil lamps have been introduced in 1828, gas lamps in 1860 and electricity in 1895.

Until 1747 the administration of Arad was divided between two mayoralties - the Serb and the

German. Afterward the mayor was assigned, depending on the political juncture, among the

Germans, Hungarians, Jews and Romanians. In 1871 Arad became municipality so justice and

administration separated. After the dual Austro-Hungarian regime settled (1867) the local authorities

were dominated by Hungarians and Jews.

Demographically the evolution during the XIX-th century was spectacular. In l804 Arad had 8476

inhabitants, in 1850 there were 22398 and in 1900 the number rose to 56260.

The main political trends, conservative and liberal, appeared in Arad in the first half of the XIX-th

century, represented by discussion clubs. Concomitantly the national emancipation movement of the

Romanians took shape, mainly in the position of clergy.

The 48 revolution gave an impulse to the political association, materialized in the political parties

founded in the last quarter of the XIX-th century.

The Hungarian parties were the conservative (governmental) and the "independence party". The

conservatives kept power accepting several compromises, not the universal and secret vote though.

The Romanian emancipation movement evolved into Romanian National Party, founded in 1881.The socialist views had numerous followers, consequently, in 1894, the founding congress of the

Social-Democratic Labor Party (Marxist) was held in Arad.


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Due to the Hungarian parties' reluctance to democratic changes in society, the national and the

socialist movements approached. Arad was a multiethnic city, with a great number of laborers and a

solid tradition in the non-Hungarian nationalities struggle for emancipation so the Nationalities Club

of Deputies from the Budapest Parliament and the Romanian section of the Social-Democratic Party

from Hungary established here.

World War I exposed both

social and national strains inthe Empire. The Romanian

National Party and the

Romanian section of the

Social-Democratic Party from

Hungary lead the Romanians'

movement for rights. On 30

October 1918, the Romanian

National Council was

constituted and moved on 8

November from Budapest to Arad. The leaders of this organization were politicians from Arad:

Stefan Cicio Pop, Vasile Goldis, Ioan Suciu and Ioan Flueras. A Hungarian delegation, lead byOszkar Jaszi, came to Arad to negotiate with the representatives of the Romanians. After three days

of discussions, 13th - 15th November, marked by the opening to concessions of the Hungarian part,

the decision of the Romanians stayed firm: separation from Hungary and union with Romania. The

Central Romanian National Council from Arad prepared the plebiscitary assembly from Alba Iulia,

which proclaimed, on 1 December 1918 the union of Transylvania with Romania.

In late December French troops occupied the city. The Romanian Army entered Arad on 16 May

1919 and on 10 July, the same year, the entire administration was taken over by the Romanian State.

Arad inter-war

The major goals set by the authorities in Bucharest after the union was to protect the frontiers of the

new state, to gain international recognition and to actually integrate the new provinces in Romania.

The endorsement of the new constitution, in 1925, provided the legislative environment required

creating the unitary structure of the state. The law put up the new administrative system from 1925.

Due to this the mayor became a representative of the government being assigned by the Ministry of

Internal Affairs. He chaired the Communal Council and enacted its decisions. Under the new law of

local public administration from 1929, all the county capitals, such as Arad, were pronounced

municipalities.

The inclusion of the suburban villages and the spontaneous or organized immigration determined a

significant increase of the city population. Thereby, in 1937 Arad had 76.015 inhabitants of whom

72% were Romanians, 8% Hungarians, 4% Germans, 4% Jews and 12% others.The economic structure did not change much after the

union. The heavy Industry continued to be represented by

J. Weitzer's fabric (that fusion, in 1920, with the

automobile producer "Marta"), by the textile factory and

the Mill of the Neumann brothers and by the furniture

fabric "Lengyel". The famous liqueur plant "Zwack" also

continued production.

New fabrics added to the industrial activity, such as the

Sugar Plant (1926), "Polyrom" (varnishes and dyes,

1980), The Technical Factory Arad (electric bulbs,

1935), "IRON" (radios and electrotechnic appliances).Therefore, in 1937 existed 110 industrial units compared to 59 in 1919. The economic crisis from


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1929 - 1933 caused bankruptcy of many small industries and concentrated the largest part of

production in 22 major companies.

The commercial activity amplified, placing Arad with its 4001 trade companies on the fourth

position in the country. Only a small percent of these firms employed Romanian capital (8,7% of the

wholesale and 15 % of the retail companies).

The banking system actively supported the local economic development. Besides the local branch of

the National Bank of Romania (opened in 1921), ten other banks were active in the city. Amongthese the "Victoria" Bank was representative for the Arad finance.

The quality of urban life is illustrated by the standard of the services. The water works were rebuilt

between 1931 and 1934 so the quality of the drinking water improved and the distribution network

expanded. The sewerage system also got modernized with the assistance of British experts. Arad

was one of the first cities in Romania to be equipped with an automatic telephonic exchange

(1937).Urban transport improved after introducing buses on 11 routes.

The political life was bound to the fluctuations of the Bucharest scene. Until the merging of the

National Peasant Party from the Old Kingdom (1926), the National Romanian Party represented the

interests of Transylvanians. After that the citizens of Arad voted for the new created party and for

the Liberals. The Party of the Hungarians had a constant electorate. The social-democratic parties

had, somehow paradoxically, a minor presence in Arad. At the elections from 1937, the lastdemocratic ones of the inter-war period, the preferences of the inhabitants of Arad were oriented

towards the extreme right party called "Totul pentru Tara" (Everything for the Country), followed

by the Liberals and the Hungarian Party. The Royal dictatorship put an end to parliamentary life in

1958.

The international situation directly influenced the political evolution in Romania. Despite the

alliance with Germany, the Romanian government wasn't able to prevent the loss of some provinces

including a large part of Transylvania (30 August 1940). The protests of the Romanians, including

those from Arad, weren't successful.

The war gave Arad a hard time too. On top of the repeated restrictions and requisitions added the

Anglo-American bombings in July 1944, which wrecked military and civil buildings around the

railway station.After the political coup in 23 August 1944, Arad got into the middle of the battles between

Romanian and the German-Hungarian armies. On 22 September, the Hungarian troops withdrew

from the city after bowing up the bridges over the Mures, the railway station and the telephonic

exchange. In October and early November 1944, the Luftwaffe bombed the railway station causing

important damage.

After the defeat of Hitler's Germany, I-st cavalry Division of the Romanian Army returned to base

in Arad being triumphantly welcomed by the population (13 July 1945). Russian troops were

quartered in the Fortress.

Post-War Arad

The presence of the soviet army made it easy for the communists to take over power in the city on

29 November 1944.

In order to win the general elections from 1946, the communists, supported by the soviet troops,

used methods that defy democratic society. Massive fraud allowed them to "win" the elections in

Arad and the entire country.

Once the King abdicated the Romanian Popular Republic has been proclaimed (30 December 1947)

and the communist regime got fully installed. Steps to enforce the soviet model followed: the

nationalization of the main means of production (11 June 1948), the reorganization of the teaching

system (3 August 1948) etc. These were accompanied by the elimination, even physical, of the

political, economic and cultural elite.

In Arad, the opposition of the terrorized civil society was rather weak. One should, anyhow,

mention the rebellion of the workers from the Textile Plant, who, on 25 April 1947, killed the


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secretary of their communist organization. The brutal answer of the authorities baffled any further

resistance.

After the soviet troops left, in 1958, a certain relaxation was noticeable, which climaxed with the

release of all political prisoners. Taking over the power, in 1965, Ceausescu opened the way to

national- communism. Even if liberal, in a limited degree, in the beginning, the regime ended with

the Ceausescu clan dictatorship.

Since the entire public life was politicized, the decisions taken by the centre were strictly applied inthe territory. When orders wherein obvious conflict with the interests of the local community,

mainly in the seventies and eighties, local authorities assumed the risk of "softening" them. These

were individual gestures.

The first post-war years aimed to recover from the

damage caused by the war. In 1951 started the

implementation of the five-year plans and, meanwhile, the

industrialization. The existing industrial units merged and

were modernized. Afterwards new units were built: the

lathe machines factory (1949), "Aradeanca" doll plant

(1959), "Victoria" clock plant (1961), the Chemical

Fertilizers Plant (1971) etc. The largest investments inthe fifties targeted the heavy industry, later they

diversified, but the giant factories of machine constructing

industry still swallowed the most important amounts of

money. Despite the massive investments, productivity remained low and most of the products did

not reach international standards.

Accelerated development of industry was followed by a significant growth of population. In the

eighties Arad had over 150,000 inhabitants. This demographic growth was accomplished mainly by

encouraging the village youth and inhabitants of the poor regions of the country to move to the city,

but also by radical steps like prohibition for abortion and contraceptives, which increased the birth

race.

In order to deal with the growing request of dwelling places, new districts consisting of blocks offlats were built. The commercial and service network was expanded. Remarkable was the

development of the tram rails network. With its 96 km of railway, Arad reached the second place in

the country, after Bucharest. The problems seemed to be solved; only the solutions were

perfunctory, lacking quality.

The investments of the seventies were possible because of massive external credits. Ceausescu

intended to pay the entire external debt in the eighties. This was eventually accomplished by

sacrificing the needs of the population and forcing the existing equipment to the limit. The citizens

of Arad were affected by the period of austerity, even if less than others.

The events of December 1989 had an immediate echo in Arad where a great number of people went

out on the streets to express their solidarity with the demonstrants in Timisoara. On 21 December,

Arad became the second city in the country, after Timisoara, where communist authorities were

overthrown.

The Development of Town Planning from the Beginning of the XVII-

th Century to the End of the XX-th

The installing of the Habsburg rule (1687) marks the beginning of town planning in Arad. German

colonists and the Serb frontier guard troops essentially contributed to this. The maps drawn by the

middle of the XVIII-th century show four sectors of the town: the fortress, the withdrawal region

(retired), the "German town" and the "Serb town".Evolution of town planning stopped in second half of the century. There are to major reasons to this:

the Serb emigration to Russia and, more important, the orders coming from Vienna that


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interdicted any construction near the old fortress. After the

new fortress got into construction, beside the old

interdiction a new problem occurred: the Austrian

authorities planned to move the whole town to the Zimand

Puszta. Vienna gave up the plan in 1781.

In spite of these interdictions people continued to build

houses assuming the risks. The city expanded to the north,occupying free land, as well as to the south were new

construction space was created after the Austrian

demolished the old fortress. As the future centre of the

town the actual Avram Iancu Place took shape. Here stood

the town hall, which has been repaired and enlarged in 1770. The census from 1783 registered 84

streets to which the one from 1797 added the Forum Venalicum Piscium. This Fish Market was an

extension to the north of the old commercial street Tribunul Axente.

After the new fortress got ready and occupied by the army, authorities set a 2 km security area

around it in which no constructions could be building and the existing ones had to be demolished.

But constructions continued to appear. Among those who assumed the risk was the rich merchant

Jacob Hirschl, who, in 1817, built a theatre along with his own house (today on Gh. Lazar St. 1 - 3).In 1818 the military authorities reduced the security area to 500 m, giving satisfaction to the

demands of the city inhabitants. New perspectives were opened to town planning, which in 1828

centered the future evolution of the city on the Avram Iancu Place.

The construction rhythm fastened up after Arad became a Free Royal Town. New street fronts were

opened (see Metianu St.) and the old ones were refreshed with new buildings, such as the hotel

"White Cross" (1841).

The flood from 1844 and the bombings during the '48 revolution caused important damage. In the

spaces created by demolishing, new and representative buildings were raised.

The railway station, opened in 1858, set the northern point

to the central axis of the town. During the last decades of

the XIX-th century and the beginning of the XX-th, alongthis central axis the most representative constructions of

the city were built: the theatre (1874), the town hall

(1876), the Finance Palace (1885), the Cenad Palace

(1887), the Neumann Palace (1902), the building of the

National Bank (1912), the

Cultural Palace (1913) etc.

The new buildings and the

renovations realized

around the year 1900 are strongly marked by the Secession style.

During the inter-war period residential districts have been built, in

concordance with the new conception of the garden towns. On the

central axis the residence of the Social Assurance House was built.

During the communist regime the huge block districts like Micalaca,

Aurel Vlaicu and Alfa were built. They are the same in all cities of

the country. In the central area some huge buildings have been

inserted: the hotel "Astoria", the block with the "Dacia" cinema, the

"Ziridava" shopping centre.


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The Spiritual Life

The religious life is tightly bound to history of Arad, right from its beginning.

The Orthodox Church on the territory has its roots in the XV-th century, according to tradition. In

the first half of the XVIII-th century two orthodox communities - Romanian and Serb - grouped by

the two churches "St. Apostles Peter and Paul", in the "Serb Town", and "St. John the Baptist", onthe place of today's "Moise Nicoara" high school. The number of faithful grew up to 5595, in 1770,

so a larger church was needed. In 1791 Bishop Pavel Avacumovici ordered the building of a new

house of worship on the place of the old "St. John the Baptist" church. Heavy bombings during the

'48 revolution did important damage to the new church so the Imperial authorities ordered it to be

demolished. A new cathedral was built between 1861 and 1870 on the eastern side of the Big

Market. The cathedral gathered a plead of Romanian intellectuals actively involved in the Romanian

emancipation movement.

The Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of Transylvania was reactivated in 1865. The Bishopric of

Arad was annexed to it and liberated thus from under the authority of the Serb Church. Orthodox

Churches were built in the districts and the suburbs of Arad depending on the number of

parishioners and their economic power: Micalaca (church in the XVIII-th century; a new one in

1845), Vladimirescu (1930), Sega (1933), Gradiste (1940), Micalaca Noua (1944), Bujac (1976),

Gai (1936), Aradul Nou (church in the XVII-th century; a new one in 1937), Sanicolau Mic (church

at the beginning of the XVIII-th century; a new one in 1804).

Since 1934 the community considered building a cathedral on the main axis of the city but various

reasons delayed this project until 1994.

The Orthodox Church had an important contribution in maintaining the Romanian national identity

and was very active in preparing the Union. In the years of the communist regime, its position was

delicate, therefore unfortunate compromises and brave actions joined in its attitude.

The Catholic Church started its activity in Arad by the

end of the XVII-th century, when Franciscan (Minorit)priests arrived in Arad together with the Austrian army.

They served both in the fortress and in the civil

settlement where they contributed to the construction of

the first Catholic Church by the beginning of the XVIII-

th century. This was replaced with a larger one in 1758.

Between 1902 and 1904 a commanding cathedral was

built on the place of the old church. Catholic parishes

exist in the districts Gradiste, Sega, Aradul Nou and Gai.

The Greek-Catholic Church settled in Arad around 1770

and from 1776 on had its first house of worship. A new church was built between 1912 and 1915

and another construction started in the inter-war period in Sega.In 1948, the communist regime abolished the Greek-Catholic Church and the ownership of the

churches passed to the Orthodox cult. In 1991 the Greek-Catholic parish was restored.

The Reformed Church is first attested in Arad in the XVI-th century but don't know anything about

their houses of worship until the XIX-th century when the still standing church was built (1852).

Reformed parishes exist in Gai and Gradiste.

The Evangelic-Lutheran Church exists in Arad since the first half of the XIX-th century. The growth

of the community and their financial potential required the building of an adequate church so in

1906 they had the new "Red Church".

The Neo-Protestant Church found adherents in Arad at the end of the XIX-th century. The first was

the Baptist community that its own house of worship in Micalaca in 1897 (today there are 17 Baptist

churches in Arad). At the beginning of the XX-th century, the Adventist and the Pentecostalcommunities stepped into life.


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The Mosaic cult became an

important component of the

religious life of the town during

the first half of the XVIII-th

century. The Jews settled in the

eastern part of the "Serb Town"

after the frontier guardians left.An expression of the wealth of

the community is the complex of

buildings with the synagogue in

its centre, finished in 1834. On spiritual level, the community is

renowned first through the outstanding activity of the Rabbi Chorin

Aaron reformers of the Mosaic cult.

Education began within the church. The Minorit monks founded the

first school in 1715. The teaching language was German. During the

following five years another three schools were created: two orthodox and a catholic one with

teaching in Hungarian. Education was supported by the church through the religious communities

and by the Town Council. The first secondary school was organized in 1753 by nuns from NotreDame. A Latin school functioned since 1745. The education system got a new organization through

the laws from 1774.

The Foundation of the "Preparandia", in 1812, was of major importance for the cultural and political

emancipation of the Romanians. The school prepared Romanian teachers.

The new Law of Education From 1868 permitted religious communities, public associations and the

state to ground schools. Arad had four Romanian schools (in 1873), besides the "Preparandia" (Arad

- city, in Micalaca, Parneava, Sega), 11 Hungarian (in the years 1884/1885), one Serb (from 1792

on) and one Jewish (from 1832 on). The Budapest government introduced Hungarian as an

obligatory class in all schools (1883), and later gave it a privileged status (1907).

Between the world wars the educational system was exclusive state matter. The first Romanian high

schools of the town, "Moise Nicoara" and "Elena Ghiba Birta" were grounded in 1919.After World War II the communist rule organised the educational system after the soviet model. The

only college was the one for veterinarians, founded in 1948 and moved to Timisoara in 1956. Only

since 1990 Arad has its own universities: "Aurel Vlaicu" (state) and "Vasile Goldis" (private).

In the years of the communist regime, Arad had 33 primary and secondary, 22 high schools, l3

technical schools and 6 post high school institutions. Though the teaching process was strongly

dominated by politics, the schools from Arad gained recognition for the serious training of their

pupil.

Theatre representations started in 1787, according to written evidence. At that time the German

ensemble lead by Philip Berndt opened its season at Arad. But this couldn't have been the first

representation. According to a street register from 1783

there existed a "Theatergasse" (Theatre Street) leading to

the "Arena" of Sava Thokoly.

The effective theatre movement began in the autumn of

1817 as the theatre build by Jacob Hirschl opened its

doors. On this scene numerous German, Hungarian and

Romanian ensembles played along the years.

The new theatre building has been opened in 1874 but it

had to be almost totally rebuilt after the great fire of

1883. Until 1945 its repertoire consisted just of

Hungarian spoken plays. In the year 1948 the still

existing State Theatre was founded.The musical life of the city was marked for over a century by the Conservatorium. As it was

founded, in 1833, it was the sixth institution of this kind in Europe. Until 1948, as its activity was


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stopped, the Conservatorium trained numerous fine instrumentalists and formed the musical taste of

the city inhabitants. The quality of both, the orchestra and the public, determined various important

artists and composers to play in Arad: Franz Liszt (1846), Johann Strauss Jr. (1847), Pablo Sarasate

(1877), Henryk Wienawski (1877), George Enescu (1922 and in the following years) and Bela

Bartok (1924).

The still existing State Philharmonic Arad was founded in

1948.Literature has been written in Romanian only after the

founding of the "Preparandia". In 1857 the first reader's

union of the pupil started its activity and two years later

succeeded in issuing the Almanac "Muguri" under the

redaction of M. V. Stanescu.

The "National Association from Arad for the Culture and

Conversation of the Romanian People", created in 1862,

organised various conferences on literary themes.

In the period 1871 - 1918 a large number of reviews with

literary content were issued in Arad: "Gura Satului "(first issue l871), "Lumina"(1871), "Biserica si

Scoala"(1877), "Tribuna Poporului" (1896), "Tribuna"(1904), "Romanul"(1911). These publishedRomanian writers from Arad, such as I. Slavici, A. Cotrus, M. Nicoara, Al. Gavra, M. V. Stanescu,

A. M. Marienescu, N. Oncu, I. Grozescu, R. Ciorogariu, as well as major authors of Romanian

literature: V. Alecsandri, Al. Macedonski, Gr. Alexandrescu, G. Cosbuc, I.L. Caragiale, M.

Sadoveanu, L. Blaga and others.

Among the authors who wrote in other languages than Romanian one should cite the Hungarian

playwright Csiky Gergely and the German writer Adam Muller Guttenbrunn.

A remarkable editorial activity was done by the "Biblioteca Semanatorul", which published 1984

volumes of Romanian literature in the period 1926 - 1927.

In-between the two world wars about 70 cultural associations were registered in Arad. The most

important among these were: "The National Association ...", which in 1924 united with the ASTRA,

"Concordia"(founded in 1910) and "Ateneul Popular"(1931). The literary reviews were representedby "Solidaritatea" (first issue 1922), "Tribuna Aradului"(1925), "Vointa Poporului"(1923), "Tribuna

Noua"(1924), "Salonul Literar"(1925), Hotarul (1933), "Bravo!" and "Innoirea"(1937).The most

important authors of the local literary scene were Al. T. Stamatiad, F. Munteanu, M. Micu, Gh.

Achitei, D. Rachici, D. Ureche and R. Muresanu.

After 1947 the communist regime tried, and partially succeeded, to

subordinate literature also. The Arad branch of the Romanian

Writers' Association was created in 1948. The two journals issued in

Arad during the communist regime, "Flacara Rosie" and "Voros

Lobogo", published in their literary supplements authentic literature

too. Between 1968 and 1989 several collective literary volumes

were issued. Most of the important authors from Arad can be found

in the pages of these.

Among the most important writers of the period one should cite,

from Arad: St. Augustin Doinas, Gh. Schwartz, Fl. Banescu, R.

Bucur, V. Gheorghita, V. Dan, D. Sibii and H. Ungureanu.

Fine arts developed in Arad only after the installation of the

habsburgic regime. The monument we know of is the statue of Saint

Nepomuk (1729).

In the second half of the XVIII-th century the town had its own

artistic life illustrated by the painter family Osztermayer and by

Stefan Tenetchi who painted most of the important Orthodox Cathedrals from the Banat, includingthe ones from Arad.


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During the XIX-th century several Austrian and Hungarian painters settled in Arad. They were

exponents of the academism such as J. Geltz, D. Jagermann, Emeric and Adalbert Vizkeleti, E.

Szamossy and P. Bohm. Major Hungarian painters started their career in Arad - M. Munkacsy and

L. Paal.

1n the period between the two world wars C. Wolf, I. Stern, C. Kiss, and F. Balla continued to paint

in the old academic style. I. Toader, C. Minisan, Al. Pataki and V. Anyos succeeded to get beyond

the barriers. A new spirit was brought to Arad by the sculptors R. Ladea, Gh. Groza and M.Olinescu, who founded the "Pro Arte" group in 1936.

Under the communist regime artists were put in front of the dilemma weather to obey the official

line of the "socialist realism" and get the recognition of the Party, or to follow their own way risking

difficult situations. Most artists assumed the second option. The major artists of Arad during this

period were N. Chirilovici, S. Frentiu, F. Baranyai, E. Vitroel, Lia and Ioan Cott, I. Tolan, Sc.

Gules, E.S. Muntean, N. Bicfalvi, P. Alaszu, L. Babocsik, O. Colta, L. Josan Kocsis, I. Kett Groza,

A. Strasnei Popa, Z. Eisele Sucs, M. Tamas, D. Serban, I. Stroia, L. Cociuba and M. Pacurar.

The press appeared in Arad at the beginning of the XIX-th century. The "Arader Kundschaftsblatt",

first issued in 1837, represents the start. In 1840 its Hungarian alternative followed - "Aradi

Hirdeto".

The oldest daily newspaper is the "Alfold", first issued in 1861, followed by "Aradi Kozlony" (1885- 1940).

The Romanian press got started in the clerical milieu. The first review was "Speranta", issued

between 1869 - 1872. The most appreciated and long lasting Romanian review was the one called

"Biserica si Scoala" edited between 1877 and 1948. Resuming, one can find out that until 1918 in

Arad 28 papers were issued, a number that increased to 108 in the interplead period.

Under the communist regime two daily papers were issued in the town - "Flacara Rosie" and "Voros

Lobogo".

Sports and Places of Leisure

Arad is the cradle of Romanian football. The first official game took place in 1899. Afterwards

numerous sport clubs organised football sections. The most famous is UTA, which since 1946 has

its own stadium financed by F. Neumann, the same who sponsored the football team.

The sporting clubs from Arad obtained remarkable results in table tennis, basket, boating, target

shooting and gymnastics.

The most important place of leisure is the "Neptun" area, which includes several swimming pools,

bars, restaurants, discos, open air scenes and so forth, all located on the left bank of the Mures, close

to the fortress. The whole area was arranged in 1970 and is constantly updated.

A Brief Monograph of the City of Arad

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