Satu Mare : Romania
Satu Mare (Hungarian: Szatmrnmeti, German: Sathmar) is a city with a population of 115,000 and the capital of Satu Mare county, Romania.
History
A fortress by the name of Zotmar (Castrum Zotmar) was mentioned in the Gesta Hungarorum as being in the lands ruled by Menumorut in the early 10th century. According to the chronicle, the fortress was taken by the Magyars after three days of fighting. In 1006 Germans were settled around the fortress by the Hungarian queen Gizella. Later, more Germans settled in the town of Mintin, across the Some? river.
After 1543 the fortress, then owned by the Bthory family, was reinforced and a moat was built around it. The fortress was under siege by the Ottomans in 1562 and later destroyed by the Austrian Habsburgs. The Austrian Lazar Schwendi, using the latest Italian fortification techniques, rebuilt the fortress.
In 1721, Satu Mare, unified with Mintiu/Mintin, became a “royal free city” and prospered as an important center of trade and craftsmanship.
In the 18th century much of the city was rebuilt and among the landmarks are the old City Hall, the inn and several churches.
The history of Satu Mare during the 20th century is often disputed:
Common Romanian interpretation: Since 1918 Satu Mare, like all other Transylvanian cities, has become part of Romania and started to enjoy a prosperous life between the two world wars. In 1930 it had 33 banks located in the city centre that fed an extremely prosperous industrial activity. World War II was a castastrophe for Satu Mare as it was forcefully included in lands taken from Romania by the then-fascist government of Hungary.
Common Hungarian interpretation: After the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, Szatmarnmeti (Satu Mare) became a neglected city in a new country hundred miles away from its new capital. The population was over 90% Hungarian, but the city was cut off from its ethnic kinsmen in Hungary. Unfortunately, the Nazi ocupation of the city in March 1944 led to the destruction of the city’s Jewish population.
During World War II Satu Mare and the surrounding areas were the stage of many crimes and deportations performed by the fascist Hungarian government. Anti-Semitic and anti-Romanian activities were a daily reality in the life of Satu Mare while the city was under occupation.
The area was finally liberated by the Romanian army on 25 October 1944 after the heavy Battle of Carei. During the war at least 18,000 Jews from the Satu Mare area were deported and murdered in concentration and extermination camps. A considerable number of Romanians also suffered from violent treatment. By 1950 Satu Mare once again had roughly the same population of 1930.
It took almost three decades for Satu Mare to become a properous city once again. In the 1970s the city was subject to an extensive process of modernization performed by the Romanian communist government of that time after the floods that took place on 14 May 1970. The most visible achievement of the reconstruction process was the impressive building of city hall which features unique architecture- the symbol of the city [1] (http://www.satu-mare.net/album/centrulnou8.jpg). However, the collapse of communism placed Satu Mare into a long period of stagnation during the 1990s when it lost around 20,000 inhabitants due to the closing down of many industrial plants.
Nowadays Satu Mare is a dynamic city with an industry that is entering the global economy. A considerable number of the inhabitants of the area work aboard, mostly in Western Europe but their families remain based in Satu Mare.
Population
The Satu Mare area is inhabited by a Romanian majority (60%), Hungarians (35%), Germans (3.6%) and others (1.4%). The English language is widely spoken among the young generation and tends to be the city’s second language after Romanian.
The city day is May 14, which commemorates the tragedy that affected the city in 1970, although it is also a day of rebirth.
