German: Fibisch; Hungarian: Temesfüres; Official: Fibis, Romania; Other: Fiwisch

Welcome

Fibisch, the German name.  Today the official name is Fibis, Romania, 30km NE of Temeswar.  The Hungarian variant is Temesfüres and another variant is Fiwisch.   Fibisch is a village with a mixed population and had been up to the Ceausescus administration.  As a result of the territorial restructuring of Romania, in the year 1967, Fibisch became a municipality of Blumenthal (Masloc), including the Filial parish being Blumenthal.  Fibis has a Railroad station.

Just outside the village are scenes to take your breathe away.  The mountains frame the vast land, while the quilt-like valleys are blessed with rich soil.  You can see the local farmers preparing their fields, once owned by Danube Swabians.

The purpose of this site is to provide in English all information regarding Fibisch that can be located.  This site is brought to you by The DVHH Project & I am Jody McKim, your Host until someone volunteers to be the DVHH Fibisch Village Coordinator.  I would like to hear from all Fibisch researchers, please sign our Guestbook, so we can get to know you. 

Write me.  If you have the knowledge and time,
I have the time to assist in the web page maintenance,
which can continue to be hosted by the DVHH.  

Happy Hunting, Jody McKim

Learn about the Donauschwaben culture at The DVHH

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Geographic Location and Maps

1878 Hungarian Map of Fibisch
- Volunteers needed, please read!

Surrounding Villages: 

See all Villages on Map

0fficial Websites:

Bruckenau
Blumenthal
Charlottenburg

 Ariel View of Fibisch / Fibis, Romania
   click images to enlarge

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Fibisch H.O.G.:  Anyone know who it is?

The 2007 Blumenthal & Fibisch Treffen

 Fibisch Books:   

Fibisch Heimatbuch, 2004, 184 pages, 98 photos, 25 euro plus postage. Order from: Anna Schneider, Graf-von-Stauffenberg-Str. 31, 40595 Düsseldorf

Petri, Anton Peter. Herkunftsorte der Fibischer Kolonisten. [E: Origins of the ... colonists]. 1991, city & publisher unknown. 12 pages. 

In preparation: Blumenthal/Fibisch RO-1985 (Family Book)
Purchase from: Michael Stickel, 58675 Hemer, Altenaer Straße 138,
Tel: (0 23 72) 32 13

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 Records / Reference:   

Final Parish belongs to German: Blumenthal / Blumental; Hungarian: Maslak; Official: Masloc, Romania 

The Family History Library Microfilms Records for 1771-1848/1858:
Blumenthal #858417 and #858426. 

The Last of the German Village of Fibisch by Anton Zollner
Original German version: http://www.banater-aktualitaet.de/akt2fib.htm

Fibisch Passenger Records

Emigration from Banat in the National Archives Ship Records by Dave Dreyer

Banat / Batschka Immigration to America U.S. Federal Census for Mansfeld Ohio by David Dreyer & John Movius (Fibisch Residents listed (edit/find: fibisch)

Who are the Donauschwaben?

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The Last of the German Villages of the Banat... Fibisch

Fibisch (official: Fibis; Hung.: Temesfüres) is on the north-east edge of the Banater Hecke, about in the middle of the Temeschburg - Lippa highway, which goes diagonally through the village.  Fibisch is a village with mixed population.  Since the Ceausescus administrative-territorial restructuring of Romania in the year 1967, it belongs to the municipality of Blumenthal (also called Maslok).

Gheorghe Drinovan states that the village has first been documented in 1446, the ethnic German establishing themselves around the year 1800.  At that time it was Hungary.   In 1821, the village had a population of 1,300, 260 were ethnic Germans.   By 1910 the ethnic German population was 569, an increase of 23 percent, making it the highest ethnic German population in Fibisch, as just 2 decades later the number of ethnic Germans deceased to 394, representing 18 percent of the total population.  In the year 1940 there were 466 ethnic Germans counted in Fibisch.  Then in 1977 the total ethnic German population decreased to 150 people, along side of the 1,610 Romanians, 195 Hungarians and 21 others.  The January 1992 Census of Fibisch represents of the end of the ethnic German settlement era of the Banats.  Among the 1,630 village inhabitants, only 14 reported to be ethnic German.  On this note one has to acknowledge the fact that in the last 15 years 136 ethnic Germans returned to their ancestral homelands, but also 346 Romanians and 185 Hungarians left Fibisch as well.

Nevertheless however, the ethinic Germans were all gone from Fibisch, as on 13 March 1995, the "Temeschburger Banateana" daily newspaper reported that the first gas station was opened up on the highway leading to the village.  The article emphasized the investment to be more than 100 million Lei, by a Romanian-German trade company called "Nitrobenzen."  Owners of this company were a Romanian, Vasile Mihai from Fibisch and a German, Walter Papp, from Blumenthal.  After the Orthodox priest inaugurated the gas station, the station was open for business.  "Lead free" gasoline had just been granted in Romania and this was considered a rarity.  Lead free gasoline appeared more important locally than diesel oil.  Since the environment was classified as an important agricultural zone, the locals were happy to have a gas station located in Fibisch.  They were not satisfied with this "little thing" therefore soon a motel was built in the proximity of the Romanian-German gas station in Fibisch.

The next report on Fibisch appeared in the same newspaper about two years later, on 31 December 1996.  The event is relatively unimportant as it concerns  a traffic accident, caused by a sheepherder of the Fibischer agricultural trade company "Oveg," because he was driving his herd at night and could not be seen on a country road.  The only thing important in this report for us to know, is how determined sheep breeders are, while they risk the safety of the animals.  The meadows are the place for the sheep, not to cross busy highways.  Perhaps the new citizens of the Banat want to go back to the days of the grain chambers of Europe, before the ethnic German settlement days era?  Today everything can be possible in the Banat!