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Mehala is in the 5th
district of the city of Temesvar
(also known as
Temeschburg or Timisoara) in the Banat. The Banat lies in the western
part of present day Romania,
between the Theiß, Marosch, and Temesch Rivers. Besides information of the
history,
pictures tell excerpts from the
life in
the Banat. Connected to selected sites
which complement this site.
The
exact age of this urban district of Temesvar is
not known. It is indeed a very old, if not
the oldest suburb of Temesvar. The age was
derived from the name. The Turkish word
“Mahale” means, as far as we know,
district on the outskirts or suburb, a synonym
used for the suburbs of Bucharest. Under
Turkish rule (1552 – 1716) this suburb of
Temesvar was already known as “Mehala”.
For safety reasons
all fortress gates were closed before darkness
fell. Coming from the west the road led
into the fortress above Mehala. Whoever
wanted to enter the fortress, but did not catch
it at the right time, had to wait for daylight in
the suburb. This was still the rule at the
time of Count Mercy. So the first lodgings,
stables, and restaurants in Mehala already came
into being. Gradually they were established
as competition with the landlord inside the city
walls. The Temesvar fortress was surrounded
by the branched out part of the small Temes
(Bega) River in the first half of the 18th
century. The bogs and swamps at the west,
south, and east flanks of the fortress formed a
natural and effective protection. In the
evening it was advisable to keep the windows
closed because of the smell from the
swamps. The slow flowing water and frequent
flooding led to many fish being stranded on the
dry land after the water level receded and the
fish stunk in the sun.
The meadows and forests of Mehala were partially
surrounded by swamps. It was therefore suitable
for building a summer home for the early rulers
of the fortress. Already in the 164 year
rule of the Turks there was a fortress
here. Traditionally the people could reach
the protection of the fortress through
underground passageways. Pascabrunnen
(Wells of the Paschas) was the name of this
residence under Turkish rule. After the
displacement of the Turks in 1716 it was rebuilt
by the new rulers of the city and renamed the
President’s Garden. In 1849 the summer
residence burned up to the foundation walls and
was not erected again. On Torontaler Street
one could still recognize the remainder of the
ruins for a long time. It was assumed that
settlement by the Turks, Serbs, and Wallachians
began very early. There is documented
evidence of the fortress Temesvar itself as
“castrum regius Temesvar” since the
year 1212. In the many decades of Turkish
rule even slight offenses were severely
punished. This could be the reason why the
few people in this thinly settled land lived as
far as possible away from the fortress to eke out
an existence. How did things look in the
beginning of the 18th century in the
Banat? The Banat painter Stefan Jäger
illustrates this impressively in his landscape
paintings. A wild magnificent plant world
with a southern climate. Wide stretches of
land were really depopulated or sparsely
settled. The soil had no longer seen a plow
since Roman times. Some swamps passed
through plains where there were primeval
forests. The deserted villages seemed to be
extinct as wolves lived in their earthen
huts. In the summer innumerable frogs
hopped about in the swamps. Enormous swarms
of mosquitoes covered the swamps. Vultures
and ravens were persistent in their search for
food. Then the fateful year 1716 …
The Austrian Empire
was militarily strengthened in the beginning of
the 18th century by several victories
which confirmed its fighting capability.
After the victory at Peterwardein on the 5th
of August 1716, Prince Eugen decided on the
conquest of the Banat, the last part of Hungary
still in Turkish hands. Prince Eugen could
count on the support of powerful allies.
The time was coming to be freed from the constant
threat of the Turks. He could convincingly
present his plan in the imperial yard in
Vienna to drive the Turks out up to
Belgrade. Prince Eugene knew that the
Temesvar fortress was the key to the Banat.
So it had to be decided to attack this fortress
and conquer it. Because of the summer heat
the march to Temesvar could only succeed at night
and in the early morning hours. The further
one came the more difficult the terrain
was. Bogs, swamps, and branches of the
river surrounded the city on three sides.
In the north the suburb extended out from the
fortress, the so-called “Great
Palanka”. And only from the north
could this fortress be stormed. On the soil
of today’s Mehala tents of the imperial
troops stood in the autumn of the year 1716,
under the leadership of Prince Eugen of
Savoy. After a siege of more than 40 days
and after two days and two nights of sustained
fire, the Temesvar fortress could be shot up in
the fire. Above all, the Great Palanka,
where houses were built mainly of wood, burned up
almost completely. Inside the fortress
15,000 Turkish soldiers waited with 156 cannon
for reinforcements. A Turkish cavalry of
20,000 soldiers could no longer intervene in the
fighting. Count von Starkemberg brought
things under control and broke it up.
Mehmed Aga finally
gave up & hoisted the white flag on the 13th
of October, 1716.
The Turks surrendered
right away. Prince Eugen feared winter
would start early. The imperial troops were
weakened by the autumn weather with its
persistent rain as many soldiers complained of
falling ill. The surrender treaty between
Prince Eugen of Savoy and Mehmed Aga Azabani
Edwed was signed in the summer residence
according to tradition. The Turks left the
fortress in accordance with the surrender
treaty. On 2/11/1716 Prince Eugen traveled
back to Vienna, Count Claudius Mercy took over
the upper command over the Austrian armed forces
in the Banat, and fortress commander of Temesvar
was Paul Wallis.
As
governor Count Mercy, in the framework of his
function, provided for the upswing. He had
wells drilled to ensure drinking water would be
provided; he had the Bega Canal dug so the water
quickly drained off with it. Swamps were
drained, the settlement of the land with farmers
and craftsmen was encouraged. From the old
homeland grafts of fruit trees, grapevines, and
potatoes were introduced. Count Mercy got
one hundred thousand mulberry trees from Sicily
to line all of the country roads with them.
Many silk caterpillars, which presented the first
silk factory of the land with cocoons, could be
nourished from the leaves. In the hot
summer months the trees offered shade, in the
fall the sweet fruit of the mulberry was
treasured. The cathedral in Temesvar, new
laws for the protection of the settlers, and much
more can be credited to the work of Count Mercy
in the Banat. The Banat was settled and
developed further. Several coins, daggers,
and sabers were found many years later by the
farmers working in the fields of Mehala.
For the next 65
years Mehala was made part of the city of
Temesvar and in 1716 it received the name
"Neustadt." In the year 1781
Mehala was again separated as a city district and
placed under the control of the administration of
the Comitat as an independent village under the
name “Mehala”. Lengthy judicial
arguments about where Mehala belonged were
finally concluded after much trial and
tribulation with a judicial sentence on 1 January
1910. The supreme court decision intended
that Mehala be officially assigned under
the new name of “Franzstadt” as the 5th
district of the city of Temesvar. On the
historical map before 1910 Mehala was still shown
as an independent village. From 1900 on
more new settlement villages existed on the edge
of Temesvar. The Ronaz, where the workers
of the Josefstädt Industrial Park such as
the railway men, built their houses, as well as
the Anhauer, Blaskovici, and Weiß
districts. The oldest documented building
of Mehala is the Serbian church, erected in the
year 1786. The catholic Marien church was
consecrated in September 1923. The
foundation stone to the largest building in
Mehala, the orthodox Romanian church, was laid on
the 28th of August, 1924.
Present at this event were King Ferdinand of
Romania, the Queen Maria, hereditary Prince
Carol, and hereditary Princess Elena. One
of the king’s signed documents was settled
in the framework of the foundation stone
celebration. The church was consecrated on
the 10th of October, 1937, after a
building period of 13 years. Between the
old city border of Temesvar and its suburb
“Mehala” remained an undeveloped
stretch of land known as the Green Belt which
existed until 1964. The construction began
on these vacant spaces.
A milk factory was
erected, then a record manufacturer was built
south of Gheorghe Lazar Street. Gradually,
step by step, a military exercise area was also
built on the meadows situated in the north.
The only streetcar connection to the inner city
until then, Line 4, was replaced with a new bus
connection called Firobus. The new
part of the city developed called the "circumvalatiunii."
A pond which served as a natural rainwater
reservoir, the "balta verde", was built
and filled. Once this pond was a popular
meeting place in the winter. Ice skating on
this large free surface was a welcome leisure
activity, not only for the children. A
popular meeting place over the whole year for
many generations was in the churchyard, as it was
the central key element in the social life of the
Germans in Mehala. Now much time has past
since those days and most Germans have moved
away. Many old homes are dilapidated, and
others have fallen victim to the development of
the expanding new quarter up to the end of the
‘80’s. The appearance of Mehala
has changed, what remains are memories.
Translations
provided by
Brad Schwebler
Special Thanks to Georg Grega for his collaboration
with us to
create an English Website of his German version of Mehala - Timisoara.
Appreciation and thanks also goes to
Brad Schwebler who has contributed his time and talents in translating
various pages from German to English, for us to benefit.
[German
Version of Georg
Grega's
Mehala] |
|
History of the Temeschburger Fortress
[German] |
