Culture

The last Saxons of Romania work to save the fortified churches of their ancestors

Cristian (Romania), Feb 23 (EFE).- (Camera: Marcel Gascón) Three decades after the great exodus of the Saxons from Romania, the few remaining members of this minority of German origin are working to save the fortified medieval churches that their ancestors built.FOOTAGE OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCHES LOCATED IN TRANSYLVANIASOUNDBITES OF STEFAN BICHLER, SPOKESMAN OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF ROMANIA, AND RUTH ISTVAN, SPOKESWOMAN OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE FORTIFIED CHURCHES.TRANSLATIONBICHLER:1. The Evangelical Church of the Augustinian Confession in Romania manages more than 160 fortified churches and in general about 200 medieval buildings. We are less than 12,000 faithful in this church, so it is a great challenge to do this work. A great challenge that We face finding creative solutions with partners and public and private funds for each of those fortified churches. "ISTVÁN:2."The importance of fortified churches in this region is very visible because they are often the nerve center of these towns. These are highly visible monuments and the decimated community that built and cared for them must now include people from outside the communit. so that it takes the responsibility of maintaining them. These constructions are living testimonies of centuries and centuries of history in the region ".