Kathrin Merkelbach

By Katrhin Merkelbach

1.    Inventory

After the first couple of hours, everybody had already collected the first impressions of the Transylvanian landscape, consisting predominantly of green willows, wide hillsides, forests and narrow passes. Later on the first evening in Brasov the unexpectedly beautiful views became even more sharpened by the photo-presentation of our tour guide who showed us a wide range of Rumanian rural and natural landscapes as well as some shots of the amazing wild life. The collected expressions were really fascinating and gave us a brief summary of what we were going to experience in the upcoming days of the trip. From this moment on a feeling was created of what the Romanian landscape can be, and what makes it so special and different compared to the flat countryside we are surrounded by in our everyday lives. When we visited Brasov the next day, it became quickly clear that this was more than just the lovely city it appeared to be, it was a place with a special welcoming charm and rich heritage. It was more modern than expected even though a lot of buildings which denoted an elegance of former times were degrading and not well maintained. The most impressing sites were the “black church” on the one hand, built in its main gothic style and referring to traditions and history of the Saxons, and on the other hand a well-equipped, nicely located and perfectly set-up tennis court, topographically higher than the church. What might have seemed to be a very normal and common thing compared to our living standards can create some uncomfortable feelings when spotting broken streets, smashed houses and homeless people on the opposite side of the city.

Concerning the industrial side of Brasov, it reflects more the consensual view of a poor Romania, suffering from a weak economy, low incomes and a high unemployment rate.  Compared to theNetherlandsor evenGermanythe “action areas” aren’t flourishing at all. Instead the empty halls which once hosted promise and the working spirit of the Romanian people are falling apart and represent a shadow of their former use. Guarded by bullies, they are waiting for a reanimation of investors – while lingering in a period whose past is communism and whose present is a corrupt capitalistic system!? 

However, in the Saxon villages this era seems quite far away. This is a place where wooden cattle-drawn carts dominate the agricultural landscape and the people still use traditional methods to practice their ancient crafts.  It feels like living in a country that has not quite caught up with globalization or modernization. It is a really nice and important heritage they have to carry on, but instead of doing memory boards and timetables, collecting memorabilia putting them in a museum as we more or less tend to do, the Saxons practice their cultural history and manage their own specific way of life within their communities, constantly trying to correspond to their “relatively” self-sustainable standards – Not only because of the economic circumstances of this minority, but also because of their background and ancestry. It must be seen even more as a special responsibility to stick to the heritage of the Saxon Villages and their unique values which are reflected in the landscape. A constant awareness of the local values is significant if the impacts of these traditions are to be kept in a Romanian population consisting of people of different origins, awarding different values to the Transylvanian history.

Compared to the Saxon villages, the big metropolis of Bucharest is THE city of trends and progresses in transition. The capital with its cosmopolitans and designer-shopping-quarter creates the feeling of a very modern European city which is totally bound to the flow of time. The Boulevard “Unirii” built in the Ceauşescu dictatorship is really impressive in its modern and rich appearance, as well as its measurements. With a length of 3,500m it was meant to be the answer to Paris‘s Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Of course, that hasn’t been at last because of the self-aggrandizing embodiment of Ceauşescu himself for what he didn’t even hesitated to destroy a lot of architectural heritage, so that there was finally up to twenty-five percent of the historic city center demolished. An even better example of his narcissistic ambition was the construction of the Palace of the Parliament. It is one of the world’s largest civilian administrative building, most expensive administrative building, and heaviest building. Tough it was built in a neoclassical architectural style it appears like a massive monolith located at the end of the “Unirii Boulevard”, screaming out load the unlimited power of the regime. Nicolae Ceaușescu named it the House of the Republic (Casa Republicii), but many Romanians call it the People’s House (Casa Poporului) – not at last because of the way it is constructed. Nearly everything which can be found in the pompous inner part of the palace is made by Romanian origin, either voluntarily contributed or more or less enforced. Even most of the rich Transylvanian marble resources are utilized because the hall- and stairways had to be readjusted several times for Ceauşescu’s contentment. But in the end he didn’t even get to deliver a speech on his feudal balcony facing the Piatra Unirii and so it came that Michael Jackson was the first one speaking from this position to the Romanian people – or accidentally the people of “Budapest”.

But behind this façade of the developed city with its rich history, touristic charm and attraction-shopping-malls like the “Dome Cotroceni Palace”, there still remains the reality of poor gypsy-settlements, homeless children without any future perspectives and a relatively high disposition of violence and robbery. Even though it doesn’t seem to be like that on the first place, Romania’s capital also has to deal with a poor economic situation and a high unemployment rate, caught in an inflationary spiral with big expectations on the touristic sector.

2.    The Role of landscape specialists
In the Romanian future of the twenty-first century, landscape specialists are having an increasingly high impact on the shaping process of the country’s development. That is not only to be in the sense of environmental origin, conserving ecological values or in terms of landscape engineering, but as well in political, sociological and administrative issues.

Landscape specialists are called to create coherent surroundings which should stimulate social activities and a feeling of solidarity. Since the Romanians are still inwardly lost in their achieved freedom from the former communistic and treasonable system, this becomes even more important. Giving them a higher consciousness of their voice and their freedom of expression in a developing democracy, the landscape specialists will also have a big responsibility in sharpening and sensitizing people’s individual influence.