Timisoara, Romania

Timisoara (Hungarian: Temesvár, German: Temeschburg, Temeschwar, or Temeswar, Serbian: Temišvar or ????????, Banat Bulgarian: Timišvár) is a city in the Banat region of western Romania. With a population of 315,977 in 2004 (329,554 in 2000), it is the capital city of Timis County. It is frequently spelled in English simply as Timisoara.

Timisoara is a multicultural city with influential minorities, primarily Hungarians, Germans, and Serbs, as well as Italians, Bulgarians, and Greeks. It was the birthplace of Johnny Weissmuller (an Olympic swimmer, best known for his role as Tarzan). There are numerous claims that Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built one of Timisoara's footbridges over the Bega. An industrial city with extensive services, it was the first European city to be lit by electric street lamps in 1884. It was also, the second European and the first city in what is now Romania with horse pulled trams in 1867.

In the Roman period, there was a military camp named Zambara or Zurobara in the place where Timisoara is today or in the immediate vicinity.[1] During the time of the invasions of the nomad tribes of the Central-Asian plains, especially that of the Avars, on the site of the ruins of Zambara, a new settlement was built – Beguey.

In 1019 Timisoara (as Dibiscos/ Bisiskos/ Tibiskos/ Tibiskon/ Timbisko/etc.) was mentioned for the first time in written documents by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, although not all historians agree with this identification.

In 1154 the Arabian geographer Sarif al Idrisi mentions the city saying it's a "nice city offering a lot of riches".

The first mention of the fort of Timisoara (Castrum Temesiensis) is found in the decree of King Andrew II of Hungary dating from 1212.

Timisoara was first mentioned in the official documents as a city in 1474. It was captured by the Ottomans in 1552 and remained under Ottoman control until it was captured by Habsburg officer Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1716.

The demographic conditions of the region changed dramatically during the 167 year of Ottoman rule. In 1582 the city of Temeswar in spite of the bloody siege still has a Hungarian majority (the chief judge was István Herczegh - Preyer, Johann N.: Monographie der konigliche n Freistadt Temesvar - 1853). Later, the largest ethnic group in the city were Muslim Turks, and other smaller groups were Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies[2]

After the city was captured by the Habsburg Empire, the Turkish population fled and we know about 600-700 inhabitants out of which 446 were Serbs, 144 Jewish, and 35 Armenians [3]

According to the 1720 data, the largest ethnic group in the city were Serbs, and other smaller groups were Romanians and Jews, there were no Hungarians and Germans in the city at that time.[2] Later, many Germans settled in the city, and they became the largest ethnic group.

The "Armenische Stadt" as a separate quarter existed until the great plague from 1738.

In 1718 the first beer factory in Transylvania was built. The first tobacco mill in today's Romania was set up in Timisoara. Between 1728 and 1771 a canal Bega was built to unite the city with the Danube river. In 1849 Timisoara was named the capital of the Austrian crownland of Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat as the result of the Spring of Nations revolution; the province was enthically extremely diverse, with its population made out of Romanians, Germans, Serbs, and Hungarians. The crownland was abolished in 1860 and passed to Hungarian rule in 1867 with the creation of dual monarchy.

The city was also the first city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to have public lighting using suet candles and lamps with oil and grease. Timisoara also became the first city in Europe to have electric public lighting on the 12th of November 1884, (four years after New York City). A tram hauled by horses also came into service around this period. Meanwhile, in 1869 Timisoara was the first city to have an ambulance station in the Kingdom of Hungary.