🎄✨ MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE FORTIFIED CHURCHES LANDSCAPE! As the year draws to a close, we sincerely thank you for your continued support and interest in preserving the unique heritage of the Fortified Churches Landscape. For the upcoming holidays, we wish you joy, peace, and sunshine in your heart. May […]
Yearly Archives: 2024
14 posts
The year 2024 brought long-awaited and important structural reinforcement measures for the fortified church of Zendersch, located in the Târnava Mică area (Sighișoara Church District). This year, the Fortified Churches Foundation, in collaboration with the Local Community Association (HOG) Zendersch, undertook the repair of the enclosing wall. During the summer, […]
At the fifth edition of the HANDS ON CONSERVATION workshop in Apold, participants learned and practiced traditional carpentry and masonry techniques under the careful guidance of Sebastian Bethge, our specialist in the preservation of fortified churches, and skillfully applied them to the repairs needed to preserve the charm and authenticity […]
The travelling exhibition of the Fortified Churches Foundation will be shown at two locations in Switzerland this autumn. The initiative came from Marianne Hallmen, President of the Association of Transylvanian Saxons in Switzerland, and the occasion is the tenth anniversary of the founding of the association. The Association of Transylvanian […]
Not so long ago, a private initiative was formed in Tarteln around the Transylvanian Saxon homeowner Joachim Gherghel to preserve the 13th century fortified church. Now that the second work assignment has been successfully completed, further steps are already being planned. The medieval gem of Tarteln, which was converted into […]
This summer, the Fortified Churches Foundation is showing its travelling exhibition simultaneously in Luckau (Brandenburg) and in Malling, Denmark. It will be on display for several weeks in both places. The exhibition The Transylvanian Landscape of Fortified Churches – A European Cultural Heritage will be on display in Luckau’s St. […]
The Protestant church in Șoarș near Făgăraș has been the focus of the Fortified Churches Foundation team’s activities for nine years. From summer 2023 to March 2024, the final stretch of the work to secure the church was completed – an occasion for a positive interim summary. Ursula Hummes, Chairwoman […]
From June 24 to 29, 2024, the 2nd monument preservation campaign will take place at Tarteln Fortified Church, which means that maintenance work and minor repairs will be carried out. As last year, the “Friends of Tarteln Fortified Church” initiative and the Fortified Churches Foundation invite you to join them […]
Philipp Harfmann – Managing Director of the Fortified Churches Foundation for many years – has given up his position and will hand over his duties to a successor in order to take on new tasks in the future. He took over the management of the foundation when it was established […]
Anyone who studies the topic of fortified churches will quickly learn that they also exist outside Transylvania. Some can be found in Germany, Austria and France, for example. Even in the Philippines, fortified churches were built at the instigation of the Spanish colonial rulers in the 16th and 17th centuries. […]
People from five different countries took part in an interersting exchange between UNESCO cultural heritage sites from two continents on 7 March 2024. The event was organized to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the inscription of several monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Transylvania’s landscape of fortified churches was […]
A delegation from the German Association for the Promotion of Art and Culture (VKF) visited Transylvania from 2 to 4 February 2024 to organize a work assignment with around fifty active association members in the spring. The Fortified Churches Foundation of the Evangelical Church A. C. in Romania (EKR) is […]
2024 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Venice Charter. The document, which was adopted by the International Congress of Architects and Conservationists in the Italian lagoon city in May 1964, also serves the Fortified Churches Foundation as a guideline for its conservation activities. After the devastating catastrophe […]
The Fortified Churches Foundation wishes all friends, partners, sponsors and supporters a healthy, energetic and peaceful New Year!