On March 4, 2022, the official opening of the construction site on the southeast bastion of the Bruiu fortified church took place. The Fortified Churches Foundation, the Sibiu Church District and the Cârța Parish Community are thus working through another item on a long list to save the entire ensemble.
With a joint inspection of Braller’s fruit house, Rev. Michael Reger (Cârța Parish Community), administrator Christian Reu and deacon Heinrich Rosinger (Sibiu Church District), Sibiu architect Tudor Pavelescu, contractor Gabriel Tudor (Buildart Transylvania SRL), and Ecaterina Gál and Sebastian Bethge of the Fortified Churches Foundation team opened the roof repair site.
The repair and restoration work on the roof of the building, which is now beginning, is funded by the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) through the Transylvanian-Saxon Cultural Council and implemented as part of the Fortified Churches Foundation’s Roofs Program. The southeast bastion of Bruiu is particularly valuable due to its almost completely preserved condition. Comparable buildings can otherwise be found in the Transylvanian fortified church landscape mainly between Sighișoara and Agnita. On the plaster of the bacon chambers in the interior of the fruit house there are also fragments of old inscriptions, which should be saved in the long term.
Step by Step
After the Saxon hometown community of Bruiu had already organized regular voluntary work on the fortified church from the mid-2010s, the Fortified Churches Foundation devoted itself to the church roof in the winter of 2019/2020. Last year, the fruit house was then the focus of attention for the first time, when individual securing work and a preparatory inspection of the damage to the roof could be carried out. Now the roof of the southeast bastion is undergoing a complete overhaul as part of the roof program.
However, in order to restore the building to its full glory, a lot of work is still needed: The next step would be to repair damaged beams in the basement and masonry damage to the structure. This will require several expert opinions, the obtaining of which is on the agenda for saving Braller’s fortified church ensemble once the roof work has been completed.
Text and Photos: Stefan Bichler
