{"id":21774,"date":"2025-07-30T14:05:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/?p=21774"},"modified":"2025-07-30T14:05:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:05:44","slug":"everything-picobello-at-the-transylvanian-brunch-in-the-fortified-church-of-ruja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/everything-picobello-at-the-transylvanian-brunch-in-the-fortified-church-of-ruja\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything “picobello” at the Transylvanian Brunch in the fortified church of Ruja"},"content":{"rendered":"

How is this possible? There are hardly any Saxons left in Ruja, and the few who remain are not involved with the church \u2013 with one exception: Daniel Andree, the church caretaker (curator). At over seventy years old, he takes care of everything. Like most others, he had emigrated, but unlike most, he returned. He desperately needs help. But where to find it? He does what he can, even though he\u2019s often tired. His wife, Ani\u015foara, cares for him lovingly, as women once knew so well how to do, but she also sees that the burden sometimes overwhelms him. But how can he stop, when there\u2019s no one to take over? \u201cAs long as I can, I\u2019ll keep going \u2013 and when I no longer can\u2026\u201d he says, with tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n

Thanks to him and his wife Ani\u015foara, the Transylvanian Brunch<\/em> was able to take place on Saturday, July 26, in Ruja.<\/p>\n

The concept of the Transylvanian Brunch<\/em> has been featured several times before. Christian Valentin Cismaru, through the Fortified Churches Foundation, is working to preserve and revitalize 160 fortified churches. The concept combines food and culture to raise awareness among locals of all backgrounds about the cultural heritage left by the Transylvanian Saxons. From the participation fee, 5 euros go to the local host \u2013 in this case, for building a rainwater collection station, as water scarcity on the hill is a problem.<\/p>\n

The church in Ruja was dressed for celebration. It was extensively renovated with EU funding and a small contribution from the local community. When asked if it was difficult to work with the craftsmen, Andree explained that he worked only with Hungarian craftsmen, who did excellent work in line with the architects\u2019 and conservation experts\u2019 requirements. Now, only the organ pipes (built in 1803 by Samuel Joseph Metz) still need cleaning and tuning.<\/p>\n

As always, the day started early, with volunteers arriving to help Mrs. Ani\u015foara and her daughters \u2013 preparing sandwiches, chopping vegetables, arranging salads, cutting cakes, setting up tables, and much more. Of course, the Andree couple had done most of the work beforehand: green bean soup, caraway soup, sarmale<\/em> (stuffed cabbage rolls), onion stew, spreads, cakes… too much to list. Every bite was a treat \u2013 made with no additives or flavor enhancers.<\/p>\n

When the guests arrived \u2013 mostly Romanians, curious and open-minded \u2013 a brief welcome by Cismaru and the hosts was followed by a buffet. Simple, authentic, and delicious. The drinks were all natural: syrup, lemonade, cold tea, and water. No alcohol.<\/p>\n

Satisfied and clear-headed, the participants could listen attentively to the speaker. Cismaru gave an introduction to the region\u2019s history and emphasized the uniqueness of the Transylvanian Saxon fortified church landscape. There are 160 monuments that need preservation. Fortunately, 85% of the funding comes from the European Union. The remaining 15% is shared between the Romanian state, the German state, local communities, and Saxon hometown associations (HOGs \u2013 which contribute 2\u20133%). Preservation is just the first step. Equally important is use<\/strong>. And increasingly, that use will be related to tourism. That\u2019s why guest rooms are being set up in former parish houses or even church towers. Ruja is doing the same. For people who want to escape the rush of everyday life and reconnect with nature, Ruja is the perfect place.<\/p>\n

Afterward, Andree presented the church, where services are still held every two weeks. For the children, a quiz was organized based on what they had seen and heard, and they participated enthusiastically. Due to the heat \u2013 it was 35\u00b0C \u2013 the planned walk around the village was canceled. Instead, everyone enjoyed resting in the shade on picnic blankets, letting the day wind down peacefully.<\/p>\n

Next Saturday, another Transylvanian Brunch<\/em> will take place \u2013 this time in Weingarten (Vingard). The participation fee is 150 lei, with 25 lei going toward small local projects.<\/p>\n

Author: Annette K\u00f6niges<\/em><\/p>\n

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How is this possible? There are hardly any Saxons left in Ruja, and the few who remain are not involved with the church \u2013 with one exception: Daniel Andree, the church caretaker (curator). At over seventy years old, he takes care of everything. Like most others, he had emigrated, but unlike most, he returned. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-events","8":"czr-hentry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21775,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21774\/revisions\/21775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}