{"id":22026,"date":"2025-10-07T11:16:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T11:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/?p=22026"},"modified":"2025-10-07T12:23:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:23:55","slug":"transylvanian-brunch-in-cincsor-cultural-church-a-possible-model-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/transylvanian-brunch-in-cincsor-cultural-church-a-possible-model-for-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Transylvanian Brunch in Cinc\u0219or \u2013 \u201cCultural Church\u201d \u2013 A Possible Model for the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of October, another event organized by the Fortified Churches Foundation of the Evangelical Church in Romania took place \u2013 this time in Cinc\u0219or (Kleinschenk). What made it special was the successful blend of art, literature, music, and history \u2013 naturally rounded off with a gastronomic offering that left nothing to be desired.<\/p>\n

In Cinc\u0219or, Carmen Schuster \u2013 one of the so-called \u201creturnees,\u201d as the Saxons call those who have come back \u2013 has renovated the former Evangelical school (a building designed by architect Fritz Balthes), the old parish house, and several surrounding Saxon farmhouses. The result is an ensemble centered around the Cinc\u0219or fortified church \u2013 now known as the Cinc\u0219or Cultural Church<\/em>. In this way, the small village has become a tourist attraction.<\/p>\n

Carmen Schuster is also the curator of the Evangelical Church, and this became very clear during her welcome speech to the approximately 100 guests. With great passion, she advocated for the development of new concepts to preserve the more than 160 fortified churches of Transylvania. There is a need for ideas and for people who not only take care of the buildings themselves but also make these fortified churches \u2013 this valuable Saxon cultural heritage \u2013 attractive to people of different backgrounds, encouraging them to become involved in their preservation. The project in Cinc\u0219or sets an excellent example in this regard.<\/p>\n

The day of the Transylvanian Brunch<\/em> also marked the conclusion of the Cinc\u0219or Artists\u2019 Week<\/em>. For one week, eight visual artists from Germany and Romania were guests of the local Evangelical parish, the CONTRAFORT Association, and the Cinc\u0219or guesthouses. The theme of this year\u2019s edition was the creative engagement with nature in its Transylvanian uniqueness. The selection of artists and the design of the exhibition FLORILEGIUM<\/em> bear the signature of artist and art expert Elisabeth Ochsenfeld.<\/p>\n

The exhibited works highlight the uniqueness of this special place \u2013 the church of Cinc\u0219or. The vernissage was complemented by a literary dialogue between author Mircea Mih\u0103ie\u0219 and Oana Maria Dobo\u0219i, cultural manager and owner of the well-known Timi\u0219oara bookstore La dou\u0103 bufni\u021be<\/em> (\u201cThe Two Owls\u201d). The goal was to encourage the public, in the digital age, to reconnect with books and reading. The library located in the former Evangelical school designed by Fritz Balthes provides a perfect setting for this \u2013 a place where readers, authors, and book lovers come together.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the central focus of this cultural Saturday was the Cinc\u0219or fortified church itself. Cristian Cismaru, manager of the Fortified Churches Foundation, guided the guests through the complex and vividly explained the meaning and history of these special constructions of the Transylvanian Saxons. The tour ended with a quiz created by his colleague Andreea M\u0103n\u0103stirean, dedicated to the Cinc\u0219or fortified church. Knowledge about the site is tested playfully. Although designed for children, parents eagerly took part as well, motivating their children to discover the Cinc\u0219or fortified church.<\/p>\n

Guests became familiar with the Cultural Church<\/em> concept in various ways. Inside the church, Elisabeth Ochsenfeld presented the artists and their works. Creativity, personal visual language, and artistic imagination thus found their own space within the Cinc\u0219or Cultural Church \u2013 resulting in a colorful potpourri of unique creative expressions. In this way, the church becomes an inviting place for people of all kinds.<\/p>\n

The final highlight of the day was a performance by the art-rock group BYRON DUO<\/em> \u2013 Dan Byron and Sergiu Mitrofan. Several listeners called them one of Romania\u2019s most original bands \u2013 something also evident in the way the audience enthusiastically sang along to several songs. It is worth mentioning that the band discovered the Samuel M\u00e4tz organ in Cinc\u0219or, which they used for one of their songs.<\/p>\n

And so, we return to Carmen Schuster\u2019s opening speech, in which she emphasized that the Cultural Church<\/em> concept offers a promising way to anchor Saxon cultural heritage \u2013 especially the fortified churches \u2013 in the awareness of both Romanian and international audiences, thereby fostering an appreciation for the value of these unique cultural monuments. Exploring new ways of using the fortified churches will help achieve this goal. Of course, this requires the right conditions and highly dedicated people \u2013 but that is another story.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of October, another event organized by the Fortified Churches Foundation of the Evangelical Church in Romania took place \u2013 this time in Cinc\u0219or (Kleinschenk). What made it special was the successful blend of art, literature, music, and history \u2013 naturally rounded off with a gastronomic offering that left nothing to be desired. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22026","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\/22026","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=22026"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22033,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026\/revisions\/22033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirchenburgen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}