Abrud ( la, Abruttus;Ștefan Pascu: A History of Transylvania, Dorset Press, 1990, , hu, Abrudbánya; german: Großschlatten) is a town in the north-western part of Alba County,
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, located on the river Abrud. It administers three villages: Abrud-Sat (''Abrudfalva''), Gura Cornei (''Szarvaspataktorka'') and Soharu (''Szuhár'').
Population
According to the census from 2011 there was a total population of 4,944 people living in this commune. Of this population, 96.66% are ethnic
Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...
, 0.86% are ethnic
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
and 0.53% ethnic
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
.
Name
Although first recorded only in 1271 in the form ''terra Obruth'', the name of the town might have derived from a supposed (not attested) Dacian word for gold, ''*obrud''. The town's modern name reflects a characteristic
vowel shift
A vowel shift is a systematic sound change in the pronunciation of the vowel sounds of a language.
The best-known example in the English language is the Great Vowel Shift, which began in the 15th century. The Greek language also underwent a vowe ...
(from ''o'' to ''a'') of the medieval
Hungarian language
Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...
.
History
Antiquity
The
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
erected a small fortification here in the 2nd century AD. It was part of the defence system of the
gold mine Gold Mine may refer to:
*Gold Mine (board game)
*Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena
*"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD''
See also
* ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith
*Gold mining
...
s nearby, in "Alburnus Maior" (nowadays,
Roșia Montană
Roșia Montană (, "Roșia of the Mountains"; la, Alburnus Maior; hu, Verespatak, ; german: Goldbach, Rotseifen) is a commune of Alba County in the Apuseni Mountains of western Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the Valea Roșiei, through ...
), but it was abandoned in the 3rd century.
Middle Ages
Abrud was first recorded in 1271 in as ''terra Obruth''. It gained town status in 1427.
18th-century revolts
In 1727, the leaders of a revolt gained control of the town. Another
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s' revolt began in the area in 1784 with Horea, Cloșca and Crișan as leaders fighting the Austrian Imperial forces. Abrud was captured by the uprising's members on 6 November, before the revolt was crushed by the Austrian army.
1848 revolution
During the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...
, negotiations took place in Abrud between the leaders of the Romanian peasants, led by
Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu (; hu, Janku Ábrahám; 1824 – September 10, 1872) was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848–1849. He was especially active in the Țara Mo ...
and Ion Dragoș, the envoy of
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...
, deputy of
Bihar County
Bihar was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary and a county of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and Principality of Transylvania (since the 16th century, when it was under the rule of the Princes of Transylvania). Most of ...
in the Parliament of Budapest, regarding the conciliation of the Romanian and Hungarian revolutionary forces. On May 6, in violation of the negotiated armistice, Major
Imre Hatvani
Imre is a Hungarian language, Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian language, Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich (name), Emmerich or H ...
conducted a one-way action without any compliance by attacking and occupying Abrud which triggered the Abrud massacre. Hatvani embarked also on unnecessary killings, hanged Romanian lawyer Ioan Buteanu, while his drunken soldiers massacred prefect Petru Dobra. In the next two weeks 88 Romanians were killed in the central square, and around 2,500 Hungarians were killed in revenge by Iancu's army in Abrud and in
Roșia Montană
Roșia Montană (, "Roșia of the Mountains"; la, Alburnus Maior; hu, Verespatak, ; german: Goldbach, Rotseifen) is a commune of Alba County in the Apuseni Mountains of western Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the Valea Roșiei, through ...
; Dragoș was also killed, being considered a traitor. The escalated conflict could not be settled, Abrud was conquered and lost several times by the Hungarian troops, until May 18 when they retreated to Arad.
Antal Kagerbauer
Antal Kagerbauer (born as Anton Kagerbauer; 5 July 1814 – 8 October 1872) was a Transylvanian Hungarian- German architect who worked in Cluj during the mid-nineteenth century.
Kagerbauer studied under György Winkler in the city of Cluj
...
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(''Cfb'' in the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...