Becicherecu Mic ( hu, Kisbecskerek; german: Fischdorf or ''Kleinbetschkerek''; sr, Мали Бечкерек, Mali Bečkerek) is a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in
Timiș County
Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...
,
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 ...
. It is composed of a single village, Becicherecu Mic. It also included
Dudeștii Noi
Dudeștii Noi (until 1964 Beșenova Nouă; german: Neubeschenowa; hu, Újbesenyő; sr, Бешенова, Bešenova) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Dudeștii Noi, part of the commune of Becicherecu Mic ...
until 2004, when it was split off to form a separate commune. Its name means "Small Becicherec", as opposed to the "Great Becicherec" (''Becicherecu Mare'' in Romanian), located in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and renamed
Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous pro ...
in 1946.
Location
Becicherecu Mic is located 17 km northwest of
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
, on the national road
DN6
DN6 ( ro, Drumul Național 6) is a national road in Romania which links Bucharest with the Banat region in the western part of the country and further to the East-European capitals Budapest and Belgrade via the border with Hungary near Cenad. I ...
Timișoara–
Sânnicolau Mare
Sânnicolau Mare (; hu, Nagyszentmiklós; german: Großsanktnikolaus; sr, Велики Семиклуш, Veliki Semikluš; Banat Bulgarian: ''Smikluš'') is a town in Timiș County, Romania, and the westernmost of the country. Located in the Ba ...
–
Cenad
Cenad ( hu, Nagycsanád, during the Dark Ages ''Marosvár''; german: Tschanad; sr, Чанад, Čanad; la, Chanadinum) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cenad. The village serves as a customs point on t ...
. It is also connected to the Timișoara–Cenad railway, which passes to the south, with the Pescărețul Mic station.
It borders
Dudeștii Noi
Dudeștii Noi (until 1964 Beșenova Nouă; german: Neubeschenowa; hu, Újbesenyő; sr, Бешенова, Bešenova) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Dudeștii Noi, part of the commune of Becicherecu Mic ...
to the east,
Hodoni to the north,
Săcălaz
Săcălaz (formerly Săcalhaz; hu, Szakálháza; german: Sackelhausen) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Beregsău Mare, Beregsău Mic and Săcălaz. Name
Geography
Săcălaz is located 10 km west of ...
to the southeast,
Beregsău Mare to the south,
Iecea Mică and
Iecea Mare to the west and
Biled to the northwest.
History
Becicherecu Mic is mentioned as early as 1232 by the name ''terra Potkerequ''.
A hundred years later, in 1334, the parish of ''Pechkereky'' pays the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
the "papal tithe", a grant from believers to support armed action against pagans.
During the Hungarian occupation, in 1462, the village is given to the Hagymásy family from
Beregsău.
During the Turkish occupation (1552–1716), the name of the settlement would have been ''Crucea'' ("cross"), the hearth of the village being probably located on the Cross Hill.
After the reconquest of
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
by the
Habsburg Empire
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
, in 1717, the imperial administration records the settlement with the name ''Peschered'', in Romanian ''Pescăreț'' ("pond with fish").
In 1723, in
County Mercy's ''Karte des Temeswarer Banates''
see online, the settlement appears for the first time under the name ''Becicherecu Mic''. Its origin comes by
rhotacism
Rhotacism () or rhotacization is a sound change that converts one consonant (usually a voiced alveolar consonant: , , , or ) to a rhotic consonant in a certain environment. The most common may be of to . When a dialect or member of a language ...
from the proper noun ''Pechereky'', the name of a landowner.
First German settlers arrive here in 1727.
In 1748, 24 Romanian families brought from
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 ...
were also colonized here.
Between 1920–1925, the village was named ''Țichindeal'', after scholar , born here in 1775.
Demographics
Becicherecu Mic had a population of 2,853 inhabitants at the 2011 census, up 18% from the 2002 census. Most inhabitants are
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 ...
(83.49%), larger minorities being represented by
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
(2.8%),
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
(1.79%),
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 ...
(1.51%),
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
(1.4%) and
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
(1.16%). For 7.43% of the population, ethnicity is unknown.
The village was previously divided into four parts, although in recent decades the inhabitants have mixed: the "German bend" – towards the railway station, the "Serbian bend" – practically in the center of the village, the "Romanian bend" – around the Romanian church and the "Gypsy outskirts" or Chertiz, a group of specific houses, along with Serbs and Romanians.
At the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
many of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
inhabitants left the village because of Soviet occupation. The inhabitants traveled through Yugoslavia and Hungary for about seven weeks to get to Austria on 1 November 1944. The inhabitants were then assigned families to stay with. By religion, most inhabitants are
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
(76.41%), but there are also minorities of
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
(5.71%),
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement s (5.64%),
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
s (1.37%) and
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
(1.23%). For 7.85% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.
Economy
The economic activity is a consistent one, supported at local level by 223 firms active in fields such as
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
,
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
,
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
,
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
and
iron processing, among others.
The agricultural area of the commune consists of 3,464 ha of arable land on which cereals are grown:
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
,
two-rowed barley,
sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
and
rapeseed
Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...
; 2 ha of orchards with fruit trees and pasture that covers an area of 418 ha.
Notable people
* (1775–1818), priest, teacher and fabulist
*
Aurel Șunda
Aurel Șunda (born 14 October 1957) is a Romanian former footballer and manager. As a footballer, Șunda played mainly as a defender for Politehnica Timișoara, club for which he played in more than 200 matches. In fact, as a player, Șunda ne ...
(b. 1957), footballer and manager
References
{{Authority control
Communes in Timiș County
Localities in Romanian Banat