Jamu Mare ( hu, Nagyzsám; german: Großscham, formerly ''Freudenthal''; sr, Велики Жам, Veliki Žam) 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 ...

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 five villages: Clopodia ( hu, Klopódia; german: Klopodia; cs, Klopodie), Ferendia ( hu, Ferend), Gherman ( hu, Ermény), Jamu Mare and Lățunaș ( hu, Lacunás).

Name

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

the name means "Greater Jam/Žam". On the other side of the border, 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 ...

, there is a village called

Mali Žam Mali Žam ( sr-cyr, Мали Жам; ro, Jamu Mic; hu, Kiszsám) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Vršac municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. Name The name in Serbian means "Small Žam/Jam". Across the b ...

("Smaller Jam/Žam").

History

Jamu Mare was first mentioned in a document in 1335, under the name ''Jam''. In 1370 it belonged to Krassó County and was called ''Suma''. In

Marsigli Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (or Marsigli, Lat. ''Marsilius''; 10 July 1658 – 1 November 1730) was an Italian scholar and eminent natural scientist, who also served as an emissary and soldier. Biography Born in Bologna, he was a member ...

's notes from 1690–1700 it is called ''Seham'' and appears with 67 houses. Between 1730–1740 a

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

epidemic decimated the population. Thus, with the third German colonization, a new locality was established a little further west of the old settlement. Then 152 houses were built. In 1786, 30 families settled here, and in the autumn of the next year the rest of the newcomers. It was then called ''Freudenthal''. The administration moved the Romanians to the border area, and the houses were assigned to the Germans. At the end of the 18th century, Hungarian statistician recorded that the village called ''Nagy-Zsám'' had a population of 1,562 and belonged to the nobleman László Karácsonyi. In 1807 another wave of German colonists from

Torontál County Torontál (, , , ) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now divided between Serbia and Romania, except for a small area which is part of Hungary. The capital of the county was Nagybecskerek (, , ), t ...

settled here. 1809 is considered the year of the effective establishment of the new locality, on the current location. The old ''Freudenthal'' colony was gradually abandoned by the Germans, who preferred to move to Jamu Mare, and in 1893, the territory of the colony was incorporated into the current commune.

Demographics

Jamu Mare had a population of 2,971 inhabitants at the 2011 census, down 11% 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 ...

(88.22%), larger minorities being represented by

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 ...

(3.94%) and

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 ...

(2.79%). For 3.3% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. 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 ...

(77.25%), but there are also minorities of

Roman Catholic 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 ...

s (10.91%),

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

s (3.87%) and

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 (2.56%). For 3.3% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.

Transport

Jamu Mare is now a railway terminus, but between 1925 and 1930, trains would pass through it all the way to

Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a pop ...

in present-day

. The rail station is currently closed, without service. Four county roads run through the commune.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Communes in Timiș County Localities in Romanian Banat Romania–Serbia border crossings