Tormac ( hu, Végvár; german: Rittberg) 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, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. It is composed of three villages: Cadăr, Șipet and Tormac (commune seat).

Geography

Tormac is located in the southeast of

. It borders

Nițchidorf Nițchidorf (literally " Niczky's village"; german: Nitzkydorf; hu, Niczkyfalva, originally ''Kutas'') is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Blajova ( hu, Balázsd or ''Balázsfalva''), Duboz ( hu, Temesdoboz) a ...

and

Sacoșu Turcesc Sacoșu Turcesc ( hu, Törökszákos; german: Türkisch Sakosch) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Berini, Icloda, Otvești, Sacoșu Turcesc (commune seat), Stamora Română, Uliuc and Unip. Name Histor ...

to the north,

Gătaia Gătaia ( hu, Gátalja; german: Gataja, archaically ''Gotthal''; sr, Гатаја, Gataja) is a town in Timiș County, Romania. It administers five villages: Butin, Percosova, Sculia, Șemlacu Mare, and Șemlacu Mic. Declared a town in 2004, it a ...

to the south,

Voiteg Voiteg ( hu, Vejte; german: Wojtek) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of two villages: Folea (''Fólya''; ''Folia'') and Voiteg. History Voiteg has existed since the 14th century, being first mentioned in 1322. Its name was ...

and Liebling to the west and

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

to the east. Morphologically, the territory of the commune falls within the sub-hilly plain of Șipet and the Pogonici Plain. The hydrology of the area is dominated at the northern limit by the Pogonici River, the only tributary of the

Timiș River Timiș may refer to: *Timiș County, a county in western Romania *Timiș (river), a river in western Romania and Serbia * Ținutul Timiș, a former administrative unit of Romania * Temes County, a former administrative county (comitatus) in the hi ...

that never dries. Due to a lack of unevenness separating the meadows from the interfluves, during the spring

freshet The term ''freshet'' is most commonly used to describe a spring thaw resulting from snow and ice melt in rivers located in upper North America. A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting in significant in ...

s, the river floods the areas along the valley. The location of the commune in the middle of a plain ensures a continental climate, influenced by warm Mediterranean air currents. The average annual temperature is 10.6 °C.

History

Like many other surrounding settlements, Tormac was established in 1780, in the third wave of colonization of Banat, by Germans ( Swabians). At first it was called ''Rittberg'', after an Austrian general. The village did not manage to become Germanized because around 1790 German families were forced to leave their homes and settle in neighboring villages, such as Bacova or Darova. Thus, between 1790–1794, the place of the Germans was taken by 78 families of Hungarian settlers, so that the village can be considered one of the first Reformed Hungarian colonies in Banat. They came from

Csanád Csanád, also Chanadinus, or Cenad, was the first head ''(comes)'' of Csanád County in the Kingdom of Hungary in the first decades of the 11th century. Csanád defeated and killed Ajtony who had ruled over the region now known as Banat (in Rom ...

Csongrád Csongrád ( ro, Ciongrad; tr, Conğrad sr, Чонград, Čongrad, archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd'') is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. History At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) the ...

, Békés and

Heves Heves is a small town in eastern Hungary. About 100 km east of Budapest, Heves lies at the northern extreme of the Great Hungarian Plain, just south of the Mátra and Bükk hills and west of the Tisza River. Heves gave its name to the Heves ...

counties. The story goes that when the first Hungarians arrived, they found the village completely lit by candles left by the Germans in their homes. Due to the complete transformation of the village into a Hungarian community, in 1806 the communal council decided to change its name from ''Rittberg'' to ''Végvár''. Being surrounded by Romanian villages, during the

revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

, bloody conflicts arose between the Hungarians from Tormac and the Romanians from Șipet, Berini, Cadăr or Sacoș. After this moment, the waters calmed down and Tormac developed and became one of the largest and most compact Hungarian communes in Banat.

Demographics

Tormac had a population of 2,714 inhabitants at the 2011 census, down 0.8% from the 2002 census. Most inhabitants are

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

(57%), 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 ...

(35.85%) and Slovaks (1.18%). For 5.12% 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 ...

(53.02%), but there are also minorities of Reformed (31.02%),

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 let ...

s (6.74%) and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

s (2.1%). For 5.23% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.

References

{{Authority control Communes in Timiș County Localities in Romanian Banat