Săcălaz (formerly Săcalhaz; hu, Szakálháza; german: Sackelhausen) is a commune 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 three villages: Beregsău Mare, Beregsău Mic and Săcălaz.

Name

Geography

Săcălaz is located 10 km west of Timișoara and covers an area of 136.1 km². The relief is flat. The Timiș River is the most important running water, Săcălaz being also crossed by the waters of two small streams, Beregsău Mare and Niarad.

History

Săcălaz was first mentioned in a diploma from 29 December 1392, in which the boundary of the village of ''Zakalhaza'' was delimited, a name that it kept until 1520. Following the

Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) The Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) was fought between Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz was not an acceptable permanent agreement for the Ottoman Empire. Twelve years after Karlowitz, it began the long- ...

the

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 ...

localities became the property of the Austrian Imperial House. Banat became an autonomous Austrian province with military administration, being divided into 11 districts. In 1717 Săcălaz had 66 houses. The main occupation of the inhabitants was the cultivation of cereals, especially

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 ...

and

corn 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 ...

. In 1725, the first grain mill was built. In 1765 the first wave of

Swabian German Swabian (german: Schwäbisch ) is one of the dialect groups of Alemannic German that belong to the High German dialect continuum. It is mainly spoken in Swabia, which is located in central and southeastern Baden-Württemberg (including its capita ...

settlers arrived here, by order of

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

. She issued the ''Kolonisationspatent'' of 25 February 1763 and later the Decree which she submitted to the Banat Colonization Office in 1765, ordering the relocation of the Romanian population to the southern part of

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 ...

, to make way for the Swabian settlers. Thus, the Romanian population of about 60 families is forced to leave Săcălaz and move to Torak (in

Serbian 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 ...

), where they establish a new settlement. In turn, the village of Beregsău Mic was colonized with

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 ...

. The following waves of German settlers (1744–1772, 1782–1787) definitively established the German predominance of the locality. The plans for the development of Săcălaz were outlined on paper in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, in the form of a chessboard, with the Catholic church in the center. The church was designed by engineer Carl Alexander Steinlein and was consecrated in 1772.

Demographics

Săcălaz had a population of 7,204 inhabitants at the 2011 census, up 15% 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 ...

(83.91%), with a minority of

(1.99%). For 11.9% 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-pag ...

(78.87%), but there are also minorities of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

s (7.38%),

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 (2.42%) 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 ...

(1.78%). For 7.12% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.

Notable people

Aurel Cosma Aurel Cosma (September 26, 1867 – July 31, 1931) was a Romanian lawyer and politician. A leader of the National Party in Timișoara before World War I, Cosma was a representative of the Banat in the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia that vo ...

(1867–1931), lawyer and politician * (1889–1954), composer, music teacher and folklorist *

Ernő Kállai Ernő Kállai (9 November 1890, Săcălaz- 28 November 1954, Budapest) was a Hungarian art critic who was involved in the promotion of and theorisation around Constructivism. He encountered avant-garde art upon visiting the MA gallery of Lajos K ...

(1890–1954), art critic * (1934–2010), writer and journalist * Karl Fritz Lauer (1938–2018), agronomist * (b. 1953), writer * (b. 1959), author and civil rights activist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacalaz Communes in Timiș County Localities in Romanian Banat