Feldioara

Feldioara (Marienburg, ; Földvár or Barcaföldvár) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania, about 15 km north of the city of Brașov. It is composed of three villages: Colonia Reconstrucția (Bohntelep), Feldioara, and Rotbav (Rothbach; Szászveresmart).

Geography
The commune is located in the east-central part of the county, in the northern reaches of the Burzenland. It is situated on the left bank of the Olt River, which mostly follows the border with Covasna County. The rivers Bârsa and Homorod discharge into the Olt near Feldioara.

The commune is crossed by national road DN13, which links Brașov with Sighișoara and Târgu Mureș. Road DN13E branches off in Feldioara, passes through Sfântu Gheorghe (26 km to the east) and Covasna, and ends in Întorsura Buzăului. The train stations in Feldioara and Rotbav serve the CFR Main Line 300, which connects Bucharest with the Hungarian border near Oradea.

Name
Feldioara has a medieval fortress long believed to have been built by the Teutonic Knights. However, more recent studies show that the Fortress in Feldioara was actually constructed by the local community. The name of the village comes from the Hungarian word földvár, which means "the clay fortress". The ruins of the fortress can still be seen today. The German name Marienburg means "fortress of the Virgin Mary".

History
The castra of Feldioara was a fort in the Roman province of Dacia and part of the Limes Alutanus defensive system.

Between 1211 and 1225, Feldioara was the Teutonic Knights’ quarter, which will later become a peasant stronghold. A 1439 document states that the civilians of Feldioara built this fortress “with great financial and physical expenses” in order to protect their families and possessions. The fortress withstood the Turkish invasion of 1421, but it was severely damaged by a second invasion in 1432. It took until 1457 to restore it.

During the battles of 1612, the armies led by Prince Gabriel Báthori conquered the fortress, and in September the Brașovian armies had Feldioara under siege for three days. On September 16, 1612, a battle was fought between the Hungarians, led by Báthori, and the Brașovians, led by mayor Michael Weiss. The Brașovians lost the fight, and Weiss was killed on the battlefield.

The fortress – long out use for its original purpose – was used as a granary until 1838, when a major earthquake damaged it. After this event, even the fortress guardian left the building. Since then the fortress has lain in ruins.

Demographics
At the 2011 census, Feldioara had 6,154 inhabitants; of those, 88.8% were Romanians, 6.9% Hungarians, and 3.5% Roma. At the 2021 census, the commune had a population of 6,311, of which 84.3% were Romanians, 3.6% Hungarians, and 3.23% Roma.

Natives

 * Edith Soterius von Sachsenheim (1887–1970), painter