Reșița - WikiHQ

Reșița (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic (Kölnök), Cuptoare (Kuptore), Doman (Domány), Moniom (Monyó), Secu (Székul; Sekul), and Țerova (Krassócser).

Etymology

The name of Reșița might come from the Latin recitia, meaning "cold spring", as the historian Nicolae Iorga once suggested, presuming that the Romans gave this name to Reșița, from a water spring on the Doman valley. A much more plausible version, according to Iorgu Iordan, would be that the name is actually coming from a Slavic word: people living in the neighbouring village of Carașova away, referring to this place, that in those days was a similar village to theirs, as being "u rečice" (at the creek). It can also be noted that almost all Slavic countries have places with the name of Rečice (pronounced Recițe in Romanian).

History

Historically, the town has its origins in the 15th century under the name of Rechyoka and Rechycha. Archaeological research found traces of habitation going back to the Neolithic, Dacian, and Roman eras. In the Middle Ages, the area was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Following the death of the Jagiellon King of Hungary Louis II at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Hungarian crown would be inherited by the Habsburg monarchy, but this was contested by much of the Hungarian nobility, resulting in the formation of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, encompassing much of Transylvania and the Banat. In 1553, the area was incorporated into Temeşvar Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The town is mentioned in 1673 under the name of Reszinitza, whose citizens paid taxes to the Ottoman bey (governor) in Timișoara (Turkish: Temeşvar; Hungarian: Temesvár).

Following the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Ottoman influence north of the Danube would contract. and the Habsburg and by the years 1690–1700, it was mentioned as being part of the District of Bocșa together with other towns in the Bârzava Valley. In the Habsburg-Ottoman War of 1716–1718, Prince Eugene of Savoy would conquer the region for the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs established the Banat of Temeswar and began fortifying the region as a Military Frontier. The town was referenced in the conscription acts of 1717 under the name of Retziza. Under Empress Maria Theresa, in 1751 Reșița and much of the northern Banat was detached from the Banat Military Frontier and transferred from military to civil administration. On 3 July 1771, it became an important metal-manufacturing center in the region. The foundation of the industrial Reșița was laid with the establishment of factories near the villages of Reșița Română (Reschiza Kamerală or Oláh Resitza) and Reșița Montană (Eisenwerk Reschitza, Német(h) Reschitza or Resiczbánya). Reșița Montană was at first inhabited by Romanians..

Even before Hungary fell under Habsburg Rule, the old kings of Hungary had encouraged Germans to settle in Transylvania and the Banat. In 1224, King Andrew II of Hungary issued the Diploma Andreanum, granting provisional autonomy to the Transylvania Saxons and their fortified towns in Northeastern and Southeastern Transylvania (German: Siebenbürgen). For much of the Early modern period the Banat had become a dangerous border region caught between two waring Empires and would experience periods of devastation and depopulation. However, in the 18th century, the expansion of Habsburg authority, its efforts to fortify the region, and the movement of the frontier southward greatly increased regional security, making the Banat once again suitable for civilian settlement. Besides the installation of a civil administration, the Theresian period (1740–1780) would see large-scale efforts to recruit settlers and repopulate the region, resulting in a large influx of German settlers, especially from Swabia. In 1776, 70 German families settled Reșița (German: Reschitz). In 1880, Germans represented the majority of the city's population.

Following the First World War, the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon in 1920 would result in Reșița and much of the Banat being annexed by the Kingdom of Romania. However, in the Interwar period, Germans would continue to constitute the majority of the population. In 1941, Reșița had 12,096 Germans residents, 9,453 Romanian residents, and 1,861 Hungarian residents. Between 1910 and 1925, Reșița had the status of a rural area, and in 1925, it was declared a town thanks to its development into a powerful industrial location in modern Romania. In 1968, it became a municipality.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Reșița lost most of its importance and its economy faced a recession, along with the Romanian economy. The population also declined, dropping from 110,000 in 1989 to 86,000 in 2006. After the fall of communism, the Reșița Steelworks (Combinatul Siderurgic Reșița, CSR) was bought by an American investor who brought the factory just one step away from bankruptcy. Today the steelworks are run by TMK Europe GmbH, a German subsidiary of OAO TMK, Moscow, which has projects of modernization for the CSR.

In 2022 it was inducted into UNESCO's Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC).

The city

The city is situated along the Bârzava River, which meets the Doman River in the centre of town. Most of the urban area is concentrated along the Bârzava, with some development—mostly residential—in the surrounding hills.

It is made of three main areas, two former villages that were very close: Romanian Reșița ( or Olah Resitza) and Highland Reșița (, Eisenwerk Reschitza or Nemet Reschitza); a new area, recently built, made of tower blocks on a wide opened meadow, called Bârzava's Meadow.

{| class="wikitable left" width="80%"

|+ Neighbourhoods of Reșița

! scope="row" | New City

| Bârzava's Meadow || New Reșița || North Reșița || Govândari

| colspan=6 |

! scope="row" | Downtown

| City Centre || Romanian Reșița || South Reșița || N/A

| colspan="6" |