Sibiu

In the Roman times, the area of Sibiu was known under the name of Cibiniensis/Cibinum, the name of the river passing through the city deriving from it (Cibin) and the Romanian name of the city.

In the area of the current neighborhood Gusterita there had been a Roman settlement called Cedonia.

Sibiu was founded on the place of an older settlement, probably Slavic, immediately after the middle of the 12^th century by the Saxons colonists in the Rin-Mosela territory. The first mention of the citadel is made in 1191 under the name of Cibinum in an ecclesiastic document from Vatican. The first documentary attestation in the form of Hermannstadt dates since 1223, but there are also mentions of the name Villa Hermanni. In 1241 it was attacked, conquered and partially destroyed by the Mongol hordes.

In the 14^th century Sibiu became a great commerce center and for centuries it had been the most important German citadel in Transilvania. The traders in the city were organized in brotherhoods, in 1376 a number of 19 brotherhoods being known.

In 1366 Sibiu was declared “city”.

Here, in 1544, the Lutheran Catechism was published, the first book published in Romanian.

Since 1692, with the growth of the Austrian influence, Sibiu becomes the capital of Transilvania. This is a blooming period of the city, the most important construction in the period being Brukental Palace.

In 1872 the fist railway is built and in 1897 Sibiu is electrified. In this period Sibiu is the seat of ASTRA association and an important city of the Romanian community.

As a result of the Second World War and of the communist period the Saxon population was considerably diminished by deportations in Siberia and later by massive emigration in Germany.