More than 8,000 visitors from Romania, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, Israel, the U.S., Norway, Hong Kong and Spain came to enjoy the almost 60 cultural events – concerts, conferences, guided tours, workshops and exhibitions – organized at the twelfth edition of the Haferland Week, the organizers said in a release.
Haferland Week, a cultural and ethnographic festival of the Saxon community in Romania and the diaspora, took place between August 8 and 11 in ten localities in the region known as Oatland, or Haferland in German: Archita, Saschiz, Homorod, Rupea, Crit, Roades, Mesendorf, Cloasterf, Bunesti, and Viscri.
The personalities at the event included Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein, Patron of the Haferland Week, Prince and Princess Alexander von und zu Liechtenstein, Romanian ambassador to Austria Emil Hurezeanu, ambassador of the Netherlands to Romania Willemijn Van Haaften, Romania’s ambassador to Germany Adriana Stanescu, Development Minister Adrian Ioan Vestea, former British ambassador in Bucharest Andrew Noble – representative of the M&V Schmidt Foundation Board of Directors, Dr. Bernd Fabritius – president of the German Federation of Expellees, Rainer Lehni – chairman of the Association of Transylvanian Saxons in Germany, Martin Bottesch – president of the Democratic Forum of Transylvanian Germans, German Bundestag member Gunther Krichbaum, president of the Brasov County Council Serban Todorica, and Rupea town mayor Alexandru Opris.
„Cultural tourism is possible today in Haferland villages, complete with visits to fortified churches and Saxon households, gastronomic tourism, adventure tourism along the Via Transilvanica and the trails between villages, hiking, mountain sports, ecological agriculture and much, much more. Nothing of this would have been possible without the involvement of the local communities and without the support of our friends from all over the world,” said Michael Schmidt, president of the M&V Schmidt Foundation.
The main event of this year’s edition was the ceremony for the 700th anniversary of the first documentary mention of the Rupea Fortress, the largest Saxon historic building in Haferland, which was restored from crumbling ruins more than a decade ago, after the compound had been abandoned for over 200 years.
Up next on the restoration calendar is the fortified church in Homorod, one of the oldest places of worship in the area, dating back to 1270, which will also be rendered functional again. According to experts, this church houses the oldest mural painting in Romania.
The 12th edition of the Haferland Week was also organized under the auspices of the Royal Family of Romania.
AGERPRES
