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Satu Mare (Hungarian: Szatmárnémeti, German: Sathmar) (population: 115,000) is a city in Satu Mare county, Romania.
History
A fortress by the name of Zotmar (Castrum Zotmar) was mentioned in the Gesta Hungarorum as being in the lands ruled by Menumorut in the early 10th century. According to the chronicle, the fortress was taken by the Magyars after three days of fighting. In 1006 Teutons were settled around the fortress by the Hungarian queen Gizella. Later Germans settled in the town of Mintin, across the Somes river.
After 1543 the fortress, then owned by the Bathory family, was reinforced and a moat was built around it. Under the siege of the Ottomans in 1562, then of the Habsburgs it was destroyed, and later reconstructed by the Austrian Lazar Schwendi, using the Italian fortification technics.
In 1721, Satu Mare, unified with Mintiu, became a "royal free city" and prospered as an important centre of trade and craftsmanship.
In the 18th century much of the city was rebuilt and among the landmarks are the old City Hall, the inn and several churches.
Since 1918 Satu Mare, like all other Transylvanian cities, has become part of Romania and started to enjoy a prosperous life among the two world wars. In 1930 it had 33 banks located in the city centre that fed an extremely prosperous industrial activity.
The WWII was a catastrophic event in the life of Satu Mare as it was included in the area that fascist Germany took away from Romania and placed under the control of fascist Hungary (after the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact).
During WWII Satu Mare and the surrounding areas were the stage of many crimes and deportations performed by the Hungarian government. Anti-Semitic and anti-Romanian activities were a daily reality in the life of Satu Mare while the city was under Hungarian occupation.
The area was finally liberated by the Romanian army on the 25 October 1944 after the heavy battle of Carei when the area re-enetered under the initial Romanian administration. During WWII at least 18000 Jews from the Satu-Mare area were deported and murdered in the camps of death. A considerable number of Romanians also suffered from violent treatment. In 1950 Satu Mare had roughly the population of 1930.
It took almost three decades for Satu Mare to become a properous city once again. In the 1970s the city was subject to an extensive process of modernization performed by the Romanian communist government of that time after the floods that took place on the 14 May 1970. The most visible achievemet of the recosntruction process was the impressive building of the Satu Mare city hall that features a unique architecture being the simbol of the city [1] (http://www.satu-mare.net/album/centrulnou8.jpg). However, the collapse of communism placed Satu Mare into a long period of stagnation during the 90's when it lost around 20,000 inhabitants due to the closing down of many industrial plants.
Nowadays Satu Mare is a dynamic city with an industry that is entering the global economy. A considerable number of the inhabitants of the area work aboard, mostly in Western Europe but their families remain based in Satu Mare.
Population
The Satu Mare area is inhabited by a Romanian majority (60%), Hungarians (35%), Germans (3.6%) and others (1.4%). The English language is widely spoken among the young generation and tends to become the city's second language after Romanian.
The city day is May 14, which reminds constantly of the tragedy that affected the city in 1970 being also a moment of re-birth.
External links
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![[1]](http://www.satu-mare.net/album/centrulnou8.jpg){kind=link}