POTTERY IN BANAT. TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Author(s): Diana Andreescu / Language(s): English Issue: 35/2023

Pottery in Banat is a rich and long tradition that dates back hundreds of years and is part of the cultural heritage of this region in western Romania. This craft has been passed down from generation to generation and has evolved over time, adapting to social and technological changes. The tradition of pottery in Banat is closely related to the needs of the local community, but it has also experienced innovations to meet current demands. Pottery in Banat represents an interesting synthesis between tradition and innovation, and potters continue to make significant contributions to the cultural and artistic heritage of this region. This craft not only provides practical objects, but also preserves and transmits the cultural identity of the local community. Features of pottery in Banat: Traditional materials: Potters in Banat mainly use clay and clay to create pottery. Traditional techniques: Banat potters use traditional techniques for shaping, decorating and baking clay vessels. Functionality and aesthetics: Banat pottery generally has a dual functionality - utilitarian and aesthetic. Innovations in Banat Pottery: Modernization of Techniques: In recent decades, Banat potters have incorporated modern technologies into the production process. Diversification of products: In addition to traditional cooking and serving vessels, Banat potters began to produce decorative objects, souvenirs and contemporary art pieces from clay. Promoting tradition: Despite the introduction of modern elements, Banat potters are very dedicated to preserving and promoting local traditions. This is reflected in cultural events, exhibitions and workshops that celebrate the craft of pottery.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE HASDEU DYNASTY TO THE RESEARCH OF THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF BESSARABIA (ON THE OCCASION OF THE 185TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE SCIENTIST BOGDAN PETRICEICU-HASDEU)

Author(s): Mariana Cocieru / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

In the present approach, the author refers to the historical beginning of folklore research in Bessarabia. In order to be able to follow their evolution, the exposition starts from the precursors of Romanian folkloristics, conventionally concentrating them around some personalities who contributed to a greater or lesser extent to this itinerary. Analyzing this early stage of development, he notes that the Hâjdău- Hasdeu dynasty of folklorists, who were active in the two periods of the formation of folklore (pre- folkloristics and folkloristics as a science), had the largest contribution in this sense. It also highlights the most important folklore studies and materials that appeared in these periods, recorded and published by the brothers Alexandru and Boleslav Hâjdău and Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu.

DOCUMENTS RELATING TO POLISH REFUGEES IN DOLJ COUNTY IN THE FALL OF 1939

Author(s): Cristian-Iulian Ceacîru / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

This article presents several documents related to Polish refugees in Dolj County in the autumn of 1939. The first of these historical testimonies comes from the collections of the History-Archaeology Section of the Oltenia Museum, a document describing the arrival of a group of Polish refugees in Craiova at the beginning of October 1939. The other documents, relating to the number of refugees and the measures taken by the local authorities to deal with them, were found in the collections held by SJAN Dolj.

OVIDIU BÎRLEA – A HISTORIAN OF THE ROMANIAN FOLKLORE

Author(s): Mihaela Hură / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

Tracking the way in which Romanian folklore research has evolved is one of the most important concerns of Ovidiu Bîrlea. He sees in the popular creation an essential part, a root of the national culture, a manifestation with artistic character, but also a documentary, which highlights both the specificity of the nation, and cultural similarities between different nations. That is why its research is a necessity, and the work of researchers must be known and critically appreciated to ensure the progress of this essential and quite young science. Knowing very well the research activity of folklore in our country, Ovidiu Bîrlea analyzes it rigorously, severely criticizes the poorly done work and enthusiastically praises the achievements. Through his truly professional activity in this direction, the Romanian research of folklore knows a development that synchronizes it with European research.

The Misrepresentation of Petri Dish, as “petri” Dish, in the Scientific Literature

Author(s): Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva / Language(s): English Issue: 22/2023

The Petri dish is, without a doubt, a very basic, yet important and popular tool in microbiological and other biomedical experiments. It serves primarily as a support or structural platform for placing, growing or testing biological specimens, whether these be microbiological, animal, plant or human.Given its size, usually about 10 cm in diameter, the Petri dish is an ideal platform for cellular and tissue cultures.Despite the commonality of Petri dishes, quite surprisingly, there is a pervasive error throughout the biomedical literature, namely its misspelling as “petri” dish. This is not a trivial issue since this dish is named after a scientist, Julius Richard Petri (1852–1921), so the upper-case “P” should not be represented as a lower-case “p”.It is important to alert students and seasoned biomedical researchers, as well as the wider public, who might use this term, about the need to use the term Petri accurately, in order to respect its historical foundation.To garner some appreciation of the extent of this error in the biomedical literature, a 2022 search on PubMed for either “Petri dish” or “petri dish” revealed 50 search results, 24 (or 48%) of which were of the latter, erroneous form in titles or abstracts. This suggests that the indicated error, which is in need of correction, may be widely pervasive in the biomedical literature.

PRAŽSKÝ KONVENT JOHANITŮ A DATACE UDĚLENÍ PRÁVA PONTIFIKÁLIÍ JEHO PŘEVORŮM V ŘÁDOVÉ HISTORIOGRAFII

Author(s): Pavel Trnka / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2019

The Prague Commandry of Knights Hospitaller was founded in 1169. In 1395, the priors of the priests’ convent were granted the right of pontificals by the pope Boniface IX. At the beginning of the Hussite wars, the Prague Knights Hospitaller moved to the Castle in Strakonice where they gradually merged into the local community. From 1440s to the beginning of 1730s, only titular priors or later mere administrators worked in Prague. The right to use pontifical insignia was, therefore, provisionally passed on priors in Strakonice in 1512. The Prague Convent was renewed in the first half of the 1730s and starting the year 1740, its priors were granted the right to wear ponitificals. In this context, the first mistaken dating of the original privilege to wear ponitificals (indicating the year 1301) appears. Simultaneously, in the 18th and 19th centuries, a mistaken year 1394 appeared in the official texts from inside the convent, less frequently the alternative year 1294. In the time of significant development of the convent from 1880s till 1914, the oldest dating prevailed and was accepted also in the scholarly literature. The community of order priests started to fall down since 1919, moreover, despite the constant decrease of convent members, the papal visitor of the Maltese Order ordered the cancellation of novitiate in 1934. At this time, the privilege to wear pontificals was first correctly dated to the year 1395, yet, this determination did not get beyond the order priests. The crisis of the Maltese community was further aggravated by a Nazi collaborator as its head during the German occupation and the confiscation of property in 1942. The convent was finally dissolved in 1950. In the recent works of lay order members on the history of the Bohemian Grand Priory, there is usually the year 1301.

ŽIVOT SESTER ALŽBĚTINEK NA SLUPI V ZRCADLE STATUT

Author(s): Hedvika Kuchařová,Jitka Křečková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2019

The study is focused on the state of research and on the preserved sources to the history of the convent and hospital of the Order of St Elizabeth in Prague Na Slupi. It sums up the older and recent literature, both professional and popularising. The beginning of the Communist regime in 1948 meant a breach in the research of the church history. The topic of the Sisters of St Elizabeth reappeared in the scholarly literature in 1990s. The research for the last almost 30 years can be divided into works relating to the construction development of the convent, to its early modern history, some outputs are devoted to the hospital or special topics such as music and literature. To some extent, several research outputs deal with the recent history, especially with the persecution under the Communist regime. The basic archive source for the convent history is its own archive. Some essential historical documents are today known merely from the old works. For the research on the inside life of the convent, there are also printed sources, first of all statutes, religious books, handbooks for ceremonies such investiture or profession, or occasional printings. From the point of view of the sisters alone, the statutes are the most important document for the existence of the convent that stipulate strict rules for everyday life. Till the beginning of the 20th century, the Sisters of St Elizabeth followed the statutes published in Prague by Karel Jan Hraba in 1925 under the name Satzungen und Aemter Ordnung der Schwesteren des heiligen Elisabethiner Ordens that regulated the order life basically until 1918 when the Codex Juris Canonici came into force, which compelled the Bohemian monasteries and convents to adjust the existing statutes. The new statutes were adopted after complicated negotiations with pope Pius XI on June 17, 1931.

»Vaške straže« na Gorenjskem v letu 1942

Author(s): Damjan Hančič / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 2/2023

In the article, the author presents a phenomenon of local selfdefense, “village guards” of sorts which arose in the Kamnik district (Kreis Stein) in the summer and autumn of 1942 as a spontaneous response of the population to the violence of the partisan side, which was also connected with retaliatory actions of the German occupier. This type of self-defense was the most developed in the central areas of the Tuhinj Valley (Šmartno, Zgornji Tuhinj) and ceased to exist at the end of 1942, when most men were mobilized into the German army (Wehrmacht). These forms of self-defense, however, had almost nothing to do with the later establishment of the Home Guard (Oberkrainer Selbstschutz) in 1944.

Henryk Lesiński – archiwista, dyrektor Wojewódzkiego Archiwum Państwowego w Szczecinie

Author(s): Paweł Gut / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2023

This article discusses the archival activities of Henryk Lesiński, who served as the director of the Provincial State Archive in Szczecin, as well as a rector and professor. He worked as an archivist for 17 years, including 14 years as the director of the Szczecin archive (1956–1969). During his tenure, the Szczecin archive became a leading institution in the field of archival science (with a guide to its resources). It also became a center of academic and intellectual life in Szczecin. This position was a result of Henryk Lesiński’s archival and organizational work, as well as the efforts of his team of collaborators.

ZDAŘILÁ KNIHA O KAŽDODENNOSTI BRATISLAVSKÉ UMĚLECKÉ BOHÉMY

Author(s): Miroslav Šepták / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2020

Review of: Vašš, Martin: Bratislavská umelecká bohéma v rokoch 1920–1945, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave. Bratislava 2016, 456 s.

Polacy na terenie Marchii Granicznej (Grenzmark Posen Westpreussen) wobec zdobycia i utrwalania władzy przez nazistów w latach 1933–1939

Author(s): Tomasz Nodzyński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2023

The article attempts to present the attitudes and positions of Poles in the province of Grenzmark Posen West Prussia towards the process of the Nazi NSDAP party led by Adolf Hitler taking and consolidating power from 1933 to 1939. The final part of the discussion is justified by the fact that after Germany’s attack on Poland in September 1939, the possibility of legal and formally independent activities of Polish organizations and institutions in Germany, especially the Union of Poles in Germany, came to an end. The article shows how Poles reacted to political and structural changes in Germany by participating and later boycotting participation in parliamentary elections, utilizing the opportunities for expressing their views in Polish newspapers until August 1939, and lodging official complaints with the Prussian Ministry of Internal Affairs about the actions of local authorities. The analysis of sources reveals an image of increasing intimidation of the Polish community, in which adaptive and conformist attitudes gradually prevailed, despite the continued protests of the Union of Poles in Germany and its most active activists.

KSČ NA PODKARPATSKÉ RUSI V PRVNÍ POLOVINĚ 30. LET 20. STOLETÍ

Author(s): David Hubený / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2020

The Czechoslovak Communist Party in Subcarpathian Ruthenia went through a crisis between the parliamentary elections 1929 and 1935. The electoral defeat in 1929 in this strategic region stirred a displeasure directly in the leadership of the Comintern and, undoubtedly, also within many party and state institutions of the Soviet Union. The Party was plagued by numerous informants reporting to Czecho-slovak state authorities. On the other hand, Subcarpathian Ruthenia was a fitting place to support communist parties in the neighbouring countries where the communist movements were being unscrupulously supressed. The party could profit from the zeal of many loyal and convinced members and functionaries escalated by the declining economic situation as a result of the world economy depression. While marches of unemployed and numerous deputations could be perceived as a vehement and active way of enforcing the party social and political programme and in cases of attempts to penetrate by means of informants or otherwise loyal persons to the state administration as a way to disrupt the monopoly of the government coalition parties over the state, some other actions and propaganda slogans went beyond political struggle and attacked the very unity and integrity of the state. Some fights together with theses on the Czech occupation and national oppression led to the threat of abolition over the party, which compelled it to prepare to move into illegality. The party only managed to step out of its half-legal and sectarian captivation after the changes in the official policy as a result of VII Congress of Comintern and the implementation of its resolutions into the local party policy.

Niematerialne dziedzictwo kulturowe wsi Pomorza Zachodniego – przemiany i stan współczesny

Author(s): Anna Kwaśniewska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2023

World War II and the subsequent population changes have altered the cultural landscape of Western Pomerania. Settlers from various regions of Poland, as well as people from Kresy, Ukrainians, and Lemkos, brought with them not only material heritage but also intangible cultural heritage. The clash of cultures and the process of modernization in the 1960s and 70s resulted in the disappearance of many of its manifestations. To this day, some customs and practices have survived, but there is also a noticeable process of heritage creation, reconstruction, and invention. Ethnographic field research conducted by the author from 2015 to 2019 in seven counties in the West Pomeranian and Pomeranian voivodeships showed that the intangible cultural heritage of Western Pomerania is mosaic-like and depends largely on the regional origins of the residents and the activities of cultural institutions and associations. In the eastern part of the region, many aspects of heritage brought by the Kashubians continue to be observed. Throughout the region, some customs related to religious holidays (Catholic, Greek Catholic, Orthodox) are still practiced, along with customs related to religion, as well as remnants of beliefs and magical practices. In the central and western parts of the region, there is a grassroots effort to construct new (post)folk culture, particularly in music. Many vocal and vocal-instrumental groups, especially composed of older generations, have formed and function. The heritage of the Kresy, Ukrainian, and Lemko cultures is “discovered.” In the process of (re)constructing heritage and identity, intangible heritage of former residents – Jamne, Slovincian – is explored, and collections of legends are published, along with the creation of new stories about the region. There is a changing approach to memorial sites, such as post-German cemeteries, and an increasing appreciation for the fairly numerous remaining examples of traditional folk architecture.

Album studiosorum Pedagogium Książęcego w Szczecinie (1576–1666), wyd. Agnieszka Borysowska, Michał Gierke, Szczecin 2022

Author(s): Maciej Ptaszyński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2023

„Ratibořský zázrak“. Záchrana ruských emigrantů z věznice NKVD

Author(s): Anastasie Kopřivová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 03/2023

The article tells the story of the "Ratibor miracle", a rescue operation that saved dozens of Russian and Ukrainian emigrants from being deported to the Soviet Union by the SMERSH counterintelligence agency in 1945. The author, Anastazie Kopřivová, describes the historical background, the personal profiles, and the fate of the key participants of the escape from the Ratibor prison in Poland. She also explains the reasons why this event was not widely known or discussed among the emigrant community in Prague. The article is based on archival sources, memoirs, and interviews with survivors and their relatives. It is a valuable contribution to the history of the Russian and Ukrainian emigration in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet repressions against them.

NEW INSIGHTS REGARDING THE CLAY TOBACCO PIPES DISCOVERED IN THE HISTORICAL CITY CENTER OF TIMIȘOARA

Author(s): Alexandru Munteanu / Language(s): English Issue: 33/2023

Articolul de faţă tratează problema unor noi descoperiri de pipe de lut din centrul istoric al Timișoarei, realizate în urma cercetărilor preventive din Piaţa Sf. Gheorghe (2017) și Parcul Civic (2020). Cele paisprezece piese prezentate în cadrul acestei lucrări cuprind pipe databile atât în secolul XVIII, în timpul ocupaţiei otomane a orașului, cât și în secolul XIX. Analizarea pieselor respective a dus la stabilirea a trei mari categorii observate anterior și în alte lucrări referitoare la pipele de lut descoperite în cadrul săpăturilor arheologice din Timișoara: pipele nedecorate de culoare roșiatică, pipele turcești și pipele austro‑ungare.

VECINĂTĂŢI DOMENIALE: CĂSĂTORIA ÎN MEDIUL NOBILIAR DIN COMITATELE BANATULUI MEDIEVAL (1300–1450)

Author(s): Ligia Boldea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 33/2023

Marriage was in the nobiliary environment a familial question they usually didn’t dwell at random upon. Seen as a regulation and formalizing of a certain social status, the institution of marriage was submitted, due to its role and position, to severe rituals and interdictions. To create new alliances, to consolidate the old ones or to set political relations through the means of matrimonial strategies and women operated as a capital obligation for the head of any nobiliary family. After all, joing in marriage was taken along the way for a contract with obligations and rights involving both the couple and the members of the widened family. On the other hand, from a spiritual point of view, matrimony was defined by ecclesiastic statements, as a sacral mystery with moral and religious implications, an unbreakable relation between a man and a woman. A model of the Christian marriage was after conceptualized, placed exclusively under the control of the ecclesiastic authorities, not under that of the secular ones. First of all, nobiliary domenial neighborship created opportunities to matrimonial alliances in order to sanction, consolidate, and secure certain agreements in the case of neighboring noble families. In fact, given the low mobility at that time, marriages were set most frequently in proximity and reflected the nature of some relations of neighborliness.

INSTITUŢIILE CULTURALE ȘI ARTISTICE TIMIȘORENE ÎN “EPOCA” AUTOFINANŢĂRII (1984–1989)

Author(s): Vasile Rămneanţu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 33/2023

The economic crisis in Romania, in 1984–1989, deeply touched the Romanian culture too, the Communist authorities requiering the cultural and artistic institutions a policy of austerity, once with the Decree 476/ 1983. Given the continuous reducing of the statal allocations, the theatres, philarmonic orhestras, opera houses, museums, etc. needed to find outliving solutions. In Timişoara, The National Theatre, German Public Theatre, Magyar Public Theatre, Puppet Theatre, and Romanian Opera House, or the Philarmonic Public Orchestra “Banatul” went over a difficult period while the Banat Museum had a better financial situation. Those above were obliged to increase the number of their shows, to present them in industrial units, rural localities, schools, faculties or stadiums and sports halls, as well as to organize gambles, to collect scrap iron, etc., some of those works being degrading for the actors and artistis in Timişoara. In spite of all their efforts, they couldn’t materialize such unrealistic plans, and so the artistic staff were diminished or delayed payed. The financial crisis also touched the quality of performances, the amounts to staging having been reduced. The three theters and the Opera House also had not enough money for wardrobe or, in the case of the National Theatre, to set the necessary reparations of the building. The gas or electricity using restrictions made some shows being adjorned and the audience decreasing. Despite all those great straitened circumstances, the actors and artistis in Timişoara, with their professional devotion, succeeded to offer shows of a high quality and keep so the prestige of thier institutions.

Proměny soužití Českého a Německého obyvatelstva na Šumavě v letech 1898-1938. Sonda do každodennosti farních společenství ve světle materiálů biskupského archivu

Author(s): Martin Weis / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2007

Th e author presents in this scientific study based on archive documents of the České Budějovice bishop archives, deposited in the State District Archives in Třeboň, documents from the ecclesiastic life of the inhabitants of the Bohemian Forest in the years 1898-1938. Th ese documents show that the increase of the national tension between the Czech and German populations of the Bohemian Forest in the period observed did not avoid the church life either. Many a priest thus got caught, metaphorically said, between “two millstones” and was one of the first victims of national frictions.

Heraldica teritorială – manifest de putere?

Author(s): Ştefan S. Gorovei / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 69/2023

Le 31 décembre 1816 – selon le vieux calendrier, utilisé à l’époque dans les Principautés Roumaines – le médecin britannique William Macmichael, en route vers la Russie, se trouvait dans la Salle du Trône du palais princier de Jassy (Iaşi), où le prince de Moldavie, Scarlat (Charles) Callimachi, allait investir les nouveaux hauts dignitaires du pays. En attendant, le voyageur examinait attentivement les fresques peintes sur les murs de la salle : un des boyards présents à cette importante cérémonie lui fit connaître que les 22 médaillons qui ornaient les murs représentaient les emblèmes des districts de la Principauté moldave. „La Moldavie toute entière était peinte sur le mur”, ce qui est surprenant, vu que – ajoute le voyageur dans son livre publié en 1819 – „les Russes possèdent la moitié la plus fertile du pays”, tandis que la Moldavie ne possédait plus que 16 de ses anciens districts. En effet, la Paix de Bucarest, de 1812, avait décidé de transférer à l’Empire russe la partie orientale de la Principauté moldave, située entre le Pruth et le Dniestr (Nistru), la future Bessarabie ; il n’y avait donc aucune raison pour que les emblèmes des districts de ce territoire figurent encore dans le grand ensemble héraldique peint dans la Salle du Trône de Jassy. Et quand même…La (re)construction du palais fut achevée en 1806, mais son inauguration solennelle dut être ajournée à cause de la guerre russo-turque; les Principautés ont subi l’occupation russe. On ne peut pas penser que cet ensemble héraldique, comprenant aussi les emblèmes des districts de Bessarabie, eut été réalisé après 1812; par contre, il a été réalisé – selon un projet dû, très probablement, à Johann Freywald, l’architecte autrichien à qui l’on doit la reconstruction du palais – vers 1805-1806, avant la guerre et le démembrement de la Moldavie.Cette information, passée inaperçue dans les recherches consacrées jusqu’à présent à l’héraldique roumaine de district, ouvre la voie à une nouvelle approche de ce sujet. Les autorités de l’occupation russe de 1806-1812 ont créé, pour le Conseil de la Principauté Moldave (Divanul Cnejiei Moldovei), un grand sceau, avec les armoiries du pays (le rencontre d’aurochs) au centre et la bordure ornée de médaillons aux emblèmes des 21 districts. On ne connait pas, jusqu’à ce jour, un document émis dans ce laps de temps et authentifié par l’apposition de ce grand sceau. Par contre, on le voit utilisé après la Paix de Bucarest (1812), par le même prince de Moldavie qui recevait ses dignitaires et les voyageurs étrangers dans la salle ornée avec les mêmes armoiries! L’auteur croit que la conservation, après 1812, de ces deux réalités (l’ensemble héraldique peint vers 1805 et le grand sceau créé vers 1807), représente une sorte de résistance muette, un effort d’exprimer à l’aide du langage héraldique des idées et des sentiments inexprimables par les mots. On peut constater la même attitude après le rapt de la Bucovine en 1775. Créé sous l’influence de l’héraldique russe ou autrichienne, l’ensemble représenté dans le grand sceau et peint sur les murs de la Salle du Trône transmet un message assez cohérent concernant le pouvoir souverain, dont la rencontre d’aurochs est le symbole unique et indivisible. De ce fait même, il représente le prince du pays, chargé de toutes les qualités et de tous les titres de ses prédécesseurs ; cette conception est reflétée dans les vers qui accompagnent, d’habitude, les armes du pays reproduites dans les livres imprimés au cours des XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles. L’auteur croit que cette manière de représenter le pays peut être considérée un manifeste de pouvoir, spécifique au pouvoir souverain, tandis que les grands sceaux portant au centre les armes du pays et en bordure les armes (emblèmes) des districts qui concrétisent ce pays constituent l’équivalent des sceaux de majesté utilisés en Occident.