Interview: Stories about the Saxons from yesterday and from today – Poveşti săseşti

 

Poveşti săseşti (translated Transylvanian Saxon Stories) have long been just an idea that gave me no peace. Two years ago, I attended a meeting of the Saxons comming from my father’s native village. It was held here in Munich, in a very restrained and nostalgic setting, in which a handful of people greeted each other, happy to meet once again, telling stories and memories about a beautiful world. It was only me, by far the youngest in the room, that did not know anyone. I remember trying to retain faces, details which I could later tell my father in Romania. I was very impressed by that meeting, by then I had never taken part in such an event, and there were some images that followed me long after. Such as a picture of the evangelical church in Transylvania, auctioned.on the stage. After that I just wrote an article published on webcultura, but I kept having the feeling that I could do something more, a kind of “scene” that would gather all these people, with their immense nostalgia and beauty.

Who is the public of this project?

The Transylvanian Saxon stories build the gap between the two countries. I do not address only Romanians or only Saxons, I wish this to be a place where the differences do not vanish, but are understood and appreciated as enriching, as part of who we are. I think we little know each other. The history we are taught in schools has its many shortcomings and we would be really superficial to stick to a few nice photos when we visit a fortified church in Transylvania. There is much more beyond that.

Heimattag Dinkensbühl, 2013

What themes do you choose for your blog and how do you choose them?

As the motto says, I write about the Saxons of the past and from the present. I follow their footsteps in both Transylvania and Germany trying to outline a clear and complete image of their identity. Therefore I write about traditional costumes, settlements, beliefs, holidays, crafts, legends, aspects of the daily life. I don’t consider myself as the spokesman of a nation, I just bring a small and hopefully beautiful, meaningful contribution.

At the same time, one reader made a very good observation: that this blog is not just about history and anamnesis regarding the Saxons. Here is also Romania, their former homeland and its present. I wish to keep a balance between Romania, Transylvania – the home of yore and Germany – the home of today for more than 200.000 Transylvanian Saxons (and me).

Contrary to the social media strategies, I rarely plan anything. I only post when, if and what I find interesting, without feeling the pressure of saying something on a daily basis. I write only when I really have something nice, worth sharing.

 Portul popular săsesc, acuarelă de Iuliana Fabritius-Dâncu

I met some wonderful people, also in real life, through the blog. Some of them became dear friends, with whom I regularly keep in touch. A great part of the those over 1,700 names are a constant presence on the blog and Facebook page and have turned this into a communication spot. People gather here, comment, send their suggestions, materials. What is the greatest satisfaction which comes from this project?

Did you get any partnership proposals from other blogs in the same niche?

Yes, there were more offers than I expected. I gladly accepted some of them, the others I turned down, as they didn’t fully understand what my work is all about. The most important ones are the suggestions coming from unknown, discreet people, those thesaurus-people, as I call them, who live a common sense life, without showing off their name and knowledge. They will always be a priority. I equally cherish a site that also brought us together, Webcultura. I will always be grateful to Sorin Tudor.

A few months ago I was invited to bring my stories on air, at Freies Radio für Stuttgart  in Daiana Maties’s broadcast, Zig Zag de Romania. It’s a great chance to learn about the world of radio broadcasting and it is an honour for me to tell the Romanians living in Germany stories about the Saxons and about Transylvania.

There is one more bold project, which gained my trust and I am happy to be part of it. It’s about a study book for the 3rd to 5th grade students, about the local cultural heritage of the Brasov County. This is an initiative of the School of Piscu, who have already launched a similar study book about Ilfov County. The purpose is to have such an alternative study book in each county. It combines teaching and editing work, so for me it’s in many ways an ideal project.

There are other websites which are quoting my articles, but I’ll let you discover them on your own.

Heimattag Dinkensbühl, 2013

How did your audience respond to your project and how do they interact with you?

Figures indicate that this blog is really appreciated. I can not brag about a huge number of visitors, but I am very proud about the quality of the audience. The same figures say that a visitor reads more than one article, which shows their interest in what they find here.

There are usually few comments on the blog, the discussions are mainly held on the Facebook page, and the interaction is somehow unusual, which makes me very happy. Of those more than 100 articles, there are at least 15 that I wrote based on exclusive “real life stories”, starting from a family photograph or a chronicle my readers sent. This way we are writing another kind of history, made out of authentic experience, of small life stories. The simple people are the heroes of Poveşti săseşti.

I must ask, which story on Poveşti săseşti do you like more?

As I said earlier, I hardly make any plans and I don’t build strategies. I do my best to create quality content, to constantly improve it and to remain friendly, even when I talk about plain history. I am just a person, my resources are limited, but luckily not my imagination.:)

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