History

History

Milestones in the commune’s history

From the Bohemian colonisation in the nineteenth century to the growth of a modern community, our history is marked by work, tradition and respect for the place we live in.

1827

Founding of Brebu Nou

The first 72 Pemi families came from the Bohemian region (German Böhmen), mainly the Klattau area in the Bohemian Forest (Böhmerwald), and were settled in the Semenic Mountains by the Habsburg administration for forestry work.

The name ‘Pemi’ comes from Bohemia itself, the territory in the north-west of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; some also arrived from the mountainous parts of Tyrol and the Alps. The colonists bring with them the Catholic faith, their crafts and a strong work ethic.

This is how the community of Weidenthal, today Brebu Nou, comes into being on Coasta Brebului, near the future Trei Ape lake, and becomes the seat of the commune.

Period photograph · the village of Gărâna

1828

Founding of Gărâna

A year after Brebu Nou, 67 settler families establish Gărâna (Wolfsberg), ‘a clearing in the forest’, on the slope beside Valea Lupului.

The houses line the slope from 800 m at the entrance to over 1,100 m at the upper edge of the village, simple, clean and whitewashed in white and green.

The two ‘twin’ villages begin a shared history at the foot of Semenic, north-east of the massif.

Community life in the early twentieth century

≈1900

Growth of the local community

After the dispersal of 1833, when 268 families (among them those from Lindenfeld and Sadova) scattered towards western Banat, and after the return of some of them, the community settles in firmly.

During the week the men cut and float timber for charcoal in the St.E.G. era; on Saturdays they return home and work their gardens, using crop rotation for better harvests of potatoes, oats and rye.

The women prepare flax, cream, cheese and butter, which they carry on foot all the way to Reșița. The first guests also arrive now: around 1900 a local opens his home to visitors, and even the notables of the day spend their holidays at ‘Jacob Bacsi’.

1939–1945

The war years and the changes

The Second World War brings a decline in population, and many men fall at the front.

Then come the deportations of the Germans to the USSR for so-called reconstruction work, which was in fact a labour of extermination: of 250 people, only 228 return after two to six years.

From 1975 more and more people leave for Germany, a movement that peaks between 1989 and 1991, when 1,448 people depart.

1971

The Trei Ape Lake community

The Trei Ape reservoir is completed at approximately 835 m altitude, where the Semenic, Grădiște and Brebu waters meet, the sources of the river Timiș.

The lake is shaped like a clover, covers 53 ha and is 30 m deep at the dam, the highest dam in the Semenic Mountains.

1997

The first Jazz Festival

The first edition of the Gărâna International Jazz Festival, held every summer in July.

From an almost abandoned traditional village, Gărâna becomes a picturesque mountain resort known around the world, once nicknamed ‘the Sinaia of the Banat’.

Old traditions such as the October Kirchweih are brought back to life, gathering each year the village’s former sons and many visitors.

Today

Gărâna and Brebu Nou today

Today, Gărâna is a tourist village in Mountainous Banat, known around the world for its International Jazz Festival. From an almost abandoned traditional village it has become a picturesque mountain resort, once nicknamed ‘the Sinaia of the Banat’.

The clean, ozone-rich air, the cool summers (18 to 25 °C) and the snowy winters make the two villages a place to breathe. The old houses, whitewashed in white and green, stand beside renovated ones; many have changed owners, and in place of those who left live, mostly seasonally, people from Timișoara and Reșița who have fallen for the mountains.

Just 5 km away, the Trei Ape resort offers boating, swimming and water sports on the clover-shaped lake, as well as hikes to the Semenic peaks, Baia Vulturilor or the Saint Elijah hermitage. Gărâna remains a meeting place for the arts (jazz, folk, rock, sculpture and painting), while Brebu Nou is the starting point of the EnduROmania motorcycling competition.

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