Multiculturality and interculturality: The case of Timişoara

Abstract

Geographically situated some 550 kilometers southeast of Vienna and 250 kilometers southeast of Budapest, Timişoara assimilated the influences of the two former imperial capitals relatively quickly. Its European openness was facilitated by the practice of plurilingualism and multiconfessionalism. At the beginning of the 20th century, Timişoara’s population spoke five languages, namely Hungarian, German, Serbian, Romanian and Bulgarian. The main religious affiliations were Roman-Catholic, Orthodox, Greek-Catholic, Evangelic-Lutheran, Reformist-Calvinist Churches and Jewish. Interculturality and the intermingling of populations generated a very promising social culture. Analyzed from the behavioral point of view, Timişoara was an example of multi-cultural and intercultural society for two centuries, which made it possible for this center to be integrated into Europe ever since the 19th century and to represent the main link between the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy and the Balkan Peninsula. The multicultural and intercultural dimensions gave consistency to the anti-totalitarian resistance over the course of the 20th century. This was why the intellectuals in the post-Ceauşescu period defined the city’s distinctiveness with the expression “the spirit of Timişoara”.