Brasov Tourist Guide from 1891
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"Calauz al streinului" (Traveller?s Guide) is a re-edit of the first tourist guide about Brasov ever published in Romanian. If in 1891 it used to be printed under an order of "the Official Committee for Foreigner?s Information", the Guide?s re-edit under the current printing conditions is due to "Astra" magazine, managed by historians Daniel Nazare and Nicolae Pepene and to Bogdan-Florin Popovici, manager of the National Archives from Brasov.
Little has changed
Historian Nicolae Pepene declares: "Should we overlap a recent tourist guide with the one from 1891, we will notice that little has changed. The sights are mostly the same, but, at the same time, some institutions look alike". This can be noticed from the third page already: "the Committee for Foreigner?s Information provides [information] for free, both in writing and orally, regarding industrial and professional references, educational establishments, summer houses, and interesting things to see in town and around." This being exactly what a tourist information centre does nowadays.
Transportation, Accommodation, Restaurants
The Guide is divided into chapters, the first one being dedicated to transportation. In this section, a sort of a trains schedule is printed, mentioning the direction of their arrival and departure. Here is also mentioned "the vicinal railway" still connecting Brasov to Zarnesti, "a factory spot very romantically placed at the feet of Piatra Craiului Mountain, 2241 meters high", but also to Sfantu-Gheorghe and Targu-Secuiesc. By that time, the city was also crossed by trams, but the "traffic order" was not yet "established". After 9:00 P.M. it became a little bit more expensive to travel in carriages. There were "six big hotels" in Brasov at that time: Bucuresti, Central nr.1, Europa, Corona, Union and Pomul Verde, and the prices were alike. "The Traveller?s Guide" also lists the coffee shops, restaurants, wine-bars and beer houses.
Information for Businessmen
People who came in Brasov also needed information about doctors, dentists, vets, midwives and pharmacists, hospitals and bathhouses, and also churches. There were three branches of banks with exchange offices for money exchange. The Guide also includes information on education, all sorts of associations, and also on factories and stores opened in Brasov. The cultural area was successfully covered by concerts, plays, and museums. The people from that time used to find out that Mr. Fridric Deubel owned a "very rich and well-preserved beetle collection which could be analysed by anyone interested in such things", on 59 Castelului Street.
Description made while walking
Brasov is described mentioning its climate and geographical position. "A walk around the town" comes next, starting from the present Rectorate, the former Pension Institute. The most important buildings have "photos" enclosed, which are actually lithographs. For the 2014 edition, prints were replaced by photos taken by Leopold Adler and Carl Muschalek (19th century), famous photographers of the time. One entire chapter is dedicated to trips around the town, in the villages of Tara Barsei historical region, up the mountains, in bathing resorts called baths, and also in Romanian localities at the border: Predeal, Azuga, Busteni, Sinaia, belonging to Romania, and Brasov pertaining to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Daniel Giurma
www.coronapress.ro
