Arbegen

Arbegen (Romanian: Agârbiciu, Saxon: Arbäjen, Hungarian: Szászegerbegy) is a small village belonging to the commune of Frauendorf (Axente Sever). It lies in a side valley of the Great Târnava River along the Weißbach stream, in the Weinland (wine country) area, Sibiu County, Transylvania.

Around 1268, Arbegen was founded by Transylvanian Saxons on noble ground. In 1315 the village, together with the neighbouring settlements of the Two Chairs (Mediasch and Schelken), received the Hermannstadt rights and thus became a free commune of the royal lands.

In 1343 Arbegen was first mentioned in written records as "Egurbeg". The name is borrowed from the Hungarian words "eger" (alder) and "begy" (meadow, waterway). Few written sources from this period of the village's history survive, as a major Turkish raid in 1483 destroyed nearly everything.

What survives as a reminder of the difficult times in Arbegen's history is the early-Gothic basilica with its outer wall built in 1500. The hall church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary during the Catholic era. Over the years the fortified church was rebuilt several times. First, the windows were fitted with glass; later the pointed-arch windows were converted to round arches. The current form of the church roof dates from 1854. At the eastern end of the polygonal outer wall is the bacon-storage chamber.

At the entrance to the fortified church there is a grapevine with clusters of grapes, a reference to the Mediasch coat of arms. Above the door frame of the iron-banded entrance door is the Luther rose.

Inside the church curious visitors will find a Baroque altar, a 300-year-old mechanical organ with 17 stops and 930 pipes, and a gilded Baroque chalice crafted by Michael Hossmann.

Life in this small village was accompanied by music for centuries. The instrumental ensemble was made up of pupils, teachers, pastors, organists, cantors, and later adjuvants (helpers). They played at all important village events — weddings, dances, funerals, and so on. A beautiful custom of the Arbegen community was to play music from the Arbegen tower at Christmas and on New Year's Eve.

The HOG Arbegen organises well-attended reunions every two years in Veitshöchheim near Würzburg. The remaining compatriots in Arbegen are supported by the HOG through aid shipments and donations for musical instruments and the organ bellows.

Author: Zîmța Andreea
Date: 11.04.2018

For photos from Arbegen, please click: Photos from Arbegen