20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

The Klapka Library – the first lending library in the Habsburg Empire 129town beside the magnificent citadel. Nice and clean streets, pretty squares,many palaces, the nicely decorated merchants’ shops on the lively streets,all these give the town some grandeur and you may imagine that you are ina small residence”. Charles Lemercier de Longpré, baron d’Haussez, lordmayor of Neuchâtel, who visited Timisoara, “the capital town of Banat”was also positively impressed by the town while count Locmaria, duringhis visiting Banat, remarked in his turn that Timisoara is a “nice town”.During his long journey in the Transylvanian, Central-European, Italian,Swiss and German towns, Dinicu Golescu passed through Timisoara aswell and left a brief description of the town in his work “Notes on MyJourney”: “Temesvar… is a small town within the citadel, but worthof being described for the beauty of its houses, streets and cleanness.For all the houses are nearly the same, not the very big among the smallest,which gives an ugly view…. The number of the townsfolk goes upto 10,000”. Only the Scot James Bailie Fraser, a good connoisseur of theEast is, in one of his works, very critical about Timisoara: “Timisoara… isa miserable, partially neglected citadel … its retired streets impressed usby melancholy … even in the central square there was but little activity, inspite of the fact that is was a market day…”.Although the Timisoara citadel played mainly a strategic role, thehistorical records regarding that epoch ascertain that, in spite of therestrictions imposed by the military rigours, several industrial companieshad been established, the tradesmen practiced over hundred trades whilethe commerce was flourishing, especially after 1781 when it became afree royal town by the Diploma of Privileges of the Emperor Joseph theII nd . Even if it was considered a mercantile town or could disappoint thetravellers who felt tempted to compare it with some big European cities,its inhabitants, and not only those of high standing, had a real vocation forculture, that manifested by the opening of the whole community towardsthe civilization of modern Europe and limited to only a few restrictionsimposed by the authorities. It is the time of the well-known writers andscholars Dimitrie Tichindeal, Dositej Obradovici, Petru Lupulov, the timewhen Nikolaus Lenau or Karl Brocky – who would become the painter ofthe British Royal Court –, were born. The young military engineer BolyaiJános, at that time at the Timisoara garrison, informed his father aboutthe discoveries in the field of the non-Euclidian geometry. Even if thosevisiting the town observed only the fortifications, the beautiful houses,some institutions, the theatre, hotels and coffee shops, in Timisoara therewere book shops, printing houses, lithographers and a library. There wasa time in which mercantilism harmonized with the ever higher price the