Recently, I discussed Nicolae Ceaușescu’s mad social engineering project for Romania and how a group of brilliant engineers split and relocated a 7,600-ton apartment building with the electricity, water, and gas networks still connected. The project occurred in 1987 in Alba Iulia, two years before the Romanian Revolution, a period of violent civil unrest that broke out throughout the country in December of 1989. The 7,600-ton apartment block was perpendicular to the boulevard and in the way of the redevelopment plans of Ceaușescu. The soviet-style monstrosity was split into two identical buildings before being relocated to make way for the extension of Transylvania Boulevard.
Out of all the images of this remarkable engineering achievement, one stood out the most. The depth in this image is substantial, but not in a technical sense. In addition to being more than just a picture, it gives this recorded event a more profound significance. This snapshot offers a glimpse into the period it was taken and even farther into Romanian history, regardless of whether it was intended for propaganda or just to chronicle this engineering feat.
Alba Iulia has played a significant role in Romanian history, from the Roman Empire to present-day Romania. The region was the site of the old Roman camp Apulum, and in the middle of the 16th century, it was transformed into the capital of the Transylvanian principality. During the Habsburg Empire in the 18th century, the construction of the Alba Carolina Citadel took place upon the remains of the legionary fortress of Apulum. This star-shaped fortress is now the emblem of Alba Iulia, bringing in thousands of tourists every year, especially on the Romanian National Day of December 1st.
The Coronation Cathedral within the Alba Carolina Citadel was completed in 1921–1922, just in time for King Ferdinand and Queen Marie to be crowned as the rulers of Greater Romania on October 15, 1922. This occasion, which happened in the same city as the Union of Transylvania with Romania on December 1st, 1918, was intended to give the union more religious and symbolic significance. It now serves as a symbol for the day, regarded as the final symbolic act of all Romanians’ unity.
Unfortunately, after World War II, the communists sought to reshape and homogenise Romanian society to the new communist way of life by banishing Michael I, the last king of Romania, and attempting to cut off as many connections to Romanian royalty as they could. The Romanian communist regime was at war with every aspect of Romanian culture, from royalty and religion to the imperialist Roman history and cultural influence that built the country, as it went against the communist belief and ideology.
Ceaușescu was engaged in an ongoing conflict with the Romanian Churches and sought their dissolution. As long as they were hidden or not in the way of the dictator’s goals for modernisation, places of worship were either destroyed or relocated. However, in order for certain religious leaders and their churches to continue operating, they collaborated with their oppressors and accepted reforms that would allow them to practice their faith.
The Orthodox Church backed the 1948 merger of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church with the Orthodox Church, which was compelled by the new communist administration but condemned as unlawful by Greek Catholics. In order to minimise associations with the abolished monarchy, the authorities had the building’s name changed to Catedrala Reîntregirii Neamului (“Cathedral of the Unity of the People”). However, after the regime’s overthrow in 1989, the name “Coronation Cathedral” made a comeback.
Was the shattering of this soviet colossus a glimpse into the future? A comeback of Romanian culture, royalty and unity. A revival of the true nature of Romanian society that once was, to build a true golden age through intelligence, knowledge and innovation as the communist regime mainly had destroyed what its predecessors built from the ground up.
Photography Analysis
The first thing that stands out in this photograph is the Bell Tower of the Coronation Cathedral, which is irrelevant to the photo’s intended purpose and is just there in the background. It was at the time somewhat unimportant since it escaped the dictator’s systematisation ambitions. The Alba Carolina Fortress, where the Cathedral is part of, today serves as a major religious tourism and cultural centre for Alba Iulia. This could be interpreted that the faith was always there, hidden behind the concrete curtains that were laid upon Romania after World War II by the communist regime. Not only did this preserve the faith, but it also brought royalty and unity back into the hearts of many Romanians. Unfortunately, not enough, as in 1990, the returning King Michael I of Romania was denied access into the country by the post-communist authority figures that “liberated” Romania in the 1989 revolution.
One interpretation of the building splitting is that it represents the parting of the iron curtain that separated communist-influenced European states from democratic western Europe. This contrast is also visible through the difference in the architecture of the concrete shelves created en-masse versus the aesthetically appealing Neo-Romanian style of architecture of the Bell Tower of the Coronation Cathedral.
Everyone being visible in the photograph outside highlights the hollowness of these soviet apartment buildings. The sole pleasant aspect is the individuals who lead unique and intriguing lives before being homogenised by the regime into these tiny boxes. It shows awe and curiosity by the people towards the engineering marvel, but blind towards a “better” future that was about to strike every communist regime in Eastern Europe to topple like dominoes one after the other. Like the two identical buildings, two more identical years of food deprivation would pass till the winter of 1989, when everyone had enough and uprisings broke out across the nation. On Christmas day, the bloodiest end to a communist regime would occur in Europe, shattering the concrete walls and opening a whole country back on its path towards democracy, liberty and freedom.
Photographs of our past are slowly making an appearance for us to understand our history better, whether positive or negative. We should embrace and learn from all the terrible aspects that have plagued our country for years rather than following the communist concept of erasing the flaws and being selective with our heritage. Looking back on the past of our parents, grandparents, and so on, it should be critical for everyone not to make the same mistakes they made or regret the decisions they couldn’t make.
“The illiterate of the future, it has been said, will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph.”
Moholy-Nagy, quoted by Walter Benjamin in “A Short History of Photography”
Documenting our world through photography should be an activity that everyone embraces. Visual records of events allow us to explore the past in new and intimate ways. When you look at a photograph, you get a glimpse into the lives of the individuals who were there as well as a snapshot of a particular point in time. They provide us with a glimpse into the lives of individuals, their appearances, and the things that were significant to them. It helps us comprehend our past and the wider world. Not only do photographs tell powerful stories, but it also makes us understand history in a new way. It can be used as a tool for propaganda, and photos can be misleading, and we need to be careful about what we believe.
Bibliography
Bulei, I., Scurtu, I. and Ion, D. (2017). Ferdinand I, Regele Intregitor De Tara. Muzeul National Pesles.
Mârza, S. (2018). Albumul Marii Uniri = the Album of the Great Union 1918 / Samoilă Mârza. Monitorul Oficial.
Moga, V. (1987). De La Apulum La Alba Iulia: Fortificațiile Orașului. Editura Sport-Turism.
Pascu, Ş. (1990). A History of Transylvania. Dorset Press.
Seton-Watson, R.W. (2015). A History of the Roumanians : from Roman Times to the Completion of Unity. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
