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About Heritage
"Cultural heritage? Two servings, please!"
Let’s talk about heritage, briefly and without fancy words. It may seem like a concept reserved for elites, ministries, or large institutions, but to tell the truth these prestigious items belong to all of us. They’re for us, the people—and even the big institutions are people-made. We all appreciate cultural treasures, enjoy them, and have a duty to preserve them for future generations, as they are witnesses of their time, precious for their technique, beauty, or ingenuity.
Monuments, music, and cultural values of all kinds allow us to escape, even if just for a moment, from daily struggles, transporting us to other times, providing valuable lessons.
Bringing it back to the present, a fortification like this one makes us reflect on the diligence, organization, and skill that characterized the Saxons of old. Imagine the dedication it took to erect a church on this hilltop, the labor to build the fortification from large stones and tens of thousands of bricks, each one crafted and fired for hours in brick kilns. Even with today’s technology, such a construction would be labor-intensive, expensive, and precious.
These Saxons of old, lovers of order, gave the eastern bastion within the church grounds a unique role as the “protector of the social fabric.” Known as the “reconciliation room,” this space was used to uphold community harmony and morality. Through all their work, they ensured that these buildings, along with the church and defensive walls, would reach us today. Without these walls, perhaps the story would have faded. Or, hearing just the story without the testimony of the walls and bastions, we might have had difficulty believing it. We learn that in 300 years, or roughly 15 generations, there was only a single divorce in the Saxon community—undoubtedly thanks to this room on the hilltop. Here, couples could look out over the settlement, the neighboring lands, and the undulating horizon, reflecting seriously on life.
All of this makes you think—if you give yourself a moment—about how life was lived and how it is lived today, and you wonder: are these ancient customs outdated? Or do histories repeat, with the past remaining alive in its values and virtues? History opens many such doors, offering questions and answers about ourselves, drawing us closer to others, filling us with admiration, and encouraging us to grow.
This is the purpose of these story-filled walls; this is the significance of our heritage!
But we can also tell the story differently:
When we talk about heritage, we refer to this great dowry we received from our ancestors and that we pass on to our children and future generations. Historic houses, crafts, traditional clothing, folk songs and dances, local dishes, proverbs, and sayings. Have you ever wondered why there are so many differences between countries? Why is Romania so different from Sweden or Morocco? Well, these differences are due to their unique historical and cultural heritage.
Heritage is the most valuable treasure of a community, and that’s why it must be protected and preserved. If we could give a name to the face of a country or a community, that name would be “Heritage.”
Heritage is the true calling card of our country; it is an enormous dowry chest that we present to other nations.
Text by Andrei Tache and Alexandra Mihailciuc, documented and written as part of the 2024 Heritage Lab workshop. The audio guide is a project of the Designers, Thinkers, Makers Association and the Biertan Town Hall in the Culture & Cultures: Connecting the dots project, co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration.
Audio guide produced in 2024 via the Culture&Cultures. Connecting the dots project.
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Proiectul nu reprezintă în mod necesar poziția Administrației Fondului Cultural Național. AFCN nu este responsabilă de conținutul proiectului sau de modul în care rezultatele proiectului pot fi folosite. Acestea sunt în întregime responsabilitatea beneficiarului finanțării.
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