Statues of Romanian soldiers

I recently had an ebay transaction with a seller based in Lugoj and took the opportunity to ask him about the statue and the building in the background.

His reply was as follows:

The monument of Gen. Dragalina is a remain of old architectural ensemble containing an old and important military barrack (caserne). The barracks where constructed by the Austrians in the years 1780-1790 and demolished immediately after the 1989 Revolution. Here was the City Garrison and the Head-Quarters of the area, then the "Gen.Dragalina" barracks,

The building you can see in the background of the postcard is the Orthodox Cathedral, built 5 years ago.


Alan in Bradford

H Kevin

I think your first impression was perfectly correct.

If you zoom in on the "bayonet" you can see that it is weathering at a different rate to the rest of the statue.

It looks to me as though the original bayonet has gone missing at some time and an attempt has been made to "cobble together" a replacement. I think the rifle's foresight and its wing shaped protectors have been removed so that the 2 attachment rings on the hilt of the replacement could be slid over the muzzle of the rifle.

The shape of the relacement bayonet seems to be based on that of the early model Russian AK.


Alan in Bradford

Nice pics UsaBoy91 - but where is it please?

Any other details would also be appreciated.

In Targu Neamt , you can get to this monument if you follow the track in the forest from Cetatea Neamt .

Quote from wikipedia in romanian language :

someone who can speak good english please translate it

This post has been edited by UsaBoy91 on September 15, 2009 06:18 pm

"Monumentul Eroilor din Târgu Neamţ este un monument dedicat corpului de Vânători de Munte ai Armatei Române şi eroilor Primului Război Mondial.

Monumentul amplasat la Târgu Neamţ este situat în partea de nord-est a oraşului, pe terasa creată în mod artificial în anul 1936, pe Culmea Pleşului. Oraşul a fost ales pentru construcţia acestui edificiu datorită faptului că aici, în 1916-1917, a fost fondat primul corp de Vânători de Munte de către regele Carol al II-lea.

Aflată la o altitudine de 491 de metri, cu aproape 100 de metri deasupra oraşului, construcţia poate fi remarcată cu uşurinţă de la depărtare.

Monumentul-mausoleu a fost inaugurat la 29 iunie 1939, în cadrul unei ceremonii solemne la care a participat regele Carol al II-lea, prim-ministrul Armand Călinescu, precum şi numeroşi generali, ofiţeri superiori ai corpului de armată al vânătorilor de munte şi oficialităţi ale judeţului Neamţ."

Translation

Heroe's Monument from Targu Neamt is a monument raised to honour the Mountain Corp from Romanian Army and th heroes from WW1.

The monument is placed in the north-east part of Targu Neamt town, on the artificial terace made in 1936, on Plesului Ridge. This particular town was choose to host this monument because in this very town was founded, in 1916-1917, the 1st Romanian Mountain Corp, by king Carol II.

Being placed at 491 meters altitude, wich is 100 meters above the town, the monument can be easily seen from far.

The mausoleum-monument was oficialy opened at 29th of June 1939, with a ceremony at which attended king Carol II, prime-minister Armand Calinescu and a great sum of generals, high ranking officers from Mountain Corp and civilian authorities of Neamt county.

UsaBoy91 - thanks for the location information.

21 inf - thanks for the translation.

The postcard below, showing the "General Dragalina" barracks, Lugoj, is a very recent addition to my collection.


It is definitely the same monument but with a different building behind it. Unfortunately the postcard has no dating information on it all. It has not been posted and there is no publisher name. However, it is obviously post 1918 and, to me, it has a 1930's look to it.

It raises some questions in my mind. Can any member answer the following please:

1 - What is the present day building behind the monument in Kevin's photo?

2 - Which regiment/s was/were stationed in these barracks over the years?

3 - When were the barracks demolished, presumably, to make way for the existing building? Unless of course the monument has been moved from its original site.

Regarding Q 2, I have done a bit of research and found that Honved Infantry Regiment 8 had its depot in Lugos (1), as it then was. Maybe this is the original Honved barracks that the Romanian army inherited?

I also found that "at Lugoj the artillery barracks were completed in 1935 with a guard house and food block" (2). Is this the guard house from 1935?

Refs.
(1) p. 107, "Austr0-Hungarian Infantry 1914-1918", J. D. Lucas, 1973, Almark Publishing Co., ISBN 0 85524097 0.
(2) p. 197, "Istoria Constructiilor si Domenilor Militare". M. Tarzioru & S. Padureanu, 1995, Editura Militara, ISBN 973-32-0432-3.

Hi!

I've bumped into the old picture you posted recently (I'm gathering old pics of Lugoj, my hometown) and, like you, I was puzzled by the presence of that building behind Dragalina's bust. As far back as I can remember--but, then, I'm not that old--there was nothing behind the monument, just an empty space on which the new church was built in the 1990s.

But I've asked my mum (she works for the company that now owns the remaining parts of the barracks) and she confirmed that what you can see on that picture was there and it was very much part of the military barracks before being demolished, probably at the time when the bakery was constructed on the adjacent plot (or at least I suspect so). Unfortunately, my mother does't remember when this happened.

As for the barracks, the part which survives, which has now been turned into warehouses and officies for various companies and which is in a pitiful state of degradation (some pics here: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/52764451), so, the old part goes bac to the 18th century when it was called, I believe, "Maria Theresia."

In Austro-Hungarian times, the barracks probably housed the Feldkanonenregiment nr. 21 (created in 1892), and of which two divisions were based in Lugoj (they are recorded there in 1909 and 1914, at the outbreak of the war). In a map of Lugoj which I found in a Hungarian early-twentieth century encyclopedia (Révai nagy lexikona, publication started in 1911, see entry "Lugos"), a roughly quadrangular building is shown at the site where the statue is now, and this is labelled "tüzér laktanya" [artillery barracks]. I suspect this was the home of the Feldkanonenregiment 21.

On this map, there is no trace of the building which appears in your picture behind Dragalina's bust, so I suspect this is a later additions, which was then torn down together with a wing of the old barracks to leave place for the bakery. I believe the statue itself was not moved in the process.

The other regiment you mentioned, 8. Lugoser Landwehr-Infanterieregiment/Lugosi 8. honvéd gyalogezred (created in 1886), of which two battalions were was also based in Lugoj/Lugos/Lugosch, was housed elsewhere, still surviving on Banatului Street (not too far away from Dragalina's statue), which appears on old postcards as the "Honvédlaktanya." This building is now a training center for the Romanian gendarmerie called "Eftimie Murgu."

After 1918, when Lugoj became part of Romania, the old artillery barracks housed an artillery regiment of the Romanian Royal Army, Regimentul 42 Artilerie-Obuziere, formed in Lugoj, in 1919.

That's as much as I was able to find out so far.

Greetings from Budapest.

Chris

Lugojanu - Thanks for the extra info., it is much appreciated.

Unfortunately the panoramio link just gives a "page not found response".