Journal Analele Banatului N.S. Archaeology-History

Lajos Kakucs

Contribuții la istoria pompierilor voluntari din Timișoara (de la inceputuri pană in anul 1936) / Contributions to the history of volunteer firefighters from Timișoara (from the very beginnings to 1936)

Jan. 1, 2017

Abstract

We have got the first sporadic references to the activity of volunteer firefighters from Timişoara from the period succeeding the formation of the town’s civilian leadership after January 1, 1718, when the fireman’s duties, as well as those regarding the internal order, were related to the Civil Magistracy which was also supervised by the Administration of Banat County. The 22nd point of the Regulations from 1755 for the town’s organisation (Policey Ordnung) demanded the construction of a separate building, from solid materials, for the preservation of objects (such as stairs, dishes etc.) and cars needed to stop the fire (Wasser Maschinen). The new regulations of the Administration of Banat County, in March 31, 1774, envisaged the participation of citizens, especially of the craftsmen in the town, in the extinction of fire. In the decades after 1718 the chimney sweeps from Timişoara had an important role in the extinction of fire; after 1815 they were organised in a mutual guild together with masons, stone carvers, carpenters, roofers and street pavers. The sealing field of this guild’s signet dominated the silhouette of their patron, St. Florian, holding a flag in his left hand, a milk pail in his right hand, from which he was pouring some water on a house in fire. After the guild’s dissolution, the first group of volunteer firefighters from Timişoara was organised in the Fabric District in September 1867, relying on a much older structure belonging to Timișoara town. The status of the structure from Fabric was authorized only on August 22, 1868. The Volunteer Firefighter Corporation from Iosefin (Josefstädter Feuerlösch-Corp) was founded on August 5, 1868, in a restaurant (Zum König von Ungarn). The information of a newspaper, Temesvarer Zeitung, in 1873, certifies the alliance of volunteer firefighters from two districts, Iosefin and Elisabetin. The Volunteer Firefighter Corporation from the fortified town, as the third corporation in the town of Timișoara, was founded in 1873. In 1877 the three volunteer firefighter corporations were united under the name of Temesvarer Freiwillige Feuerwehr. They preserved their own authority. According to our information, the groups of volunteer firefighters from the outskirts of Mehala and Fratelia were organised in 1894.