„A hundred years of loneliness”, with Valentina Rusu Ciobanu. „The Genius of Bessarabia”, on the centenary

These days, two events are prepared that I believe will change the perspective on post-war Romanian painting, constituting a revelation for art lovers. The most important representative of the School in Chisinau, the painter Valentina Rusu Ciobanu, born on October 28, 1920, turns 100, at the occasion two exhibitions will be organized in Bucharest, under the title „Valentina Rusu Ciobanu - one hundred years since birth”. These days, two events are prepared that I believe will change the perspective on post-war Romanian painting, constituting a revelation for art lovers. The most important representative of the School in Chisinau, the painter Valentina Rusu Ciobanu, born on October 28, 1920, turns 100, on the occasion two exhibitions will be organized in Bucharest, under the title „Valentina Rusu Ciobanu - one hundred years since birth”.

The painter Valentina Rusu Ciobanu Although she has not painted for about 25 years, Valentina Rusu Ciobanu lives in Chisinau and has closely collaborated in organizing exhibitions, identifying works and sending them to curators Anastasia Gurschi and Victoria Nagy Vajda in the footsteps of others (an important portrait by the artist of Chisinau), was discovered in Tighina, now Bender, in the Transnistrian-controlled area). On June 30, 2020, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis signed the decree decorating the important painter, essential name of the Romanian School of Painting in Chisinau, with the Order „Cultural Merit”, in the rank of Grand Officer, at the proposal of former Prime Minister Maia Sandu , all the events of this cultural project are organized in Bucharest under the patronage of Mrs. Maia Sandu), a proposal supported by the Association for culture and art ARBOR (president: Victoria Nagy Vajda) and by the Museum of Bucharest. On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the very day she turns 100, Valentina Rusu Ciobanu will be celebrated in Bucharest, through the opening of the exhibition „Valentina Rusu Ciobanu - A century of loneliness” (visit period: October 28 - November 29), which will take place in the exhibition space Arbor.art.room (str. Transilvaniei, no. 11, sector 1, landmark: Luigi Cazzavillan Park), belonging to the association led by Victoria Nagy Vajda. On November 5, the "big” exhibition will open at the Suţu Palace - Bucharest Museum (visit period: November 5-29), curated by Elena Olariu, coordinator of the Museum, and Anastasia Gurschi, project coordinator in Chisinau from the Arbor team. It is a gesture of late repair, due to the efforts made by the ARBOR Association during the last year, because the artist has exhibited in the Capital only in two insignificant group exhibitions, from the 70s and 2009, respectively. In both exhibitions ( which enjoys co-financing from AFCN, Bucharest City Hall, through the Cultural Center Expo Arte, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Chisinau), will be presented works from the artist's workshop, which have never been exhibited , therefore not heritage works, which are in museums throughout the Republic of Moldova. The „icon” from across the Prut, the „unknown genius” in Bucharest Valentina Rusu Ciobanu (VRC) is considered the „genius of Bessarabian painting", an „icon” („icon”, we would say) of Bessarabia and the most important representative of the Romanian School of painting from Chisinau, in any case the greatest plastic artist of Romania across the Prut. However, here his name is almost unknown, perhaps only in the small circle of specialists and art historians. The fact that the artist has never been exhibited in Bucharest as it should be until now, but also – let's face it – that, in general, the culture across the Prut is not known to Romanians from abroad, contributed to this. For example, not even the name of the great prose writer Ion Druta, the most important writer of the 50 years of communism in Bessarabia, his masterpiece „The burden of our goodness” can stand next to, or even over, any other Romanian „rural novel”, and I he always thinks of Paradjanov's „Shadows of the Forgotten Ancestors”), he doesn't say much to the Romanians in Bucharest. It is a huge cultural fault (at least for the communist period, because, indeed, after 1990, artists from across the Prut, from all walks of life, brought a new, sometimes even radical, „revolutionary” breath to the country's culture). the unfortunate historical situation, which the ARBOR Association set out to remedy. Let's hope that, at least as far as the VRC, the „genius of Bessarabian painting” is concerned, after October 28 and November 5, this situation will change. The century of VRC Valentina Rusu Ciobanu had a life as troubled as the twentieth century she went through („20th Century, / Don't spend more”), and as the bloody and martyred territory between the Prut and the Dniester, which inhabited. In the 1940s, during the world war (Bessarabia had been recovered, for a short time, by Romanian troops), a young woman of 20 and some years old, studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Iasi, having as a teacher the future great painter Corneliu Baba, at that time the assistant of the elder Jean L. Cosmovici. These were the years of professional training of the future great artist. However, the end of the war and the defeat of Romania will make Valentina Rusu Ciobanu return to Chisinau. We can speculate what would have happened if VRC had managed to stay in Romania, which would have been his artistic trajectory and subsequent career (to me personally, the artist seems much more than a Margareta Sterian or „brilliant” but unproductive Magdalena Rădulescu – the two „lovers” from (at) Balchik). What is certain is that, at that time, the Romanians across the Prut were „hunted” by the Soviets to be sent back to Bessarabia, and Valentina's family and parents were across the Prut. (The artist's older brother, Victor Rusu Ciobanu, born in Tbilisi – where the parents of the two met, the father being Romanian from Chisinau and the Lithuanian mother –, forged his birthplace in the bulletin as Tulcea, to remains in Romania, where he became a second-rate painter, but quite well known. „Waves of History”, of which we spoke...) Macondo from across the Prut Once back in Bessarabia, renamed by the Soviet MSSR, Valentina Rusu Ciobanu will have to to go through all the phases of the plastic art imposed by the Soviet regime, from the pure and harsh „socialist realism” of the Stalin era to the subsequent liberalizations or „reideologizations”. What seems important to me is that, in all these stages, from the „proletkult” to the Western-inspired hyperrealism / photorealism with which the artist was associated at one point, VRC produces extremely powerful, original works with a intense personal imprint. Regardless of the requirements of the „cultists” from Moscow and Chisinau, the artist managed to avoid or exceed them, bringing her extremely original note (for this reason, she had frequent conflicts with cultural activists of the time, being accused of „formalism”, „impressionist touches” or other ideological blame of the time). Right photo: The VRC photo, from the transcript from the Iaşi Academy of Fine Arts The works of Valentina Rusu Ciobanu, regardless of the ideological context, rather compose an imaginary and picturesque Moldova / Bessarabia (at one time, but only at a time – because the artist has gone through many, unlike the single string Margareta Sterian –, similar to the „naive art” of „rural” painters in our country, but only similar), over which „floats” the Spirit that was here ) in the beginning. It is the intuition that made Victoria Nagy Vajda see everything as a giant Marquezian Macondo, but we will return to this aspect. Like Ion Grigorescu, a hyper-modernist who became a member of the post-’90s Prolog Group, after this historical milestone, the artist tries his hand at religious illustration. But then, suddenly, after the age of 75, there is silence. All these things, well documented by the organizers during the last year, will be presented in detail in a film (slide-show) that will run in the two rooms, in a mini-exhibition of „historical” photos at Arbor.art .room, as well as in a generous catalog edited on this occasion (editors: Elena Olariu and Victoria Nagy Vajda). Victoria Nagy Vajda, however, had the „madness” to push Macondo's suggestion and the parallel with Márquez's novel even further, finding fortuitous, unintentional equivalences between the works in the artist's studio, which will be virtually recreated in „virtual reality" on Theopen-art.com, which „hosts” such VR exhibitions, organized by the ARBOR Association – is the first Romanian artist to have reconstructed his studio in VR, while major museums have long recreated the workshops of great artists) and sequences from the masterpiece márqueziană. The result is a fascinating „comic strip”, a „film” consisting of paintings and drawings, which will surely be enjoyed by the people of Bucharest who will cross, for a month, the threshold of Arbor.art.room in Transylvania 11. Valentina Rusu Ciobanu – „the loneliness of the long-distance artist” „A century of loneliness”, was inspired to name the exhibition curator Victoria Nagy Vajda – „annex" Valentina Rusu Ciobanu from the exhibition space Arbor.art.room (containing, as well as the exhibition „sea” from the Suţu Palace, works from the artist's studio - a selection from all periods of Valentine's creation – some of which have never been exhibited publicly). What is with this „loneliness”, what does Victoria's „find” still refer to? Right photo: Self-portrait VRC, made in the technique of photorealism The 100 years seem to be those of Valentina Rusu Ciobanu, who turns them these days, on October 28, but, at the same time, things must be seen in a paradigm broader, in the broader context of the Republic of Moldova, the Romanian-speaking state east of the Prut. Of course, it is about the 100 years since the Great Union of 1918, when Bessarabia had the chance to reintegrate into the Romanian cultural and political space, and about this „loneliness” concerning Romania (more or less Great ), of the land between the Prut and the Dniester. We could even say „over 200 years” (since the territorial abduction of 1812), but we must still focus on the last century, the short years since 1918: one, because tsarism is not identical with Bolshevism (the from which the Romanians across the Prut have suffered in the last century), two, because, even in the interwar period, between 1919 and 1940, when Bessarabia was part of the Kingdom of Romania, things were not very happy, the Romanian administration leaving the locals a bitter taste (I will not go into details now). In other words, the great chance - for almost all Romanians to live on the same state territory - has been missed in the last century (let alone the embarrassing Romanian „reaction” since 1991). A (long) self-imposed „silence”. Let's not forget that Valentina Rusu Ciobanu, „the genius of Bessarabian painting”, as it is called more and more often by those across the Prut (because in Romania it is not almost unknown, but completely unknown, but we hope that this will change with the two exhibitions organized by ARBOR at the centenary), it ceased to paint somewhere in the first half of the '90s, inexplicably. It is a mystery why the artist gave up her grace and craft, when, as they say, she was in full creative force. The argument of old age does not hold, because there are so many other artists in any field (including cinema, which used to be harder, but is now relatively easy), who „served” their art and expressed their creativity until the last moment, „at the last breath” (and our Luchian, about the „great sick”, painted „to the end” with the brush tied to his fingers). Valentina Rusu Ciobanu collaborated closely, in 2020, with the organizers of the exhibition for the selection and identification of works, so she is in perfect shape at the 100th anniversary she is now celebrating. This self-imposed „silence” of the artist will remain a great mystery („under the seal of mystery”), through which Valentina Rusu Ciobanu joins some great „mutes” (in a creative sense) of history, from the painter Andrei Rubliov to the prose writer J.D. Salinger. This is after the great painter, after returning to Bessarabia from artistic studies made in the Kingdom of Romania in the 1940s, will go through all the stages of evolution, of „change” of Soviet and, implicitly, Moldavian painting, from the east of the Prut, in all giving major works of reference. But in the alternative, permanently, this „loneliness” of the great artist and of Bessarabia as a whole, which will eventually make her, when no one expected, proceed to this „pact of silence”. Macondo, Schabbach, Yelan (Siberia), Bessarabia. A Romanian / Bessarabian Macondo is what seems to suggest the works of the painter chosen by Victoria Nagy Vajda for the „annex” from Arbor.art.room, which, put together and together, give an account of a universe specific to the Bessarabian artist. Macondo is the Colombian village made famous by G.G. Márquez, imaginary but with strong roots in the childhood of the author born in Aracataca and in his native places near the Caribbean Cartagena. Macondo and Márquez always made me think of the TV series-masterpiece by the German Edgar Reitz entitled „Heimat" (first series, 1984), or vice versa. Like there, here we have a fictional German village, Schabbach, but with strong elements in the reality of the twentieth century, pursued during (at least) „three generations”. Right photo: Valentina Rusu Ciobanu, Glebus Sainciuc and their son, Lică Sainciuc At one point, after a review with the film megaopus „Siberiada” by the Russian Koncealovski (about the same historical period treated) - 4 and a half hours of screening - I did a parallel between „Heimat" and him, it is true insisting more on the differences. If „Heimat” is, in a way, the (still) unrealized screening of the Marquezian „Century of Solitude”, it can be said that the works of the Bessarabian painter in the Arbor exhibition are the pictorial illustration (of course, involuntary) of this novel, now transposed. of curators in the form of a fascinating „comic” ad-hoc. It is the same universe as the one discovered with astonishment and delight, two years ago, in the epoch-making photography exhibition "So Spoke Zaharia” (about the so-called „naive” photographer Zaharia Cuşnir, to whose organization the ARBOR Association contributed, developed in the exhibition hall of the Museum of the Romanian Peasant) - „Et in Bessarabia ego" I called my text at that time, because I had the impression of a „memory” sunk and not remembered until then (maybe a „false”), a strong sense of „Déjà vu”, of an „anamnesis” made by this exhibition. Likewise now, if you look closely at the „poetic realism” in the works of Valentina Rusu Ciobanu brought to Romania by the Arbor association, you will realize what this „loneliness” is, both of the artist and the land between the Prut and (over). Dniester, a still unhealed „wound” of History. Valentina Rusu Ciobanu and the 100 years of loneliness. The sourse on information inonline publication adevarul.ro.

November 29, 2020, marks the 27th anniversary of the introduction of the national currency of the Republic of Moldova

Beginning with November 29, 1993, Soviet rubles and coupons issued by the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) were exchanged for lei. Since December 2, 1993, at 18:00, the leu is considered as the only legal means of payment on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. According to the National Bank, on November 29, 1993, a dollar was worth three lei and 85 bani. In April 1994, the banknote with a face value of five lei was issued for the first time, and a month later, the 10 lei and 50 lei banknotes were put into circulation, writes zugo.md. In September 1995, the 100 and 200 lei banknotes appeared, only in four years, in 1999, the 500 lei banknotes were issued. The most recent banknote put into circulation is the 1000 lei banknote, printed in October 2003. On September 27, 2010, the NBM put into circulation new one and 20 lei banknotes, which have the same dimensions, colours and security elements as the previous ones. . The only difference is the governor's signature. Moldovan coins are minted at the Romanian State Mint. (except for the 50 bani coin, the 1997 version, the gold one, made of brass steel, which is minted in the Czech Republic). The higher the value of the banknote, the more security elements it has. The drawings on the Moldovan leu banknotes are the work of the plastic artist Gheorghe Vrabie. He worked on the design of the national currency in the Printing House of the Romanian National Bank in Bucharest, because "the conditions in Chisinau were inappropriate". Gheorghe Vrabie remembers that, when it was decided that he would be the author of the national currency, he was sent to Bucharest, being told that not even his wife knew where he was. "I worked for three months, in Bucharest, with the sentry next to me, without anyone knowing where I was because the authorities were careful not to leak the information" The first Moldovan lei, 1993:

The second series of printed lei, 1994 - present:

Source: unica.md

EINE WILLKOMMENE AUSGABE // O APARIŢIE EDITORIALĂ BINEVENITĂ

EINE WILLKOMMENE AUSGABE Mihai URSU, Generaldirektor des Nationalmuseumsfur Ethnogra-phie und Naturgeschichte

Es ist bekannt, dass nach 1812 viele Kolonisten aus verschiedenen Lăndern Europas nach Bessarabien gekommen sind. Ein groBer Teii davon siedelte sich im Suden von Bessarabien an. Dort teilte ihnen die zaristischen Behorden groBe Grundstucke zu und gewăhrten ihnen Vergunstigungen. Unter ihnen waren auch Siedler deutscher Herkunff, die auf dem bessarabi-schen Territorium „eine Insei des deutschen Geistes”aufbauten*. Ihre Eigenschaften sind insbesondere im sozial-wirtschaftlichen Bereich zu bemerken. Auch spăter, als sich andere Minderheiten in Bessarabien ansiedelten „hlieben sie nicht zuriick, sondern machten Fortschritte und strebten nach Wissen”. Die Entwicklung des sozial-wirtschaftlichen Lebens brachte einige Nachfolger der deutschen Kolonisten dazu, in andere Ortschaften, in der Regel in Stădte und besonders in die Hauptstadt des Gou-vernements umzusiedeln. Unter diesen Umsiedlern befand sich auch Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg. Wegen seiner intellektuellen Erziehung, aber auch durch seinen Wissensdurst, und auf Grund der vom Philokartisten Aureliu Ciobanu aus Chişinău zusam-mengestellten Postkartensammlung ist A. Wolkenberg durch den Forscher Constantin Gh. Ciobanu als erster Herausgeber illustrierter Postkarten zum Thema Bessarabien anerkannt. Der Verdienst dieses Vorreiters im Bereich der Postkarten, Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, lutheri-scher Religion, der in Chişinău lebte, ist unbestritten. Durch sein Wirken hat er die historischen, architekto-nischen und ethnographischen Werte von Bessarabien gefordert. Er hat auch dazu beigetragen, Informationen und Kenntnisse liber Orte und Kultur der hier lebenden Menschen in die ganze Welt zu tragem Dies ist vor aliem wichtig, wenn man sich bewusst wird, dass die Mehrheit der Postkarten von Anfang an fur den Versand aufier-halb des Russischen Reiches herausgegeben wurde. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist ein erster Versuch der beiden Forderer, die auf dem Einband ange-kiindigt sind, der bessarabischen Geschichte der Philokartie, Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg und insbesondere seine Postkarten aus der Anonymităt ins Licht zu bringen. Man hofft, dass die von den Autoren geleisteten Bemiihungen von Philokartisten und solchen die es werden vvollen, geschătzt werden. Es ist bekannt, dass die erste Postkarte der Welt - die Korrespondenz-Karte - am 1. Oktober 1869 erschien. Nach drei Iahren, 1872, wurde sie auch in Russland eingefiihrt. In Bessarabien, damalsTeil des Russischen Reiches, kam die Korrespondenz-Karte erst spăter auf den Markt, nachdem die Zentralbe-horden das Staatsmonopol auf Postkarten ablehnten. Infolgedessen haben viele Geschăftsleute, darunter auch Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, sich mit der Ausgabe von Postkarten beschăftigt. Der Postkartensammler Aureliu Ciobanu hat ei ne imposante Postkartensammlung zum Thema Bessarabien gesammelt. Durch genaue Analysen der Postkarten hat er festgestellt, dass Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg der produktivste Herausgeber von Postkarten liber das Gebiet zwischen Dnjester und Prut ist. Die Anfânge seiner Arbeit datiert Herr Ciobanu auf Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. Die von ihm herausgegebenen Postkarten haben, in der Regel, eine gedruckte Kennzeichnung, die auf den Herausgeber hinweist - Papeterie A. Wolkenberg oder Il3AaHie A. BojiKeHbepra. Die Angabe enthălt oft auch einen Hinweis auf die Adresse des Herausgebers - Kichineff, Rue Alexandre. Diese postamtlichen Werke sind zu wahren Augenvveiden geworden. Sie sind echte Schătze fur Sammler. Mit ihrer Leidenschaft sie zu studieren, zu sammeln und unter verschiedenen Themen als absolute „Exponate11 zusammenzustellen, konnen Kulturprozesse dargestellt werden. Besonders auch, weil die Philokartie in den letzten 20 Jahren an Bedeutsamkeit gewonnen hat. Vielleicht ist dieser Bedcutungszuwachs damit verbunden, das mehr Menschen ihre Wurzeln kennen mochten. Da es nur wenige visuelle Darstellungen der damaligen Zeit gibt, bleiben Ansichtskarten sehr hăufig stumme Zeitzeugen, die exzellente Dokumente dariiber sind, wie unsere Gesellschaft einmal war. Der vorliegende Katalog ist ein erster Schritt, um eine Bestandsaufnahme aller vom fleifiigen Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg herausgegeben il-lustrierten Postkarten zu machen. Es sind Postkarten, die heute einen unschătzbaren Wert besitzen.

O APARIŢIE EDITORIALĂ BINEVENITĂ Mihai URSU, Director general al Muzeului Naţional de Etnografie și Istorie Naturală Se ştie că după anul 1812 în Basarabia au venit mulți colonişti din diferite ţâri ale Europei. O mare parte dintre aceştia s-au aşezat cu traiul în sudul Basarabiei, unide autorităţile ţariste le-au repartizat terenuri imense, acordându-le şi multiple facilități. Printre aceştia au fost și coloniştii de origine germană, care au format pe teritoriul Basarabiei „o insulă a spiritului a spiritului german”. Particularităţile specifice lor se observă în special în domeniul social-economic, căci deşi s-au aşezat cu traiul în Basarabia mai târziu decât alte minorităţi „nu rămân în urmă, ci progresează, tinzând spre cunoaştere”. Accelerarea vieţii social-economice a făcut ca descendenţi din familiile coloniştilor germani din sudul Basarabiei să se stabilească cu traiul în alte localități, de regulă în oraşe şi, în mod special, în capitala guberniei. Printre aceştia a fost şi Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, care în virtutea pregătirii sale intelectuale, dar şi a tendinţei spre cunoaştere, este atestat de către cercetătorul Constantin Gh. Ciobanu, în baza colecţiei cartofilului chişinăian Aureliu Ciobanu, ca primul editor de cărţi poştale ilustrate cu tematică basarabeană. Meritul acestui înaintemergător în domeniu – Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, de confesiune luterană, care locuia permanent la Chişinău, este incontestabil, căci el, prin opera sa de promovare a valorilor istorice, arhitecturale, etnografice din Basarabia, a contribuit la răspândirea informaţiei și cunoștințelor despre aceste locuri, despre cultura oamenilor ce locuiesc aici, în lumea întreagă, în special dacă ţinem cont că cea mai mare parte a produselor cartofile din start au fost editate pentru a circula poştal peste hotarele Imperiului Rus. Prezenta lucrare este prima încercare a celor doi promotori ai istoriei cartofiliei basarabene, anunţaţi pe coperta acestei ediţii, îndreptată spre scoaterea din anonimat a celuia, care a fost Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg şi, mai ales, a operei editoriale a acestuia. Şi din acest punct de vedere sperăm că efortul depus de autori va fi apreciat de către persoanele interesate a cunoaşte domeniul dat. Se ştie că prima carte poştală din lume – Korrespondenz-Karte – a apărut la 1 octombrie 1869, iar peste trei ani, în 1872 a fost introdusă şi in Rusia, în Basarabia, care pe atunci intra în componenţa Imperiului Rus, acest produs poştal a ajuns mai târziu, în special după ce autorităţile centrale au declinat monopolul exclusiv al statului asupra editării unor asemenea piese. Ca urmare, în procesul editorial s-au implicat şi mulţi agenţi economici, printre ei fiind şi Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg. Colecţionarul Aureliu Ciobanu a reuşit să adune o impunătoare colecţie de piese cartofile cu tematică basarabeană, studiul cărora a permis să se stabilească că primul şi cel mai fecund editor de ilustrate pentru spaţiul dintre Prut şi Nistru a fost anume Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, care a început această activitate în ultimul deceniu al secolului XIX. Piesele editate de acesta au, de regulă, imprimată o inscripţie, care indică editorul – Papeterie A. Wolkenberg sau Издание А. Волкенберга, aceasta uneori fiind însoţită şi de o adresă, ce indică locul aflării editorului -Kichineff, Rue Alexandre. Ca urmare, aceste efecte poştale au devenit adevărate imagini-document al existenţei noastre, veritabile bijuterii pentru colecţionari, care prin pasiunea lor de a le studia, selecta şi combina sub forma unor teme, numite simplu şi cu modestie „exponate”, fac un veritabil act de cultură. Mai ales că în ultimii 20 de ani cartofilia a revenit în forţă, poate şi din dorinţa multora de a-şi cunoaşte rădăcinile. Şi deoarece dovezile vizuale sunt destul de puţine, vederile rămân, de multe ori, martorii tăcuţi şi documente convingătoare a ceea ce era societatea noastră odinioară. Ediţia de faţă este primul pas, îndreptat spre identificarea întregului spectru de cărţi poştale ilustrate, tipărite de harnicul editor Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, piese care astăzi constituie valori patrimoniale. Sursa informației este cartea Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, primul editor cartofil din Basarabia de Aureliu Ciobanu și Constantin Gh. Ciobanu. Cartea a apărut în anul 2014, în Chișinău.

POSTKARTEN, DIE IN DIE VERGAN- GENHEIT BESSARABIENS FUHREN // CĂRŢI POŞTALE CARE DUC ÎN TRECUTUL BASARABIEI

Die Botschaft der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Chişinău freut sich, die Herausgabe dieser Veroffentlichung von illustrierten Postkarten zum Thema Bessarabien unterstiitzen zu konnen. Die Ansichten von Kischineff und anderen bessarabischen Ortschaften sind das Werk des Herausgebers Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg. Er hat die Ansichten von Gebăuden, o fi e n11 i c h e n An 1 agen und Menschen zu Ende des 19. und Beginn des 20.Jahrhunderts mit groffer Hingabe und Akribie auf Postkarten dargestellt. Chişinău hat sich seinerzeit unter dem deutschstămmigen Biirgermeister Karl Schmidt zu einer aufstrebenden modernen Metropole im Zentrum Europas entwickelt. Viele offentliche Gebăude wie die Primăria, Kranken - und Waisenhăuser, Schulen, offentliche Wasserversorgung und Pferdebahn, StraBenpfiasterung und offentliche Parks wurden unter seiner Ăgide errichtet. Er wird mit Recht als Modernisierer der Stadt bezeichnet.

Matthias Meyer, ehemaliger Botschafter der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Moldawien Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg hat in dieser Zeit des Umbruchs und der Erneuerung der Stadt Chişinău mit seinen Postkarten-Ansichten dazu beigetragen, dass die Stadt weit iiber ihre Grenzen hinaus im europăischen Rahmen bekannt wurde. Im Baedeker-Reisefiihrer von 1904 fur deutsche Reisende wird in Kischinew eine Pferdebahnfahrt vom Bahnhof iiber die Alexândrowskaja zum Schweizarskii Hotel, gegeniiber dem Stadtgarten, fiir ein Entgelt von 5 Kopeken angeboten. Neben dem Eingang zum Hotel befand sich der Kunst-und Schreibwarenladen von A. Wolkenberg. Dort konnten sich Reisende die illustrierten Postkarten unter den iibrigen Gegenstănden der dekorativen Kunst besorgen, um von ihren Eindriicken beim Besuch der Stadt an Angehorige und Freunde zu berichten. Die Postkarten bezeugen die Schonheit der stădtischen Bauwerke, das stădtische Leben und geben das Gefiihl wieder, sich in einer bliihenden europăischen Groflstadt zu befinden, die es seinerzeit ohne weiteres mit Odessa aufnehmen konnte. Als deutscher Botschafter fiihle ich unser gemeinsames kulturelles Erbe in diesen groflartigen Zeitdokumenten. Noch heute kann man beim Besuch der Stadt auf die vielen Zeugnisse jener Zeit stoflen, deren Wurzeln auf die gemeinsame europăische Kulturbliite vor Ausbruch des l.Weltkriegs zuriickgehen. Die Deutsche Botschaft erinnert in diesem Jahr mit einer Reihe von Veranstaltungen an den Aufruf von Zar Alexander I. zur Ansiedlung deutscher Kolonisten in Bessarabien. Deutsche Siedler haben nicht nur bei der Entwicklung der Landwirtschalt sondern auch im Ingenieur- und Bauwesen sowie als Ărzte einen Beitrag zur Modernisierung der Stădte Kischinew und Bălţi geleistet. Ihre Leistungen werden noch heute von vielen Moldauern aîs vorbildlich und herausragend bezeichnet. Postkarten von Alexander Wolkenberg belegen einige der Arbeiten, die in dieser Zeit unter Mitwirkung von deutschen und zahlreichen anderen europăischen Hachleuten im Lande entstanden sind. Es ist der Verdienst von Herrn Aureliu Ciobanu, der als Liebhaber der Postkartenkunde und hingebungsvoller Sammler der Postkarten von Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, gemeinsam mit seinem Vater diese mit einer aufiergewohnlich verstăndigen und liebenswiirdigen Einleitung und Beschreibung ihres Entstehens fur die Nachwelt iiberliefert. Die Stadt Chişinău kann es als Ehre betrachten, ein so talentierter und historisch versierter Kenner dieses Kapitels seiner Geschichte in den beiden zu haben. Ich freue mich mit allen Deutschen und Europăern liber diese Veroffentlichung, die jeder an der Entwicklung der Stadt Chişinău Interessierte in seinem Biicherbestand haben solite. Hegel hat einmal in seinen Vorlesungen iiber die Philosophie der Geschichte gesagt: „Wenn wir mit der Vergangenheit zu tun haben und wir uns mit einer entfernten Welt beschăftigen, so tut sich eine Gegenwart fur den Geist auf, die dieser aus seiner eigenen Tătigkeit zum Lohn fur seine Bemiihungen hat”. CĂRŢI POŞTALE CARE DUC ÎN TRECUTUL BASARABIEI Matthias Meyer, ex ambasador al Republicii Federale Germania în Republica Moldova Ambasada Republicii Federale Germania în Republica Moldova se bucură să poată susţine editarea prezentei publicaţii de cărţi poştale ilustrate cu tema Basarabia. Imaginile Chişinăului şi ale altor localităţi sunt opera editorului cartofil Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg. Pe cărţile sale poştale dânsul a prezentat, cu mare dăruire şi meticulozitate, imagini cu edificii, instituţii publice şi oameni de la sfârşitul secolului XIX începutul secolului XX. În acel timp Chişinăul, sub conducerea primarului de origine germană Karl Schmidt, se dezvolta rapid devenind o metropolă modernă în inima Europei. Multe edificii cu destinaţie publică precum Primăria, spitale şi case de copii, şcoli, dar și apeductul oraşului, până la tramvaiul tras cai, pavarea străzilor şi amenajarea parcurilor publice au fost realizate sub egida primarului Karl Schmidt, care este numit, pe bună dreptate, modernizatorul Chişinăului.

În această perioadă de transformare şi înnoire a oraşului Chişinău, prin cărţile sale poştale Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg a contribuit la faptul ca oraşul să devină cunoscut şi peste graniţele sale până în Europa. În ghidul de călătorie Baedeker din 1904, călătorilor germani li se propune în schimbul a 5 copeici o călătorie cu tramvaiul tras de cai începând de la gară, trecând strada Alexandrovskaia până la Hotelul Suisse care se afla vizavi de parcul orăşenesc. Lângă intrarea în hotel se afla magazinul de papetărie şi obiecte de artă al lui A. Wolkenberg. Acolo, pe lângă alte obiecte de artă decorativă turiştii puteau să cumpere cărţi poştale ilustrate pentru a transmite rudelor şi prietenilor impresiile lor despre vizitarea oraşului. Cărţile poştale denotau frumuseţea edificiilor orăşeneşti, viaţa oraşului şi sentimentul, că persoana se afla într-un oraş mare european, care la timpul său fără nici o reticenţă putea fi comparat cu Odessa. În calitate de ambasador al Germaniei simt în aceste documente extraordinare ale timpului patrimoniul nostru cultural comun. Şi astăzi, vizitând oraşul poţi întâlni multe mărturii ale acelor timpuri, ce îşi au rădăcinile în perioada de înflorire culturală comună europeană înainte de izbucnirea Primului Război Mondial. Prin organizarea unui şir de evenimente ambasada Germaniei doreşte în acest an să readucă în memorie ucazul ţarului Alexandru I prin care în Basarabia au fost chemaţi coloniştii germani. Odată sosiţi în Basarabia ei au contribuit nu doar la dezvoltarea agriculturii, ci prin activitatea lor efectivă în domeniul ingineriei şi construcţiilor precum şi în calitate de medici ei au participat activ la modernizarea oraşelor Chişinău şi Bălţi. Până în zilele noastre realizările coloniştilor germani sunt considerate de mulţi moldoveni ca fiind exemplare şi remarcabile. Cărţile poştale ale lui Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg prezintă unele lucrări care în acele timpuri au fost realizate în Basarabia cu sprijinul specialiştilor germani sau altor numeroşi specialişti europeni. Este meritul domnului Aureliu Ciobanu – fiind un adevărat admirator al cartofiliei şi un colecţionar devotat al cărţilor poştale editate de Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg – care împreună cu tatăl său oferă generaţiilor viitoare descrierea apariţiei acestor piese poştale minunate însoţită de o introducere excepţional de chibzuită şi demnă de admiraţie. Oraşul Chişinău se poate mândri cu faptul că are în persoana domnilor Aureliu Ciobanu şi Constantin Gh. Ciobanu nişte cunoscători atât de talentaţi şi versaţi ai acestui capitol al istoriei sale. Eu, împreună cu toţi germanii şi europenii mă bucur de această publicaţie, pe care oricine, care este interesat de oraşul Chişinău ar trebui să o aibă în colecţia sa de cărţi. Hegel a spus cândva în prelegerile sale despre filosofia istoriei „Atunci când noi avem de a face cu trecutul şi ne ocupăm de o lume îndepărtată, pentru spirit se iveşte un prezent, care face din activitatea acestuia o recompensă pentru eforturile sale”. Chişinău, 12 mai 2014 Sursa informației este cartea Alexander-Wilhelm Wolkenberg, primul editor cartofil din Basarabia de Aureliu Ciobanu și Constantin Gh. Ciobanu. Cartea a apărut în anul 2014, în Chișinău.