Asszonyfalva

Asszonyfalva (Axente Sever, Frauendorf) is located also in Transylvania, Romania, in Szeben county, 15 km from Medgyes (Medias) to the southwest. It is also a Saxon settlement and is famous for its fortified church. Its Hungarian name means „woman`s village“ because it used to belong to the Queen of Hungary. The Germans arrived in the 12th century and it was they who built the great church in Romanesque and Gothic styles. Its wall is 1.6 meters thick in some places.

The church was first mentioned in 1322, his priest was called György. The fortifications were carried out around 1490, the outer walls certainly are from the 15th century. The bell of the church is from 1690. The outer walls had ramparts and provided excellent defense for the church. There was a tower at the gate but it was pulled down. They built two levels above the apsis where loopholes were cut in the walls against the enemy.

You can read more about the German Saxons of Transylvania / Siebenburgen on my page:

https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/who-were-the-german-saxons-in-transylvania/

Also, here is a very old film where you can see the Saxons singing and dancing there (it is in German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PtlYbAGo64

and:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU3xnlbLofs

It is fascinating that the walls of the fortified church contained many little cells allotted to each family in the area, for which they were responsible for keeping well-provisioned in the event of an invasion. Should the people find themselves under attack, they would seek refuge in the compound of the fortified church and last for months if besieged. In our days, the church continues to function as a Lutheran parish. As far as I know, the roof was mended in 1964 while the outer walls were repaired in 1996.

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Here are more pictures of the fortified church: