Ghimbav

Ghimbav
Town
Coat of arms of Ghimbav Coat of arms
Location of Ghimbav Location of Ghimbav
Location in Brașov County Location in Brașov County
Ghimbav Location of Ghimbav
Coordinates:
Country	Romania
County	Braşov County
Status	Town
Government
• Mayor	Toma Dorel (Social Democratic Party)
Area
• Total	28.08 km2 (10.84 sq mi)
Population (2002)
• Total	5,112
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.ghimbav.ro/

File:Ghimbav2.JPG

Center of Ghimbav. One can see the top of the local fortified church's tower on the right.

Ghimbav (German: Weidenbach; Hungarian: Vidombák) is a town in Braşov County, Transylvania, central Romania. It is located in the centre of Romania, 5 miles (8 km) west of Braşov.

History

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
2002	5,112	—
2011	4,539	−11.2%
Source: Census data

The town was first mentioned in a letter written in 1420 by King Sigismund of Luxembourg. He advised the Ghimbavians to join their forces together with the people living in neighboring villages (Sânpetru, Hărman, Bod) and contribute to the construction of the stone fortress of Braşov.

The Ottomans invaded Ghimbav in 1422. In 1469 a major fire damaged the town. In 1611 the Hungarian prince Gabriel Báthory set fire to several villages in Burzenland (Ţara Bârsei); Ghimbav was one of them.

The local church and the bell tower were built around 1300. In the 15th century a fortress was built around the church. It was hit by lightning in 1642 and suffered major damages. In 1666 the city hall was moved inside the fortress as well as several other houses. These houses were demolished in 1940. The defensive walls were ruined in the 20th century.

Industry

IAR, a Romanian builder of helicopters and small planes, is located in Ghimbav. Among other aircraft, it builds the Eurocopter/IAR Puma military transport helicopter.

Premium AEROTEC, a subsidiary of EADS, has also built a factory in Ghimbav.