The Sibiu area shelters archaeological findings from the Late Stone Age, Early Bronze and Iron Age as well as pre-Roman settlements inhabited by Dacian tribes. Traces of a Roman settlement named Cedonia put Sibiu on the map in the Dacian Province of the Roman Empire.

Colonists, named in historical documents as "teutonici", "flandres" or "saxones,", began to arrive in Transylvania in the Medieval Period. They established a settlement called "Villa Hermanni," which became known as   Hermannsdorf, then later in 1150 Hermannstadt. This settlement was first mentioned in a document in 1191 by Pope Celestin III. Hermannsdorf evolved towards urban life and thus gained city status -civitas in 1366. The German colonists settlements united in seven Chairs, which towards the end of the 15th Century formed a coherent administrative system called The University of the Saxon Nation. Sibiu/Hermannstadt became the capital city of the Saxons. The city grew in importance as it developed a prosperous trade with Hungary, Poland and the southern province of Wallachia. The craftsmen in Hermannstadt also bartered goods - mainly clothes and tools - with the Romanian population. Production and trade developed and flourished, due to the activity of the guilds.

Their first written regulations (1367) mentioned 19 guilds with 25 trades in total. Their numbers continued to grow after this date. This period of flourishing was overshadowed by the Turkish threat though. A succession of invasions began in 1394. These invasions reoccurred in 1432, 1437 and it was not until 1438, that the town successfully repelled a siege led by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II.

In 1493 the cities army, reinforced by Romanian troops, and led by Georg Hecht ambushed and defeated the Turkish army on their way back from a plundering campaign. The city extended and built concentric fortification walls, towers and bastions. After the Battle of Mohacs in 1526 the Turks moved on to conquer the capital Buda in1541 and put Hungary and Transylvania under their authority.

The ideas of Humanism emanating from the Renaissance greatly changed the outlook of the town and its life. In 1543 these ideas combined with the Reformation sweeping Europe, prompted the Saxons convertsion "in corpore" to the Lutheran confession. In 1599 after a series of brave campaigns, the Romanian prince, Michael the Brave defeated the Hungarian army, under the walls of the town and united Transylvania with the province of Wallachia.

As the Turks were defeated by the Austrians at the end of the 17th century, Transylvania became a great principality of the Austrian Empire. The administrative power in the province were exercised from Sibiu/Hermannstadt between 1692-1790. Although the Saxons preserved their Lutheran confession, the Catholic Church embarked upon a Counter-Reformation campaign, promoting the Baroque style, which had a visible impact on Sibiuâ??s architecture. At the end of the 18th Century the governor of Transylvania Samuel von Brukenthal had gathered an impressive library and rich art collections, they were even mentioned in the 1773 Almanach von Wien. The collections were opened to the public in 1817 and later became the core of Brukenthal Museum. In the 18th Century the town extended over the precinct walls, forming the district Josephin, Terezian and Lazaret. Since its foundation in 1541 only Saxons could own property inside the walls of the town, subsequently the Romanian population settled in these new districts outside the precinct walls. The reign of Joseph II was marked by Enlightened reforms; in 1781 he gave other ethnic groups the right to live in the town alongside Saxons. As a result, the Romanian Orthodox bishop Vasile Moga and his church settled in the town. Subsequently, the Romanian population became more and more present in the life of the town. By the middle of the 19th century the town had become the spiritual centre of the Romanian struggle for political emancipation.

The Austrian-Hungarian dualism stripped the privileges and territorial administrative autonomy of the Saxons. Transylvania was annexed to Hungary in 1867. The city once again witnessed a period of economic prosperity and development. Between 1840 and 1918 33 industrial enterprises were active in Sibiu/Hermannstadt. The electric plant was founded in 1896 and an electric tramway appeared in the town in 1905.

In 1918, at the end of World War I, the Romanian population decided to unite Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania. They were followed in 1919 by the Saxon Assembly who also voted for unification. Sibiu became the seat of the provisional government until the unification was completed.
Although the number of Romanians in town substantially increased, Sibiu/Hermannstadt remained the main centre of German culture and education in Romania. It witnessed a vivid cultural life involving all ethnic groups.

Sibiu did not suffer and damage during WW II but, after the war, the new communist authorities backed by Moscow began to nationalise the factories and the land while launching waves of political trials and arrests against all opponents. For the population of Sibiu a long period of suffering began. The communist authorities considered Saxons guilty "in corpore" for collaborating with the German Reich and many of them were deported to the Soviet Union for forced labour.

In the 1970s, prompted by the dictatorial regime and economic hardships Saxons began to emigrate to West Germany. The massive emigration continued even after the Revolution in 1989, leaving in Sibiu only 2.200 Saxons.
As economic hardships and oppression grew during the 1980s, the population of Sibiu was quick to rebel against the communist regime in December 1989, when 91 people lost their life in the armed clashes. During the 1990s the city restored its democratic institutions and now faces the task of renewing the infrastructure and raising the living standard of its inhabitants.

You can find more information about this church and many others on this CD dedicated to the fortified churches in Transylvania.