Place:Oțelu Roșu, Caraș-Severin, Romania

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Oțelu Roșu (lit. (the) “Red Steel”; formerly Ferdinand; ; ) is a town in northeastern Caraș-Severin County, Romania, in the Bistra Valley. It is situated on the national road 68, between Caransebeș (21 km away) and Hațeg. The town administers two villages, Cireșa (Bisztracseres) and Mal (Mál). It is situated in the historical region of Banat.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The first signs of human habitation date from the Paleolithic, in form of primitive tools. Sporadic remnants from the Neolithic age have been found in the neighbouring areas.

During the wars between Romans and Dacians, the Bistra Valley was the route used by the emperor Trajan in penetrating into the heartland of Dacia. A Roman castrum can be found near the cemetery of Zăvoi (ancient Agnaviae), a settlement close to Oțelu Roșu.

In the fifteenth century, during medieval times, Oțelu Roșu was mentioned under the name of "Bistra", and later with the Hungarian name of Nándorhegy. After the expulsion of Turks from Banat by the Habsburgs, the area was colonised by Germans. Also, Italians are brought in to work in metalworking industry. Within the Kingdom of Hungary, the town was part of Krassó-Szörény County from 1881 to 1918. In the aftermath of World War I and the ensuing Hungarian–Romanian War, the Romanian Army entered the town. Following the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, the northeastern part of the Banat became part of the Kingdom of Romania, and the name of Nándorhegy was replaced with Ferdinand.

After 1947 the name Ferdinand did not please the Communist government, who changed it to Oțelu Roșu ("[The] Red Steel") in order to underline the importance of the town's metalworking industry.

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