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In the early 1950s, Hunedoara underwent the greatest transformations in its history. The city has grown at a rapid rate, going from a population of 8,000 to almost 40,000 at the end of the fifth decade in less than a decade.
PHOTO GALLERY WITH ANTI AIR SHELTER
In the early years of communism, enormous forces and resources were mobilized to transform the ancient Iron Plants of Hunedoara into a colossus of steel. With the development of the plant, in those years, the first blocks of flats appeared for workers who came to Hunedoara from all over the country.
The industrial center of Hunedoara became a strategic area during the “Cold War”, defended by various anti-aircraft military units, established in the vicinity of the city and in the Poiana Ruscă mountains. In the 1950s, several bomb shelters were built in Hunedoara, and one of the most spectacular is in the basement of the House of Culture in the center of the city and could house hundreds of people.
It has never been used, but it impresses with its appearance. Beyond the metal armored doors, the guests of the civil protection shelter enter a network of rooms chained in the form of a maze, some fenced with bars behind bars, others connected to each other by narrow color, where people can barely slip and get lost easily. The metro network extends over hundreds of square meters, reaching even below the fountain in the Plaza del Rey Fernando.
Rules for lodge guests
At the entrance of the labyrinth shelter, the rules of behavior of the population in civil protection shelters are shown:
„When in the shelter, every citizen is obliged: to strictly carry out the orders given by the head of the shelter or by the service personnel at the shelter; keep the gas mask and means of protection in a ready position; follow the behavior of the children, immediately transport into the shelter the needs for the longest possible stay; help the head of the shelter maintain order and discipline; remain calm and do not panic in case of damage to the shelter, participate in activities carried out to remove the damage, give first aid to the injured, intoxicated, give first aid with priority to children, women, the elderly, people who they cannot move alone. It is prohibited: making noise and walking aimlessly, turning on or off electric lighting, smoking, lighting candles, matches, oil lamps, closing or opening metal shutters and doors, unauthorized use of existing genetic tools in the shelter, throwing away rubbish household or garbage ”, shows one of the posters.
Few locals know the history of the bomb shelter in the basement of the Hunedoara House of Culture, as well as the site of the rock-hewn bomb shelter near Corvinilor Castle, which is also under conservation.
Hunedoara “Jewels” in the 50s
The House of Culture in the center of Hunedoara was built in the mid-50s, in the middle of the distance between the gate of the Hunedoara Iron and Steel Factory and the OM (Oraşul Muncitoresc) district. The “cinema-theater” building, with a performance hall with more than 700 seats, was built according to the plans of the architect Nicolae Porumbescu and according to the model of the “House of Culture Twinning between Peoples” in New Bucharest, designed by the same architect. The source of inspiration for the iconic construction in the central area of the city would have been the building of the famous Balsooi Theater in Moscow, established at the beginning of the 19th century.
“Designed in a neoclassical way, with a facade decorated with Corinthian elements, the building was in line with the realism of socialism, to make the values of universal culture accessible to the working population. In the context of the reassessment of the reading of socialist realism during the second half of the 1950s, the classical appearance of the building, which was not reminiscent of the triumphant Stalinist style adopted throughout the eastern bloc after World War II, probably it was a real advantage as long as no objections were made to the Hunedoara building “, showed the researcher Marea Mărginean, in the volume” Red oven windows – Urbanism and daily life in Hunedoara and Călan (1945 – 1968).
For decades, the theater has been the main venue for cultural events, but since 2015 it has been closed to the public. Recently, the Hunedoara House of Culture was renovated, and once the works are finished, it will reopen, in addition to the cultural activities for which it was built, the Hunedoara Municipal Library will also work here.
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