Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj-Napoca

After the death of Stalin the church policy of the communist states formerly belonging to the Soviet bloc began to change gradually. In 1955 Áron Márton, a Roman Catholic bishop sentenced to death, was released from prison, and many other priests, monks and ministers were freed. Hungarian Protestant churches in Romania were allowed to contact sister churches in Hungary and the world. Following a simplified administrative procedure for obtaining passports, people were allowed to travel abroad and build relationships.

The relocation of the Reformed Theological Faculty from Aiud to Cluj in 1895 was preceded by a heavy dispute lasting several decades, and settled ultimately by the clash between Bishop Domokos Szász, promoting the relocation to Cluj, and Professor Ödön Kovács, militating for the stay of the institution at Aiud. The debate on the closure of the theological institution of Aiud was clearly one of the topics of everyday discussion during the final quarter of the 19th century, as reflected in contemporary newspaper articles.

Die Studenten der reformierten Hochschulen haben sich in der Frühen Neuzeit ins Immatrikulationsbuch der Hochschulen handschriftlich mit der Formel Ego N. N. subcribo legibus scholae reformatae... eingetragen. Die 1895 im Klausenburg (ung. Kolozsvár, heute Cluj-Napoca) gegründete Reformierte Theologische Fakultät hat dieser Tradition unter ihren Studenten als Praxis wieder eingeführt. Ab der Gründung der Hochschule in Klausenburg bis 1948 hat sich jeder Student handschriftlich immatrikuliert.

Der Beitrag ist zum Anlass des 120jähriges Bestehens des Reformierten Theologischen Fakultät in Klausenburg, und 25jähriges Jubiläum des gemischten Chores des Protestantisch Theologischen Institutes in Klausenburg als Vortrag gehalten. Die Tradition eines Fakultätschores führt das alte Vorbild von den protestantischen Kollegien weiter, wo das Chorsingen sowie Musik- und Kirchengesangunterricht eine wichtige Rolle spielte. Diese Tradition wurde ab 19. Jahrhundert bis 1945 auch unter der Obhut des Gesang- und Musikvereins der Fakultät gepflegt.

This study presents the life and activity of Sándor Berde (1856–1894). Berde was born in a little village in Seklers’ Land. He studied in and graduated from the Reformed College of Nagyenyed (Aiud). He continued his studies in Vienna, Jena and Basel. He became an adherent of the liberal theology having a predilection for scientific results instead of the old religious teachings. During his studies in Jena, he specialized himself in New Testament theology. After his return to Transylvania, he became the missionary minister of the parish in Kackó (Câţcău).