Liebling (formerly Brist; ; or Kedvenc; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Cerna, Iosif and Liebling (commune seat).
Geography Liebling is located in the southwest of Timiș County, from Timișoara and from Ciacova, the nearest town.
Hydrography Liebling belongs to the Timiș river basin. Tofoaia Valley crosses Liebling to the north, flowing into the Timiș River through the Birda-Lanca Canal. Climate The influence of the Mediterranean and oceanic air masses makes the winters shorter and milder with a positive average temperature of , the coldest month being January. Springs are earlier and warmer, but short and with large temperature variations caused by the activity of cyclones in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Summers are long and hot. Autumns are also long, conducive to harvesting.
History The first recorded mention of a settlement on present-day Liebling dates from 1332. The medieval village was called Beesd and appears in papal tithe records as having a parish. Around 1597, in a Hungarian diploma, it is mentioned as Briszt.
The modern village was established in 1786–1788 by colonizing Protestant Germans from Pfalz and Nuremberg. The village was built according to a well-established plan by the Timișoara administration, under the supervision of Commissioner Wallbrunn, who ordered the construction of 290 new houses, with straight and parallel streets. In the first year only 102 families arrived; the rest came later. The commune thus founded was named by Commissioner Wallbrunn Vécsháza, after the then governor of Banat. According to oral tradition, the governor, because he loved Protestants, changed it to Liebling (meaning "darling" in German), a name that became official in 1828, the year the Evangelical Lutheran church was built.
After World War I, Romanian families moved here from present-day Alba County, which, through the agrarian reform, were put in possession of land (1926). The Romanian population grew post-war, the Germans migrated massively, especially after 1989, and the commune is today mostly Romanian.
Demographics
Liebling had a population of 3,358 inhabitants at the 2021 census, down 9.81% from the 2011 census. Most inhabitants are Romanians (83.44%), larger minorities being represented by Roma (2.68%) and Hungarians (1.75%). For 11.4% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (72.12%), but there are also minorities of Pentecostals (7.14%), Roman Catholics (3.09%) and Greek Catholics (2.68%). For 12.17% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown. Census Ethnic composition Year Population Romanians Hungarians Germans Roma 1880 4,085 719 28 3,318 – 1890 4,429 739 71 3,593 – 1900 4,923 756 90 4,073 – 1910 5,178 801 187 4,168 – 1920 5,018 699 49 4,267 – 1930 4,997 872 35 4,072 13 1941 5,086 886 49 4,086 – 1956 4,371 2,237 458 1,647 17 1966 4,025 2,235 415 1,343 24 1977 4,031 2,674 308 987 57 1992 3,606 3,233 196 57 100 2002 3,735 3,368 176 32 142 2011 3,723 3,237 126 30 159 2021 3,358 2,802 59 14 90 Politics and administration The commune of Liebling is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 13 councilors. The mayor, Ioan-Gheorghe Munteanu, from the Social Democratic Party, has been in office since 2008. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties: Party Seats Composition Social Democratic Party 5 Alliance for the Union of Romanians 4 Save Romania Union–People's Movement Party–Force of the Right 2 Strong Romania Party 1 National Liberal Party 1
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