Gura Humorului

The town's current local council has the following political composition, according to the results of the 2020 local elections:{{Cite web|language=ro|url=https://prezenta.roaep.ro/locale27092020/data/json/sicpv/pv/pv_vs_final.json|format=Json|title=Rezultatele finale ale alegerilor locale din 2020|publisher=Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă|access-date=2020-11-02}}

Gura Humorului is located in the north-eastern part of Romania, in southern Bukovina. The town is situated at the eastern limit of Obcinele Bucovinei Mountains, in Humorului Depression, at the confluence of Moldova River and Humor River. The average altitude of the town is {{convert|470|m|ft}}. The European route E58 and the Suceava–Vatra Dornei railway pass through the town. Suceava, the county capital, is located {{convert|34|km|mi|abbr=off}} away. The town of Frasin is located nearby Gura Humorului (only {{convert|7|km|mi|abbr=on}} away).

File:Gurahumora 1878 Gura Humorului.jpg

According to the 1775 Austrian census of Bukovina, its population comprised only about 60,000 spread over {{convert|10422|sqkm|sqmi}}. In order to encourage the development of this sparsely-settled land, the authorities subsidized the immigration of colonists to Bukovina. With the end of the first wave of settlement, colonists were to continue arriving at their own expense. As a result of these policies, the census of 1910 showed that the population had risen to over 800,000. People of many different ethnic groups took part in this immigration, including Germans, Rusyns, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Poles, Romanians, and Jews.

{{Historical populations

|source = Austrian and Romanian census data and/or official estimates

|1910 |5,308

|1930 |6,042

|1948 |4,573

|1956 |7,216

|1966 |9,081

|1977 |13,235

|1992 |16,629

|2002 |15,656

|2011 |13,667

|2021 |13278

}}

In 1992, Gura Humorului had a population of about 17,000 inhabitants were living within the town limits. As of 2016, the town's population surpassed this limit by a very slim margin.{{cite web|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/ro/content/popula%C5%A3ia-rom%C3%A2niei-pe-localitati-la-1-ianuarie-2016|title=Populaţia României pe localitati la 1 ianuarie 2016|date=6 June 2016|access-date=27 October 2017|publisher=INSSE|language=ro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027131447/http://www.insse.ro/cms/ro/content/popula%C5%A3ia-rom%C3%A2niei-pe-localitati-la-1-ianuarie-2016|archive-date=2017-10-27|url-status=dead}}

According to the 2011 census data, Gura Humorului had a total population of 13,667 inhabitants: 97.03% were ethnic Romanians, 1.79% Roma, 0.52% Germans (Bukovina Germans), 0.27% Poles, 0.12% Ukrainians, 0.10% Hungarians, and 0.07% Russians (including Lipovans).

Gura Humorului is the seventh most populated urban locality in Suceava County and the second most populated locality with the status of town (after Vicovu de Sus).

Between 1774 and 1918, Gura Humorului belonged to the Habsburg monarchy. During World War I, Bukovina became a battlefield between Austria opposing Russian and Romanian troops. Although the Russians were finally driven out in 1917, defeated Austria would cede the Bukovina province to Romania through the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919).

{{main|History of the Jews in Romania}}

No Jews lived in Gura Humorului before 1835, when they were allowed to settle, joining other, already represented, ethnic groups (such as Germans from Bohemia, mainly from the Böhmerwald: thirty families settled on the mountainous and densely forested lands nearby the town, establishing a quarter named Bori). The Jewish community began to flourish in 1869, when they formed around a third of the town's population (880 people); the same year, a Beth midrash was established.

A turning point in the town's history was the disastrous fire of May 11, 1899 which destroyed most of the town, more than 400 houses, including many Jewish businesses and homes. It was rebuilt with donations from American Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Gura Humorului continued to grow, reaching 1,951 members in 1927.

Jewish cultural life reached its peak during the interwar period. The languages of choice in the town life were Yiddish, German, and Romanian. Most of the Jewish community adhered to Orthodox Judaism, and Jewish youngsters studied the Torah along with secular subjects such as geography, history, and mathematics. The community had established Jewish social and political institutions that contributed to all fields of public life.

While persecutions began to increase under the threats posed by Romanian fascist movements such as the Iron Guard, it was World War II that brought an end to Jewish presence in Gura Humorului. Under the dictatorship of Ion Antonescu, Jews were rounded up and deported to Transnistria, where most of them perished – mass murdered through various means, including shootings and criminal negligence (see Holocaust in Romania). Virtually all of the Jewish community in Gura Humorului was deported: 2,945 people were all transported on October 10, 1941.

The vast majority of survivors emigrated to Israel in 1947–1951. Statistics show that they numbered below 500 people in all at the time of their departure.

• {{flagicon|France}} Marly-le-Roi, France{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}
• {{flagicon|Poland}} Puck, Poland{{Cite web| url=http://www.ziare.com/suceava/primar/orasul-gura-humorului-infratit-cu-localitatea-poloneza-puck-2252070| title=Orașul Gura Humorului înfrățit cu localitatea poloneză Puck| work=Ziare.com| access-date = April 21, 2020}}
• {{flagicon|Romania}} Sulina, Romania{{Cite web |url=https://www.primaria-sulina.ro/generaleoras/hot184infratireGuraHumorului.pdf |title=Decision No 183 on 5 December 2006 by Sulina |access-date=31 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401060459/https://www.primaria-sulina.ro/generaleoras/hot184infratireGuraHumorului.pdf|archive-date=1 April 2017 |url-status=dead}}

• Andreea Boghian - rower
• Nathan Juran - American film director
• Olha Kobylianska - Ukrainian-German writer
• Viorel Lucaci - rugby player
• Mihai Macovei - rugby player
• Rixi Markus - bridge player
• Vlad Nistor - rugby player
• Daniel Plai - rugby player
• Victor Săhleanu - physician and anthropologist
• Dorin Semeghin - footballer
• Cătălin Țăranu - professional go player (5 Dan)
• Salomon Wininger - biographer

File:Gura Humorului 725300, Romania - panoramio (1).jpg|Panoramic view of the town

File:Primaria din Gura Humorului (1901)6.jpg|The Town Hall

File:Judecatoria Gura Humorului.jpg|The Town Court

File:Scoala nr. 1 din Gura Humorului.jpg|School No. 1

File:Scoala nr. 2 din Gura Humorului.jpg|School No. 2

File:Centrul orașului Gura Humorului.jpg|Hotel Bucovina

File:Gura Humorului 725300, Romania - panoramio.jpg|Traditional Romanian wooden house

File:Olga Kobyleanska2.jpg|Olha Kobylianska Statue

File:Biserica romano-catolica din Gura Humorului10.jpg|The Roman Catholic Church

File:La catedral ortodoxa.jpg|The Orthodox Cathedral

File:Sinagoga Mare din Gura Humorului.jpg|The Synagogue

File:Voronet.jpg|Voroneț Monastery

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Gura Humorului}}

{{wikivoyage|Gura Humorului}}

• {{in lang|ro}} [http://www.primariagh.ro/ Gura Humorului Town Hall official site]
• {{in lang|ro}} [http://www.gurahumorului.info/ Gura Humorului touristic site]
• {{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20180601104848/http://gurahumor.ro/ Gura Humorului unofficial site]
• {{in lang|ro}} [http://www.tourismguide.ro/html/orase/Suceava/Gura%20Humorului/scurt_istoric.php Tourism Guide - Gura Humorului web page]
• {{in lang|ro}} [http://judetulsuceava.ro/localitati/orase/gura-humorului/ Suceava County site - Gura Humorului web page]
• {{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112184450/http://picasaweb.google.com/EdwardTurJ/OldBukowinaPhotosGurahumora Photo Gallery - Old photos of Gura Humorului]
• {{in lang|he}} [http://humora.tripod.com/ Gura Humorului Jewish Community]
• {{in lang|he}} [http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/gura1/gur203.html Comprehensive lists of Gura Humorului Jews killed in 1941]

{{Suceava County}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Towns in Romania

Category:Populated places in Suceava County

Category:Spa towns in Romania

Category:Bukovina-German people

Category:Duchy of Bukovina

Category:Localities in Southern Bukovina

Category:Holocaust locations in Romania

Category:Polish communities in Romania

Category:Jewish communities in Romania