Romania Tabakinstitut (Nov 2024)

[Tomvandutch]

In the 1920s, the cultivation, production and sale of tobacco was the main state monopoly. One could almost say that the state had gotten a taste for it. Therefore, construction began on the experimental institute for tobacco cultivation and fermentation on a 15-hectare site. They wanted to give the whole thing a monumental atmosphere, which is why both the main building and the two villas to the left and right of it were built in the neo-Romanian style. After three years of construction, the institute went into operation in 1930 with the aim of examining a wide variety of tobacco types in order to ultimately obtain tobacco of the highest quality.

After the Second World War, Romania came under the influence of the Soviet Union. The communist government then decides to turn the tobacco institute into an institute for food chemistry. Instead of tobacco, dairy products, sausages and canned fish are now being examined. The institute is remembered not for its discoveries in the field of nutritional research, but for a criminal case against a politician.

With the help of state employees, he bought the land and buildings in 2003 for 100,000 euros. The actual price was estimated at 60 million euros. After a long investigation, the politician was charged and sentenced to prison for corruption and the old institute building was confiscated. Left unguarded, the former tobacco institute fell victim to the indifference of the authorities and was increasingly destroyed by vandals over the years. With damp walls and collapsed ceilings, the symbolic building of Romanian research now lies in ruins, its end seemingly sealed.
Although it played a crucial role in the country's history, culture ministry officials said the nearly 100-year-old historic structure is not listed, and the imprisoned politician's heirs now have the option of simply demolishing it.

Since there was construction work on the site, we unfortunately only had the opportunity to get into the main building. The absolute highlight here is the staircase. But the library, with several thousand specialist magazines and books, was also worth seeing. Many of the books were in German and some were over 100 years old. However, American specialist magazines and Russian books were also found there.