How Were Transylvania’s Monumental Oaks Saved?

Jun 28, 2026 | Bez kategorii

Location: Sighișoara Municipality, Breite Nature Reserve, Transylvania, Romania
Text: Dominika Zaręba

The Breite Plateau is an extensive area of traditional sheep pasture covering approximately 300 acres, where the Breite Oak Nature Reserve (Romanian: Stejarii Seculari de la Breite) has been established.

The reserve is home to nearly 500 monumental oak trees, aged between 100 and 300 years, including pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), sessile oak (Quercus petraea), and Dalechamp’s oak (Quercus dalechampii).

It is located about 3 km from Sighișoara, a town of approximately 24,000 inhabitants and one of Romania’s cultural heritage gems, whose historic centre is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The controversial plan to build a Dracula theme park in the heart of Transylvania was conceived in the office of the Romanian Minister of Tourism in 2001. When the project was made public in an effort to attract investors, it sparked strong opposition from many Romanian intellectuals and artists.

However, the project gained the support of the then Mayor of Sighișoara, who urged the City Council to allocate municipally owned land on the Breite Plateau for the development. The proposed site lay in the very heart of the centuries-old oak woodland, in exchange for a specified share of the future profits. Nothing seemed capable of stopping the project, despite the fact that it was contrary to Romania’s Nature Protection Act (Law No. 5/2000 on Protected Natural Areas), adopted by the Romanian Parliament.

At first, the project was opposed only by a small group of local residents, led by the local Lutheran pastor, Brunon Fröhlich, representing the community of descendants of the Transylvanian Saxons. He submitted a petition to the City Council calling for the protection of the region’s natural, cultural, and landscape heritage and urging the authorities to abandon the Dracula Park project.

Initially, these protests were completely ignored, and the local conservation group lacked the resources and experience needed to organise an effective campaign. Nevertheless, they collected letters of support from national and international organisations and sent information to the media, including international news outlets.

For these activities, they were intimidated and publicly discredited by both state authorities and the local government. They were accused of acting against the public interest and of being funded by foreign interests.

Despite this, they succeeded in building a broader coalition by engaging non-governmental organisations from outside the region, including the PRO EUROPA League and the Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation (Fundația pentru Parteneriat). The Foundation provided financial support through grants to local activists and to the newly established Sustainable Sighișoara Association (Asociația Sighișoara Durabilă), which they had founded.

However, allies also had to be found beyond Romania’s borders. The Sustainable Sighișoara Association began lobbying national and international organisations to help persuade the Ministry of Tourism to relocate the Dracula Park project. At the same time, the SOS Sighișoara campaign was launched.

The organisation secured the support of international partners, including the British charity Mihai Eminescu Trust (MET), which is dedicated to preserving Romania’s cultural heritage. The Trust proved highly effective in raising public awareness in the United Kingdom about the Dracula Park project and its potential consequences for the region’s cultural and natural heritage.

The issue soon attracted the attention of the European Parliament, the World Heritage Convention (WHC), and ultimately Charles, then Prince of Wales, who had long been committed to nature conservation. Following a mission to Romania in 2002, the WHC announced that it was considering placing Sighișoara on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This would have seriously damaged the Romanian government’s international reputation and could also have jeopardised Romania’s accession to the European Union, as compliance with European conventions was one of the conditions for EU membership.

László Potozky, Director of the Environmental Partnership Foundation (Fundația pentru Parteneriat), came up with the idea of inviting the Prince of Wales to Transylvania.

His visit in May 2002 proved to be a turning point. The Prince travelled to Sighișoara and, from there, telephoned Romanian President Ion Iliescu, who himself was not in favour of the theme park. He urged the President to pursue a path of sustainable development rather than proceed with the project.

Prince Charles enjoyed enormous respect in Romania, having supported nature conservation and the preservation of historic monuments for many years. He was also a great admirer of the cultural heritage of the Transylvanian Saxons. Equally important for the Romanian government was the United Kingdom’s support for Romania’s accession to both the European Union and NATO.

This strong international voice ultimately tipped the balance in favour of the coalition of conservationists and heritage advocates. The Romanian government gradually began to change its position and considered relocating the project to another site.

In November 2003, the Minister of Tourism announced on national television that Sighișoara would, after all, be spared. In February of the following year, he revealed that the project would instead be relocated to the outskirts of Bucharest.

The success in stopping the project would not have been possible without the effective partnership between local, national, and international organisations, as well as the support of influential figures such as the current King of the United Kingdom, Charles III.

This article was produced for the Partnership Foundation.

© Dominika Zaręba, Partnership Foundation

Photographs: © Janusz Zaręba, Chasing Dracula out of Transylvania – Notes from Romania: http://zarebablog.pl/2022/08/07/pzegonic-drakule-z-siedmiogrodu-notatki-z-rumunii/; © Dominika Zaręba

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