Cincu

Cincu (German: Großschenk; Transylvanian Saxon: Schoink; Hungarian: Nagysink) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania.

Cincu was first mentioned in a document of 1329 as Schenck, a word connected to Schenke, meaning "tavern" in German.

The village was founded in the mid-12th century by some 30 families of German settlers from the Rhineland area in present-day Germany.

Historically, the local economy was dominated by agriculture and by craft production organized into guilds for joiners, furriers, harness makers, locksmiths, carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths, cobblers, coopers, wheelwrights, and bricklayers.

A significant number of inhabitants began to emigrate to the United States in the 1890s, and the Saxons started to leave en masse in the 1950s.

The facility is undergoing a massive expansion in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the military alliance is shifting its center of gravity from the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base near the Black Sea, to Cincu, near the exact geographical center of Romania.

Medieval Evangelical Lutheran Transylvanian Saxon Cincu fortified church
Sketch depicting the plan of the medieval Evangelical Lutheran Transylvanian Saxon fortified church in Cincu.
Toarcla Fortified Church
Soldiers with the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team from Ontario, Oregon exercise at the Combat Training Center in Cincu, 2016
A B1 Centauro column of the Italian Army 's Nizza Cavalleria regiment in Cincu, 2019