Buzău Military Circle

BUZĂU MILITARY CIRCLE ARCHITECT ROSENTZVEIG The Military Circle of Buzău Garrison came into existence with the arrival of the 7th Artillery Regiment Buzău in 1893. Initially, the Military Circle existed as a military club, hosted in different halls in the city centre or in the city hall. The initiative to build a building for the Military Circle belonged to Colonel Aristide Razu, commander of the 8th Infantry Regiment from Buzău – and commander of the garrison – and the one who put this project into action was Colonel Gheorghe Spirescu, commander of the 7th Artillery Regiment, who thus became president of Military Circle. In March 1914, the foundation stone of the building of Buzău Military Circle was laid, in Carol I Street, today Independenței. It was built with funds from the contributions of officers and non-commissioned officers from the garrison, through subsidies given by the Ministry of War and the National Bank of Romania. The plans of the building were made by the architect Rosenzveig, following the instructions of Colonel Razu. The vintage photographs, but also the current presence of the building of the Military Circle in Buzău offer a building of special elegance, built in the notes of the neo-Romanian style already established at the beginning of the 20th century, thus joining other representative buildings for the city of Buzău – „Margareta Sterian” Art High School (1911), the Financial Administration (1914 – architect Statie Ciortan, currently „Vasile Voiculescu” County Library) and the Buzău Court (1912 – architect Petre Antonescu) with carefully elaborated facades, tall windows, vaulted at the top with arches strongly accentuated. The passage of time has also left traces on this architectural jewel and several interventions were necessary for its renovation. After the 1977 earthquake, the building underwent consolidation and renovation works in the period 1982-1986, at the initiative of the commander of that time of the garrison, Major General Ion Dîndăreanu. Between September 2001 and June 2002, the building was closed again, in order to study the resistance structure. It was placed in seismic risk class II and reopened to the public and specific activities. In 2005, the commander of the garrison at the time, Major General Teodor Frunzeti, initiated the establishment of the „Marshal Alexandru Averescu” Foundation, which has as its main objective the rehabilitation of the Military Circle building, but which, unfortunately, was not fulfilled, primarily due to the considerable costs assumed by this approach, but also due to some legislative obstacles. In 2007, the Buzău Military Circle building was closed, and solutions are still being sought for its consolidation and renovation. Currently, steps are being taken for the return of the Buzău Military Circle to the Buzău military environment with its already established service of interface with civil society, and its building will once again impose itself on the urban landscape through its unmistakable elegance and architectural presence.