Carmen Schuster was a young woman when she left the Transylvanian village of Cincsor in Romania for West Germany in search of a better life 40 years ago. After returning to Romania for work many years later, she was overcome by the urge to stay, attempting to save the centuries-old Saxon community she once called home. Schuster is a member of the dwindling ethnic German minority, descendants of Saxons and others who were recruited by the Hungarian kings to settle in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards. “We had to save the school, which was in ruins,” Schuster, who is now in her 60s, told AFP.

Together with her husband Michael Lisske, she has been carefully restoring the historical heart of Cincsor for more than a decade - including its former Saxon school - and transforming the buildings into guesthouses. “Other buildings have also been restored and the village once again revolves around its Protestant church,” which still holds services for its seven remaining parishioners, Schuster said. Britain’s King Charles III - who claims descent from a notorious 15th-century Transylvanian prince known as Vlad the Impaler - also owns a number of properties nearby, renting out some to tourists.

View of Carmen Schuster's Guesthouse in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

General view of the village, taken from inside the fortified church in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

Ramona Amariei washes dishes inside the kitchen of Carmen Schuster's guesthouse in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

General view of the old evangelical school, now guesthouse, in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

An elderly woman watches from her window in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

Michael Lisske, 71, points at old brass instruments inside the fortified church in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

Michael Lisske points with his finger on an old photograph showing his wife, Carmen Schuster, as a young local girl taking part in a celebration in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

View of the fortified church in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

A local resident rides a bicycle in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

Carmen Schuster, 65, poses for a portrait inside her guesthouse in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

View of Carmen Schuster's Guesthouse with original restored wall decorations in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

View of the fortified church in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

Local residents enjoy a drink at the local pub in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

A local woman rides a bicycle in Cincsor, a small Transylvanian village.

‘Belated victory’

Before World War II, Romania boasted a Saxon population of up to 300,000. Today, there are only about 10,000, much of the population having emigrated in the 1970s and the 1980s to escape persecution by the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaucescu. Transylvania’s abandoned Saxon villages were gradually repopulated by Romanians, who often had no connection to the region’s 800-year-old history.

But the unique atmosphere of these historic villages at the foot of the Carpathian mountains never fully faded, with many of their fortress-like churches listed as UNESCO world heritage sites. “In the 15th century, they fortified their churches so they could serve as a refuge for the inhabitants in the event of an attack,” said 71-year-old Lisske. “The Hungarians had promised the Saxons freedom in exchange for bringing them here, so they had no royal protection,” the former history teacher said. For Schuster, preserving the Saxon heritage symbolizes a “belated victory” over the “inhumane and contemptuous” treatment during Ceaucescu’s communist rule that “did everything to erase it”.