On the way to a recent gig, I came across this fancy announcement, which immediately caught my attention. It's about the beautiful country of Romania, but my eye was caught by the small portrait picture at the bottom center. This photo shows a person who is still quite familiar to me today, but who I would not necessarily have chosen as the figurehead for this interesting country in south-eastern Europe.
For all those who are now starting to guess who this person might be, I will provide the answer to this question straight away. This is a charming photo of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the former head of state of Romania, who was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, as well as President of the Republic and Chairman of the Council of State. Well, anyone who takes a closer look at Nicolae Ceaușescu as a person will quickly realize that we are not necessarily dealing with someone who would be used as a promotional role model for his home country.
The self-proclaimed Conducător (“leader”) also had other euphonious titles such as Great Commander, Titan of the Titans, Glorious Oak from Scornicești, Son of the Sun. But he also liked to be called “the chosen one”, “our earthly god” or “genius of the Carpathians”. Somehow this still sounds pretty familiar today, even if we would probably have to turn to another part of our planet.
Well, the personality cult of Nicolae Ceaușescu did not last forever and if we look at this today it seems that his less than glorious end on Christmas Day 1989 was almost inevitable. However, at the time, his swift execution may have saved Romania from much worse.
And with such a noble person, someone now seems to want to promote the beautiful country of Romania and arouse interest. Why didn't they just use an image of Prince Vlad III Drăculea, who had the euphonious nickname of the Impaler and was the historical model for the world's most famous vampire?
Nicolae Ceaușescu is said to have developed a particular fondness for Vlad Drăculea during the course of his reign, which kinda makes sense for me and brings the whole circle to a full close.
The castle in the photo on the left is Bran Castle, which is often used as a Dracula castle these days, but probably has nothing to do with Bram Stoker's novel or Vlad the Impaler. But tourism needs some names and places, and a chic castle like this is perfect for marketing, especially if you can add a very special thrill and horror to it. Somehow it seems to work, just as the historical region of Transylvania in the center of Romania has earned itself a very special reputation today.
I guess a little shiver is probably just part of the game, and people seem to be proud of it. And after all, Ceaușescu, Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula fit perfectly into this very picture. The latter at should still be able to arouse curiosity and interest in the south-eastern European country, which was probably the purpose of the small exhibition, which was unfortunately closed during my visit. Maybe I'll make it there one day during opening hours and then I'll be more than happy to tell you what else I could find out about the beautiful country of Romania. I can probably learn a lot more myself...
