Medalii și diplome ale meșterului Peter Schwarz din Jimbolia în colecţia Muzeului Banatului din Timișoara / Medals and Diplomas Awarded to Peter Schwarz from Jimbolia Found in the Collections of the Banat Museum in Timişoara
Authors: Demian Nicoleta 
Published: March 2022

In 1980 the Banat Museum in Timişoara purchased from Johann Vastag, a resident of Jimbolia and former clerk ofthe local Craftsmen’s Guild, some items belonging to the guilds from Jimbolia, including four medals, one plaqueand five diplomas, awarded to the local craftsman Peter Schwarz. He was born on January 13, 1873 in Jimbolia.Between 1887 and 1892 he was apprentice for Anton Hicke, barber from Jimbolia, then between 1892 and 1899he trained in Budapest. During this period he specialized in several crafts, including bandaging. Returning toJimbolia, he worked as barber and wig maker, but also as bandager, orthopedist and prostheses maker.He owned a workshop for prostheses in Jimbolia. There, under the guidance of a specialized doctor, a widevariety of specific articles were manually produced. This included prostheses and parts of them, support devices (forarticular inflammations), orthopaedic corsets (for backbone’s affections), bandages for fractures, elastic bandages,orthopaedic shoes and others.Peter Schwarz became known throughout the entire Banat. Until 1914 he had “branches” in Bega-SanktGeorgen (today Žitište in Serbia) and Modosch (today Jaša Tomić in Serbia). He collaborated for many years withDr. Karl Diel (1855-1930), a renowned surgeon and director of the Hospital in Jimbolia.Schwarz participated in local and regional exhibitions but also in famous international fairs. Most of thedistinctions received were for orthopaedic works. He was awarded several gold and silver medals, numerousdiplomas and letters of recognitions. Between 1931 and 1949 Peter Schwarz acted as president of the Craftsmen’sGuild and president of the Craftsmen’s and Merchants’ Casino from Jimbolia. He was married to Margarethe Vacziand had four children: Margarethe, Peter, Stefan and Mathias. He died on September 24, 1963 in Jimbolia andwas interred on 26 September in the local cemetery.This paper presents the medals and diplomas issued to Peter Schwarz, from the collections of the BanatMuseum in Timişoara: the merit medal of the Industrial exhibition in Jimbolia (1908); the Grand Prix, thegolden medal and diploma of the International exhibition in Paris (1910); the golden medal and diploma of theIndustrial, agricultural and modern inventions exhibition in Rome (1911/1912); the golden plaque and honorarydiploma of the Industrial, agricultural and domestic industries exhibition in Jimbolia (1925). Beside these arepresented the honorary diploma of the Agricultural and industrial exhibition in Biled (1924); the “Obermeister”diploma of the “Eisenring” Merchants’ and Craftsmen’s Association from Timişoara (1929) and the certificate forthe medal for “Industrial and commercial merit”, 1st class (1935), awarded to Peter Schwarz on the anniversary of50 years of craftsmanship.The medals and diplomas of Peter Schwarz are proof of a special professional career and of his remarkable skills.His entire life and work in Jimbolia is being remembered, alongside the other personalities of the city from the late19th century and early 20th century.