Welcome to Cund — or Reussdorf, as the village was once known. Nestled among rolling Transylvanian hills, it has been home to generations of Saxons, Romanians, Hungarians and more, each leaving their mark on its story.

The Reussdorf Experience invites you to wander its lanes and listen to thequiet echoes of time. Around the village you’ll find small pillars bearing QR codes — gentle digital doorways into the life of this place. Scan one, and you’ll uncover stories of faith, work, and renewal.

This is not a museum. It is a living village — shaped by the past, revived in the present, and open to the curious.

The History of Cund

Tucked away in the rolling hills of Transylvania lies the village of Cund — or Reussdorf, as it was once known in German. Its peaceful rhythm of life today belies a story that stretches back more than seven centuries and is deeply entwined with the history of the Transylvanian Saxons.

The Arrival of the Saxons
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In the twelfth century, Hungarian kings invited skilled settlers from the German-speaking regions along the Rhine and Moselle to secure and develop the southeastern frontier of their realm. These settlers — later known as the Transylvanian Saxons — brought with them not only their language and craftsmanship but also a strong sense of order, community, and faith.They founded a network of villages and fortified towns across southern Transylvania, each centred around its church and square.
Cund was one of these settlements, first recorded in the fourteenth century as Reussdorf. Its name likely derives from the Reuss River region of Germany, where some of its early founders came from.A Self-Sufficient CommunityFor centuries, the Saxons lived in close-knit, self-governing communities. They built solid houses of stone and brick, arranged around spacious courtyards for farming, animals, and storage.
The fortified church — still standing proudly in the center of Cund — was both a spiritual centre and a place of refuge in troubled times.Trade, craftsmanship, and agriculture flourished under their care. The Saxons introduced advanced farming techniques, maintained orchards and vineyards, and produced fine textiles, woodwork, and metalwork. Their guilds ensured high standards and passed skills from one generation to the next.

Faith, Language, and Tradition
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Faith was at the heart of village life. The church bell marked the rhythm of every day, and the Lutheran liturgy, sung in German, bound the community together. The people of Cund spoke the distinctive Saxon dialect, raised their children in German schools, and celebrated a calendar filled with village feasts, weddings, and festivals that reflected both hard work and deep joy in living. Until 1996 for over seven centuries there was only a German school, Kindergarten and church in Cund.

A Century of Change
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The twentieth century brought immense upheaval. War, shifting borders, and the rise of communism forced many Saxons to leave their ancestral homes. Families who had lived in Cund for centuries emigrated to Germany, leaving behind houses, farms, and memories that spoke of another era.Yet even as the community thinned, its traces endured — in the careful stonework of the houses, the church walls, the orchards, and the very layout of the village.

Revival and Return
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Today, Cund is seeing a quiet renaissance. A few Saxon families have returned to restore their family homes, and others — local Romanians, newcomers, and foreign travellers settling here — have joined in preserving the village’s unique character, mainly through sustainable rural tourism, farming and food production.
Together they are breathing new life into a place where past and present meet.The Reussdorf Experience is part of this revival: an invitation to rediscover the story of a people whose dedication, craftsmanship, and sense of belonging shaped the heart of Transylvania.