Međa (Žitište)

Međa
Међа
Village

The Orthodox Church
Međa

Location of Međa within Serbia

Međa

Location of Međa within Vojvodina

Coordinates: 45°32′05″N 20°48′15″E / 45.53472°N 20.80417°ECoordinates: 45°32′05″N 20°48′15″E / 45.53472°N 20.80417°E
Country Serbia
Province Vojvodina
District Central Banat
Elevation 263 m (863 ft)
Population (2002)
 • Međa 1,155
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 23234
Area code(s) +381(0)23
Car plates ZR

Međa (Serbian Cyrillic: Међа) is a village located in the Žitište municipality, in the Central Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (88.65%) and its population numbering 1,155 people (2002 census).

Name

In Serbian, the village is known as Međa (Међа), in German as Pardan, in Hungarian as Párdány, and in Romanian as Meda. Its former names used in Serbian were Pardanj (Пардањ) and Ninčićevo (Нинчићево).

Former Serb Pardanj was known as Srpski Pardanj (Српски Пардањ) in Serbian, Serbische Pardan in German, and Szerb-Párdány in Hungarian.

Former Slovak Pardanj was known as Totovski Pardanj (Тотовски Пардањ) in Serbian, Slowakisch Pardan in German, and Tót-Párdány in Hungarian. It was later also known as German Pardanj (Serbian: Nemački Pardanj or Немачки Пардањ, German: Deutsch Pardan, Hungarian: Német-Párdány) and Hungarian Pardanj (Serbian: Mađarski Pardanj or Мађарски Пардањ, German: Ungarisch Pardan, Hungarian: Magyar-Párdány).

History

It was first mentioned in historical literature 1247 AD. During Ottoman rule (in 1660/66), Pardanj was inhabited by Serbs, and in 1753 was also recorded as Serb-inhabited settlement. At first, there were two villages with name Pardanj: Serb Pardanj and Slovak Pardanj. Former Slovak inhabitants either moved out of the village or became magyarized or Germanized. In the middle of the 18th century, Germans and Hungarians settled here as well, mostly in Slovak Pardanj, which later became known as German Pardanj and Hungarian Pardanj. Two villages (former Serb Pardanj and former Slovak/German/Hungarian Pardanj) united into single village in 1907. According to 1910 census there were 3,213 inhabitants in the settlements, who spoke following languages: German - 1,874, Serbian - 1,052, Hungarian - 243. After the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 assigned Pardanj to Romania. It was under Romanian administration until 1924, when it was assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In this time, its name was changed to Ninčićevo. Near the end of the Second World War (1944) the German population was sent to Tito's concentration camps . The village and colonists from Bosnia and Herzegovina settled here instead of them. New inhabitants named the village Međa ("border" in English) because of the proximity of the state border. Formerly, Međa was a seat of the municipality, but later was included into new municipality with seat in Žitište.

Ethnic groups (2002 census)

Historical population

Trivia

Local people of Međa plan to build a monument dedicated to Johnny Weissmuller, who was born in 1904 in Međa according to some sources. However, where the actor was actually born is disputed because other sources claim that his birthplace was Szabadfalu (Freidorf), present-day part of Timişoara.

Notable citizens

References

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Međa (Žitište).