"Transylvania, My Sweet Homeland"

The Biedermeier period brought the fashion for wall hangings to Transylvanian farmhouses as well, ushering in a new golden age for the tradition of embroidering sayings on fabric. In the Romantic worldview of the first half of the 19th century, the home and family held an important place; they became symbols of security and happiness, and the social ideal of a fulfilling life. “Home sweet home, happiness alone”—this is the message found on many embroidered wall hangings well into the 20th century. Accordingly, special care was taken in the design of the living space as a place of domesticity: sayings embroidered on canvas or painted on paper, encircled by garlands of roses, were framed and hung on the walls of the living room. Toward the end of the 19th century, as concepts of national identity began to take shape, corresponding motifs also found their way into embroidered sayings, particularly on wall hangings.