Shtërmen

Shtërmen (also spelt Shtërmeni) is a village in Elbasan County, central Albania. It lies within the administrative unit of Gostimë in the municipality of Cërrik. The village is situated about 7 kilometres south of Cërrik. As part of the 2015 local government reform, it became part of the municipality Cërrik. The village, as of 2011, has over 700 households and 3,500 inhabitants making it one of the largest villages in the region.

History

The earliest documentation of Shtermen was in 1582 in Ottoman records of the Elbasan region. Etymological studies record various historical Slavic phonetic renderings of the name, including Strmen and Shtrmen

During World War II Shtermen was a site of military operations for the partisan resistance, the village was a location of important combat actions carried out by the Shpat Battalion., in the Albanian civil war it served as a strategic retreat point for forces operating from Gramsh, this retreat significantly impacted the morale of anti-communist Albanian troops, leading to widespread demoralization and defections to the partisan resistance. In late March 1944, during World War II, Shtermen was a strategic point of concentration for occupying German forces and Ballist units monitoring the movements of the partisan resistance brigades in the region.

Economy

Shtermen consisted of 9 tenant households in 1911 (with 5 defaulting on their obligations), 9 households in 1912 (with 7 defaulting), 8 households in 1913 (with 4 defaulting). Farmers faced systemic economic hardships, by 1913, 66% of farming households in Shtermen and surrounding villages were unable to clear their agricultural tax or tenancy obligations on time, leading to a repetitive cycle of chronic debt and financial dependence. In 1915 agricultural land-tenure patterns in the village of Shtermen shifted, with local farming households transitioning from traditional third-sharecropping arrangements into fixed-rent lease contracts.

Historically, the village of Shtermen was a primary cultivation zone for a localized domestic variety of tobacco. Although now beekeeping, headed by the Toska family, has become the village's major economic industry As of 2009 Shtermen is the site of a major shortwave broadcasting transmitter station owned by Radiotelevizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), the facility which houses six 150 kW transmitters, was historically leased to China Radio International to relay its global shortwave broadcasts.

Notable people

• Vladimir Toska, Co-founder of PD, Former Minister of culture & Director of the Folklore Assembly
• Leonard Toska (born 1961) Weightlifting coach & champion
• Igli Toska (born 1969), Former Minister of interior
• Gerald Toska (born 1983) Chief Commissioner, notable nationwide investigator
• Altin Toska (born 1976), Mayor of Cërrik
• Andis Salla (born 1988), Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
• Briken Calja (born 1990), World champion weightlifter & Olympist
• Samuel Rrasa (born 2002), Multi-medallist athlete
• Ertjan Kofsha (born 2005), U-17 weightlifting champion