Zalaegerszeg

Zalaegerszeg [ zɒlɒɛɡɛrsɛɡ ] ( dt: Egersee ) is a town of county rank in Hungary and also the administrative center of Zala county. She had 2011 61.970 inhabitants and is situated on the River Zala. The city is located about 210 km from Budapest.

History

Based on archaeological findings ( the oldest in Zala county ), one can assume that the area was settled as early as the late Paleolithic. Later, Celts settled in the area. The town itself was first mentioned in 1247 as Egerscug documented. 1293, the name had already been converted into Egerszeg.

The city was church property, when King Béla IV gave the town the diocese of Veszprém in 1266. Since the distance to Veszprém, however, was very far for that time, the taxes were rarely in Veszprem at, but often ended up in the coffers of local princes as the Kőszegi family.

In the 14th century the city was already the largest in the area. Between 1368 and 1389 the property was transferred for a short time and they came under royal administration. King Sigismund gave the city then, however, the Kanizsai family they eintauschte later against another back to the bishop of Veszprem. There they remained until 1848 in church property. The first stone church was built in the city in 1381. In 1421 the city was given the right to hold markets, which among other things meant that the inhabitants had only once a year pay taxes and were allowed to choose their own judges. The town grew steadily, and in the 16th century, she was the actual center of Zala county.

This development, however, came to a halt by that due to royal weakness every noble house got more and more power, and trying to get by raiding the city in its possession. Moreover, the Turks began to occupy after the Battle of Mohács ( 1526), ​​Hungary. From 1568 the town was fortified and a castle was built. The first unsuccessful attack by the Turks of the city took place in the 1570s. After the Turks had conquered the neighboring city Kanizsa, the strategic importance of the city grew more and more. In 1616 the castle in an attack of the Turks was severely damaged and in 1664 they conquered the castle even for a short time. The population suffered in that time, not only by war but also by epidemics and high taxes.

Although Egerszeg was only a frontier town of the county, it was made in the 18th century to the capital. The county assemblies were held anyway already in the city, because the city was held to be so important and this also no prince under stood as the other towns of the county.

The Assembly Hall was built between 1730 - 1732 in the Baroque style and was for a long time the only representative buildings of the city. In the 1760s came to a big church and a barracks. Since the city itself largely consisted of wooden houses, it always came back to devastating fires that destroyed the town. This only ended when in 1826 the town was rebuilt with stone houses.

Until the early 19th century there was little artisans and merchants in the city, because they had to pay taxes to the bishop. In the 1830s there were 10 % Jews among the population, while the prevailing belief was Catholic. But the mainly business oriented Jews gave the city's economy no boost. Despite its administrative office in the land that the city has played no role economically and culturally. This is also reflected in the fact that existed despite a population of 3500 only two primary schools. The cultural centers in the area were Kanizsa and Keszthely.

In the freedom struggle of the years 1848/1849, the city played only a subordinate role. In 1870 they even lost their city status and was again the village. The city status they gained, however, in 1885 back to 1887 the village was incorporated Ola.

1890 Zalaegerszeg was connected to the railway line from Ukk after Csáktornya. In the following years a number of public buildings were built as a town hall, a hotel and a children's garden and a brick, but the city coffers emptied so that the mayor Károly Kovács had to resign. His successor, Lajos Botfy was able to reduce the debt burden and promote urban development.

The economic boom really began only in the 1920s, when the new post office, railway station, the fire station, the police headquarters and the monastery of Notre Dame and a synagogue were built in Baroque style.

A dark chapter in the history of the city is during the Second World War, the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz in 1221 dar. On March 28, 1945, the city liberated by the Red Army from the Nazis. At the first election in 1949, the Communists were indeed only 10 % of the vote, but still ruled the city.

In the 1950s, the city got more and more industrial character. A textile factory was founded in 1952 and oil was discovered. As more and more commuters had to drive into the city from the surrounding villages to work, the railway line was extended. As in the city, there was a housing shortage, opponents of the system have been forced by the government to leave the city and settle elsewhere.

On 26 October 1956 the inhabitants of Zalaegerszeg took part in the revolution. The communist city leadership fled to Körmend and until the arrival of the Soviet Army ( 4 November ) ruled a revolutionary committee.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was an enormous increase in population by strong residential construction activity. The city limits were expanded and the villages Csácsbozsok, Botfa, Zalabesenyő, Bazita, Andráshida and Pózva incorporated. After the end of socialist rule Zalaegerszeg was not hit like other cities of the economic recession, but constantly developed in the 1990s on.

In 2001 the city was host to the Central European Olympiad in Informatics ( CEOI ).

Attractions

• TV Tower Zalaegerszeg
• Open-Air Museum: the first ethnographic museum of Hungary, Finno- Ugric with collection
• Museum of the oil industry
• Göcsej Museum (Hungarian Göcseji Muzeum )
• Aqua City - Waterpark in Ságod district
• Deák Square with former County Hall
• Gébárter craftsman house (Hungarian Gébárti Kézmüvesekháza )

Twin Cities

• Ukraine Kherson (Ukraine )
• Bulgaria Dobrich (Bulgaria)
• Italy Gorizia ( Italy)
• Austria Klagenfurt ( Austria )
• Poland Krosno (Poland )

• Kusel Germany ( Germany )
• Slovenia Lendava (Slovenia )
• Germany Marl ( Germany )
• Russia Surgut ( Russia)

• Romania Targu Mures (Romania )
• Croatia Varaždin (Croatia )
• Varkaus Finland (Finland )
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Zenica (Bosnia - Herzegovina)

Sons and daughters of the town

• Dezso Keresztury (1904-1996) - literary scholars, academics
• Ferenc Deák (1803-1876), representatives in Parliament, Minister of Justice
• Zsigmond Kisfaludy Strobl (1884-1975), sculptor
• József Mindszenty (original name: József Pehm, 1892-1975 ), Primate of Hungary
• Dezso Pais (1886-1973), linguist
• David Schwarz, inventor of the rigid airships
• Annamária Szalai (1961-2013), politician and journalist
• Gyula Wlassics (1852-1937), Minister
• Lajos Portisch ( b. 1937 ), chess grandmaster
• László Andor ( b. 1966 ), economist and the European Commissioner
• Katalin Vidor (1903-1976), concentration camp survivor, author