Following a Celtic (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (9 AD – c. 430 AD) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian ruler Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent from Rome by the pope in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years,[note 1] and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918). A great power until the end of World War I, Hungary lost over 70% of its territory, along with one third of its population of Hungarian ethnicity, and all sea ports under the Treaty of Trianon, the terms of which have been considered excessively harsh by many in Hungary. The kingdom was succeeded by a Communist era (1947–1989) during which Hungary gained widespread international attention regarding the Revolution of 1956 and the unilateral move of opening its border with Austria in 1989, thus accelerating the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The present form of government is a parliamentary republic, which was established in 1989. Today, Hungary is a high-income economy and a regional leader in some regards.
Hungary is one of the thirty most popular tourist destinations of the world, attracting 8.6 million tourists per year (2007). The country is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (Hortobágy).
Contents
1 History
1.1 Before 895
1.2 Medieval Hungary 895–1526
1.3 Ottoman wars 1526–1699
1.4 From the 18th century to World War I
1.5 Between the World Wars 1918–1941
1.6 World War II 1941–1945
1.7 Communist era 1947–1989
1.8 The third Hungarian Republic 1989–present
2 Geography
2.1 Climate
3 Politics
3.1 Political Parties
3.2 Military
3.3 Administrative divisions
3.4 Foreign relations
4 Economy
4.1 History of the Hungarian Economy
4.2 2008–2009 financial crisis
4.3 Education
4.4 Science and technology
4.5 Transport
5 Demographics
5.1 Language
5.2 Religion
5.3 Urbanization
5.4 Education
6 Culture
6.1 Architecture
6.2 Music
6.3 Literature
6.4 Cuisine
6.5 Recreation
6.6 Folk art
6.7 Art
6.8 Sports
6.9 Holidays and domestic animals
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links
History
Main article: History of Hungary
Before 895
Main articles: Pannonian basin before Hungary, Hungarian prehistory, and Hungarian mythology
Ancient Hungarian pouch plate from Galgóc.
The World Tree carved on a pot
The Roman Empire conquered territory west of the Danube between 35 and 9 B.C.E. From 9 BC to the end of the 4th century Pannonia was part of the Roman Empire, located within part of later Hungary's territory. Later came the Huns, who built up a powerful empire. After Hunnish rule, the Germanic Ostrogoths, Lombards, and Gepids, and the polyethnic Avars, had a presence in the Carpathian Basin.In the late 9th century the land was sparsely inhabited by Slavic peoples and Avars. On the eve of the arrival of the Hungarians, East Francia, the First Bulgarian Empire and Great Moravia ruled the territory of the Carpathian Basin. Additionally, the Avars must have formed a significant part of the population of the Carpathian Basin at the end of the 9th century; both contemporary sources and a growing number of archaeological evidences suggest that groups of the Avars survived the disintegration of their empire.
The freshly unified Magyars (Hungarians) led by Árpád settled in the Carpathian Basin starting in 895. According to linguists, they originated from an ancient Uralic-speaking population that formerly inhabited the forested area between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.
Medieval Hungary 895–1526
Main article: Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
Hungarian raids in the 10th century
Fresco of a Hungarian warrior (Italy)
Hungary was established in 895, some 60 years after the division of the Carolingian Empire at the Treaty of Verdun in 843, before the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Initially, the rising Principality of Hungary was a state consisting of a semi-nomadic people. However, it accomplished an enormous transformation; it transformed itself into a Christian realm during the 10th century. This state was well-functioning and the nation's military power allowed the Hungarians to conduct successful fierce campaigns and raids from Constantinople to as far as today's Spain. A later defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 signaled a provisory end to most campaigns on foreign territories, at least towards the West.
Age of Árpádian kings
Main article: Árpád dynasty
King Saint Stephen I
The Holy Crown, the key symbol of Hungary
King Saint Ladislaus I
The ruling prince (Hungarian: fejedelem) Géza of the Árpád dynasty intended to integrate Hungary into Christian Western Europe.His first-born son, Saint Stephen I became the first King of Hungary after defeating his paganist uncle Koppány, who also claimed the throne. Under Stephen, Hungary was recognized as a Catholic Apostolic Kingdom. Applying to Pope Sylvester II, Stephen received the insignia of royalty (including probably a part of the Holy Crown of Hungary, currently kept in the Hungarian Parliament) from the papacy.
By 1006, Stephen had consolidated his power, and started sweeping reforms to convert Hungary into a feudal state. The country switched to using the Latin language, and until as late as 1844, Latin remained the official language of Hungary. What emerged was a strong kingdom that withstood and repelled attacks coming from various directions. Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary conquered Croatia in 1091.
The most powerful and wealthiest king of the Árpád dynasty was Béla III, who disposed of the equivalent of 23 tonnes of pure silver per year. This exceeded the income of the French king (estimated at 17 tonnes) and was double the receipts of the English Crown.
Andrew II issued the Diploma Andreanum which secured the special privileges of the Transylvanian Saxons and is considered the first Autonomy law in the world. He led the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1217, setting up the largest royal army in the history of Crusades. His Golden Bull of 1222 was the first constitution in Continental Europe. The lesser nobles also began to present Andrew with grievances, a practice that evolved into the institution of the parliament (parlamentum publicum).
The Mongol invasion of Hungary, 1241–42. Up to half of Hungary's population fell victim.
In 1241–1242, the kingdom received a major blow with the Mongol (Tatar) Invasion. Up to half of Hungary's then population of 2,000,000 were victims of the invasion. King Béla IV let Cumans and Jassic people into the depopulated country, who were fleeing the Mongols.Over the centuries they were fully assimilated into the Hungarian population.
As a consequence, after the Mongols retreated, King Béla ordered the construction of hundreds of stone castles and fortifications, to defend against a possible second Mongol invasion. The Mongols returned to Hungary in 1286, but the new built stone-castle systems and new tactics (using a higher proportion of heavily armed knights) stopped them. The invading Mongol force was defeated near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IV of Hungary. As with later invasions, it was repelled handily, the Mongols losing much of their invading force.
Age of elected kings
Main article: Ottoman–Hungarian Wars
Lands, countries kingdoms under control of Louis the Great.
The gothic-renaissance Hunyad Castle in Transylvania.
Western conquests of Matthias Corvinus.
The Kingdom of Hungary reached one of its greatest extent during the Árpádian kings, yet royal power was weakened at the end of their rule in 1301. After a destructive period of interregnum (1301–1308), the first Angevin king, Charles I of Hungary – a bilineal descendant of the Árpád dynasty – successfully restored royal power, and defeated oligarch rivals, the so called "little kings". The second Angevin Hungarian king, Louis the Great (1342–1382) led many successful military campaigns from Lithuania to Southern Italy (Kingdom of Naples), and was also King of Poland from 1370. After King Louis died without a male heir, the country was stabilized only when Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387–1437) succeeded to the throne, who in 1433 also became Holy Roman Emperor. Sigismund was also (in several ways) a bilineal descendant of the Árpád dynasty.
The first Hungarian Bible translation was completed in 1439. For half a year in 1437, there was an antifeudal and anticlerical peasant revolt in Transylvania, the Budai Nagy Antal Revolt, which was strongly influenced by Hussite ideas.
From a small noble family in Transylvania, John Hunyadi grew to become one of the country's most powerful lords, thanks to his outstanding capabilities as a mercenary commander. He was elected governor then regent. He was a successful crusader against the Ottoman Turks, one of his greatest victories being the Siege of Belgrade in 1456.
The last strong king of medieval Hungary was the Renaissance king Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490), son of John Hunyadi. His election was the first time that a member of the nobility mounted to the Hungarian royal throne without dynastic background. He was a successful military leader and an enlightened patron of the arts and learning. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles, philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second only in size to the Vatican Library. The library is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The serfs and common people considered him a just ruler because he protected them from excessive demands from and other abuses by the magnates.Under his rule, in 1479, the Hungarian army destroyed the Ottoman and Wallachian troops at the Battle of Breadfield. Abroad he defeated the Polish and German imperial armies of Frederick at Breslau (Wrocław). Matthias' mercenary standing army, the Black Army of Hungary was an unusually large army for its time, and it conquered parts of Austria, Vienna (1485) and parts of Bohemia.
Decline of Hungary (1490–1526)
Matthias died without lawful sons, and the Hungarian magnates procured the accession of the Pole Vladislaus II (1490–1516), because of his notorious weakness.Hungary's international role declined, its political stability shaken, and social progress was deadlocked.In 1514, the weakened old King Vladislaus II faced a major peasant rebellion led by György Dózsa, which was ruthlessly crushed by the nobles, led by János Szapolyai. The resulting degradation of order paved the way for Ottoman pre-eminence. In 1521, the strongest Hungarian fortress in the South, Nándorfehérvár (the Hungarian name of Belgrade, Serbia) fell to the Turks. The early appearance of Protestantism further worsened internal relations in the anarchical country.
Ottoman wars 1526–1699
Main articles: Habsburg Hungary, Ottoman Hungary, Principality of Transylvania, and Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Ottoman ravage in Hungary, in the 16th century
Women of Eger. Hungarians successfully defended the town from the Ottomans.
After some 150 years of wars with the Hungarians and other states, the Ottomans gained a decisive victory over the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, where King Louis II died while fleeing. Amid political chaos, the divided Hungarian nobility elected two kings simultaneously, János Szapolyai and Ferdinand I of the Habsburg dynasty.
With the conquest of Buda by the Turks in 1541, Hungary was divided into three parts and remained so until the end of the 17th century. The north-western part, termed as Royal Hungary, was annexed by the Habsburgs who ruled as Kings of Hungary. The eastern part of the kingdom became independent as the Principality of Transylvania, under Ottoman (and later Habsburg) suzerainty. The remaining central area, including the capital Buda, was known as the Pashalik of Buda.
Hungary around 1550, divided to three parts
In 1686, the Holy League's army, containing over 74,000 men from various nations, reconquered Buda from the Turks. After some more crushing defeats for the Ottomans in the next few years, the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule by 1718. The constrained Habsburg Counter-Reformation efforts in the 17th century reconverted the majority of the kingdom to Catholicism.
The ethnic composition of Hungary was fundamentally changed as a consequence of the prolonged warfare with the Turks. A large part of the country became devastated, population growth was stunted, and many smaller settlements perished. The main inhabitants of the Ottoman ruled area were ethnically Hungarians, hence their number was substantially diminished. The Austrian-Habsburg government settled large groups of Serbs and other Slavs in the depopulated south, allowed mass Vlach (Romanian) immigration into Transylvania and settled Germans in various areas, but Hungarians were not allowed to settle or re-settle in the south of the Great Plain.
From the 18th century to World War I
Main article: History of Hungary 1700–1919
Francis II Rákóczi, leader of the uprising against Habsburg rule.
Between 1703 and 1711 there was a large-scale uprising led by Francis II Rákóczi, who after the dethronement of the Habsburgs in 1707 at the Diet of Ónod, took power provisionally as the Ruling Prince of Hungary for the wartime period, but refused the Hungarian Crown and the title "King".The uprisings lasted for years. After 8 years of war with the Habsburg Empire, the Hungarian Kuruc army lost the last main battle at Trencsén (1708).
The Period of Reforms
István Széchenyi (the "greatest Hungarian") had an important role in the Reform Era.
During the Napoleonic Wars and afterwards, the Hungarian Diet had not convened for decades.[46] In the 1820s, the Emperor was forced to convene the Diet, which marked the beginning of a Reform Period (1825–1848, Hungarian: reformkor).
Count István Széchenyi, one of the most prominent statesmen of the country recognized the urgent need of modernization and his message got through. The Hungarian Parliament was reconvened in 1825 to handle financial needs. A liberal party emerged and focused on providing for the peasantry. Lajos Kossuth – a famous journalist at that time – emerged as leader of the lower gentry in the Parliament. A remarkable upswing started as the nation concentrated its forces on modernization even though the Habsburg monarchs obstructed all important liberal laws about the human civil and political rights and economic reforms. Many reformers (Lajos Kossuth, Mihály Táncsics) were imprisoned by the authorities.
Revolution and War of Independence
Main article: Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Sándor Petőfi reciting his Nemzeti dal (National Song) to a crowd on 15 March 1848.
Lajos Kossuth
On 15 March 1848, mass demonstrations in Pest and Buda enabled Hungarian reformists to push through a list of 12 demands. Under governor and president Lajos Kossuth and the first Prime Minister, Lajos Batthyány, the House of Habsburg was dethroned.
The Habsburg Ruler and his advisors skillfully manipulated the Croatian, Serbian and Romanian peasantry, led by priests and officers firmly loyal to the Habsburgs, and induced them to rebel against the Hungarian government. The Hungarians were supported by the vast majority of the Slovak, German and Rusyn nationalities and by all the Jews of the kingdom, as well as by a large number of Polish, Austrian and Italian volunteers.[47] In July 1849 the Hungarian Parliament proclaimed and enacted the first laws of ethnic and minority rights in the world. Many members of the nationalities gained the coveted highest positions within the Hungarian Army, like General János Damjanich, an ethnic Serb who became a Hungarian national hero through his command of the 3rd Hungarian Army Corps.
Initially, the Hungarian forces (Honvédség) defeated Austrian armies. To counter the successes of the Hungarian revolutionary army, Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph I asked for help from the "Gendarme of Europe", Czar Nicholas I, whose Russian armies invaded Hungary. This made Artúr Görgey surrender in August 1849. The leader of the Austrian army, Julius Jacob von Haynau, became governor of Hungary for a few months, and ordered the execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad, leaders of the Hungarian army, as well as Prime Minister Batthyány in October 1849. Lajos Kossuth escaped into exile.
Following the war of 1848 – 1849, the whole country was in "passive resistance".
[edit]Austria–Hungary 1867–1918
Main article: Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
King Charles IV of Hungary, with Zita and Crown Prince Otto.
Because of external and internal problems, reforms seemed inevitable and major military defeats of Austria forced the Habsburgs to negotiate the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, by which the dual Monarchy of Austria–Hungary was formed. This Empire had the second largest area in Europe (after the Russian Empire), and it was the third most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). The two realms were governed separately by two parliaments from two capital cities, with a common monarch and common external and military policies. Economically, the empire was a customs union. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph I was crowned as King of Hungary.
The era witnessed an impressive economic development. The formerly backward Hungarian economy became relatively modern and industrialized by the turn to the 20th century, although agriculture remained dominant until 1890. In 1873, the old capital Buda and Óbuda were officially united with Pest, thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest.
Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. The GNP per capita grew roughly 1.45% per year from 1870 to 1913. The growth was even substantially higher in the hungarian language area of the country.That level of growth compared very favorably to that of other European nations such as Britain (1.00%), France (1.06%), and Germany (1.51%). Many of the state institutions and the modern administrative system of Hungary were established during this period.
[edit]World War I 1914–1918
Main article: Hungary in World War I
Hungarian built dreadnought class battleship SMS Szent István at Pula (military dock)
After the Assassination in Sarajevo, the Hungarian prime minister István Tisza and his cabinet, the only one in Europe to do so, tried to avoid the outbreak and escalating of a war in Europe, but their diplomatic efforts were unsuccessful.
Austria–Hungary drafted 9 million (fighting forces: 7.8 million) soldiers in World War I (over 4 million from the Kingdom of Hungary) on the side of Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey. The Central Powers conquered Serbia. Romania declared war. The Central Powers conquered Southern Romania and the Romanian capital Bucharest. In 1916 Emperor Franz Joseph died, and the new monarch Charles IV sympathized with the pacifists. With great difficulty, the Central powers stopped and repelled the attacks of the Russian Empire.
The Eastern front of the Allied (Entente) Powers completely collapsed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire then withdrew from all defeated countries. On the Italian front, the Austro-Hungarian army made no progress against Italy after January 1918. Despite great Eastern successes, Germany suffered complete defeat on the more important Western front.
By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated (strikes in factories were organized by leftist and pacifist movements) and uprisings in the army had become commonplace. In the capital cities, the Austrian and Hungarian leftist liberal movements (the maverick parties) and their leaders supported the separatism of ethnic minorities. Austria-Hungary signed a general armistice in Padua on 3 November 1918. In October 1918, Hungary's union with Austria was dissolved.
Between the World Wars 1918–1941
Main articles: Hungary between the two world wars and Hungarian interwar economy
Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary (1920–1944)
With the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost 72% of its territory, its sea ports in Croatia, and 3,425,000 ethnic Hungarians found themselves separated from their motherland.
Majority Hungarian areas detached from Hungary
The success of the 1918 Aster Revolution in Budapest brought Mihály Károlyi to power as prime minister and later the president of the first republic of Hungary. a devotee of Entente. Károlyi ordered the full disarmament of Hungarian Army, thus Hungary remained without national defense.
Romania took control over Transylvania and other parts of eastern Hungary, Czechoslovakia took control over the northern parts (also known as Upper Hungary), and a joint Serbian and French army took control over the southern parts. These territories had a majority population of the respective occupying nations, however territories were occupied further than the ethnical borderlines, so each had significant Hungarian population as well. The post-War Entente backed the subsequent annexations of these territories.
In March 1919, the Communists took power in Hungary. In April, Béla Kun proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Kun's government, like its immediate predecessor, proved to be short-lived. This was despite some initial military successes against the Czechoslovakian Army.
On 4 June 1920, the Treaty of Trianon was signed, which established new borders for Hungary. Hungary lost 71% of its territory and 66% of its population. About one-third of the ethnically Hungarian population (3.4 of 10 million Hungarians) became minorities in neighbouring countries. The new borders separated Hungary's industrial base from its sources of raw materials, and Hungary also lost its only sea port at Fiume (today Rijeka). The revision of the Treaty of Trianon rose to the top of Hungary's political agenda. Some wanted to restore the full pre-Trianon area, others only the ethnically Hungarian majority territories.
Rightist Hungarian military forces, led by the former Austro-Hungarian Admiral Miklós Horthy, entered Budapest in the wake of the Romanian army's departure and filled the vacuum of state power. In January 1920, elections were held for a unicameral assembly. Admiral Horthy was elected Regent, thereby formally restoring the monarchy to Hungary. However, there would be no more kings of Hungary despite attempts by the former Habsburg ruler Charles IV to return to his former seat of power. Horthy ruled as Regent until 16 October 1944. Hungary remained a parliamentary democracy. But after 1932, autocratic tendencies gradually returned as a result of Nazi influence and the Great Depression.
[edit]World War II 1941–1945
Main articles: Hungary during World War II and Soviet occupation of Hungary
Hungary 1941–44
The Germans and Italians granted back to Hungary a part of southern Czechoslovakia and Subcarpathia in the First Vienna Award of 1938, and then northern Transylvania in the Second Vienna Award of 1940. In 1941, the Hungarian army took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia, regaining some more territories. On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa; Hungary joined the German effort and declared war on the Soviet Union, and formally entered World War II on the side of the Axis Powers. In late 1941, the Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front experienced success at the Battle of Uman. By 1943, after the Hungarian Second Army suffered extremely heavy losses at the River Don, the Hungarian government sought to negotiate a surrender with the Allies. In 1944, as a result of this duplicity, German troops occupied Hungary in what was known as Operation Margarethe. Miklós Horthy made a token effort to disengage Hungary from the war, but he was replaced by a puppet government under the pro-German Prime Minister Ferenc Szálasi of the Arrow Cross Party.
The Széchenyi Chain Bridge (foreground) and the Buda Castle (background) in ruins during the Siege of Budapest
In late 1944, Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front again experienced success at the Battle of Debrecen, but this was followed immediately by the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the Battle of Budapest. During the German occupation in May–June 1944, the Arrow Cross Party and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz. The Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg managed to save a considerable number of Hungarian Jews by giving them Swedish passports, but when the Soviets arrived, he was arrested as a spy and disappeared. Rudolf Kastner (original spelling Kasztner), one of the leaders of the Hungarian Aid and Rescue Committee, negotiated with senior SS officers such as Adolf Eichmann to allow a number of Jews to escape in exchange for money, gold, and diamonds. Other diplomats also organized false papers and safe houses for Jews in Budapest and hundreds of Hungarian people were executed by the Arrow Cross Party for sheltering Jews.
The war left Hungary devastated destroying over 60% of the economy and causing huge loss of life. Many Hungarians, including women and children, were brutally raped, murdered and executed or deported for slave labour by Czechoslovaks, Soviet Red Army troops,Yugoslavs (mostly Serbian partisans and regular units)— by the end of the war approximately 500,000–650,000 people.[citation needed]
On 13 February 1945, the Hungarian capital city surrendered unconditionally. By the agreement between the Czechoslovakian president Edvard Beneš and Joseph Stalin, wild expulsions of Hungarians from Czechoslovakia and Slovaks from Hungary started. 250,000 ethnic Germans were also transferred to Germany pursuant to article XIII of the Potsdam Protocol of 2 August 1945.
The territories regained with the Vienna Awards and during World War II, were again lost by Hungary with the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947.
Communist era 1947–1989
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Main articles: Republic of Hungary (1946–1949), People's Republic of Hungary, and Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Vandalised head of the toppled Stalin Monument during the Revolution of 1956
Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied all of the country and through their influence Hungary gradually became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union.
An estimated 2,000 people were executed and over 100,000 were imprisoned. Approximately 350,000 officials and intellectuals were purged from 1948 to 1956.Many people, freethinkers and democrats, were secretly arrested and taken to inland or foreign concentration camps without any judicial sentence. This was the deportation of some 600,000 Hungarians to Soviet labour camps after the Second World War and the death of at least 200,000 in captivity.
Rákosi followed a militarist, industrialising and war compensation economic policy, the people of Hungary saw living standards fall. The rule of the Rákosi government was nearly unbearable for Hungary's war-torn citizens. This led to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Hungary's temporary withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. The multi-party system was restored by Prime Minister Imre Nagy. Soviets and Hungarian political police (ÁVH) shot at peaceful demonstrators in which many demonstrators died throughout the country, by this they created a nationwide uprising.
Spontaneous revolutionary militias fought against the Soviet Army and the fearful communist secret police (ÁVH) in Budapest. The roughly 3,000-strong Hungarian resistance fought Soviet tanks using Molotov cocktails, and machine-pistols. The immense Soviet preponderance suffered heavy losses, and by 30 October most Soviet troops had withdrawn from Budapest to garrisons in the Hungarian countryside.
On 4 November 1956, the Soviets retaliated massively with military force, sending in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks.During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed, nearly all during the Soviet intervention. Nearly a quarter of a million people left the country during the brief time that the borders were open in 1956.
Kádár Era 1956–1988
See also: Goulash Communism
János Kádár (a minister of the revolution who applied for the task while in Moscow in captivity) declared his and the newly founded Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party's government's legitimacy during the invasion. During the takeover, Kádár led an attack against revolutionaries. 21,600 mavericks (democrats, liberals, reformist communists alike) were imprisoned, 13,000 interned, and 400 killed. Imre Nagy, the legal Prime Minister of the country, was condemned to death. Kádár introduced new planning priorities, consumer goods and food were produced in greater volumes, military production was reduced to one tenth of the pre-revolutionary level. This was followed by the NEM in 1968 introducing free market elements. From the 1960s through the late 1980s, Hungary was often satirically referred to as "the happiest barrack" within the Eastern bloc.
As a result of the relatively high standard of living, more liberalised economy, less oppressed press and less restricted travel rights than those in force elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc, Hungary was generally considered one of the better countries in which to live in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
The third Hungarian Republic 1989–present
See also: Revolutions of 1989 and 2006 protests in Hungary
Choose, please! – A 1990 political poster by Fidesz, depicting Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker performing a traditional and widely known communist-style kiss-greeting and a kissing young couple.
In June 1988, 30,000 demonstrated against Romania's communist Regime plans to demolish Transylvanian villages. In March 1989, for the first time in decades, the government declared the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution a national holiday. Opposition demonstrations filled the streets of Budapest with more than 75,000 marchers. Premier Károly Grósz met Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow, who condoned Hungary's moves toward a multi-party system and promised that the USSR would not interfere in Hungary's internal affairs. The Opposition Round Table Consultations with the representatives of the government, which was founded for the stated goal of introducing multi-party democracy, market economy and change of power, and defining its characteristics, started its sessions. In May, Hungary began taking down its barbed wire fence along the Austrian border – the first tear in the Iron Curtain.
June brought the reburial of former Prime Minister Imre Nagy, executed after the 1956 Revolution, drawing a crowd of 250,000 at the Heroes' Square. The last speaker, 26-year-old Viktor Orbán, publicly called for Soviet troops to leave Hungary. In September Foreign Minister Gyula Horn announced that East German refugees in Hungary would not be repatriated but would instead be allowed to go to the West. The resulting exodus shook East Germany and hastened the fall of the Berlin Wall. On 23 October, Mátyás Szűrös declared Hungary a republic.
The majorities in the decisive bodies of the state party agreed to give up their monopoly on power, paving the way for free elections in March 1990. The party's name was changed from the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party to simply the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and a new programme advocating social democracy and a free-market economy was adopted. This was not enough to shake off the stigma of four decades of autocratic rule, however, and the 1990 election was won by the centre-right Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), which advocated a gradual transition towards capitalism. The liberal Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), which had called for much faster change, came second and the Socialist Party trailed far behind. As Gorbachev looked on, Hungary changed political systems with scarcely a murmur and the last Soviet troops left Hungary in June 1991. In coalition with two smaller parties, the MDF provided Hungary with sound government during its hard transition to a full market economy.
The economic changes of the early 1990s resulted in declining living standards for most people in Hungary. In 1991 most state subsidies were removed, leading to a severe recession exacerbated by the fiscal austerity necessary to reduce inflation and stimulate investment. This made life difficult for many Hungarians, and in the May 1994 elections the Hungarian Socialist Party led by former Communists won an absolute majority in parliament.
All three main political parties advocated economic liberalisation and closer ties with the West. In 1997 in a national referendum 85% voted in favour of Hungary joining the NATO, which followed two years later. In 1998, the European Union began negotiations with Hungary on full membership. Hungary voted in favour of joining the EU, and became a member on the 1st of May 2004.
Geography
The Danube Bend is a curve of the Danube near the city of Visegrád. The Transdanubian Mountains lie on the right bank (left side of the picture), while the North Hungarian Mountains on the left bank (right side of the picture).
Main article: Geography of Hungary
See also: List of national parks of Hungary
Carpathian-Basin
Hills in Baranya county
Great Hungarian Plain
Sunset by Lake Balaton
Hungary lies between latitudes 45° and 49° N, and longitudes 16° and 23° E.
Slightly more than one half of Hungary's landscape consists of flat to rolling plains of the Pannonian Basin: the most important plain regions include the Little Hungarian Plain in the west, and the Great Hungarian Plain in the southeast. The highest elevation above sea level on the latter is only 183 metres (600 ft).
Transdanubia is a primarily hilly region with a terrain varied by low mountains. These include the very eastern stretch of the Alps, Alpokalja, in the west of the country, the Transdanubian Mountains, in the central region of Transdanubia, and the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Mountains in the south. The highest point of the area is the Írott-kő in the Alps, at 882 metres (2,894 ft).
The highest mountains of the country are located in the Carpathians: these lie in the North Hungarian Mountains, in a wide band along the Slovakian border (highest point: the Kékes at 1,014 m/3,327 ft).
Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the Danube (Duna); other large rivers include the Tisza and Dráva, while Transdanubia contains Lake Balaton, a major body of water. The largest thermal lake in the world, Lake Hévíz (Hévíz Spa), is located in Hungary. The second largest lake in the Pannonian Basin is the artificial Lake Tisza (Tisza-tó).
Phytogeographically, Hungary belongs to the Central European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Hungary belongs to the ecoregion of Pannonian mixed forests.
Hungary has 10 national parks, 145 minor nature reserves and 35 landscape protection areas.
Climate
Hungary has a continental climate, with hot summers with low overall humidity levels but frequent rainshowers and mildly cold snowy winters. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). Temperature extremes are about 41.9 °C (107.4 °F) on 20 jul 2007 at Kiskunhalas in the summer and −35 °C (−31.0 °F) on 16 feb 1940 Miskolc-Görömbölytapolca in the winter. Average high temperature in the summer is 23 °C (73.4 °F) to 28 °C (82 °F) and average low temperature in the winter it is −3 °C (27 °F) to −7 °C (19 °F). The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 mm (23.6 in). A small, southern region of the country near Pécs enjoys a reputation for a Mediterranean climate, but in reality it is only slightly warmer than the rest of the country and still receives snow during the winter.
Hungary is ranked sixth in an environmental protection index by GW/CAN.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Hungary
The Hungarian Parliament in Budapest
The President of the Republic, elected by the members of the National Assembly every five years, has a largely ceremonial role, but he is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and his powers include the nomination of the Prime Minister who is to be elected by a majority of the votes of the Members of Parliament, based on the recommendation made by the President of the Republic.
By the Hungarian Constitution, based on the post-WWII Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Prime Minister has a leading role in the executive branch as he selects Cabinet ministers and has the exclusive right to dismiss them (similarly to the competences of the German federal chancellor). Each cabinet nominee appears before one or more parliamentary committees in consultative open hearings, survive a vote by the Parliament and must be formally approved by the president.
The unicameral, 386-member National Assembly (Országgyűlés) is the highest organ of state authority and initiates and approves legislation sponsored by the Prime Minister. Its members are elected for a four year term. 176 members are elected in single-seat constituencies, 152 by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies, and 58 so-called compensation seats are distributed based on the number of votes "lost" (i.e., the votes that did not produce a seat) in either the single-seat or the multi-seat constituencies. The election threshold is 5%, but it only applies to the multi-seat constituencies and the compensation seats, not the single-seat constituencies.
An 11-member Constitutional Court has power to challenge legislation on grounds of unconstitutionality.
Political Parties
Main article: List of political parties in Hungary
Military
Main article: Military of Hungary
Hungarian Ground Forces welcome the President of the United States. Mounted hussars can be seen along the top.
The Military of Hungary, or "Hungarian Armed Forces" currently has two branches, the "Hungarian Ground Force" and the "Hungarian Air Force". The Hungarian Ground Force (or Army) is known as the "Corps of Homeland Defenders" (Honvédség). This term was originally used to refer to the revolutionary army established by Lajos Kossuth and the National Defence Committee of the Revolutionary Hungarian Diet in September 1848 during the Hungarian Revolution.
Hussar: A type of irregular light horsemen was already well established by the 15th century in medieval Hungary. Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry created in Hungary[76] in the 15th century and used throughout Europe and even in America since the 18th century. Some modern military units retain the title 'hussar' for reasons of tradition.
[edit]Administrative divisions
Main articles: Counties of Hungary, Regions of Hungary, and Subregions of Hungary
See also List of historic counties of Hungary
Administratively, Hungary is divided into 19 counties. In addition, the capital (főváros), Budapest, is independent on any county government. The counties and the capital are the 20 NUTS third-level units of Hungary.
The counties are further subdivided into 174 (1 January 2011.) subregions (kistérségek), and Budapest is its own subregion. Since 1996, the counties and City of Budapest have been grouped into 7 regions for statistical and development purposes. These seven regions constitute NUTS' second-level units of Hungary.
Regions of Hungary with their regional centres
There are also 23 towns with county rights (singular megyei jogú város), sometimes known as "urban counties" in English (although there is no such term in Hungarian). The local authorities of these towns have extended powers, but these towns belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units.
Regions
Western Transdanubia
Southern Transdanubia
Central Transdanubia
Central Hungary
Northern Hungary
Northern Great Plain
Southern Great Plain
Counties (county seats)
Bács-Kiskun (Kecskemét)
Baranya (Pécs)
Békés (Békéscsaba)
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (Miskolc)
Csongrád (Szeged)
Fejér (Székesfehérvár)
Győr-Moson-Sopron (Győr)
Hajdú-Bihar (Debrecen)
Heves (Eger)
Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok (Szolnok)
Komárom-Esztergom (Tatabánya)
Nógrád (Salgótarján)
Pest (Budapest)
Somogy (Kaposvár)
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg (Nyíregyháza)
Tolna (Szekszárd)
Vas (Szombathely)
Veszprém (Veszprém)
Zala (Zalaegerszeg)
Budapest, capital
[edit]Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Hungary
[edit]Economy
Main article: Economy of Hungary
Hungarian National Bank
Hungary held its first multi-party elections in 1990, following four decades of Communist rule, and has succeeded in transforming its centrally planned economy into a market economy. Both foreign ownership of and foreign investment in Hungarian firms are widespread. Hungary needs to reduce government spending and further reform its economy in order to meet the 2020 target date for accession to the euro zone.
Highest value banknote of the Hungarian Forint (obverse)
Hungary has continued to demonstrate economic growth as one of the newest member countries of the European Union (since 2004). The private sector accounts for over 80% of GDP. Hungary gets nearly one third of all foreign direct investment flowing into Central Europe, with cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than US$185 billion since 1989. It enjoys strong trade, fiscal, monetary, investment, business, and labor freedoms. The top income tax rate is fairly high, but corporate taxes are low. Inflation is low, it was on the rise in the past few years, but it is now starting to regulate. Investment in Hungary is easy, although it is subject to government licensing in security-sensitive areas. Foreign capital enjoys virtually the same protections and privileges as domestic capital. The rule of law is strong, a professional judiciary protects property rights, and the level of corruption is low.
The Hungarian economy is a medium-sized, structurally, politically, and institutionally open economy in Central Europe and is part of the EU single market. Like most Eastern European economies, it experienced market liberalisation in the early 1990s as part of a transition away from communism.
Today, Hungary is a full member of OECD and the World Trade Organization.
OECD was the first international organization to accept Hungary as a full member in 1996, after six years of successful cooperation.
History of the Hungarian Economy
Hungarian economy prior to the transition
The Hungarian economy prior to World War II was primarily oriented toward agriculture and small-scale manufacturing. Hungary's strategic position in Europe and its relative high lack of natural resources also have dictated a traditional reliance on foreign trade. For instance, its largest car manufacturer, Magomobil (maker of the Magosix), produced a total of a few thousand units. In the early 1950s, the communist government forced rapid industrialization after the standard Stalinist pattern in an effort to encourage a more self-sufficient economy. Most economic activity was conducted by state-owned enterprises or cooperatives and state farms. In 1968, Stalinist self-sufficiency was replaced by the "New Economic Mechanism", which reopened Hungary to foreign trade, gave limited freedom to the workings of the market, and allowed a limited number of small businesses to operate in the services sector.
Although Hungary enjoyed one of the most liberal and economically advanced economies of the former Eastern bloc, both agriculture and industry began to suffer from a lack of investment in the 1970s, and Hungary's net foreign debt rose significantly—from $1 billion in 1973 to $15 billion in 1993—due largely to consumer subsidies and unprofitable state enterprises. In the face of economic stagnation, Hungary opted to try further liberalization by passing a joint venture law, instating an income tax, and joining the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. By 1988, Hungary had developed a two-tier banking system and had enacted significant corporate legislation which paved the way for the ambitious market-oriented reforms of the post-communist years.
Transition to a market economy
Duna Tower
After the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet satellites had to transition from a one-party, centrally planned economy to a market economy with a multi-party political system. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc countries suffered a significant loss in both markets for goods, and subsidizing from the Soviet Union. Hungary, for example, "lost nearly 70% of its export markets in Eastern and Central Europe." The loss of external markets in Hungary coupled with the loss of Soviet subsidies left "800,000 unemployed people because all the unprofitable and unsalvageable factories had been closed." Another form of Soviet subsidizing that greatly affected Hungary after the fall of communism was the loss of social welfare programs. Because of the lack of subsidies and a need to reduce expenditures, many social programs in Hungary had to be cut in an attempt to lower spending. As a result, many people in Hungary suffered incredible hardships during the transition to a market economy. Following privatization and tax reductions on Hungarian businesses, unemployment suddenly rose to 12% in 1991 (it was 1.7% in 1990 ), gradually decreasing until 2001. Economic growth, after a fall in 1991 to −11.9%, gradually grew until the end of the 1990s at an average annual rate of 4.2%. With the stabilization of the new market economy, Hungary has experienced growth in foreign investment with a "cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than $60 billion since 1989."
Megyeri Bridge
The Antall government of 1990–94 began market reforms with price and trade liberation measures, a revamped tax system, and a nascent market-based banking system. By 1994, however, the costs of government overspending and hesitant privatization had become clearly visible. Cuts in consumer subsidies led to increases in the price of food, medicine, transportation services, and energy. Reduced exports to the former Soviet bloc and shrinking industrial output contributed to a sharp decline in GDP. Unemployment rose rapidly to about 12% in 1993. The external debt burden, one of the highest in Europe, reached 250% of annual export earnings, while the budget and current account deficits approached 10% of GDP. The devaluation of the currency (in order to support exports), without effective stabilization measures, such as indexation of wages, provoked an extremely high inflation rate, that in 1991 reached 35% and slightly decreased until 1994, growing again in 1995. In March 1995, the government of Prime Minister Gyula Horn implemented an austerity program, coupled with aggressive privatization of state-owned enterprises and an export-promoting exchange raw regime, to reduce indebtedness, cut the current account deficit, and shrink public spending. By the end of 1997 the consolidated public sector deficit decreased to 4.6% of GDP—with public sector spending falling from 62% of GDP to below 50%—the current account deficit was reduced to 2% of GDP, and government debt was paid down to 94% of annual export earnings.
The Government of Hungary no longer requires IMF financial assistance and has repaid all of its debt to the fund. Consequently, Hungary enjoys favorable borrowing terms. Hungary's sovereign foreign currency debt issuance carries investment-grade ratings from all major credit-rating agencies, although recently the country was downgraded by Moody's, S&P and remains on negative outlook at Fitch. In 1995 Hungary's currency, the Forint (HUF), became convertible for all current account transactions, and subsequent to OECD membership in 1996, for almost all capital account transactions as well. Since 1995, Hungary has pegged the forint against a basket of currencies (in which the U.S. dollar is 30%), and the central rate against the basket is devalued at a preannounced rate, originally set at 0.8% per month, the Forint is now an entirely free-floating currency. The government privatization program ended on schedule in 1998: 80% of GDP is now produced by the private sector, and foreign owners control 70% of financial institutions, 66% of industry, 90% of telecommunications, and 50% of the trading sector.
Kőröshegy-Viaduct
After Hungary's GDP declined about 18% from 1990 to 1993 and grew only 1%–1.5% up to 1996, strong export performance has propelled GDP growth to 4.4% in 1997, with other macroeconomic indicators similarly improving. These successes allowed the government to concentrate in 1996 and 1997 on major structural reforms such as the implementation of a fully funded pension system (partly modelled after Chile's pension system with major modifications), reform of higher education, and the creation of a national treasury. Remaining economic challenges include reducing fiscal deficits and inflation, maintaining stable external balances, and completing structural reforms of the tax system, health care, and local government financing. Recently, the overriding goal of Hungarian economic policy has been to prepare the country for entry into the European Union, which it joined in late 2004.
Hungarian Police HQ (Police Palace)
Prior to the change of regime in 1989, 65% of Hungary's trade was with Comecon countries. By the end of 1997, Hungary had shifted much of its trade to the West. Trade with EU countries and the OECD now comprises over 70% and 80% of the total, respectively. Germany is Hungary's single most important trading partner. The US has become Hungary's sixth-largest export market, while Hungary is ranked as the 72nd largest export market for the U.S. Bilateral trade between the two countries increased 46% in 1997 to more than $1 billion. The U.S. has extended to Hungary most-favored-nation status, the Generalized System of Preferences, Overseas Private Investment Corporation insurance, and access to the Export-Import Bank.
With about $18 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) since 1989, Hungary has attracted over one-third of all FDI in central and eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union. Of this, about $6 billion came from American companies. Foreign capital is attracted by skilled and relatively inexpensive labor, tax incentives, modern infrastructure, and a good telecommunications system.
By 2006 Hungary’s economic outlook had deteriorated. Wage growth had kept up with other nations in the region; however, this growth has largely been driven by increased government spending. This has resulted in the budget deficit ballooning to over 10% of GDP and inflation rates predicted to exceed 6%. This prompted Nouriel Roubini, a White House economist in the Clinton administration, to state that "Hungary is an accident waiting to happen."
Hungarian economy today
Hungary is a member of the Schengen Area and the EU single market.
Hungary, as a member state of the European Union may seek to adopt the common European currency, the Euro. To achieve this, Hungary would need to fulfill the Maastricht criteria.
In foreign investments, Hungary has seen a shift from lower-value textile and food industry to investment in luxury vehicle production, renewable energy systems, high-end tourism, and information technology.
The austerity measures introduced by the government are in part an attempt to fulfill the Maastricht-criteria.
The austerity measures include a 2% rise in social security contributions, half of which is paid by employees, and a large increase in the minimum rate of sales tax (levied on food and basic services) from 15 to 20%.
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office reported a decrease in real wages in the first five months of 2007. Gross average income rose by 7%, while net average income increased by 1%. When adjusted for inflation, this corresponded to a 7% decline compared with real wages a year before. The drop was due mainly to the 2006 austerity package; however, state measures to combat the black economy may also have had an impact on pay developments.
Hungary's low employment rate remains a key structural handicap to achieving higher living standards. The government introduced useful measures in the key areas, namely early retirement, disability and old pensions.
2008–2009 financial crisis
Hungary, which joined the European Union in 2004, has been hit hard by the late-2000s recession because of its heavy dependence on foreign capital to finance its economy and has one of the biggest public deficits in the EU.
On 10 October 2008, the Forint dropped by 10%. Many loans are made in Euro or Swiss Francs in Hungary.
On 27 October 2008, Hungary reached an agreement with the IMF and EU for a rescue package worth about US$20 billion.
Total government spending is high. Many state-owned enterprises have not been privatized. Business licensing is a problem, as regulations are not applied consistently.According to the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, Hungary's economy was 67.2% "free" in 2008, which makes it the world's 43rd-freest economy. Its overall score is 1% lower than last year, partially reflecting new methodological detail. Hungary is ranked 25th out of 41 countries in the European region, and its overall score is slightly lower than the regional average.
Magyar Suzuki plant in Esztergom, Hungary has over 6000 employees. (As of 2007)
The Hungarian sovereign debt's credit rating is BBB+ as of October 2008. However Standard & Poor's may downgrade Hungary's BBB+ sovereign credit rating because of mounting financial-sector funding pressures and their potential to raise general government debt materially from its current level of 67% of GDP (October 2008). Economic reform measures such as health care reform, tax reform, and local government financing are being addressed by the present government.
General government net lending was 9.2% in 2006, instead of estimated 10.1% (but still the largest in Europe) because of the austerity program of the government, and was 5.5% in 2007, and recent estimates of the government says 4% in 2008.[citation needed]
Audi TT sports car manufactured by Audi in Győr.
Because of the large austerity program, the real growth of the incomes was negative in 2007 at −5.5%, and the estimates say 1% increase in 2008. The GDP growth was only 1.4% in 2007, much lower than in 2006 because of the decreased government spending; in first quarter of 2008 the GDP growth was 1.7%, slightly stronger than last quarter of 2007 (0.9%). During the second quarter in 2008, the GDP growth was 2.0% annual, and because of the effects of the 2008 financial crisis on the Hungarian forint and on the bank system, the 3rd quarter growth was slowed to 0.8% annual.The estimates for 2009 are 1–1.5% decline.
The 2008 financial crisis hit Hungary mainly in October 2008. When the Forint declined quickly against the euro, the Hungarian National Bank raised interest rates from 3.0% to 11.5% on 22 October. As the Hungarian Government asked financial rescue package worth $25.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the World Bank, promising to IMF that recalculate the 2009 budget, as Hungary's GDP declines 1.0%, and slow down government spending, for example, stop the wage increase for state workersThis way, the budget gap decline to 2.6% down from 5.5% of GDP in 2007 and will meet Maastricht criteria. In this circumstances, more and more economists estimate, that Hungary can join the ERM II, which gives the possibility that Hungary can adopt the euro 2 years after joining the ERM-II monetary system.
Education
In the year 1276 the university of Veszprém was destroyed by the troops of Péter Csák and it was never rebuilt. A university was established in Pécs 1367. Sigismund established a university at Óbuda in 1395. Another, Universitas Istropolitana, was established 1465 in Pozsony by Mattias Corvinus. Nagyszombat University was founded in 1635 and moved 1777 to Buda and is today called Eötvös Loránd University. A university was founded 1872, in Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoca), Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary. After the territorial losses following the first world war, the universities from Pozsony (today Bratislava Slovakia) and Kolozsvár (today Cluj, Romania) were transferred to respectively Pécs and Szeged.
Science and technology
Albert Szent-Györgyi, discoverer of vitamin C.
The world's first institute of technology was founded in Selmecbánya, Kingdom of Hungary (today Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia) in 1735. Its legal successor is University of Miskolc in Hungary. The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) is considered the oldest institute of technology in the world with university rank and structure. Its legal predecessor was founded in 1782 by Emperor Joseph II.
Important names in physics are Joseph Petzval, Roland von Eötvös who discovered the weak equivalence principle (one of the corner-stones in Einsteinian relativity), Rado von Kövesligethy who discovered laws of black body radiation before Planck and Wien. Hungary is famous for its excellent mathematics education which has trained numerous outstanding scientists. Famous Hungarian mathematicians include János Bolyai, designer of modern geometry (non-Euclidian geometry) in 1831. Paul Erdős, famed for publishing in over forty languages and whose Erdős numbers are still tracked; and John von Neumann, Quantum Theory, Game theory a pioneer of digital computing and the key mathematician in the Manhattan Project. Many Hungarian scientists, including Zoltán Bay, Victor Szebehely (gave a practical solution to the three-body problem, Newton solved the two-body problem), Mária Telkes, Imre Izsák, Erdős, von Neumann, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller emigrated to the US. The other cause of scientist emigration was the Treaty of Trianon, by which Hungary, dimished by the treaty, became unable to support large-scale, costly scientific research; therefore[citation needed] some Hungarian scientists made valuable contributions in the United States. Thirteen Hungarian or Hungarian-born scientists received the Nobel Prize: von Lenárd, Bárány, Zsigmondy, von Szent-Györgyi, de Hevesy, von Békésy, Wigner, Gábor, Polányi, Oláh, Harsányi, and Herskó. All emigrated, mostly because of persecution of communist and/or fascist regimes. Names in psychology are János Selye founder of Stress-theory and Csikszentmihalyi founder of Flow- theory.Some highly actual internationally well-known figures of today include: mathematician László Lovász, physicist Albert-László Barabási, physicist Ferenc Krausz, biochemist Árpád Pusztai and the highly controversial former NASA-physicist Ferenc Miskolczi, who denies the green-house effect. According to Science Watch: In Hadron research Hungary has most citations per paper in the world. In 2011 neurologists György Buzsáki, Tamás Freund and Péter Somogyi were awarded one million Euro with the "Brain Prize" (Dk) for ".. brain circuits involved in memory..."
Hungarian invention
Rubik's cube
The English word "coach" came from the Hungarian kocsi ("wagon from Kocs" referring to the village in Hungary where coaches were first made).
Wolfgang von Kempelen invented a manually operated speaking machine in 1769.
János Irinyi invented the noiseless match.
In 1827 Ányos Jedlik created the first device to contain the three main components of practical direct current motors: the stator, rotor and commutator.
David Schwarz invented and designed the first flyable rigid airship (aluminium-made). Later, he sold his patent for German Graf Zeppelin.
Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri and Károly Zipernowsky invented the transformer in 1885.
(Ottó Bláthy) invented the Turbogenerator and Wattmeter.
Telephone exchange (Tivadar Puskás), József Galamb was the inventor of many parts of the Ford Model T and co-developer of the assembly line, the Tungsten electric bulb (1904) (with Sándor Just) and the krypton electric bulb.
(Imre Bródy), weak equivalence principle and surface tension
Loránd Eötvös, Electronic Television and camera-tube (1926) and Plasma TV (1936) (Kálmán Tihanyi),
József Mihályi was co-designer or designer and inventor for KODAK the following cameras: Kodak Ekstra, Kodak Medalist, Kodak Super Six-20 and Kodak Bantam Special.[
Béla Barényi designed the Volkswagen Beetle and is the father of passive safety in automobiles.
Ferenc Anisits created the modern diesel engine.
Vitamin C and the first artificial vitamin Albert Szent-Györgyi
Mathematical tools to study fluid flow and mathematical background of supersonic flight and inventor of swept-back wings "father of Supersonic Flight" (Theodore Kármán)
Ramjet propulsion Albert Fonó, Turboprop propulsion by (György Jendrassik)
(Leó Szilárd): nuclear chain reaction (therefore he was the first who realized the feasibility of an "atomic bomb".
Prezi, a web-based presentation application and storytelling tool, developed by Adam Somlai-Fischer and Peter Halacsy in 2007.
In August 1939, Szilard approached his old friend and collaborator Albert Einstein and convinced him to sign the Einstein–Szilárd letter, lending the weight of Einstein's fame to the proposal. The letter led directly to the establishment of research into nuclear fission by the U.S. government and ultimately to the creation of the Manhattan Project. Szilárd, with Enrico Fermi, patented the nuclear reactor).
Other notable Hungarian inventions include holography (Dennis Gabor), the ballpoint pen (László Bíró), thermonuclear fusion and the theory of the hydrogen bomb (Edward Teller), and the BASIC programming language (John Kemeny, with Thomas E. Kurtz), Low level laser therapy or "light therapy" (Endre Mester). Ferenc Pavlics was one of two co-developers of NASA Apollo Lunar rover. Antal Bejczy developed Mars Rover Sojourner. Rubik's cube was created by (Ernő Rubik). ArchiCAD, 3-D software was developed by Bojár (1987). Charles Simonyi was chief-architect at Microsoft and oversaw the creation of Microsoft's flagship Office suite of applications Gömböc, a new geometrical body, was invented in 2006 by Hungarian scientists Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi. Dániel Rátai invented the three dimensional monitor: Leonard3Do. The three dimensional scanner microscope 3D Alba (international patent in 2007) was developed by Katona Gergely and Rózsa Balázs[
Transport
Main article: Transport in Hungary
Keleti Railway Station, Budapest.
Hungary has a highly developed road, railway, air and water transport system. Budapest, the capital of the state, serves as an important node in the public transport network; a common Hungarian expression is "all roads lead to Budapest", echoing the classical adage "all roads lead to Rome".
Motorways in Hungary
The Hungarian railway system is centralized around Budapest; the three main railway stations are Eastern (Keleti), Western (Nyugati) and Southern (Déli), with other outlying stations like Kelenföld. Of the three, the Southern is the most modern but the Eastern and the Western are more decorative and architecturally impressive. Other important railway stations countrywide include Szolnok (the most important railway junction outside Budapest), Tiszai Railway Station in Miskolc and the stations of Pécs, Győr, Szeged and Székesfehérvár.
Four Hungarian cities (Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc and Szeged) have tram networks.
In Budapest there is also a suburban rail service in and around the city, operated under the name HÉV.
Hungary has a total length of approximately 1,314 km (816.48 mi) motorways (Hungarian: autópálya). New motorway sections are being added to the existing network, which already connects many major economically important cities to the Capital City.
M3 motorway
The most important port is Budapest, the capital. Other important ones include Dunaújváros and Baja.
There are 43–45 airports in Hungary, including smaller, unpaved landing fields. (1999 est.) The five international ones are Budapest-Ferihegy, Debrecen Airport, Sármellék Airport (also called FlyBalaton for its proximity to Lake Balaton, Hungary's number one tourist attraction), Győr-Pér and Pécs-Pogány. MALÉV Hungarian Airlines operates flights to over 60, mostly European cities.
The Budapest Metro (Hungarian: budapesti metró) is the second-oldest underground metro system in the world, and its iconic Line 1 (dating from 1896) was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002. It consists of three lines, each designated by a number and a colour. Metro Line 4 is currently under construction; the first section is to begin operation in 2011. A fifth line has also been included in medium to long-term plans. The rush hours are between 6 and 8 am and between 2 and 5 pm on workdays, when trains run every two or three minutes. Early morning and night trains run every 10 or 15 minutes.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Hungary
Due to migrations and significant territorial changes, the demographics of Hungary have significantly fluctuated over time. In modern times, Hungary has become an ethnically homogeneous state. According to the 2001 Hungarian Census, Hungarians constituted 92.3%, whilst the largest minority are the Roma people (1.9%).
Ethnic composition of Hungary
(census 2001)
Hungarians
92.3%
Roma
1.9%
Germans
0.6%
Others
5.2%
[edit]Language
Present-day regions in Europe where the Hungarian language is spoken.
The Old Hungarian script, the so-called "Rovás alphabet" The country switched to using the Latin language and alphabet under king saint Stephen (reigned: 997–1038), and until as late as 1844, Latin remained the official language of Hungary
For 93.6% of the population, the mother language is Hungarian, a Uralic language unrelated to any neighboring language and distantly related to Finnish and Estonian. The main minority group are the Roma. Other groups include: Germans, Slovaks, Croats and Bunjevcis, Romanians, Ukrainians, Serbs and Slovenes.[ A fringe theory that is well-known is that the Hungarian language is a descendant of Sumerian. Some linguists and historians (like Ida Bobula, Ferenc Badiny Jós, dr Tibor Baráth and others) have published this theory. There are some artifacts which they claim support this view (like the Tartaria tablets). Mainstream linguists reject the Sumerian theory as pseudoscience. Hungarian has often been claimed to be related to Hunnish, since Hungarian legends and histories show close ties between the two peoples; also, the name Hunor is preserved in legends and (along with a few Hunnic-origin names, such as Attila) is still used as a given name in Hungary. Many people share the belief that the Székelys, a Hungarian ethnic group living in Romania, are descended from the Huns.
Religion
See also: History of the Jews in Hungary
In the Eurostat – Eurobarometer poll of 2005, 44% of Hungarians answered that they believed there is a God, 31% answered they believed there is some sort of spirit or life force, and 19% that they do not believe there is a God, spirit, nor life force.
Religious affiliation in Hungary (2001)
Denominations Population % of total
Catholicism 5,558,901 54.5
Roman Catholics 5,289,521 51.9
Greek Catholics 268,935 2.6
Protestantism 1,985,576 19.5
Calvinists 1,622,796 15.9
Lutherans 304,705 3.0
Baptists 17,705 0.2
Unitarians 6,541 0.1
Other Protestants 33,829 0.3
Orthodox Christianity 15,298 0.1
Other Christians 24,340 0.2
Judaism 12,871 0.1
Other religions 13,567 0.1
Total religions 7,610,553 74.6
No religion 1,483,369 14.5
Did not wish to answer 1,034,767 10.1
Unknown 69,566 0.7
total 10,198,315 100.00
The majority of Hungarians became Christian in the 11th century. Hungary's first king, Saint Stephen I, took up Western Christianity, although his mother, Sarolt, was baptized in the Eastern Rite. Hungary remained predominantly Catholic until the 16th century, when the Reformation took place and, as a result, first Lutheranism, then soon afterwards Calvinism, became the religion of almost the entire population.
In the second half of the 16th century, however, Jesuits led a successful campaign of counterreformation among the Hungarians. The Jesuits founded educational institutions, including Péter Pázmány Catholic University, the oldest university that still exists in Hungary, but organized so-called missions too in order to promote popular piety. By the 17th century, Hungary had once again become predominantly Catholic.[citation needed]
Some of the eastern parts of the country, however, especially around Debrecen ("the Calvinist Rome"), still have significant Protestant communities. Orthodox Christianity in Hungary has been the religion mainly of some national minorities in the country, notably, Romanians, Rusyns, Ukrainians, and Serbs.[citation needed]
Hungary has been the home of a sizable Armenian Catholic community as well. They worship according to the Armenian Rite, but they have united with the Catholic Church under the primacy of the Pope.
Faith Church, one of Europe's largest Pentecostal churches, is also located in Hungary. Faith Church accepts the results and spiritual, moral values of both early Christianity and the Reformation, as well as other revival movements serving the progress of the Christian faith. Based on the 1% tax designation to churches, Faith Church is the fourth most supported church in Hungary. The weekly Sunday service of the Church is regularly broadcast in live television.[citation needed]
Hungary has historically been home to a significant Jewish community, especially since the 19th century when many Jews, persecuted in Russia, found refuge in the Kingdom of Hungary. Most Jewish people live in the centre of Budapest, especially in district VI. The largest synagogue in Europe is located in Budapest.[citation needed]
The census of January 1941 found that 6.2% of the population, i.e. 846,000 people, were considered Jewish according to the racial laws of that time. From this number, 725,000 were Jewish by religion.Some Hungarian Jews were able to escape the Holocaust during World War II, although most (perhaps 550,000) were either deported to concentration camps or murdered by the Hungarian Arrow Cross fascists.
Urbanization
Budapest
Debrecen
Szeged
Rank City County Population Metropolitan area view · talk · edit
Miskolc
Pécs
Győr
Nyíregyháza
1 Budapest Budapest 1,721,556 2,503,205
2 Debrecen Hajdú-Bihar 207,270 237,888
3 Szeged Csongrád 169,731 201,307
4 Miskolc Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén 169,226 216,470
5 Pécs Baranya 157,680 179,215
6 Győr Győr-Moson-Sopron 130,478 182,776
7 Nyíregyháza Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg 117,832 -
8 Kecskemét Bács-Kiskun 112,233 -
9 Székesfehérvár Fejér 101,973 -
10 Szombathely Vas 79,513 -
11 Szolnok Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok 74,885 -
12 Tatabánya Komárom-Esztergom 70,333 -
13 Kaposvár Somogy 67,633 -
14 Békéscsaba Békés 64,787 -
15 Érd Pest 63,669 -
16 Veszprém Veszprém 63,405 -
17 Zalaegerszeg Zala 61,774 -
18 Sopron Győr-Moson-Sopron 59,036 -
19 Eger Heves 56,429 -
20 Nagykanizsa Zala 50,540 -
Education
Main article: Education in Hungary
Culture
Main article: Culture of Hungary
Architecture
See also: List of Hungarian architects
Eszterháza, the "Hungarian Versailles"
Hungary is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Great Synagogue), the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath), one of the largest basilicas in Europe (Esztergom Basilica), the second largest territorial abbey in the world (Pannonhalma Archabbey), and the largest Early Christian Necropolis outside Italy (Pécs).
Notable architectural styles in Hungary include Historicism and Art Nouveau, or rather several variants of Art Nouveau. In contrast to Historicism, Hungarian Art Nouveau is based on the national architectural characteristics. Taking the eastern origins of the Hungarians into account, Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), the most important figure in Hungarian Art Nouveau, was initially inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture, and later by traditional Hungarian decorative designs. In this way, he created an original synthesis of architectural styles. By applying them to three-dimensional architectural elements, he produced a version of Art Nouveau that was specific to Hungary.
Museum of Applied Art: This Art Nouveau building was built to the plans of Ödön Lechner.
Turning away from the style of Lechner, yet taking inspiration from his approach, the group of "Young People" (Fiatalok), which included Károly Kós and Dezsö Zrumeczky, were to use the characteristic structures and forms of traditional Hungarian architecture to achieve the same end.
Besides the two principal styles, Budapest also displays local versions of trends originating from other European countries. The Sezession from Vienna, the German Jugendstil, Art Nouveau from Belgium and France, and the influence of English and Finnish architecture are all reflected in the buildings constructed at the turn of the century. Béla Lajta initially adopted Lechner's style, subsequently drawing his inspiration from English and Finnish trends; after developing an interest in the Egyptian style, he finally arrived at modern architecture. Aladár Árkay took almost the same route. István Medgyaszay developed his own style, which differed from Lechner's, using stylised traditional motifs to create decorative designs in concrete. In the sphere of applied arts, those chiefly responsible for promoting the spread of Art Nouveau were the School and Museum of Decorative Arts, which opened in 1896.
Foreigners are often surprised, but a great portion of the citizens live in old and architecturally valuable buildings. In Budapest downtown area almost all the buildings are about hundred years old, with thick walls, high ceiling and motives on the front wal
Music
Main article: Music of Hungary
Hungarian State Opera House
The music of Hungary consists mainly of traditional Hungarian folk music and music by prominent composers such as Liszt (widely considered the greatest classical pianist ever), who together with Bartók is considered as the two greatest Hungarian composers. Other composers of international renown are Dohnányi, Franz Schmidt, Zoltán Kodály, Gabriel von Wayditch, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, László Lajtha, Franz Lehár, Imre Kálmán, Sándor Veress and Rózsa. Hungarian traditional music tends to have a strong dactylic rhythm, as the language is invariably stressed on the first syllable of each word. Hungary also has a number of internationally renowned composers of contemporary classical music, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kodály and Zoltán Jeney among them. One of the greatest Hungarian composers, Béla Bartók was also among the most significant musicians of the 20th century. His music was invigorated by the themes, modes, and rhythmic patterns of the Hungarian and neighboring folk music traditions he studied, which he synthesized with influences from his contemporaries into his own distinctive style.
Ferenc Liszt
Hungary has made many contributions to the fields of folk, popular and classical music. Hungarian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity and continues to play a major part in Hungarian music. Hungarian folk music has been significant in former country parts that belong – since the 1920 Treaty of Trianon – to neighboring countries such as Romania, Slovakia, southern Poland and especially in southern Slovakia and the Transylvania: both regions have significant numbers of Hungarians. After the establishment of a music academy led by Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt Hungary produced an important number of art musicians:
Pianists: Ernö von Dohnányi, Ervin Nyíregyházi, Andor Földes, Tamás Vásáry, Géza Anda, György Cziffra, Edward Kilényi, Balint Vazsonyi, András Schiff, Zoltán Kocsis, Dezsö Ránki, Jenö Jandó and others.
Violists: Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Jenö Hubay, Jelly d'Arányi, Joseph Szigeti, Sándor Végh, Emil Telmanyi, Zathurecky, Zsigmondy, Franz von Vecsey, Zoltán Szekely, Tibor Varga and newcomers Antal Szalai, Vilmos Szabadi, Kristóf Baráti (b. 79) and others.
Opera singers: Astrid Varnay, József Simándy, Julia Varady, Julia Hamari, Kolos Kováts (Bluebeard in Bartoks Bluebeard)
Conductors: Eugene Ormandy, George Szell, Antal Doráti, János Ferencsik, Fritz Reiner, sir Georg Solti, István Kertész, Ferenc Fricsay, Zoltán Rozsnyai, Sándor Végh, Arpad Joó, Ádám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kocsis, Tamás Vásáry, Gilbert Varga and others
String Quartets: Budapest Quartet, Hungarian Quartet, Végh Quartet, Takács Quartet, Kodály Quartet, Eder Quartet, Festetics Quartet,
Béla Bartók, another prominent Hungarian composer
Broughton claims that Hungary's "infectious sound has been surprisingly influential on neighboring countries (thanks perhaps to the common Austro-Hungarian history) and it's not uncommon to hear Hungarian-sounding tunes in Romania, Slovakia and southern Poland".It is also strong in the Szabolcs-Szatmár area and in the southwest part of Transdanubia, near the border with Croatia. The Busójárás carnival in Mohács is a major Hungarian folk music event, formerly featuring the long-established and well-regarded Bogyiszló orchestra.
Hungarian classical music has long been an "experiment, made from Hungarian antedecents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious musical culture [using the] musical world of the folk song".Although the Hungarian upper class has long had cultural and political connections with the rest of Europe, leading to an influx of European musical ideas, the rural peasants maintained their own traditions such that by the end of the 19th century Hungarian composers could draw on rural peasant music to (re)create a Hungarian classical style. For example, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, two of Hungary's best known composers, used folk themes in their music. Bartók collected folk songs from across Eastern Europe, including Romania and Slovakia, whilst Kodály was more interested in creating a distinctively Hungarian musical style.
During the era of Communist rule in Hungary (1944–1989) a Song Committee scoured and censored popular music for traces of subversion and ideological impurity. Since then, however, the Hungarian music industry has begun to recover, producing successful performers in the fields of jazz such as trumpeter Rudolf Tomsits, pianist-composer Károly Binder and, in a modernized form of Hungarian folk, Ferenc Sebő and Márta Sebestyén. The three giants of Hungarian rock, Illés, Metró and Omega, remain very popular, especially Omega, which has followings in Germany and beyond as well as in Hungary. Older veteran underground bands such as Beatrice from the 1980s also remain popular.
Literature
Main article: Hungarian literature
The oldest survivng Hungarian (and Uralic) poem, Old Hungarian Laments of Mary
In the earliest times Hungarian language was written in a runic-like script (although it was not used for literature purposes in the modern interpretation). The country switched to the Latin alphabet after being Christianized under the reign of Stephen I of Hungary (1000–1038).
The oldest remained written record in Hungarian language is a fragment in the founding document of the Abbey of Tihany (1055) which contains several Hungarian terms, among them the words feheruuaru rea meneh hodu utu rea, "up the military road to Fehérvár" The rest of the document was written in Latin.
The oldest remained complete text in Hungarian language is the Funeral Sermon and Prayer (Halotti beszéd és könyörgés) (1192–1195), a translation of a Latin sermon.
The oldest remained poem in Hungarian is the Old Hungarian Laments of Mary (Ómagyar Mária-siralom), also a (not very strict) translation from Latin, from the 13th century. It is also the oldest surviving Uralic poem.
Among the first chronicles about Hungarian history were Gesta Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Hungarians") by the unknown author usually called Anonymus, and Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Huns and the Hungarians") by Simon Kézai. Both are in Latin. These chronicles mix history with legends, so historically they are not always authentic. Another chronicle is the Képes krónika (Illustrated Chronicle), which was written for Louis the Great.
Chronicon Pictum
Renaissance literature flourished under the reign of King Matthias (1458–1490). Janus Pannonius, although he wrote in Latin, counts as one of the most important persons in Hungarian literature, being the only significant Hungarian Humanist poet of the period. The first printing house was also founded during Matthias' reign, by András Hess, in Buda. The first book printed in Hungary was the Chronica Hungarorum. The most important poets of the period was Bálint Balassi (1554–1594) and Miklós Zrínyi (1620–1664). Balassi's poetry shows Mediaeval influences, his poems can be divided into three sections: love poems, war poems and religious poems. Zrínyi's most significant work, the epic Szigeti veszedelem ("Peril of Sziget", written in 1648/49) is written in a fashion similar to the Iliad, and recounts the heroic Battle of Szigetvár, where his great-grandfather died while defending the castle of Szigetvár. Among the religious literary works the most important is the Bible translation by Gáspár Károli (The second Hungarian Bible translation in the history), the Protestant pastor of Gönc, in 1590. The translation is called the Bible of Vizsoly, after the town where it was first published. (See Hungarian Bible translations for more details.)
The Hungarian enlightenment took place about fifty years after the French enlightenment. The first enlightened writers were Maria Theresia's bodyguards (György Bessenyei, János Batsányi and others). The greatest poets of the time were Mihály Csokonai Vitéz and Dániel Berzsenyi. The greatest figure of the language reform was Ferenc Kazinczy. The Hungarian language became feasible for all type of scientific explanations from this time, and furthermore many new words were coined for describing new inventions.
Hungarian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of Hungary (mostly through translations into German, French and English). Some modern Hungarian authors have become increasingly popular in Germany and Italy especially Sándor Márai, Péter Esterházy, Péter Nádas and Imre Kertész. The latter is a contemporary Jewish writer who survived the Holocaust and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2002. The older classics of Hungarian literature and Hungarian poetry have remained almost totally unknown outside Hungary. János Arany, a famous 19th century Hungarian poet is still much loved in Hungary (especially his collection of Ballads), among several other "true classics" like Sándor Petőfi, the poet of the Revolution of 1848, Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Dezső Kosztolányi, Attila József and János Pilinszky. Other well-known Hungarian authors are Ferenc Móra, Géza Gárdonyi, Zsigmond Móricz, Gyula Illyés, Albert Wass and Magda Szabó.
Cuisine
Main article: Cuisine of Hungary
See also: Hungarian wine and Hungarian beer
Dobos Cake
The Hungarian cuisine is a prominent feature of the Hungarian culture, just like the art of hospitality. Traditional dishes such as the world famous Goulash (gulyás stew or gulyás soup) feature prominently. Dishes are often flavoured with paprika (ground red peppers), a Hungarian innovation. Thick, heavy Hungarian sour cream called tejföl is often used to soften the dishes flavour. The famous Hungarian hot river fish soup called Fisherman's soup or halászlé is usually a rich mixture of several kinds of poached fish. Other dishes are Chicken Paprikash, Foie gras made of goose liver, pörkölt stew, vadas, (game stew with vegetable gravy and dumplings), trout with almonds and salty and sweet dumplings, like túrós csusza, (dumplings with fresh quark cheese and thick sour cream). Desserts include the iconic Dobos Cake, Strudels (rétes), filled with apple, cherry, poppy seed or cheese, Gundel pancake, plum dumplings (szilvás gombóc), somlói dumplings, dessert soups like chilled Sour cherry soup and sweet chestnut puree, gesztenyepüré (cooked chestnuts mashed with sugar and rum and split into crumbs, topped with whipped cream). Perec and kifli are widely popular pastries.
A nicely prepared Hortobágyi palacsinta served in Sopron
The csárda is the most distinctive type of Hungarian inn, an old-style tavern offering traditional cuisine and beverages. Borozó usually denotes a cozy old-fashioned wine tavern, pince is a beer or wine cellar and a söröző is a pub offering draught beer and sometimes meals. The bisztró is an inexpensive restaurant often with self-service. The büfé is the cheapest place, although one may have to eat standing at a counter. Pastries, cakes and coffee are served at the confectionery called cukrászda, while an eszpresszó is a cafeteria.
Pálinka: is a fruit brandy, distilled from fruit grown in the orchards situated on the Great Hungarian Plain. It is a spirit native to Hungary and comes in a variety of flavours including apricot (barack) and cherry (cseresznye). However, plum (szilva) is the most popular flavour. Beer: Beer goes well with many traditional Hungarian dishes. The five main Hungarian brands are: Borsodi, Soproni, Arany Ászok, Kõbányai, and Dreher.
A cold bottle of Unicum
Wine: As Hugh Johnson says in The History of Wine, the territory of Hungary is ideal for wine-making. Since the fall of communism there has been a renaissance of Hungarian wine-making. The choice of good wine is widening from year to year. The country can be divided to six wine regions: North-Transdanubia, Lake Balaton, South-Pannónia, Duna-region or Alföld, Upper-Hungary and Tokaj-Hegyalja. Hungarian wine regions offer a great variety of style: the main products of the country are elegant and full-bodied dry whites with good acidity, although complex sweet whites (Tokaj), elegant (Eger) and full-bodied robust reds (Villány and Szekszárd). The main varieties are: Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű, Furmint, Pinot gris or Szürkebarát, Chardonnay (whites), Kékfrankos (or Blaufrankisch in German), Kadarka, Portugieser, Zweigelt, Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Merlot. The most famous wines from Hungary are Tokaji Aszú and Egri Bikavér.
Tokaji: Tokaji, meaning "of Tokaj", or "from Tokaj" in Hungarian, is used to label wines from the wine region of Tokaj-Hegyalja in Hungary. Tokaji wine has received accolades from numerous great writers and composers including Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert and Goethe; Joseph Haydn's favorite wine was a Tokaji. Louis XV and Frederick the Great tried to outdo one another in the excellence of the vintages they stocked when they treated guests like Voltaire to some Tokaji. Napoleon III, the last Emperor of the French, ordered 30–40 barrels of Tokaji for the Court every year. Gustav III, King of Sweden, never had any other wine to drink. In Russia, customers included Peter the Great and Empress Elizabeth of Russia.
Zwack Unicum: For over 150 years, a blend of 40 Hungarian herbs has been used to create the liqueur Unicum. Unicum is a bitter, dark-coloured liqueur that can be drunk as an apéritif or after a meal, thus helping the digestion. The recipe is held secret by the Zwack family.
Recreation
Lake Hévíz, It is the largest thermal lake in Europe.
Hungary is a land of thermal water. A passion for spa culture and Hungarian history have been connected from the very beginning. Hungarian spas feature Roman, Greek, Turkish, and northern country architectural elements.[citation needed]
Because of an advantageous geographical location thermal water can be found with good quality and in great quantities on over 80% of Hungary's territory. Approximately 1,500 thermal springs can be found in Hungary. There are approximately 450 public baths in Hungary.
The Romans heralded the first age of spa in Hungary, the remains of their bath complexes are still to be seen in Óbuda, to this day. The spa culture was revived during the Turkish Invasion who used the thermal springs of Buda for the construction of a number of bathhouses, some of which are still functioning (Király Baths, Rudas Baths).
In the 19th century the advancement in deep drilling and medical science provided the springboard for a further leap in bathing culture. Grand spas such as Gellért Baths, Lukács Baths, Margaret Island, and Széchenyi Medicinal Bath are a reflection of this resurgence in popularity.
Folk art
Romanesque Church in village Ócsa
Ugrós (Jumping dances): Old style dances dating back to the Middle Ages. Solo or couple dances accompanied by old style music, shepherd and other solo man's dances from Transylvania, and marching dances along with remnants of medieval weapon dances belong in this group.
Karikázó: a circle dance performed by women only accompanied by singing of folksongs.
Csárdás: New style dances developed in the 18–19th centuries is the Hungarian name for the national dances, with Hungarian embroidered costumes and energetic music. From the men's intricate bootslapping dances to the ancient women's circle dances, Csárdás demonstrates the infectious exuberance of the Hungarian folk dancing still celebrated in the villages.
Verbunkos: a solo man's dance evolved from the recruiting performances of the Austro-Hungarian army.
The Legényes: is a men's solo dance done by the ethnic Hungarian people living in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania. Although usually danced by young men, it can be also danced by older men. The dance is performed freestyle usually by one dancer at a time in front of the band. Women participate in the dance by standing in lines to the side and sing/shout verses while the men dance. Each lad does a number of points (dance phrases) typically 4 to 8 without repetition. Each point consists of 4 parts, each lasting 4 counts. The first part is usually the same for everyone (there are only a few variations).
Woman's folk Costume
It was in the beginning of the 18th century that the present style of Hungarian folk art took shape, incorporating both Renaissance and Baroque elements, depending on the area, as well as Persian Sassanide influences. Flowers and leaves, sometimes a bird or a spiral ornament, are the principal decorative themes. The most frequent ornament is a flower with a centerpiece resembling the eye of a peacock's feather.
Nearly all the manifestations of folk art practiced elsewhere in Europe also flourished among the Magyar peasantry at one time or another, their ceramics and textile being the most highly developed of all.
The finest achievements in their textile arts are the embroideries which vary from region to region. Those of Kalotaszeg in Transylvania are charming products of Oriental design, sewn chiefly in a single color – red, blue, or black. Soft in line, the embroideries are applied on altar cloths, pillow cases and sheets.
In Hungary proper Sárköz in Transdanubia and the Matyóföld in the Great Hungarian Plain produce the finest embroideries. In the Sárköz region the women's caps show black and white designs as delicate as lace and give evidence of the people's wonderfully subtle artistic feeling. The embroidery motifs applied to women's wear have also been transposed to tablecloths and runners suitable for modern use as wall decorations.
These vessels, made of black clay, reflect more than three hundred years of traditional Transdanubian folk patterns and shapes. No two are precisely alike, since all work is done by hand, including both the shaping and the decorating. The imprints are made by the thumb or a finger of the ceramist who makes the piece.
Art
Main articles: Hungarian art, Herend Porcelain, and Zsolnay
Herend Porcelain's "kinai" pattern
Founded in 1826, Herend Porcelain is one of the world's largest ceramic factories, specializing in luxury hand painted and gilded porcelain. In the mid-19th century it was purveyor to the Habsburg Dynasty and aristocratic customers throughout Europe. Many of its classic patterns are still in production. After the fall of communism in Hungary the factory was privatised and is now 75% owned by its management and workers, exporting to over 60 countries of the world.
Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacture is a Hungarian manufacturer of porcelain, pottery, ceramics, tiles, and stoneware. The company introduced the eosin glazing process and pyrogranite ceramics. The Zsolnay factory was established by Miklós Zsolnay in Pécs, Hungary, to produce stoneware and ceramics in 1853. In 1863, his son, Vilmos Zsolnay (1828–1900) joined the company and became its manager and director after several years. He led the factory to worldwide recognition by demonstrating its innovative products at world fairs and international exhibitions, including the 1873 World Fair in Vienna, then at the 1878 World Fair in Paris, where Zsolnay received a Grand Prix.
Sports
Ferenc Puskás
Only seven countries (USA, USSR, UK, France, Italy, China and Germany) have won more Summer Olympic gold medals than Hungary. At the all time total medal count for Olympic Games, Hungary reaches the 9th rank out of 211 participating nations, with a total of 465 medals. See All-time Olympic Games medal table (2008 data).
This achievement has been possible because of the Hungarians' success in water sports: in water polo the Hungarian team is the leading medal winner by a significant margin (See: Water polo at the Summer Olympics) and in swimming the men are fourth most successful overall while the women are eighth most successful overall. (See: List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men). List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women).) There has also been success in canoeing.
Some of the world's leading best Sabre (fencing) athletes have historically hailed from Hungary.
In 2009 the Hungarian national ice hockey team qualified for their first IIHF World Championship.
See also: Hungary national football team
Hungary has remarkable football history, having won three Olympic titles, finishing runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 FIFA World Cups, and third in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. Hungary revolutionized the sport in the 1950s, laying the tactical fundamentals of Total Football and dominating international football with the remarkable Golden Team which included legends like Ferenc Puskás, top goalscorer of the 20th century, whom FIFA dedicate its newest award, the Puskás Award. The side of that era has the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in the world, with 2166, and one of the longest undefeated runs in football history, remaining unbeaten in 31 games, spanning over more than 4 years and including matches such as the Match of the Century.
The post-golden age decades saw a gradually weakening Hungary, though recently there is renewal in all aspects. The Hungarian Children's Football Federation was founded in 2008, as youth development thrives. For the first time in Hungarian football's history, they hosted the 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship in Budapest and Debrecen, the first time the MLSZ staged a UEFA finals tournament. Also, the national teams have produced some surprise successes such as beating Euro 2004 winner Greece 3–2 and 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Italy 3–1Although they have not qualified for a major tournament's finals since 1986, they came semi-finalists at the 2008 European Under-19 Championship and qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup which saw their U-20 national team gaining third place to bring home Hungary's first major tournament medal in nearly half a century, feeding their hopes of a future revival.
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