Everything about Debrecen totally explained
Debrecen, (approximate pronunciation, Deb-ret-sen, known by
alternative names), is the second largest city in
Hungary after
Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the
Northern Great Plain region and the capital of
Hajdú-Bihar county.
Name
The name was first mentioned by the name "Debrezun" in
1235. The name possibly comes from Slavic
dobre zliem ("good soil"). Other theories say the name is of Kuman origin. In other languages: in
Romanian Debreţin, in
German Debrezin, in
Croatian Debr(e)cin.
Location and transport infrastructure
Debrecen is located on the
Great Hungarian Plain, east of Budapest. Situated nearby is the
Hortobágy, a national park within Hungary .
The city used to be somewhat isolated from Budapest, Hungary's main transport hub. However, the new sections of motorway M3
(M35) have already significantly decreased travel times. Also, there have been improvements to the current highway (main road) and modernisation of some parts of the rail tracks between the capital and Debrecen as part of Hungary's mainly
EU-funded National Development Plan for 2004 to 2006.
Debrecen Airport (the second largest in Hungary) has recently undergone modernisation in order to take more international flights.
In the longer term, Debrecen's proximity to
Ukraine and
Romania may enable it to develop as an important trade centre and transport link for the wider international region.
For local transport in the city see
Public transport in Debrecen.
History
Before Hungarians occupied present-day Hungary, a number of different tribes lived in the area. The town came into existence by the merging of the small villages of the area.
In
1361 King
Louis I of Hungary granted the citizens of Debrecen the right to choose the town's judge and council. This opened new opportunities for the town. By the early
16th century Debrecen was an important market town. Between
1450 and
1507, it was a domain of the
Hunyadi family.
During the Ottoman period being close to the border and having no castle or city walls, Debrecen often found itself in difficult situations and the town was saved only by the diplomatic skills of its leaders. Sometimes the town was protected by the Ottoman empire, sometimes by the Catholic European rulers or by
Francis II Rákóczi, prince of
Transylvania. This led the town's citizens to be open-minded and Debrecen embraced the
Protestant Reformation quite early, earning the moniker "Calvinist Rome". At this period the inhabitants of the town were mainly Hungarian
calvinists. Debrecen became sanjak between 1541-1693 and orderly bounded to eyalets of Budin (1541-1596),
Eğri (1596-1660) and
Varat (1660-1693) as Debreçin.
In
1693 Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor elevated Debrecen to
free royal town status. In
1715, the
Roman Catholic Church returned to Debrecen, and the town gave them a place to build a church, so the Piarist monks could build the St. Anna Cathedral. By this time the town was an important cultural, commercial and agricultural centre, and many future scholars and poets attended its Protestant College (a predecessor of today's
University of Debrecen).
In
1849 Debrecen was the capital of Hungary for a short time when the Hungarian revolutionary government fled there from Pest-Buda (modern-day Budapest.) In April 1849, the dethronization of Habsburgs (neglected after the fall of the revolution) and the independence of Hungary was proclaimed here by
Louis Kossuth at the Great (Calvinist) Church (
Nagytemplom in Hungarian.) Debrecen also witnessed the end of the war of independence; the battle in which the Russians, the allies of the Habsburgs, defeated the Hungarian army was close to the western part of the town.
After the war, Debrecen slowly began to prosper again. In
1857 the railway line between Budapest and Debrecen was completed, and Debrecen soon became a railway junction. New schools, hospitals, churches, factories, mills were built, banks and insurance companies settled in the city. The appearance of the city began to improve too: with new, higher buildings, parks and beautiful villas it no longer resembled a provincial town and began to look like a modern city. In
1884 Debrecen became the first Hungarian city to have a steam tramway.
After
World War I, Hungary lost a considerable portion of its eastern territory to
Romania, and Debrecen once again became situated close to the border of the country. It was controlled by the
Romanian army for a short time in
1919. Tourism provided a way for the city to begin to prosper again. Many buildings (among them an indoor swimming pool and Hungary's first stadium) were built in the central park, the
Nagyerdő ("Big Forest"), providing recreational facilities. The building of the university was completed. The Hortobágy, a large pasture owned by the city, became a tourist attraction.
During
World War II Debrecen was almost completely destroyed, 70% of the buildings suffered damage, 50% of them were completely destroyed. A major battle, the
Battle of Debrecen, occurred near the city in October 1944. After 1944 the reconstruction began and Debrecen became the capital of Hungary for a short time once again. The citizens began to rebuild their city, trying to restore its pre-war status, but the new, Communist government of Hungary had other plans. The institutions and estates of the city were taken into public ownership. This forced change of the old system brought new losses to Debrecen; half of its area was annexed to nearby towns, and the city also lost its rights over the Hortobágy. In
1952 two new villages –
Ebes and
Nagyhegyes – were formed from former parts of Debrecen, while in
1981 the nearby village
Józsa was annexed to the city. The newly built blocks of flats provided housing for those who lost their homes during the war. In the following decades Debrecen was the third largest city of Hungary (behind Budapest and
Miskolc), and became the second largest in the 1990s when the population of Miskolc decreased.
Education
Debrecen is home to a large university,
University of Debrecen, whose main building is a widely recognized work of architecture. The university has many departments and is a major research facility in Europe.
Debrecen is the site of one of the most important choral competition,
Bela Bartok International Choir Competition, is and member cities of the
European Grand Prix for Choral Singing.
Sports
The city has a famous football club,
Debreceni VSC. Nowadays it's one of the best teams in Hungary, won the national championship in the consecutive seasons of 2004/2005, 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. The stadium, which has more than 10,000 seats, is at the Oláh Gábor street, in the City Park (Nagyerdő). The color of the team is red at home, and white when the match is away.
The city has hosted several international sporting events in the last years, for example in July 2001 the
second World Youth Championships in Athletics and in October 2006 hosted the
first IAAF World Road Running Championships and also the
2007 European SC Swimming Championships.
The city was officially an applicant city to host the inaugural
Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
Gallery
Image:Modemdebrecen12.jpg|Leonardo's Colossus
Image:Debrecensreet.jpg|Street in Debrecen
Image:DebrecenEgyetem.jpg|Universty of Debrecen
Image:DebrecenCimer.jpg|Coat of Arms
Image:Debrecen17.jpg|County House
Image:Református Kollégium.jpg|Calvinist College of Debrecen (founded in 1538)
Image:Debrecen főtér.JPG|The famous Aranybika (Golden Bull) Hotel
Image:Kölcseydebreceninhungary.jpg|Kölcsey Convention Centre
Image:Fonix.jpg|Főnix Hall
Image:Modemdebrecen11.jpg|The MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art
Image:Debrecen31.jpg|Nagyerdő (Greatwood) City Park, the first Nature Reserve in Hungary
Image:Debrecen légifotó.jpg
Places to see
Famous people
Born in Debrecen
Mihály Fazekas (1766–1828), writer
Mihály Flaskay (born 1982), breaststroke swimmer
Imre Lakatos (1922–1974), philosopher of mathematics and of science
Paul László (1900–1993), architect
Magda Szabó (1917-2007), writer
Kocsár Miklós (born 1933), composer
Zsolt Baumgartner (born 1981), Formula One driver
Lived in Debrecen
Endre Ady (1877–1919), poet
Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805) poet
Géza Hofi, (1936-2002) stand-up comedian
Sándor Szalay (1909–1987), physicist, founder of ATOMKI
Árpád Tóth (1886–1928), poet
Sister cities
Further Information
Get more info on 'Debrecen'.
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