Solymár Schaumar | |
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  Solymár Location of Solymár | |
| Coordinates:47°35′28″N18°55′44″E / 47.591°N 18.929°E /47.591; 18.929 | |
| Country |  Hungary |
| County | Pest County |
| Area | |
• Total | 17.86 km2 (6.90 sq mi) |
| Population (2005) | |
• Total | 9,455 |
| • Density | 567/km2 (1,470/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 2083 |
| Area code | 26 |
Solymár (German:Schaumar) is anurban village in northwest ofBudapest metropolitan area, bordering the 3rd and 2nd districts of the city, as well asNagykovácsi,Pilisszentiván,Pilisvörösvár,Csobánka,Pilisborosjenő, andÜröm. Its picturesque surroundings (hills to the south and east, the highest point isZsíroshegy at 424m) and good accessibility the 64, 64A, 64B, 164, 164B, 264, 157 and 964 city buses fromHűvösvölgy, 218 fromÓbuda, 831 fromPilisszántó, a train fromBudapest Nyugati andEsztergom, and coaches fromÁrpád-híd) made it a desirable destination for affluent city-dwellers moving to suburban homes outside of Budapest from the mid-1990s.[citation needed] It's historicalGerman-speaking majority wasdepopulated following theSecond World War, somenon-compulsively, and a great majority by force in a series of deportations[1], which is solemnly remembered in acommemorative monument erected in the village in 1990.[2]
The name of the village is first mentioned in a charter byBéla IV dated 5 May 1266, asSolomar. The most likely etymology of the name isHungariansolymár (more commonlysolymász): ‘falconer’, i.e., the place where the royal falconers live. (Several neighbouring villages were named similarly.) The village prospered during the following centuries and probably hosted a royal hunting castle (Szarkavár), which burnt down after 1561. The advance of theOttoman Empire left the village deserted after 1580.[3]
The village was uninhabited until the first new settlers arrived around 1700; firstSerbians andBulgarians migrated from the south, to escape the withdrawing Ottoman forces. Soon afterward came Bavarian immigrants,[4] recruited by the monarchy from Habsburg and similar southern provinces along the Danube. The Crown paid their transportation and assisted in their getting settled in Hungary; the newcomers were promised they could retain their language and religion (generallyRoman Catholic). The monarchy wanted to resettle the area and knew the Germans could restore farmlands along the Danube. Because the settlers continued to speak a form of German and maintained their cultural and religious traditions, they were calleddie Donauschwaben (Danube Swabians). Their descendants, who were citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and succeeding governments, later formed the great majority of the population in this area and called the villageSchaumar in German.
DuringWorld War II,Adolf Hitler appealed to ethnic Germans in other countries, no matter how long they had resided there. In some areas, ethnic Germans supported his program, but in many cases had loyalty to where they were living. Because part of the Nazi rationale for war was to unite all ethnic Germans and oppress and exterminate other populations, many eastern European countries, such as Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union, expelled ethnic Germans after the war. About half the population of Solymár was deported to Germany in 1946 as a collective punishment as part of that massive displacement. More than 330 households in Solymár were vacated.
The empty houses were occupied by ethnic Hungarians relocated from other parts of the country (mainlyMezőkövesd), as well as refugees fromTransylvania. In later years, ethnic Hungarians deported fromCzechoslovakia arrived. Together with the large-scale migration of people from Budapest in the past decades ofsuburbanization, ethnic Germans have become a minority of the population. Since 1990 the deportation has been commemorated; a memorial was installed at Templom tér.[5]
As of 2022, there are 11,220 residents,[7] mainly ethnic Hungarians, with a minority of ethnic Germans, mainly those who returned after the war.[8]
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