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Kőszeg | |
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 Main square of Kőszeg with Sacred Heart Church | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Kőszeg Location of Kőszeg Show map of Vas County Kőszeg Kőszeg (Hungary) Show map of Hungary | |
| Coordinates:47°22′55″N16°33′08″E / 47.38191°N 16.55221°E /47.38191; 16.55221 | |
| Country |  Hungary |
| County | Vas |
| District | Kőszeg |
| Area | |
• Total | 54.66 km2 (21.10 sq mi) |
| Population (2012)[2] | |
• Total | 11,747[1] |
| • Density | 214.9/km2 (556.6/sq mi) |
| • Demonym | kőszegi |
| Population by ethnicity | |
| • Hungarians | 93.4% |
| • Germans | 3.2% |
| • Croats | 1.6% |
| • Others | 1.8% |
| Population by Religion | |
| • Roman Catholics | 72.2% |
| • Lutherans | 8.6% |
| • Atheists | 5.5% |
| • Calvinists | 2.5% |
| • Others | 11.2% |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 9730 |
| Area code | (+36) 94 |
| Website | www |
Kőszeg (Hungarian:[ˈkøːsɛɡ];Croatian:Kiseg;German:Güns[ɡʏns]ⓘ;Slovak:Kysak;Slovene:Kiseg) is a town inVas County,Hungary. The town is known for its historical character.
The origins of the onlyfree royal town in the historicalgarrison county ofVas (Eisenburg) go back to the third quarter of the thirteenth century. It was founded by theKőszegi family, a branch of theHéder clan, who had settled in Hungary in 1157AD.
Sometime before 1274Henry I and his sonIvan moved the court of the Kőszegi, a breakaway branch of the family, fromGüssing to Kőszeg (Güns). For decades, the town was the seat of the lords of Kőszeg (Güns).
Only in 1327 didCharles Robert of Anjou finally break the power of theKőszegi family in WesternTransdanubia, and a year later, in (1328), elevated the town to royal status. The town boundaries were fixed during theAnjou dynasty (1347–1381).
In 1392 the royal town became afiefdom, when the Palatinate Nicolas Garai repaid a bond paid to KingSigismund of Luxembourg by the Ellerbach family from Monyorókerék. The Garai era ended in 1441.
In 1445 the city fell to the Austrians and eventually became incorporated intoLower Austria after several attempts by the Hungarians to reclaim it, where it remained until 1647.
In the third wave of the great wars against the Turks in the sixteenth century, Kőszeg became the major flashpoint of the campaign of 1532. Between August 5–30, Grand Vizier Ibrahim led 19 major assaults against the town. Under the leadership of the town and fort ofCroatiancaptainNikola Jurišić, a small garrison of only 700–800 Hungarian,[3] Croat and German soldiers repelled an Ottoman force numbering over 100,000 soldiers in theSiege of Kőszeg.[4][5] After the final unsuccessful attack, the Turkish leadership were forced to decamp due to an uprising by theJanissaries. According to tradition, the last contingent of withdrawing troops were meant to have left the city limits around 11 o'clock. As a memorial to this historic heroism, the church clocks in the town have read 11 o'clock since 1777.
After the Turkish wars, in 1695 the garrison and surrounding areas of Kőszeg fell into the hands of theEsterházy dukes, where it remained until 1931.
The town lost its strategic importance after theRákóczi-Liberation Wars of 1703–1711. Along withSzombathely, Kőszeg was the most important fortress for thekuruc military leadership from 1705–1708, to liberate and hold onto the areas west of theRába.
The free royal town enjoyed the longest period of peace in its history during the eighteenth century. For the first time in the history of the town, there was an attempt, in 1712, to replace the population loss in the town by trying to attract colonists, and by founding Schwabendorf (Kőszegfalva).
Kőszeg had already lost its leading role in the garrison county of Vas by the mid nineteenth century. Only a few workshops survived the production crisis within theguild system during the Hungarian reformation of the early nineteenth century. The founding of public companies, societies, and the first financial institution in thecounty were the first signs of civic development in the town. Alongside the by then typical society made up of small businesses and small traders, Kőszeg developed during this time into a town of schools, sanatoria, and garrisons.
In 1677 the secondary school, Jurisics Miklós Gimnázium (JMG), was founded. It is the oldest operating International School in Hungary. The International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which most English-speaking students at the school follow, was created at the Grande Boissière campus. It is a bilingual school, with instruction in Hungarian, French, German, Italian, and English. The International School is a testing center for the U.S. college boards (SAT, ACT,etc.), as well as the British IGCSE exam.
In 2006, the Herald Tribune listed it as one of the top ten international schools in the world.[2]
According to the Good Schools Guide International, "Students receive a truly international education and as a result, leave as rounded and worldly young people.
During World War II, the Jews of Kőszeg were among the last to be deported toAuschwitz in the summer of 1944.[6] Later that yearNazis established aslave labor camp at Kőszeg, where 4,500 died of typhus.[6] With the impending arrival of theRed Army in 1945, the camp was liquidated. The camp's 2,000 survivors endured a "death march" of about 300 kilometres (190 mi) for several weeks over the Alps toEbensee.[6]
When the Red Army approached Kőszeg in March, 1945, the Hungarian commander,Béla Király, surrendered the city to spare it further destruction.[7]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(November 2011) |
Since 1992 Kőszeg is again living under a normal administrative system and a market economy. The financially feeble town is looking at options for renewal through an injection of capital from outside investors and is seeking support from government agencies and the European Union.
Kőszeg has managed to retain its natural charm and the beauty of its architecture. Only the bastion gates have been damaged significantly. The structure of the town remains unaltered.
Today Kőszeg is one of the most attractive towns inHungary and is a tourist destination. Kőszeg was awarded the Hild Prize (Hungarian architecture prize) in 1978 for preserving its architectural heritage.
Every year, it hosts the Castle Days at the castle there, commemorating and reenacting the siege byOttoman Turks on the way toVienna, in which the defenders were able to hold out.
In 1880 Kőszeg had 7,301 inhabitants with ethnic German majority (in 1495, 1715, and 1784 a German majority existed also).[8] The German citizens mainly wereLutherans, as inSopron. DuringAustro-Hungarian times the city population wasmagyarized.
After theSecond World War officially, 117 Germans were expelled,[9] but in fact more German-speaking people were deported because the town's population declined from 10,320 (in 1941) to 8,780 (in 1949). During thecommunist era the remaining Germansassimilated to theMagyars. In 2001 Kőszeg had 11,844 inhabitants, 93.4%Magyars, 3.2%Germans, 1.6%Croats. The distribution of religions were: 72.2%Roman Catholic, 8.6%Lutheran, 2.5%Calvinist, 1.1% others, 5.5%Atheist, 10.1% no answer, unknown (2001 census).
In the 21st century, the community has a mix of Germans, Hungarians, and Croatians.
Although theski jumping facility is a small one, it is the only still in use in the country.[11]
Kőszeg is a founding member of theDouzelage, a uniquetown twinning association of towns across theEuropean Union, including United Kingdom. This active town twinning began in 1991 and there are regular events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries and festivals. Other members of Douzelage are:[12]
Agros, Cyprus
Altea, Spain
Asikkala, Finland
Bad Kötzting, Germany
Bellagio, Italy
Bundoran, Ireland
Chojna, Poland
Granville, France
Holstebro, Denmark
Houffalize, Belgium
Judenburg, Austria
Marsaskala, Malta
Meerssen, Netherlands
Niederanven, Luxembourg
Oxelösund, Sweden
Preveza, Greece
Rokiškis, Lithuania
Rovinj, Croatia
Sesimbra, Portugal
Sherborne, United Kingdom
Sigulda, Latvia
Siret, Romania
Škofja Loka, Slovenia
Sušice, Czech Republic
Tryavna, Bulgaria
Türi, Estonia
Zvolen, Slovakia
Horgos, SerbiaKőszeg is also twinned with:[13]
Mödling, AustriaSenec, SlovakiaSenj, CroatiaVaihingen an der Enz, Germany
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Days before that end came for Hungary, in March 1945, Kiraly was put in charge of defending the town of Koeszeg on the Austrian border. To avoid its destruction, he surrendered to the Red Army.
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