Hungary at a Glance

7/27/2019 Hungary at a Glance

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HUNGARY AT A GLANCE

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Budapest

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Te Republic o Hungary lies at the heart o Europe in theCarpathian Basin, surrounded by the Carpathians, the Alps and theDinaric Alps, between latitudes 4548 - 4835 N and longitudes1605 58E. 1

Area: 93,036 km2

Population: 10,033,000 (009)

Population density: 108/km2

Ofcial language: Hungarian

Capital: Budapest (population: 1,700,000)

Administrative areas: 19 counties and the capital city; proportiono urban population: 67.7%. Major cities (with population over100,000): Debrecen 2 , Miskolc, Szeged 3 , Pcs 4 , Gyr 5 ,Nyregyhza, Kecskemt 6 , Szkesehrvr 7 .

Over 93% o the population are Hungarians and 99% speakHungarian. Ethnic minorities: Bulgarian, Greek, Croatian, Polish,German, Armenian, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Serbian, Slovak,Slovene, Ukrainian.

National symbols: the historic, crowned, lesser coato arms originating rom 1848, the national fag,a horizontal tricolour with red, white and greenbands o equal width, the National Anthem.

Te historic symbol representing the Kingdom o

Hungary, the Holy Crown o Hungary 8 , and itsassociated regalia except or the coronation robe, the royal sceptre, the orb and t he coronation sword, are nowexhibited in the Hungarian Parliament 9 .

National holidays:

15 March: Te start o the 1848-49 Revolution and War oIndependence, the birth o modern parliamentary democracy

0 August: celebration o the ounder o the rst State o Hungary,King Saint Stephen (ocial national holiday)

3 October: the start o the 1956 Revolution and War oIndependence, and the day o the proclamation o the Republico Hungary in 1989.

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Hungary: A Brie History

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896Te Magyars, a people rom the region

o the rivers Volga and Kama, whoselanguage is Finno-Ugric in origin,nally settle in the CarpathianBasin aer centuries o migration.

1 Te seven Magyar tribes electrpd to be their Prince. Te

House o rpd rules until 1301.

960In the 960s Prince Gza chooses Esztergom

as his permanent seat 2 , which has been anarchbishopric since the reign o his son, Stephen.

1000Te independent State o Hungary is ounded byKing Stephen (997-1038) 3 , who receives hiscrown rom the Pope in 1000, and the Kingdom oHungary becomes part o western Christendom.King Stephen is canonized soon aer his death.

10771095King Saint Ladislas 4 consolidates the HungarianState.

1222Te Golden Bull 5 containing the obligations othe king and the special privileges o the nobility isenacted by King Andrew II. Tis document orms thebasis o the Hungarian Constitution until 1848.

12411242Te Kingdom o Hungary is almost entirelydestroyed by the Mongol invasion. (A charter o145 reers to clashes near Blaptalva Abbey, 6 and the construction o the church at Jk 7 is alsointerrupted at this time.)13081382Te Angevin kings, Charles Robert (1308134) andLouis I (the Great, 134138) the latter ascendingto the Polish throne in 1370 transorm the countryinto a major power. In 1367 Louis the Great oundsHungarys rst university in Pcs.13871490

During the reign o Sigismund o Luxemburg(13871437) 8 , and more importantly, underMatthias Hunyadi (14581490) 9 the Kingdomo Hungary becomes one o Europes major powers,mustering the might o t he Black Army, Hungarysrst regular army o mercenaries. Te economysurges ahead while learning and culture fourish. Te

king owns the second largest library in the world.(Te Bibliotheca Corviniana 10 is enlisted in theUNESCO Memory o the World Register.)1526

Aer the deeat at the Battle o Mohcs by theinvading Ottoman army, Hungarys independence islost to long term Ottoman occupation, bringing anend to the countrys status as a great power.

1541Hungary is carved up between the Ottomans, theHabsburgs and the partially independent Principalityo ransylvania, which endeavours to deend theinterests o Hungarian statehood, and at the sametime becomes the cradle o Hungarian Protestantism.

First hal o the 17th centuryTe decades o the Counter-Reormation andCatholic renewal: the reconversion o the aristocracyand their vassals to the Roman Catholic aith.

1686Te control o Buda is regained by Habsburg ledorces 11 . Ottoman rule ends and Hungary becomespart o the Habsburg Empire (until 1918).17031711Te War o Independence led by the Prince oransylvania, Ferenc Rkczi II 12 , breaks outagainst Habsburg rule (One o the centres o therevolutionary movement is Srospatak.) Te War oIndependence ends in deeat or the Hungarians.

18251865Te birth o the national Reorm Movement.Te Hungarian National Anthem is written. TeHungarian Academy o Sciences is established, thebuilding o the rst permanent bridge (the ChainBridge) begins, while regulations governing rivermanagement, steam shipping and rail transport areestablished under the direction and sponsorshipo Count Istvn Szchenyi, oen reerred to as thegreatest Hungarian.

18481849

On 15 March 1848 an anti-Habsburg revolutionbreaks out in Pest. Under the premiership oCount Lajos Batthyny, the rst i ndependentGovernment o Hungary is ormed.Te dethronement o the Habsburgs is proclaimedunder the leadership o Lajos Kossuth 13 , who iselected to become Governor in 1849.A war or independence begins which the

Habsburgs are only able to suppress with the aido the Russian tsar.

18671914

Te reaty o Reconciliation is signed betweenthe Hungarians and the Habsburgs, an act indeliblylinked with chie negotiator Ferenc Dek. TeAustrian Emperor Franz Joseph is crowned king oHungary. Te dual monarchy o Austria-Hungary isestablished with Vienna and Pest-Buda as its centres.Dualistic governance is established. In 1873 thecities o Pest, Buda and buda unite under the nameBudapest. Major development ensues up until 1914.

19141918As part o the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungarytakes part in World War I as an ally o Germany, andsuers enormous human losses. Aer the war, thedual monarchy collapses.

1919

Te deeat in the war is ollowed by democratic andBolshevik revolutions.1920As a result o Hungarys peace sett lement aer WorldWar I, known as the reaty o rianon, Hungarysborders are redrawn, with the loss o two thirds o itsterritory and one third o its population.

19201944Te regency o Mikls Horthy brings economic andpolitical stability to Hungary.

19411944

With the support o Germany and Italy Hungaryregains part o its lost territory through newinternational agreements but there is a price to pay.In the spring o 1941 the Hungarian Governmentmust acquiesce in the Nazi invasion o Yugoslavia. On26 June 1941 Hungary enters World War II. Te 2ndHungarian army is sent to the Eastern Front only to becompletely destroyed in January 19 43 14 . Aer thismilitary disaster, the Hungarian leadership attempts tonegotiate with the Allied Powers. Germany respondsby occupying Hungary on 19 March 1944. Jews romthe provinces are deported. Regent Mikls Horthy isorced to resign, and the Hungarian National Socialiststake power. Te persecution o the Jews continues; inall about hal a million are sent to the death camps.During the war 40 per cent o the total wealth othe country is destroyed and almost one million oits people lose their lives, which in proportion to its

population ranks Hungarys losses as the third highestin the world. Aer World War II, Hungary alls underthe Soviet sphere o infuence.

19451955

Aer a brie multi-party democracy that lasts rom1945 to 1948, the Communists take power. In therst hal o the 1950s Mtys Rkosi imposes aStalinist dictatorship. Tousands are convicted toorced labour, tortured and even executed or theirpolitical belies.1956

As a result o the extraordinary political pressureand dissatisaction, revolution breaks out on3 October 1956 and the government declaresHungarys neutrality. Soviet intervention beginningon 4 November suppresses the revolution. 15 In thesubsequent months two hundred thousand peoplefee the country. Prime Minister Imre Nagy and otherleaders o the revolution 16 together with hundredso revolutionaries are executed.

19561988Jnos Kdr re-establishes one-party Communistrule. From the end o the 1960s he endeavoursto reconcile the Churches and the dissidentintellectuals. However, economic diculties increasein tandem with social disaection. Democraticopposition groups are ormed. At the end o the1980s Soviet Party General Secretary MikhailGorbachev introduces reorms that also open the waytowards a change o Hungarys political syst em.19891990May 1989: the dismantling o the Iron Curtain beginson the Hungarian-Austrian border. September:Hungary opens its western borders. On 3 October1989 the country is declared a Republic. In the springo 1990 the rst democratically elected multi-partyParliament convenes 17 and a new Governmentis ormed.19992010

Hungary, a member o the UN since 1955 and o theOECD since 1996, becomes a member oNAO on1 March 1999 and o the European Union on 1 May004. 18 Since 1 December 007 the country hasbeen part o the Schengen zone. In 010 quadrennialparliamentary elections are held or the sixth time.

2011For the rst six months o the year Hungary assumesthe rotating Presidency o the European Union.

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Climate

Hungary has a temperate continental climate. Te yearconsists o our distinct seasons but the weather can becapricious. Te hottest summer days are between 33Cand 38C, while in winter the temperature can all as lowas 0C to 5C.

Flora and auna

Hungarys 10 national parks, 37 nature conservationareas and 163 national reserves, covering a total o836,507 hectares (or 9 per cent o its territory) 1 playan important part in the protection o the countrysindigenous fora and auna.

Surace waters

Te countrys largest rivers are the Danube (417 km)2 and the isza (596 km) 3 . Lake Balaton 4 , the

largest o 1,00 natural and articial lakes is also CentralEuropes largest reshwater lake (596 km2, 77 km long,1.511 km wide).

Te Danube strategyAlmost all the Carpathian Basin belongs to the Danubescatchment area. Te valleys o this truly pan-Europeanriver (total length: ,860 km) 5 as well as its tributariesinterconnect diverse people, markets and cultures. It is theobjective o the EU member states o the Danube Regionto achieve greater prosperity in co-operation with all theother countries o the area. Te Hungarian governmentenvisages this area as a region o European values andsecurity with a policy promoting increased integration,improved inrastructure and greater protection romenvironmental damage within an overall approach osustainable development.

Spa waters

Hungarys medicinal and thermal water reserves, by volumesecond only to Iceland, are o outstanding importance.Te temperature o some o its mineral-rich spa waterexceeds 70C. Nearly 1,300 thermal wells are registeredtoday, 270 o which are suitable or recreational purposes.With 139 medicinal springs and over 350 acilities, health

and wellness is a booming industry. Spas can be ound allover the country, including Budapest (Gellrt Baths) 6 ,Bkrd, Debrecen, Gyula, Hajdszoboszl 7 , Harknyand Hvz 8 (whose ve hectare area o medicinalwater constitutes Europes largest thermal water lake),Mezkvesd, Srvr 9 and Zalakaros.

Geothermal treasuresHungary owes its geothermal resources to a higher thanaverage increase o temperature as we go deeper to thecentre o the Earth. Plans are being made to exploit thisgreen energy or heating.

Climate policyTe National Climate Change Strategy is the cornerstoneo Hungarys climate policy or the next 15 years. Withthe eects o rising temperatures more perceptible inthe Carpathian Basin than in many other parts o theworld, the strategy plans a major reduction in greenhousegas emissions and allocates considerable resources toexploiting renewable energy.

A Natural Advantage

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At the Foreront o Science

Te Hungarian Academy o Sciences 1

Te present day Academy evolved rom the HungarianScientic Society, established in 185 by Count IstvnSzchenyi 2 , who oered a years income rom his estatesto support the new body, which by the 1870s became thecentre o scientic lie i n Hungary. oday, in addition to theAcademys 38 research institutes and industrial researchcentres, 71 institutions o higher education orm the bedrocko public research in Hungary. Many Hungarian universitiesand colleges oer oreign language courses or overseasstudents. In 009 t he Academy hosted the World ScienceForum or the ourth time.

Famous Hungarian scholarsAlexander Csoma de Krs (1784184), author o therst ibetan-English dictionary and the ounder oibetology 3Jnos Bolyai (1801860), creator o a system o non-Euclidean geometry. Published as Appendix 4 , his workrepresents an indispensable basis or 0th-century theoriesin physicsTeodore von Krmn (18811963), the ather o supersonicaeronautics and hypersonic astronauticsAlbert Szent-Gyrgyi (18931986), who identiedVitamin C 5 Le Szilrd (18981964), who was the rst to recognise thenuclear chain reaction and the easibility o the atomic bombZoltn Bay (1900199), whose name is associated with therst radar echoes rom the MoonDennis Gabor (19001979), the inventor o holography 6 John von Neumann (19031957), the ather o the moderncomputer 7 Edward eller (18811963), who played a major role in thedevelopment o the hydrogen bomb

Inventors and their inventionsWolgang von Kempelen (17341804), the inventor o t heamous chess-playing automaton 8 Jnos Irinyi (18171895), the inventor o the noiseless andnon-explosive match 9 nyos Jedlik (18001895), the inventor o the principle othe electric motor and the dynamo 10 , who also developedequipment or the mass production o soda waterDont Bnki (185919) and Jnos Csonka (1851939),who jointly patented a petrol engine in 1888 and in 1893were the rst in the world to patent the carburettor 11 Klmn Kand (18691931), developer o electriclocomotives and solutions or the electrication othe railways 12Joseph Galamb (18811955), one o the creators o theModel Ford 13 Lszl Br (18991985), the inventor o the ballpoint penJohn George Kemeny (196199), developer o t he BASIC

programming languageKlmn ihanyi (18971947), the inventor o the precursorto the plasma V

Te abula Hungariae 14 is the rst extant map o Hungaryproduced with a special printing technology, which is thoughtto have been made by the Hungarian Lazarus Secretarus in therst hal o the 16th century.

Names and inventions today

Ern Rubik created the best game o logic, Rubiks Cube 15 ,in 1975, which has since become a symbol o the creativeHungarian intellect.Antal Bejczys main work, the Mars rover 16 , waspresented in 1997.ron Losonczi patented light transmitting glass 17 in 00.Gbor Domokos and Pter Vrkonyi created the Gmbc

18 , the rst known homogeneous object that has just onestable and one unstable point o equilibrium, in 007.Hungarys best known contemporary scientists include thebrain researcher ams Freund, the creator o the analogiccomputer ams Roska, the pharmacologist and neurologistSzilveszter E. Vizi, and the researcher o the physics onuclear collisions Jzse Plinks.

Hungarian companies o international renown include RichterGedeon Rt, the leading regional pharmaceuticals rm in

Central Europe, and Graphiso Rt, one o the worlds leadingsoware development companies in the eld o architecture.Krt Inormcibiztonsgi Rt 19 is a data recovery ventureamous all over the world. In 009 the company set up theKrt Academy, an intellectual workshop.

Te ELI-PP ProgrammeResearch inrastructure is being carried out with Hungarysinvolvement which creates impulses with an averageperormance two hundred times that o the biggest laser everbuilt or being built. Applications include curing brain tumoursand certain orms o cancer, pharmaceutical research, genestructure tests, energetics research, the transmutation oelements and neutralising nuclear waste.

Hungarys participation in EU scientic programmes

Within the ramework o EU research and development co-operation, Hungary is participating in the EUs 7th rameworkprogramme or research, technological development anddemonstration activities, which started in 007. Hungaryhas also joined the AREMIS initiative created or theenhanced support and harmonisation o research in hightechnology industries, and the ENIAC programme promotingnanoelectronics developments, the AAL programmesaccelerating innovation in inormation and communicationtechnology. Hungary is also taking part in bilateral co-operation programmes coordinated by the European Union.In 008 the EU member states decided that the Headquarterso the new European Innovation and echnology Institute

Nobel Prize winners (Hungarian and o Hungarian origin):

Philipp Lenard, Physics (1905); Robert Brny, Medicine (1914); RichardZsigmondy, Chemistry (195); Albert Szent-Gyrgyi, Medicine (1937);George de Hevesy, Chemistry (1943); Georg von Bksy, Medicine (1961);Eugene Wigner, Physics, shared (1963); Dennis Gabor, Physics (1971);Milton Friedmann, Economics (1976); Elie Wiesel, Peace (1986); JohnCharles Polnyi, Chemistry, shared (1986); John Harsnyi, Economics,shared (1994); George Olah, Chemistry (1994); Imre Kertsz, Literature(00); Avram Hershko, Chemistry, shared (004).

Inscribed in UNESCOs Memory o the World Register:

intellectual heritage o Alexander Csoma de Krs, JnosBolyais Appendix, Klmn ihanyis iconoscope, LazarusSecretaruss map abula Hungariae.

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Chapters rom Hungarian Literature

Te rst literary record 1055Te earliest surviving written Hungarian words can be ound inihany Abbeys Latin deed o oundation. However, the oldestully Hungarian text is in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer datingrom the 1190s 1 . One o the most valuable records rom theperiod is Te Legend o Saint Margaret, recounting the lie andmiracles o the daughter o King Bla IV (135170).

Renaissance poetry in Latin and Hungarian(15th16th century)Te work o the poet Janus Pannonius 2 (ar le) was knownthroughout Europe. He wrote in Latin about the beauty onature and the pleasures o lie. Blint Balassi 3 , who died aheroic death while ghting the Ottomans, wrote in his nativelanguage, thus pioneering the birth o Hungarian poetry.

Te Bible o VizsolyTe rst complete translation o the Bible into Hungarian(1590) is credited to the Calvinist minister, Gspr Kroli. 4

Baroque literatureTe origins o Baroque literature in Hungary can be traced back

to an ecclesiastical context and was characterised by religiousdisputes. One o the rst key writers was Pter Pzmny 5 ,the leader o the Catholic renewal. Te heroic Baroque styledeveloped rom Protestant literary traditions. Mikls Zrnyi, apoet and military general, was the leading gure in the struggleor independence against the Ottomans in the 17th century. Hismain work, the Peril o Sziget, is Hungarys rst national epic.

Te language reormer Ferenc Kazinczy (18th19th centuries)Troughout his career Kazinczy strove to promote the role oliterature and to revive the Hungarian language. His work aidedthe cause or national independence and the rise o the middleclasses. Picture 6 shows his mausoleum.

Te birth o the Hungarian National Anthem(22 January 1823) 7Ferenc Klcseys emotive poem Himnusz was adopted as thecountrys ocial national anthem in 1903.

Te greatest Hungarian Romantic poet Mihly VrsmartyHis works represent the dawn o patriotic political literature.He wrote an epic set in the time o the Conquest o Hungary,Te Flight o Zaln.

A martyr o the nation Sndor Pet 8

Te iconic leader o the 1848 Revolution and War oIndependence, Pet is a world renowned poet. His poemNational Song evoked the most genuine expression o thepeoples will, which inspired the masses to support reedom.

A master o ballads Jnos AranyTe most distinguished expert in the Hungarian language,Arany translated the works o Aristophanes, Horace,Shakespeare, Goethe and Byron. Te picture shows an

illustration o his ballad Consecration o the Bridge. 9

An eternal dramatic poem Te ragedy o Man 10

Imre Madchs philosophical work is a worthy companion to theliterary visions o Goethe, Byron and Victor Hugo.

Te most prolic writer Mr Jkai 11

His captivating storylines and his vivid imagination earnedJkai the title the great Hungarian storyteller. A romanticnovelist, he expressed and kept alive a eeling o national loyalty.He lived to see the publication o his Complete Works in 1894,containing one hundred volumes.

Gza Grdonyi: Eclipse o the Crescent Moon 12 One o the most popular historic novels in Hungarian literature,it chronicles the conquest o Buda (1541), the 155 invasionby the Ottomans and the heroic resistance o the deenders oEger Castle.

Ferenc Molnr: Te Paul Street Boys 13

Tis story o teenage schoolboys, set in late 19th centuryBudapest, is an account o universal human values. It has beentranslated to thirty oreign languages, and is widely read inmany schools around the world.

Nyugat an inuential literary magazine (19081941)Hungarian literature was fourishing in the rst hal o the0th century, and every major poet, critic and writer o the erapublished in this literary magazine. 14

A political revolution in poetry Endre Ady 15

His poetry expresses the trials and tribulations o the 0th-century generations by conveying the emotions o theinner soul.

Poet o the Bible, translator o Dantes Divine Comedy Mihly Babits 16

Job, Daniel, Jeremiah and Jonas are all eatured in his works. Hetranslated works by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Goethe, Shelley,Baudelaire and Julien Benda. As the editor o the literarymagazine Nyugat, he was an infuential gure o the literaryscene o the period.

Works o lasting value in all genres Dezs Kosztolnyi 17

Poet, short story writer, novelist and j ournalist, Kosztolnyiwas also translator o the works o Molire, Byron, Maupassant,Wilde and Rostand. His writing won him respect and successin Europe. His novel, Nero, the Bloody Poet, was praised byTomas Mann.

I plead my case to the clear mind Attila JzseAssuming the voice o the poor and the suering, Attila Jzseobjected to the inhumane ideas and political practice o theestablishment o his time.

Death is the ower that patience bears today Mikls Radnti 18

One o the leading 0th-century Hungarian poets, he diedduring the Holocaust along with ellow writers Gyrgy Blint,Gbor Halsz, Antal Szerb and Gyrgy Srkzi.

Te last advocate o classic Hungarian bourgeois literature Sndor MraiAn outstanding writer and thinker o the generation o post-World War II Hungarian migrs, his novel Embers 19 was abestseller in Western Europe in 00.

A sentence about yranny Gyula IllysGyula Illys, poet, essayist, dramatist, novelist and outstanding

literary translator was a leader o the internal resistance orthree decades o Communism. His poem A sentence aboutyranny, portraying the all-pervading system o tyranny in the1950s Communist regime, has become a literary icon o thedissident movement.

International recognition o modern Hungarian literature Imre KertszFatelessness, his novel about the Holocaust won him the NobelPrize or literature in 00. Picture 20 shows a scene rom thelm adaptation by Lajos Koltai.

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Pre-17th century MusicEarly music dating rom the Conquest o Hungaryconsisted o pagan ritual songs. By the middle othe 1th century, ollowing the nations adoptiono Christianity a distinctive orm o HungarianGregorian chant had evolved. Te early 13thcentury saw the rst ull codex written with stanotation, the Missale notatum o Esztergom.Trough the 15th century, Italian instrumentalchamber music was played at the court o KingMatthias. In the 16th century, the country wasunder Ottoman rule and the verse chronicle becamethe oremost genre o Hungarian secular vocalmusic. Te Reormation allowed liturgical songs tobe sung in Hungarian or the rst time. Prince PaulEsterhzy set out to create a Hungarian ecclesiasticstyle in his opus Harmonia Caelestis in 1711. Teprince ounded an orchestra in Kismarton (knowntoday as Eisenstadt, Austria), which was led byJoseph Haydn or 30 years.

Verbunkos, csardas 1

From the 16th century a olk dance known as theHeyduck dance became ashionable throughout theprovinces o the Carpathian Basin. During the early19th century the Verbunkos became very popular.Originally a recruiting dance or the army, theVerbunkos combined western orm and harmonywith traditional Hungarian dance music. TeVerbunkos dance evolved to what is known as theHungarian national dance, the Csardas.

Ferenc Erkel (18101893) 2

Te composer Ferenc Erkel combined theverbunkos style with European music. Heestablished Hungarian opera (including workssuch as Bnk bn, Hunyadi Lszl) and becamethe director o music at the Hungarian RoyalOpera House 3 upon its opening in 1884. He isalso credited or composing the music or theNational Anthem.

Franz Liszt (18111886) 4

A virtuoso pianist and composer (he wrote some1400 works, mainly or piano) Franz Liszt wasone o the greats o his era, widely acclaimedacross Europe. Te music he wrote combined

European Romanticism with Hungarian traditions.Although he spent many years abroad, his eelingso patriotism are expressed in numerous workssuch as his symphonic poem Hungaria, HungarianRhapsodies, the oratorio Te Legend o St. Elizabeth,and the Hungarian Coronation Mass (1867). He wasthe ounder and president o the Hungarian RoyalAcademy o Music (1875) 5 , which bears his nameto this day. Ferenc Erkel became the director andpiano proessor at the same institute.

Bla Bartk (18811945) 6

A composer, musicologist and pianist, Bartksmerging o modern music and traditionalHungarian melodies made him known as one othe greatest composers o 0th-century music.Among his best known works are his operaDuke Bluebeards Castle; his ballets Te WoodenPrince and Te Miraculous Mandarin, as well asDivertimento and Cantata Proana. In the course

o his work researching and collecting olk musicwith ellow composer Zoltn Kodly he amassed acollection o ourteen thousand tunes.

Zoltn Kodly (18821967) 7

A composer and researcher o olk music, heblended late Romantic traditions with the world oHungarian olk music (Psalmus Hungaricus, HryJnos, Te Spinning Room). As a music teacher hedeveloped the Kodly method, which today ormsthe basis o the musical education o children inHungary and all over the world. Trough his workcollecting olk songs partly together with BlaBartk he recorded over thirty thousand tunes.As a result o more research by the composerLszl Lajtha, who joined Bartk, Kodly and manyother olk music collectors in their work, over onehundred and y thousand Hungarian olk songshave been recorded thus ar.

Ballet

In Hungary ballets were regularly perormed inthe theatres o the palaces o aristocrats as earlyas the 18th century. Aer its opening, the OperaHouse in Budapest became the national centre ordance. Since then several companies have beenestablished and have achieved major international

success (the Pcs Ballet in 1960, the Gyr Ballet in1979 and the revived Szeged Contemporary Balletin 1989), but the Opera Houses company, theHungarian National Ballet 8 , has remained one othe oremost centres o ballet in Europe.

OperettaDrawing on Viennese traditions Hungarian operettahas established a Europe-wide reputation sincethe early 0th century through the works o JenHuszka, Ferenc Lehr and Imre Klmn.

Famous contemporary composers...Students o the Kodly School, Jen dm (1896198), Lajos Brdos (18991986) and Pl Jrdnyi(1901966), each maintained the traditions theyhad learned there, albeit in their own individualstyles. Gyrgy Ligeti (193006) produced hisworks abroad. Sndor Szokolay is known or hisdiversity o style and his operas are also renowned

abroad. Gyrgy Kurtgs work in the second hal othe 0th century is internationally recognised.

...and musiciansHungarian classical music today is hallmarked byexcellent musicians o international calibre suchas Antal Dorti (19061988) conductor, GyrgyCzira (1911994) 9 pianist, Sir George Solti(1911997) conductor, va Marton opera singer,Pter Etvs composer and conductor, ZoltnKocsis 10 conductor, pianist and composer, DezsRnki, Andrs Schi and Gergely Bognyi pianists,and Andrea Rost 11 opera singer. Celebratedensembles and orchestras include the world amousBartk String Quartet, the Festival Orchestra 12 (shown in the picture in the Palace o Arts) and theone hundred strong Gypsy Orchestra, celebrating itstwenty-h anniversary in 010.

Dance houseAcademic research has led to the dance housemovement reviving olk music and dance traditions.It has involved hundreds o thousands o youngpeople in preserving these traditions. Bla Halmosand Ferenc Seb, the ensemble Muzsiks and MrtaSebestyn 13 , Irn Lovsz and Bea Palya have allenjoyed international success.

Hungarian Music and Dance

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Te 12th-century resco o Christ in theundercrof o the church o Feldebr 1Te beginnings o Hungarian painting.

Winged altars Gothic panel paintingsTe early 16th-century altarpiece by the MasterMS depicting the meeting o the Virgin Maryand Saint Elizabeth 2 is on display in theHungarian National Gallery.

Te ather o Hungarian landscape painting

Kroly Mark the ElderWorking in Italy rom 1832, Mark becamean infuential member o the group o artistsactive in Roman Campagna. One o his amouspaintings o the Hungarian landscape is Visegrd.(Between 13231408 the town o Visegrd wasthe seat o the Hungarian kings.) 3

Te representative

o Hungarianhistoric paintingthat unitesRomanticism andAcademicism Bertalan SzkelyOne o his mainworks is Discovery

o the Dead Bodyo Louis II (aerthe disastrousBattle o Mohcsought against theOttomansin 1526). 4

A Romantic realist Mihly MunkcsyHis career spans the last three decades o the19th century. Te paintings Condemned Cell(Grand Prix, Paris Salon), Milton (Gold Medal,Paris Salon), and his Christ trilogy (or the rstpieces o which he was ennobled by EmperorFranz Joseph) brought him ame and wonHungarian ne art a reputation around theworld. Ecce Homo 5 , the third piece o histrilogy, was painted in 1896.

Te Hungarian Impressionist Pl Szinyei-Merse: Picnic in May 6 Te idea that occupied and excited the painterso the era was to capture and convey the eectso light. Swapping his studio or the openair, Szinyei-Merse creates a striking eect ounusual reshness (1873).

Te representative o Post-Impression andArt Nouveau Jzse Rippl-RnaiTe pose is ethereally light, the p osition othe hand artistic. Te elegance o his paintingWoman with a Rose 7 exquisitely presents thelate 19th-century ideal o beauty.

Te Nagybnya School o painting (18961937)Te cradle o modern Hungarian painting,which introduced naturalism and the plein air

movements. Bird Song 8 by Kroly Ferenczy,one o the schools ounders and prominentgures, is a lyrical depiction o the humanrelationship with nature.

Te lonely genius ivadar Csontvry KosztkaKosztkas travels in the Holy Land inspiredhis amous painting Te Lonely Cedar (1907).His depiction o a symbolic tree o lie can beinterpreted as a mythological sel-portrait. 9

Masterpieces o Hungarian Painting

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Hungarian Folk Art A Reection o the Magyar Soul

Te origin o Hungarian olk art

Hungarian olk art has its roots in the traditions o the ancientMagyars, which continued to dominate their descendantsmentality or centuries.Our decorative olk art is typied by spontaneity, whichmeans that rigid design does not come into play. Anothercharacteristic is rich variety created rom instinctiveassociations within strict boundaries o style. A third isthe love o fowers and a deep understanding o nature...(Dr. Istvn Kiszely: Ancient History)

Rural lie, vernacular architecture

Religion played a very important role in Hungarian village liebecause it signicantly infuenced moral standards, customsand amily lie. Yet the village church, usually occupying acentral location, had more than a religious role: it was also the

mainstay o intellectual lie. (Picture 1 shows the interioro the Romanesque church at Szalonna.) Teir architecturaleatures ollowed the great European styles, sometimes withlocal variations. Te most impressive monuments o woodenarchitecture are the bell towers and church spires, which oeninclude Gothic and Renaissance eatures. (Picture 2 showsthe Reormed church in kos, 1766.)Most 19th-century Hungarian peasant houses were single-storey buildings. (Picture 3 shows a house rom the rsgregion.) Te exterior o the building changed in accordancewith the material used. Wood, bricks or adobe were mostcommonly used or walls, while the roo was thatched with reedor straw, or had wooden shingles. An arched and columnedopen verandah was oen built in ront o the house. 4

Arteacts

From the end o the 18th century the earlier one-room peasanthouses were extended by a clean or best room 5 ,which eatured richly carved, highly ornamented, paintedurniture, ceramic dishes hung on the walls 6 and home-woven wall hangings, yet was only used on special occasions.It was in this period that womens clothing became extremelycolourul and varied.Te villages o Hungary produced a wide range o hand-embroidered arteacts 7 . Dierent styles have distinctive

characteristics and techniques, such as Bereg 8 , Buzsk,Kalocsa 9 , Maty 10 , Palc 11 , Srkz, and Szkelyembroidery. Fine examples o wood carving are the Szkelygates o ransylvania 12 , and the wooden headmarker poleso Portestant graveyards (Szatmrcseke) 13 . Te golden age oolk art lasted until the early 0th century.

Folk art today

Te internationally renowned architect Imre Makoveczhas brought together elements o Hungarian vernaculararchitecture and modern architectural design in a unique styleo his own. (Picture 14 shows one o his designs, the LutheranChurch in Siok.) Another major exponent o organicarchitecture is Gyrgy Csete, who designed the pusztaszerNational Historical Memorial Park.

Folk artists, potters, saddlers, egg decorators, embroiderers,blue dyers and gingerbread-makers oster handicratraditions. In the southern town o Mohcs Bus estivitiesare based on olk traditions going back some 00 years. Teannual parade o masked men in woolly cloaks to driveaway the winter and welcome the spring 15 was inscribedon UNESCOs list o intellectual cultural heritage in theautumn o 009.Te largest collection o classical Hungarian olk art is housedin the Museum o Ethnography in Budapest. Te SzentendreOpen Air Museum has the most important collection orural architecture. Te biggest olk art air is the Festivalo Cras held annually on 0 August in Buda Castle, inconjunction with the estivities marking the oundation o therst Hungarian state.

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Hungary a major power in sportHungary is in ninth place in the all-time Olympic rankingswith 160 gold medals, and the most successul nation not tohave hosted the Games yet. Since the 1896 Athens OlympicGames Hungarian sportsmen and -women have won a totalo 469 medals (160 gold, 145 silver and 164 bronze medals).119 o the gold medals were or individual events and 41 orteam events. In all 85 Hungarians bear the title Olympicchampion. Our Paralympic athletes have won 9 gold,34 silver and 50 bronze medals.

Te crme de la crme:Te Golden eam 1 Unbeaten between 1950 and1954, this is the best Hungary ootball team o all time.Te team won the 195 Helsinki Olympics and on5 November 1953, in the match o the century atWembley beat England, which had not previously losta home game or ninety years, by 6 goals to 3. Aer theRevolution o 1956, the team dried apart. Te legendaryFerenc Pusks, whose style o play created a school o itsown, signed up with Real Madrid. 14 In 009 the FIFAPusks Award was created in his honour it is awarded tothe scorer o the best goal each year.Te Hungary water polo team 2 Water polos mostsuccessul team, which have won the Olympics ninetimes since 198. Te team, managed by Dnes Kemny,won three Olympic golds in a row (000 Sydney, 004Athens, 008 Beijing), an unprecedented achievementin the sport.Alrd Hajs (1878-1955) Winner o the 100m and100m swimming events at the rst modern OlympicGames in 1896. Hajs also excelled as an architect.One o his best known buildings is the National SportsSwimming Complex, which bears his name.Ilona Elek (1907-1988) 3 Tree times Olympicchampion Ilona Elek was a major gure in Hungarian andinternational encing. She won the world championshipsix times between 1937 and 1956.Aladr Gerevich (19101991) Te most successulHungarian encer and sportsman o all time, Gerevich wasa Hungarian champion thirty-our times and won sevenOlympic golds in encing, including one at t he RomeOlympics in 1960 at the age o 50. Pl Kovcs (1911995) won at six Olympics and was world championin encing nine times. Aer his retirement, he becamepresident o the Hungarian Fencing Federation and later

vice-president o the International Fencing Federation.ibor Berczelly (1911990) was Olympic encingchampion three times and was chosen or the nationalteam orty-seven times. Te three men shared the rstthree places in encing at the 195 Olympic Games. 4

Rudol Krpti (190000) Six times Olympic encingchampion, including two Olympic golds in individualevents. He was a world champion in team events on sevenoccasions. He was also a virtuoso violinist, gaining adegree at the Hungarian Academy o Music.gnes Keleti (191) 5 Te most successulHungarian gymnast, gnes Keleti is a ve time Olympicchampion.Lszl Papp (196003) 6 Boxing legend LszlPapp was Olympic champion at three successive Games(1948 London, 195 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne). Aerretiring he became the Hungarian national teams headcoach. Te largest indoor sports acility in Hungary, thePapp Lszl Arena in Budapest, is named aer him.Andrs Balcz (1938) 7 Tree-time Olympic and ten-time world champion pentathlete.Gyz Kulcsr (1940) Four-time Olympic encingchampion.Rita Kbn (1965) wo-time Olympic and ten-timeworld kayak champion.ams Darnyi (1967) 8 Four-time Olympic and our-time world swimming champion.Gyrgy Kolonics (197008) 9 wo-time Olympicand een-time world champion canoeist, who diedwhile training aged 36.Krisztina Egerszegi (1974) 10 Five-time Olympicchampion swimmer. She has won twenty-three Olympic,world and European championship medals, sixteen othem gold, and 87 Hungarian champions titles. In 1991she set the 00m backstroke world record, which wasnot broken until 008. She was Sportswoman o theYear in 001.Botond Storcz (1975) and Zoltn Kammerer (1978) wereOlympic kayak champions three times. Picture 11 showsthe two-time Olympic, six-time world kayak championkos Vereckei (1977) and the two-time Olympic, three-time world kayak champion Gbor Horvth (1971).Katalin Kovcs (1976), two-time Olympic, twenty-seven-time world kayak champion, and Natasa Janics (198),three-time Olympic, een-time world kayakchampion. 12Judit Polgr (1976), the greatest emale chess player o alltime. Since the age o 1, she has been at the top o theadult womens world ranking. Her sisters Zsuzsa (1969)and Zsa (1974) won the mens titles o InternationalGrand Master and International Master respectively.

13 Teir ather Lszl Polgr demonstrated that ichildren are taught in a specialist area in a mannerappropriate or their age they can become capable othe highest achievements.

Sport Hungarys Outstanding Achievements

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A spectacular panorama o the banks o the Danube and

the Buda Castle District 1

Te Chain Bridge spanning the Danube has long become a symbolo Budapest. On the western bank -- the Buda side -- the CastleDistrict, the Gellrt Baths, and on top o Gellrt Hill, the Citadelmake their mark on the picture postcard view. Across the river, thePest bank is home to the magnicent Houses o Parliament andthe imposing building o the Hungarian Academy o Sciences .

Andrssy Avenue and its historic environs

the elegant boulevard 2

Andrssy Avenue is a 1.5 mile long boulevard leading rom thecentre o Budapest to Vrosliget (the City Park). Lined by elegantneo-Renaissance buildings, it is a true refection o late 19th centuryarchitectural splendour. Te metro running beneath the rstunderground railway in continental Europe was opened in 1896.Te old village o Hollk and its environs

a journey in time 3

A village o just a ew hundred souls set in picturesquesurroundings, Hollk has aithully preserved an image orural lie rom a bygone era. Te majority o its sixty-seven listedbuildings are single-storey peasant houses eaturing gabled roos

and street-ront verandas with ornamental piercework.

Te caves o Aggtelek karst and Slovak karst

an underground empire o stalactites 4

At 5 km in length, the BaradlaDomica cave system is thelongest temperate zone stream cave, stretching rom Hungaryacross the border to Slovakia. Tis nearly two hundred millionyear-old cave system was included on the World Heritage listupon the joint proposal o the two countries.

Benedictine Abbey o Pannonhalma and its natural environs

the rst Benedictines in Hungary 5

Te Benedictines settled on Saint Martins (Mrton) Hill in 996upon the invitation o Prince Gza. A charter issued by KingSaint Stephen in 100 species the endowments granted andalso stipulates that the Benedictines pray daily or the continuedexistence o the country. Te monks have been ollowing theKings wish ever since. Te complex o buildings includes theRomanesque crypt o the Abbey and the Gothic basilica. Its 55metre high tower is one o the best known examples o Hungarianneoclassicism. Housing over three hundred thousand volumes thelibrary now represents the worlds largest Benedictine collection.

Te Hortobgy National Park the Puszta 6

Te Puszta, Central Europes largest grassland plain (8,0 00hectares), was ormed into a perect fatland by the fooding o the

river isza and its tributaries. Te fat landscape is only brokenby a ew ancient burial mounds and the river Hortobgy. Besidesthe sweep-pole wells, the nine-arched bridge over the river hascome to symbolize the area. Te bridge, which replaced a woodenstructure, was built between 187 and 1833, and is Hungaryslongest stone road bridge.Early Christian burial chambers o Pcs

a 4th century necropolis 7

Te rst early Christian monument, the Peter-Paul burialchamber, was discovered in Pcs in 178. Since then,archaeologists have ound another 16 catacombs and severalhundred graves which belong to the 4th-century necropolis oPcs, or Sopianae, as it was called in Roma times.Te walls o the tombs are decorated by early Christian symbols(the initials o Christ, the dove, the pitcher and goblet) andbiblical scenes (Saints Peter and Paul, Adam and Eve, the TreeWise Men, and the Madonna and Child). Te rescoes andarteacts ound in the graves make Pcs, a 010 EuropeanCapital o Culture, the richest early Christian site in Europeoutside Italy.

Te cultural landscape o Lake Fert/Neusiedlersee

a paradise or waterowl8

Straddling the border o Austria and Hungary, Lake Fert is ajoint World Heritage site. It is Eurasias most western steppe lake.Its Hungarian name, ert means marshy or muddy. Most othe lakes water surace is covered with reed and its average depthis only 50-60 cm. It has no permanent shoreline and its extentcontinuously changes. Every 100 to 10 years it dries out, but onceit also submerged ve villages. Occasionally in stormy weather theunusual phenomenon o an inclined water level occurs. Duringthe migration season almost every species o European waterowlcan be ound here.okaj historic wine region the king o wines

and the wine o kings 9

In 1737 the okaj wine regi on became the worlds rst closedwine region, banning all grapes and wines rom outside the area.As a result o the combination o mineral-rich volcanic soil, thespecial microclimate and the right grape varieties (urmint, lindenlea, muscatel), noble rot aects the harvest regularly. Asz, thedessert wine made rom such grapes is the crown o okaj winesand is matured in the bottle or 8 to 10 years.Reputedly, Louis XIV oered some o this delicious beverage tothe marquise o Pompadour saying it was vinum regnum,rex vinorum, since which time it has been known as the wineo kings and the king o wines.

World Heritage Sites in Hungary

Produced by the Ministry o Foreign Afairs o the Republic o Hungary Editedbygota Bba Design byAndrs VirgvlgyiPictures: MTI Hungarian News Agency, Hungarian National Gallery, Pet Literary Museum, Dri Museum, Debrecen

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Hungary at a Glance