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SOMOGY IS ONE OF THE LARGEST COUNTY IN HUNGARY.
The beauty of its landscape, the fertility of its land, its forest
rich in game, its crystal-clear waters were often praised by
chroniclers, travellers and poets alike. The unrivalled fresh water
lake of Central Europe, lake Balaton borders it on the north and
the fast waters of the river Drava on the south. Its western and
eastern borders have been changed often in the past. Its present
surface area was established in 1950, when the region around
Szigetvár was annexed to county Baranya and a narrow strip on
the west went to county Zala. It gained a few villages from coun
ty Tolna. The county to-day measures 6036 kmz and its population
numbers 340 thousand.
People have been living here since the neolithic age. Celts,
Romans, Huns, Ostrogoths, Swedes, Longobards, Avars and the
Franks followed one another, their relics are preserved in more
than 200 Fndspots. One of the important earthwork of the Celts
and a mint stood in the outskirts of Nagyberki, while the most sig
nifcant settlements of the Romans are Tricciana (Ságvár), Iovia
(Kapospula), Silacanae (Beleg or Böhönye. Relics of the Ostrogoths
have been preserved in the burial grounds unearthed in Hács and
Béndekpuszta, while the burial places discovered in Vörs did the
same for the Longobards. Spades of the archeologists uncovered
sites containing several hundred graves of the Avars in Zamárdi.
Settling in of the Hungarians at the end of the 9th Century has
changed the aspect of this area also. In the lOth Century already,
there apppeared several service centres of the princes, among them
many iron processing works. The political power was in the hands
of Koppány, the chieftain belonging to the princely dynasty.
Between him and the saint King, King Stephen, Hungary's first party
war took place, where the stake was not only to acquire power, but
also to introduce our country into Europe. Many foreigners also par
ticipated in the battle, mainly the Knights of Bavaria. Through the
victory af St. Stephen over Koppány, Hungary could become part of
the christian circle of culture in Europe. The effect of this was quick
ly felt in the region of Somogy. Using the Frankish model also, the
county organisation was established in the l lth Century, which orig
inally reached as far as the river Sava and the first Churches also
emerged. The Benedictine Abbey founded by our King, King St.
Leslie at Somogyvár in 1091 was the intellectual centre of the coun
ty in the middle ages. Monks moved here from Saint-gilles, France,
joined by Hungarian monks in the beginning of the l3th Century,
who created a culture of European standard. Somogyvár joined by
the monastery of the Johannites in Csurgó became the workshop
also of Hungarian literature. St. Leslie touching Segesd and by cross
ing the river Drava, advanced his forces to occupy Croatia in 1091.
The conquest and the creation of the episcopate at Zagreb had
opened a gate to a newer region of Europe for county Somogy also.
Somogy became a significant transit area for commerce directed
towards the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Sea.
West side of the county from the Balaton to the Drava was taken
out of the county to provide existence for the Queens and to be
their own private estate under the management of the queens'
bailiff. This division ceased during the reign of King Sigismund.
Centre of this area became Segesd with a special status, an other
important point of attraction of Somogy as a result of the Walloon
artisans, the Franciscan monks and their markets.
The devastation of 1242 caused by the Mongols had interrupt-
ed temporarily the progress of the previous 150 years, but after the
rebuilding, county Somogy became a rich area capable of sustain
ing a large population due to its favourable geographical position,
natural endowments and the stable political conditions created by
the House of Anjou. Several hundred villages, beautiful churches
and monasteries, fishing places with clear water, large vineyards,
excellent stock of wild life and bustling towns greeted the visitors.
Even Ransanus, the humanist chronicler who arrived to Hungary
with Beatrix, the Italian born wife of Matthias Hunyadi wrote in
glowing terms about them. His contemporary was also the Provost
of Buda, László KaraT originating from county Somogy, whom king
Matthias sent as an ambassador to the Pope.
Karai had come to learn about printing in Rome and he talked
Andreas Hess, the worker of the printing works in Rome into com
ing to Hungary. Hess has fitted out his printing work on the expense
of Karai in 1471 and published the first Hungarian printed materi-
al in 1473, entitled the Chronicles of Buda.
The county's importance is witnessed by the fact that Somogy
received in 1498, first among the Hungarian Counties, the right
from King Wladislas to use a coat-of arms and seal.
Against the ílourish of the l4th-l5th Centuries, the lóth Century
is the period of decline and the l7th that of crisis. During the
Turkish occüpation, buildings of Romanesque and Gothic styles of
the Middle-ages were ruined almost completely, now only the ruins
of some of them can be seen in Ádánd, Rádpuszta, Somogyvámos,
Teleki and at Somogyvár already mentioned.
Yet, cultural progress was not broken, but rather took another
direction with the new system of values of the reformation.
Teachings of the reformation spread quickly in the county of
Somogy, which was supported by such nobles as Tamás Nádasdi
and Bálint Török. Preachers active here were those who returned
from the German and Dutch universities and represented the new,
independent type of scholars with wide intellectual horizon.
Jankovich, Niczky, Zichy, Lengyel, Perneszi, Somssich), wich were
important in the life of the county up to the middle of the 20th
Century, placed Southern Slav, Slovak and German settlers into the
deserted villages. Two Southern Slav blocks of settlement along the
river Drava as well as in the region of Nagyatád and Lengyeltóti
became stronger by the 1700's. The Croatian ethnic groups and
the Wendish fragments kept a close contact with their relatives liv
ing in Muraköz and Salvonia. Settlers from Germany began to arrive
in the 1720's, and after several waves, two large settlement blocks
were fromed by them around Szigetvár and in the region of Igal.
Most of the Germans arrived after being resettled two or three times
from the counties of Veszprém, Moson, Baranya and Tolna. They
have kept contact with their relatives living in the other counties,
mainly those in Tolna, up to the 20th Century. They did not severe
their contacts with their relatives living in the mother country
either. Many Germans living in Somogy were visited by the Council
of Governor-General in the 30's and 40's of the l9th Century about
inheritance matters from Würtenberg, Hessen and the Rhine.
Similarly to other regions in the county, the society of county
Somogy had become multi-cultural in the l8th Century. The feu
dal society was coloured by new type of inter-ethnical relationships.
Experiences gained in the vineyards, on the deforestation sites and
markets, methods of cultivation, technics used by artisans, behav
iour patterns, dressing customs, languages and manners of speech
were confronted with one another and that meant a spontaneous
increase in the knowledge for all the ethnic groups. It was the
German settlers who spread the use of vine-props, the cultivation
of tobacco and family strategies built on the rational use of work
force and thriftiness. Population of the county has almost doubled
between 1720 and 1785 and the people who remained here, togeth
er with those who were resettled, those who were new arrivals,
had turned Somogy into a civilised region by their diligent work.
They turned large areas into arable land. The region of Csököly
became famous for its potato production and the German popula
tion of Szulok were known of their excellent quality tobacco all
over the county. The hills of Zákány, Segesd, Marcali, Köröshegy
yielded fine wines and the pigs raised on the acorn of the Somogy
forests were sought after commodity on every market of the
Habsburg empire.
Among the ranks of nobility a thin layer of enlightened thinkers
emerged at the end of the l8th Century, who tried to build out a
society life of high standard in their mansions and realised the
importance of basic public education, necessary for the rise of the
nation.
High schools were founded by Görgy Festetich in Csurgó and
by Pál Somssich in Kaposvár. István Sárközy, on the other hand,
provided assistance to men of literature settled in Somogy for good
or temporarily, helping mainly Daniel Berzsenyi and Csokonai Vitéz
Mihály, the two outstanding classicists of Hungarian lyrical poetry.
Refreshing ideas and reform ambitions of the l9th Century had
initiated great changes in Somogy also. The first societies were
formed and, on the initiative of Isfván Széchenyi, the National
Casino was formed. It was due to him that horse racing and steam
ships on lake Balaton had managed to enliven the economy even
in Somogy and had a mobilising force on society and the fírst roots
of tourism becoming so important later were formed.
Medical services were modernised as well as the network of
roads. Marshes were drained, rivers regulated. Work of the chief
Most significant among them were Dévai Bíró Mátyás, Méliusz
Juhász Péter, Imre Eszéki, Szegedi Kiss István and Kálmáncsehi
Sánta Márton. Thanks to the reformed College of Kálmáncsehi, the
might of the Báthories and their large cattle markets, the town
became the county's centre of ideology and one of the most dense
ly populated town in the lóth century. Next to it, Segesd and Lábod,
two market towns of András Báthori were the places in this era
where the most people lived. Thousands of cattle changing own
ers were driven from here to Venice, Vienna and in the direction
of Southern Germany.
After the Turkish military expedition of 1543, only the western
half of the county has been left which had not suffered from for
eign rule. The fate of county Somogy was sealed with the capture
of Kaposvár and Szigetvár. According to the Turkish chronicler, the
Kapos castle was the "key to the land of the filthy Giaours." It fell
into Turkish hands on September 21, 1555 and the destiny of
Szigetvár was fulfilled on September 8, 1566.
By the end of the lóth Century, with the exception of two cas
tles, all the fortresses were captured by the Turks. Independent life
of the County ceased, it was united with Zala.
The network of settlements had been disarranged in the l7th
Century and the economy built on arable farming became impossi
ble because of the weed infested forests and water logged marsh
lands. The inhabitants found accomodation in temporary settlements
surrounded by forests and marshes, the so called "green frotresses".
Thanks to these, decrease in the number of inhabitants was not in
direct ratio with the destruction of natural and constructed envi
ronment and with the weakening of the economy. The settling in
of the Turks has brought about a unique consolidation too.
Szigetvár and Koppány became the two most significant admin
istrative - military centres and it was at that time that the position
of Marcali, Karád and Babócsa gained strength compared to the
other settlements. The wonderful Balaton has defied the tempests
of history too. Evlia Chelebi, the famous Turkish traveller wrote
about it enthusiastically: "Its waters are so clean that even if one
eats a whole lamb and drinks on it from this life giving water, one
becomes hungry again within a short time. Thus, it is a clean,
refreshing water assisting digestion. Those living on the shores
never use any soap for washing their clothes and still it becomes
white if they wash in it."
In the middle of the l7th Century one part of the County was
freed from Turkish rule temporarily. The fíghts were led by the
outstanding military leader of the era, Miklós Zrinyi, who wrote his
name into the Hungarian history of culture with his military sci-
ence works and a poem immortalising the fight of his great grand
father in defence of a castle. He was the head bailiff of the united
counties of Zala and Baranya between 1660-1664. One of his let
ters is among the most treasured relics of the Archives of Somogy
County. After the tragic death of Zrinyi, three decades had to pass
for the Holy Federation of Austrian, Polish, Italian and Hungarian
armies to drive out the Turks.
With the leadership of Louis of Baden, Kaposvár was recaptured
on November 12. The Turkish defenders of Szigetvár were forced
to give up the castle in the beginning of 1689, then with the capit
ulation of Kanizsa in 1690, Turkish occupation in our County was
over. It took more than 100 years for the settlements and the pop
ulation structure to get back into shape again. The new landown
er families (Eszterházy, Festetich, Széchenyi, Batthyány, Hunyadi
medical officer of the county, József Csorba entitled Hygiastika and
published in 1829, became a curio of the European history of pub
lic health. Its sub-title expresses the essence of the work: "medical
training, ór what has to be done in order to maintain health and
treat illnesses even until the doctor comes".
The attention of all Europe was focused on Hungary in 1848/49.
Two outstanding revolutionary personalities of our County were
Gáspár Noszlopy and László Madarász. Noszlopy as Government
Commissioner drove out the Imperials from Somogy in 1849.
After a few years as a fugitive, he organised an uprising in 1853.
He was captured and executed. The house where he was born in
Újvárfalva is a memorial place to-day. Madarász was one of the lead
ers of the left-wing radicals and Minister of Public Safety in 1849.
He lled to the United States and after being a farmer for six decades,
he died in Good Hope in 1909.
The War of Independence was lost, but the civic attitudes nes-
tled into Hungarian society and, in the second half of the l9th
Century, parallel with the successes of Italian and German unifica
tion efforts, civic values gained grounds and economic develop
ment became vigorous.
Kaposvár's development was the most spectacular. New town
districts were built, banks were formed and public savings showed
a favourable picture even on the national scale. Transport prob
lems were solved by the construction of the southern and Balaton
railways, by the building of modern roads and then by the laying
down of the Fiume railway. Market activities thus increased. From
the 1870's, apart from Kaposvár, Barcs which was the County's
gate towards Slavonia and often called the "Chicago of Somogy"
has also produced a stormy development. Its progress was broken
in two, unfortunately in 1920. Building of the sugar factory in
Kaposvár in the 1890's and the laying down of the north-south
braneh railways, gave a new impetus to the economic development
of the County.
The sugar factory is the largest food industry plant in south-east
Transdanubia which completely reshaped the structure of agricul
tural production and promoted the industrialisation of agriculture
with its enormous pulling power. On this powerful growth of agri
culture was the bathing culture, the tourism of Lake Balaton built
and this enabled Kaposvár to become next to Pécs, the cultural
centre of south-Transdanubia after World War I. By this time
Somogy did not only accept talents, but gave excellent scientist
and artists to the Hungarian and universal culture. József Fodor
received his international fame and became member of several
European Academys through his research into bacteriology and
through the organisation of modern public health. Mór Kaposi an
outstanding expert of skin diseases ~Sarcoma), was a university pro
fessor in Wien. His statue can still be seen in the assembly hall of
the university.
Aurél Bernáth, Sándor Galimberti, Mária Goszthony, Béla Iványi
Grünwald, Lajos Kunffy, Ferenc Martyn, Károly Reich, Rippl József
Rónai, Vaszary János and Zichy Mihály were all born in county
Somogy, attended all the renowned European schools of fine art
from Nagybánya through Münich to the Julian Academy of Paris.
Mihály Zichy was the court painter of the Russian Czars, taught
Grand Duchess Catherine, the niece of Nicolas I. to draw. The
Russian Academy of Arts conferred membership on him and dur
ing his European travels he came to know Kaulbach and Doré. He
was the guest of the crown-prince of England in 1871.
medical officer of the county, József Csorba entitled Hygiastika and
published in 1829, became a curio of the European history of pub
lic health. Its sub-title expresses the essence of the work: "medical
training, or what has to be done in order to maintain health and
treat illnesses even until the doctor comes".
The attention of all Europe was focused on Hungary in 1848/49.
Two outstanding revolutionary personalities of our County were
Gáspár Noszlopy and László Madarász. Noszlopy as Government
Commissioner drove out the Imperials from Somogy in 1849.
After a few years as a fugitive, he organised an uprising in 1853.
He was captured and executed. The house where he was born in
Újvárfalva is a memorial place to-day. Madarász was one of the lead
ers of the left-wing radicals and Minister of Public Safety in 1849.
He lled to the United States and after being a farmer for six decades,
he died in Good Hope in 1909.
The War of Independence was lost, but the civic attitudes nes-
tled into Hungarian society and, in the second half of the l9th
Century, parallel with the successes of Italian and German unifica
tion efforts, civic values gained grounds and economic develop
ment became vigorous.
Kaposvár's development was the most spectacular. New town
districts were built, banks were formed and public savings showed
a favourable picture even on the national scale. Transport prob
lems were solved by the construction of the southern and Balaton
railways, by the building of modern roads and then by the laying
down of the Fiume railway. Market activities thus increased. From
the 1870's, apart from Kaposvár, Barcs which was the County's
gate towards Slavonia and often called the "Chicago of Somogy"
has also produced a stormy development. Its progress was broken
in two, unfortunately in 1920. Building of the sugar factory in
Kaposvár in the 1890's and the laying down of the north-south
braneh railways, gave a new impetus to the economic development
of the County.
The sugar factory is the largest food industry plant in south-east
Transdanubia which completely reshaped the structure of agricul
tural production and promoted the industrialisation of agriculture
with its enormous pulling power. On this powerful growth of agri-
culture was the bathing culture, the tourism of Lake Balaton built
and this enabled Kaposvár to become next to Pécs, the cultural
centre of south-Transdanubia after World War I. By this time
Somogy did not only accept talents, but gave excellent scientist
and artists to the Hungarian and universal culture. József Fodor
received his international fame and became member of several
European Academys through his research into bacteriology and
through the organisation of modern public health. Mór Kaposi an
outstanding expert of skin diseases (Sarcoma), was a university pro
fessor in Wien. His statue can still be seen in the assembly hall of
the university.
Aurél Bernáth, Sándor Galimberti, Mária Goszthony, Béla Iványi
Grünwald, Lajos Kunffy, Ferenc Martyn, Károly Reich, Rippl-József
Rónai, Vaszary János and Zichy Mihály were all born in county
Somogy, attended all the renowned European schools of fine art
from Nagybánya through Münich to the Julian Academy of Paris.
Mihály Zichy was the court painter of the Russian Czars, taught
Grand Duchess Catherine, the niece of Nicolas I. to draw. The
Russian Academy of Arts conferred membership on him and dur
ing his European travels he came to know Kaulbach and Doré. He
was the guest of the crown-prince of England in 1871.
His illustrations to Goethe's Faust, to Imre Madách's The
Tragedy of Man and to the great national heroic poem of the
Georgians, Rustaveli's The Knight in Tiger Skin, made him world
famous.
The most well known painter coming from Somogy is Rippl-
Rónai József. He differs from the others also in that sense that he
was intluenced not only by his French experiences, but also those
gained in England and Scotland. James Pitcairn Knowles and
Aristide Maillol were his friends. The influence of Eduard Vuillard
can be felt on his interieurs painted between 1903-1906, with
whom he also kept contact. Among the French, he was befriend
ed by Gauguin, Bonnard, Denis and Toulouse Lautrec. Members of
the Nabis group of painters considered him one of them. Thadée
Natanson, founder of the Revue Blanche was also his friend.
An upsweep in the life of Somogy was cut by the cataclysm of
World War I. which caused the loss of 9000 men in the first World
Catastrophy. No spectacular changes occured in the period
between the World Wars, but the life of the people in the provinces
went through a quiet change. Brick works, tanneries, timber and
llax processing plants, distilleries, slaughterhouses, piggeries,
cheese and milk plants were established even in the smaller set
tlements. That is, by adhering to the trends of the dualistic era, to
the county's potentials and to the labour market, the branches of
light industry mainly processing the products of animal and plant
production developed.
Along the traditional branches of the village handicrafts, service
branches satisfying the needs of bourgeoisie also appeared, like
watch makers, upholsterers, hair dressers, hous-painters, tailors,
handicraftsmen, cobblers, electricians. The biggest achievement of
the era was, no doubt, the start of bulding out the network of elec
tricity. Sight of the villages also went through a change. In more
and more places were houses built from bricks with tiled roofs. In
the fruitful programme of Kúnó Klebersberg, the Minister for
Education, schools were built even in the small villages and wastes
difficult to reach. The spreading of the popular wireless set and
the extension of the postal network brought about an actual infor
matics explosion in the life of the village population. Trade asso
ciations, women's leagues, readers' circles were formed every
where. It was mainly in the Balaton region where casinos, sport
leagues, bathing associations were formed.
A new era has started in the bathing culture, with the most
important characteristics that holidays changed from being a sea
sonal pastime into a branch of the economy. It was in the second
half of the l9th Century when the Balaton Yacht Club (1860) the
Balaton Club (1882) were formed and the Stefania Yacht Club
(1884) began to organise sailing and rowing competitions. From
1935 onwards the International Sportsweek was organised annual
ly. Within its programme sailing, motorised boat races, tennis com
petitions, car races, horse shows, crossing the Balaton by swim
ming, water polo, pigeon shooting, petathlon and beauty compe
tition for cars were organised.
An outstanding event in the sporting life was the victory at the
1936 Olympics in the 100 m crawl by Ferenc Csik, a doctor from
Kaposvár. Most significant organisation of the cultural life of the
era was the forming of the Berzsenyi Literary and Arts Society in
1904 which went on functioning until 1949. It kept reading
evenings, organised literary celebrations, published annuals and
offered prizes. World War II. has meant an other break and took
14000 victims from Somogy. After 1945 a new age began with new
: hopes. Land reform was carried out, when several thousands
acquired their ardently desired land. But their dreams were soon
buried under the Russian style collectivization as were the chances
of democracy by the one party system. The Germans were evacu
ated, exchange of the inhabitants in Hungary's northern region was
carried out and the composition of society had gone through a
change also in Somogy. Defeating of the People's Uprising in 1956
and the execution of the Kaposvár born martyr Prime Minister,
Imre Nagy in 1958, had made even the last illusions of democracy
vanish.
Economic reforms of the 1960's, changes in the international
life had made their effect felt even in the small regions.The south
ern shores of Lake Balaton became the main artery of foreign
tourism in Hungary. By returning to rational economic traditions
of the dualistic era, a new industrial structure was created.
The milling industry, the manufacture of textiles, sugar, the pro
cessing of timber and other branches of the light industry are impor
tant to Somogy even to-day. Horse breeding, wild life and forestry
management within agriculture are stigmatic on the face of the
economy.
New and fresh dashes of colour have started to appear on the
palette of Education from the beginning of the 70's. Public collec
tions issued annuals, sets of books, organised scientific conferences,
exhibitions of high standard. The Faculty of Animal Breeding of the
Pannon University of Agrarian Sciences at Keszthely was organised
in the 80's, which became the most up to date institution of the
County. The Csiky Gergely Theatre was one of the most success
ful cultural institution of the 80's in Hungary, being at the same
time an important experimental workshop for dramatic art in Mid
Central Europe.
First half of the 90's was spent in a spirit of opening, cultural
renewal, in the implementation of an independent society and the
modernisation of technics. The Alps-Adria Co-operation widened
the County's borders, increased its international prestige. The annu
al Spring Festival organised since 1992 and the renewed activity in
the artistic life are indications that Kaposvár is on the right road to
becoming the cultural centre of southern-Transdanubia again.
Balaton is already the qualified stage of foreign tourism, Siófok
became a modern large town and an imposing palace of culture
has been built in Balatonföldvár.
Towns in the provinces are also organising more and more fes
tival programmes and village tourism offers more and more oppor
tunities. Boarding houses, restaurants, riding schools, galeries are
opening up all over the county and in summers the county's pop
ulation increases Fve fold. The whole of Somogy County with its
beautiful landscapes, places of tourism and bathing offer opportu
nities for a wide range of cultural programmes of high standard in
order that visitors coming here may enjoy themselves and want to
come back time and again.
Nagy Pál |