Debrecen is the third largest and second most populous settlement in
Hungary, the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county and the Debrecen district, a
city with county rights. About 38.2% of the county's population lives
here, and it is the largest city in Tiszántúl. It is sometimes referred
to as "Calvinist Rome" or "Cívisváros". It is the intellectual,
cultural, economic, tourism and transport center of the Eastern Hungary
region, the Northern Great Plain statistical region and the Tiszántúl
landscape, and it is one of the most dynamically developing cities in
Hungary.
It is first mentioned in writing in the 13th century. In
1361, Louis I gave the citizens of Debrecen the right to elect the
city's judge and council, and in addition, it was given the status of
market town and free royal city in 1693. The main source of income was
the cattle trade, animal husbandry and handicrafts. Despite the booming
economy, the buildings remained simple and the streets were barely
paved. Multi-storey buildings were rare until the 19th century. Between
1450 and 1507 Debrecen was the seat of the noble Hunyadi family. Its
name was known throughout the continent for its famous fairs and its
reformed school, which was also outstanding in European terms.
During the Ottoman occupation, near the border, without a castle or city
walls, Debrecen often found itself in a difficult situation, and the
city was saved only by the diplomatic skills of its leaders. The
openness of the city enabled the quick and early settlement of the
Reformed, which is why the Reformed bishop Péter Méliusz Juhász (ca.
1536–1572) referred to Debrecen as Calvinist Rome not long after, and it
has remained the center of Calvinism in Hungary to this day. The
Reformation was so radical here that the Catholics lost all their
churches. From 1552, only Reformed people could settle in the city. In
1693, Lipó I raised it to a free royal city, and in 1715, the Roman
Catholic Church returned to Debrecen, the city also gave them permission
to build a church, so the Piarist monks could build the St. Anne's
Cathedral. By this time, the city was already an important cultural,
commercial and agricultural center, and many future scientists and poets
attended its Protestant College founded in 1538 (the predecessor of
today's University of Debrecen and at the same time the Reformed
Theological University of Debrecen).
In 1849, Debrecen was the
capital of Hungary for a short time, when the Hungarian revolutionary
government fled here from Pest-Buda (today's Budapest) after the army of
Windisch-Grätz occupied it. On April 14, 1849, Lajos Kossuth announced
the dethronement of the Habsburgs and the independence of Hungary in the
Great Reformed Church. One of the last battles of the war of
independence also took place near Debrecen, the Russians allied with the
Habsburgs defeated the Hungarian army near the western part of the city.
During the monarchy, the construction of the Pest-Debrecen railway
line in 1857 led to an industrial boom. At that time, the School of
Natural Resources and Life Sciences and the College of Agriculture were
opened, mills, sugar, brick and tobacco factories, gas plants were
built, banks and other service providers settled in the city. The
Csokonai National Theater opened in 1865. Hospitals, schools, barracks
and churches were built. After the construction of the Aranybika Hotel,
the county hall and the town hall, it slowly acquired an urban
appearance. In the city forest where the university is located today,
thermal water was found in 1823, which was used in the newly built
Vigadó spa. In 1912, the Parliament founded the Tisza István University
in Debrecen, with which, in addition to the church higher education
founded in 1538, a state university was established in Debrecen as one
of its legal successors, which, as the University of Debrecen, today has
the widest range of education in the country, educating about 30,000
Hungarian and 7,000 foreign students. largest university with an annual
budget of more than HUF 200 billion. The tram line, which is still
operating today, came into service in 1884.
In 1944, Debrecen
briefly became the capital and seat of government of Hungary for the
second time. In the same year, the Red Army launched an attack towards
Budapest and Debrecen. About 70 percent of the houses were affected by
the bombing of the Second World War, more than half of the buildings
were destroyed.
Before the 1950 county planning, it belonged to
Hajdú County. Debrecen City Day: April 11
It is located in the eastern part of the country, not far from
the geographical center of the Hajdú-Bihar county, 230 km from
Budapest. The Romanian border stretches for about 35 kilometers to
the east. The main roads 4, 33, 35, 47, 48, 354 and 471 and the M35
highway, as well as the 100 Railway lines 105, 106, 108, 109, 110
and 333 (Zsuzsivasút).
The city is located near two
landscapes, Hajdúhát and Nyírség. The Nyírség is a sandy area,
sloping from north to south, its western border is at the Tócó
valley. Hajdúhát is a loess area, sloping towards the west. The
entire area of Debrecen is located in Nyírség. There are no
significant height differences, the height point located in the wall
of the Debrecen Reformed College is 119.6 meters above sea level.
The settlement was built primarily on Tertiary and Quaternary
sedimentary rocks and black agricultural soil.
The city is first documented in 1235 as Debrezun. The name is derived from the Turkish word debresin, meaning "alive" or "moving", and is also a male given name. Another theory is that the name is of Slavic origin and means "highly esteemed" (e.g. Polish: dobrze cenione), from the Slavic Dübricin, or from dobre zliem ("good land").
The number of hours of sunshine in Debrecen and its surroundings is
approximately 2,000 per year based on an average of many years. In 2013,
the highest number of hours of sunshine in the country was measured
here, which was 2,321.7 hours this year.
The average annual
temperature is around 10 °C. The warmest month is July +20 °C, and the
coldest is January with an average temperature of −2 °C. Apart from the
winter months, frosts in April or May are common.
In 2018,
Debrecen fell into the small area where the number of hours of sunshine
was the highest in the country and the least amount of precipitation
fell.