The city of Dunakeszi is the seat of the Dunakeszi district in the Budapest agglomeration, Pest county. It is the second most populated town in the county after Érd. Divided with the town of Budakalász on the other side of the Danube, it is also referred to as the “Gate of the Danube Bend”.
Dunakeszi area in prehistoric times
Within the administrative
boundaries of today's Dunakeszi, people lived as early as the
Neolithic Age, and their most significant settlement was excavated
during the excavations in Székesdűlő. Several monuments from the
Copper Age have survived in the city: archaeologists have also found
numerous jars, pots, pots and other finds on the Koplya roof, the
Hegyrejáró vineyard and the construction site of the M2 road. From
the Bronze Age, Dunakeszi bowls, bells, tombs, but also jewelry have
survived; the typical urn cemetery vessels of the Vatya culture and
the pile houses and wells of the mound tomb culture also appeared.
The area of Dunakeszi in antiquity
In ancient times, Celts
settled in Székesdűlő, and three houses were excavated by
archaeologists. During the Roman Empire, Transdanubia belonged to
the Roman Empire, which was separated from its eastern “barbarian”
neighbors by the Danube. In the east, on the other hand, the
Sarmatians set foot. Dunakeszi was also home to one of the branches
of the latter ethnic group, the Jazigs, who also chose Székesdűlő as
their residence, where archaeologists excavated two graves and parts
of a village.
The Romans built a fortified harbor and
crossing here in 371–372. It was part of a system of left-wing
fortresses (contra castrum) on the Danube built by Valentinian I,
initiated by Marcus Aurelius after the Markomann War and then
condensed by Diocletian. The surrounding area at that time belonged
to the Jarmians of the Sarmatians, among whose cities Ptolemy
mentions Vác (Uscenum). To the south of the settlement, from the
Danube, the route of the Csörsz ditch connecting the Danube with the
Tisza, built by the Sarmatians between 324 and 337, starts. A small
border fortress was built in Dunakeszi, the remains of which are
located on the 28th-30th of today's Danube. s. managed to unearth
the plots of houses. Opposite the 50.5 x 43 m fortress, on the
island of Szentendre, there was also a Roman fortress at Horány, the
two jointly defending the borders of the Roman Empire. The strategic
correctness of the choice of area is indicated by the fact that the
ferry still travels between the sites of the two late forts.
Dunakeszi and Alag in the Middle Ages
In addition to the
environmental conditions and favorable location of Dunakeszi and
Alag, the position of the current owner in the national and county
hierarchy of power determined the development of the medieval life
of the settlements. The villages on the road between Vác and Pest,
about halfway through the distance, did not acquire much importance
in the Middle Ages, but their continuous possession testifies to
their value.
Dunakeszi was established in the 10–11. It can
be dated to the turn of the 19th century and dates back to the first
documented mention of the settlement (1255). The first written
mention of Dunakeszi (Kezu) IV. It is found in the charter of King
Béla of Hungary (1235–1270) in 1255, in which he took the settlement
from its former owners, the sons of János Péter and János, and
donated it to Seywerdus. Erdő, the son of the ispán of Fejér county,
originally called Siegfrid, from Melki, owned Keszi until his death
in 1317. It is probable that it was founded by a fragment of a
ethnic group detached from the Keszi tribes north of Ipoly,
presumably together with the sparse (mainly Avar and Slavic)
populations found here. In the late Middle Ages, the settlement was
owned by the Szécsi and then the Garai family, then by János Corvin,
and finally by Balázs Ráskai.
The first written mention of
the tunnel took place in 1328, although its owners have already been
mentioned in the sources before. The village was a typical
settlement of Pest county, with noble landowners, so it was the
subject of many heritage disputes. The first written mention of the
tunnel took place in 1328, although its owners have already been
mentioned in the sources before. The village was a typical
settlement of Pest county, with noble landowners, so it was the
subject of many heritage disputes. From the Middle Ages, the ruins
of a medieval church in the part of the settlement called
Alagi-Major are left to us.
Dunakeszi during the Turkish
occupation
Dunakeszi - that is, Keszi under its name (Káposztás)
at that time - from 1518 to the Solymár estate, so II. It belonged
to King Louis of Hungary (1516–1526). However, after the Battle of
Mohács (1526), the fate of the settlement was sealed; However,
this did not mean that his lands were not cultivated! Most of its
population moved to the surrounding settlements, many returned and
worked on the lands, as evidenced by the Dunakeszi revenues
appearing in Turkish tax censuses.
After the resettlement in 1642, the area also had Hungarian
lords, who, however, usually controlled the estate from the area
outside the occupation with the help of the village judge. The
settlement was taken over by the Alagi Bekény family, first by
Ferenc Mágócsy, then by Count Miklós Esterházy, a Hungarian palatine
(1625–1645), then by his younger brother, Pál Esterházy. Dunakeszi
became the daughter of the Wattay family on the daughter of the
Buday family, who remained the owners of the area until 1737 -
although they were pledged several times.
The inhabitants of
the village were forced to manage their affairs with both Hungarian
and Ottoman owners if they wanted to live their everyday lives
peacefully. As the settlement is close to Pest and Vách, during the
campaign periods its inhabitants usually had to leave their homes,
they usually fled to the surrounding, more protected places,
especially to the island of Szentendre.
Dunakeszi in the 18th
century
When liberated from Ottoman rule, Dunakeszi remained in
the hands of the Wattay family. János Wattay managed the settlement
as a servant judge of the Vác district and as the first Kuruc
sub-lord of the county during the Rákóczi War of Independence. At
the time of the 1715 census, 18 families lived here. It is already
mentioned in the document as Dunakeszi. Although the settlement
remained in the possession of the Wattays until 1731, it first
became the lien of György Ordódy (II.) And then of István Orczy
(1699–1749). In 1747, the village was bought from them by Count
Antal Grassalkovich (I.), a person and chief of Arad, who soon
annexed Dunakeszi and Alag to the Gödöllő estate. The rule of the
Grassalkovichs meant a heyday for the settlement, and peaceful
farming and unified administration bore fruit: the village embarked
on a path of prosperity. At that time, a large pub called Beszálló,
a mill, a butcher's shop and a smithy were also established.
In 1725, the Bishop of Vác, Frigyes Mihály Althann, elevated
Dunakeszi to the rank of parish, Fót and Rákospalota became the
daughter churches. However, its parishioners changed frequently, and
the village at that time had a “scarce church built of bricks” that
also needed to be renovated. In this, the possession of Antal
Grassalkovich also brought a change: the parish priest, János
Leszkovszky, spent a longer period in Dunakeszi, and Grassalkovich
began to build a new church. The latter was consecrated on September
29, 1756, St. Michael's Day, making St. Michael the patron saint of
the village and his church. In addition to the church, he also
erected a parish building.
In 1768 the village was part of
the Grassalkovich estate in Gödöllő, with 600 inhabitants. II. The
first detailed military map of the village was made during the reign
of Joseph (1780–1790). According to the 1785 census, the settlement
already had 740 inhabitants. At that time, it was still a sparsely
populated wilderness, and from 1819 the population density increased
here.
Dunakeszi and Alag in the long 19th century
Dunakeszi
The national changes in the reform era were also
reflected in Dunakeszi. One of the most important events is the
construction of the Budapest-Vác railway line, which fundamentally
changed the everyday life of the settlement at that time. The solemn
handover took place on July 15, 1846, with the participation of
Archduke Joseph, the palatine of Hungary, but Lajos Kossuth and
István Széchenyi were also passengers of this train.
Parish
priests such as Mihály Szép served in the settlement at that time,
who recorded the main features of church life (eg what prayers the
believers like to say), renovated parts of the church, cast a new
one instead of a torn bell, and renovated St. Stephen's Chapel. His
successor, Mihály Holló, successfully continued the renovation work,
but when he left the village in 1845, Fót and Rákospalota escaped
from the parish of Dunakeszi.
The War of Independence of
1848/49 - of course - also had an impact on Dunakeszi. The April
laws transformed the administrative order of the village, and some
of the residents won the right to vote, which they also exercised.
Dunakeszi, like all settlements, had to contribute to the
establishment of the national army. And during the military
operations, the accommodation and food of the officers placed a huge
burden on the villagers. The cholera epidemic that followed the war
also took its toll in Dunakeszi: about 14 people in two months.
Until the spring campaign, no major military operations took
place in the Dunakeszi area, but after the battle of Isaszeg on
April 6, the settlement became a battlefield. On April 8, the Kmety
Division arrived in the village, whose task - and the additional
units that joined it - was to cover the Hungarian main forces
heading towards Vác against possible Austrian attacks. This was
successfully accomplished during the Battle of Vác. The last major
battle took place in the region during the Russian intervention in
July.
In 1850, after a long and twisting lawsuit, the last
Grassalkovich descendant sold the Dunakeszi, which was bought by
Baron George Sina and then inherited by his son, Sina Simon. At the
time of the latter's possession, in 1860, the gentleman's settlement
was also carried out in the settlement. By this time, the
thatched-roof village house could have stood on today's Fő út.
At the end of the 19th century, Dunakeszi was already managed by
the village community through the officials of their choice. During
these decades, the settlement still remained of an agricultural
character, its basic crops being tomatoes and grapes. At the same
time, traces of development could be found more and more: Dunakeszi
soon had its own railway station, post office and telegraph station,
as well as its own school and GP. The good climate, the pleasant
pastime and the proximity to Budapest attracted many to the small
settlement. The development is also shown by the fact that the
village with 988 inhabitants in 1850 already had 4980 inhabitants in
1910.
The paradise of Dunakeszi
In the 1870s, the
inhabitants of Dunakeszi (and its surroundings: Fót, Mogyoród,
Veresegyháza, Csomád and Rákospalota) were the first tomato growers
in Hungary. In Dunakeszi, which is closer to Fót, the so-called
Production took place on idle vineyards, which offered livelihoods
for whole families later. The clayey-sandy soil here is favorable
for the plant, and the number of hours of sunshine and the angle of
inclination of the sun's rays offered the town an excellent
opportunity to get involved in the mass production of this plant. In
the economy, every work process required almost manual labor. Each
family had its own secret place from which to obtain the seedling
land. They mainly rested around the village, looking for humus-rich
land deposits. The land collected here was repatriated where it was
sieved and brought to a fine, crumbly texture. It was important to
have infection-free and nutrient-rich soil. The seedlings were grown
in open ground. Because germination and growing the plant required
warm and large amounts of nutrients, the seedling soil was mixed
with barn manure. Seedling beds were prepared immediately after the
frosts had passed. For the first time here approx. A mixture of
seedling soil and manure was placed 30 cm thick, and then a bed
frame made of planks was placed on it, the seeds were sprinkled
here, which were gently buried with earth. They then irrigated the
land and covered it with glass cover sheets. If the temperature so
desired, it was also covered with rye straw (which was set aside for
this purpose after the previous year’s harvest). They checked the
seedlings every day, if the weather was good, they took off the
blanket and then the glass sheets as well. At the end of May, the
seedlings were planted in open ground on the Tetélen vineyards. 1
cat. per acre (approximately 5,760 square meters), 4,600 seedlings
were cultivated by hand. As the plant grew, pruning became
necessary. This was the task of the school-age children who carried
the wooden stake north of the plant, approx. He was beaten to 10 cm.
The women tied the plant to the stake. The ripe fruit was harvested
by hand, a process in which the whole family took part in the
shoulder. At first, they put them in their own boxes and took them
to the markets in Budapest (mainly: Lehet tér and Fény utca) by
stroller. The men set off with their full strollers around two
o'clock in the morning, and they brought the crop to Budapest on
VÁci út. In Újpest, at the tram repair, they had to pay the duty. At
dawn, market inspectors collected the local money from them, after
which they could sell it. Of course, they could also have sold the
entire wagon consignment to a kofa (wholesaler). In this case,
although they received less money for their crop, at the same time
they certainly sold the whole cargo, and they had already come home
south so that, after a few hours of rest, they could begin loading
the next cargo.
Alag
In 1890, the Hungarian Equestrian Association, led by
Count Elemér Batthyány, became the lord of most of Alag, and its
appearance brought significant changes to the life of the
settlement.
After the gentlemen's settlement in Dunakeszi in
1860, Alag remained in the hands of Sina Simon, and in 1864 it was
transferred to a new owner, the Belgian bank Société Belgique de
Crédit Foncier et Industriel de Bruxelles. Between 1867 and 1873 -
according to the data of Ferenc Chobot - Pál Almásy (1818–1882) was
the lord of the area, then on April 15, 1873 it was bought by Fülöp
Holitscher from Budapest. The Hungarian Equestrian Association
bought an area of 1,200 squares from him in 1890, with the aim of
creating an excellent training colony.
There was an audience
first in the basement, after which the race track, which can be said
to be modern at the contemporary level, and the facility system for
the comfort of the audience were completed. The first visitors were
attracted by the possibility of horse riding near the capital. “A
whole new name has appeared in sports geography,« Alag ». As in
campaigns, the occupied places must be marked with a small flag pin,
so Alag can also be marked; it was occupied by the riders, already
completely and permanently ours, the sport, ”the enthusiastic
journalist wrote about the first day of the race, which was held on
April 12, 1891. Those wishing to compete could start in six numbers
(Hungarian Equestrian Association Prize, Men's Equestrian
Cooperative Prize, Dam Competition, Sale Competition, Basement
Prize, Stand Stand). In the first race, to win the prize of the
Hungarian Equestrian Association, four stood at the starting line,
of which Viktor Chernel won on his horse called "Wasp".
The
January 16, 1891 issue of the Hunter and Competition Journal
described the competition for the new course, and at that time he
still considered it necessary to note in a footnote next to the name
of Alag: “Alag is a mere K [grooming] bordering Megyer. Railway
station [Dunás]: Dunakesz ”. The visiting audience soon liked the
new competition venue. The first competition was held in modest
conditions - especially for the audience.
However, in the
following years, the Equestrian Cooperative set out to build the
basic racetrack according to the standards of the age. Already for
the spring competition of 1892, a usable grandstand was completed,
and two buffets were also in operation, where the audience could
refresh themselves. The biggest problems were caused by wind and
sand and dust. The Hunting and Racing Journal wrote of this: “The
greatest difficulty to be overcome is: sand and dust; without water
it is not possible to dress the basement track in European clothes;
this is also the disadvantage of the practice area. Most of the
racing stables could be brought to Basement by plumbing. ” In
addition to the construction of the waterworks, there was a need for
other amenities, equipment serving the public, training camps, and
excellent competition and practice tracks, which were built by the
Hungarian Equestrian Association and the Cooperative of Riders,
shoulder to shoulder. As a result, by 1896, the millennium year, a
beautiful orbit had been enchanted from the Alag Wilderness.
The new racetrack was built parallel to the railway, so the
audience, mostly arriving by train, didn’t have to walk too much to
the grandstand in the deep basal sands. The first-class grandstand
also had a cloakroom, a buffet and a ladies' toilet. The totalizator
was housed in a separate building, making the reception area easily
accessible from both the first and second class grandstands. To the
left of the grandstand was the dressing room, as well as the locker
rooms for gentlemen and jockeys. Not far from here was the saddle,
the area around which was planted - for protection from the blazing
sun. The water tower was built 200 meters from the left side of the
competition square. There were two practice tracks and one
racetrack, the practice tracks were sandy, separated by a strip of
grass. The sandy tracks were sprinkled with tarot roots, hoping to
bind the quicksand in 1-2 years. On the practice track, the sandy
top layer was carried away, more compacted ground was transported in
its place, so that the ground was leveled, and horses could run on
it without the risk of injury. On one side of the new track, a
50-meter-wide strip of pine forest was erected to protect it from
the winds that blew here very often.
The Equestrian
Association parceled out the area purchased in Alagon and
established the sports complex in its central part. The advantage of
the tunnel was that the race track was built in a completely
uninhabited area, where there was no built environment other than
the Nándor Major, so the new facility could have sports and
engineering aspects: topography, existing vineyards, approach
aspects, soil quality.
Areas important to the racetrack and the public were built close
to the Dunakeszi – Alag railway station, and the so-called kismajor,
that is, the institutions directly serving the horse race area were
placed. The training grounds were built on the higher parts -
divided into a certain distance from each other and divided by
forest strips, all of which included stables, trainers 'and riders'
flats. By 1914, eight such settlements had been established in
Alago. The wealthier stable owners with their own profiles began to
build outside the area parceled by the Equestrian Association
immediately after the purchase of the area, so the Geist settlement
(Gáspár Geist) was established in 1890, the Price – Huxtable
settlement in 1893, and then in 1903. the Springer site. By the
1910s, the available area was already too small for a large number
of interested people, so west of the railway line, in the area of
Dunakeszi, they also started construction projects. the
Rotschild-Reeves site. The colonies were usually named after the
trainers working there, so the same colony could have had several
names over time.
As the major runners of the age - at first
the big aristocratic families (Esterházy, Festetics, Wenckheim,
Springer, Rotschild, etc.), later also the industrialists (eg
Dreher, Petanovits) - maintained their own barn in Alagon, many
famous trainers are also residents of the settlement. became. Peter
Price, Charles Planner, John Reeves, Robert Hesp, Henry Huxtable,
Thomas Ball, George Hitch and others lived and worked in Alagon.
Many of them - being family people - spent more time in the
settlement, some remained residents of the Sahara in Pest County for
generations, learned Hungarian, and acquired Hungarian citizenship.
The personnel of equestrian sports, jockeys, starters and others
were at first foreigners, but very soon Hungarian experts also
appeared among them. There was a substantial English colony in
Alagon, whose families did much to flourish the equestrian sport
here. Not only benders but also jockeys were given, but at the same
time many famous jockeys came to Alag from the county barn of Albert
Albert Pejácsevich. Born in Beregsom in 1875, the young Albert
Pejácsevich appeared in Alago in 1896 when he won the opening number
of the new racetrack with his horse named Uzsorás. His life has
since been intertwined with equestrian sports and Alage, having
opened his own farm around today's Kápolna Street, which showed the
characteristics of the English example, Newmarket. He soon began to
work as a bender, while not forgetting the young people working for
him. He taught talented cavalry boys to ride on the county track,
and at the initiative of him and his wife, the teaching of cavalry
boys began in the building next to the Chapel of St. John of
Nepomuk. With his donations and the many patronage he volunteered,
the Pejachevich couple soon became the soul of Alag. Jockeys like
János Gutai or József Sejbál were taught.
Among the basically
educated jockeys we should mention the names of József Sejbál, Pál
Mravik, István Keszthelyi, János Gutai, Győző Esch, Géza Janek. The
grateful posterity named a street in the basement of Dunakeszi for
all of them.
Equestrian sports attracted not only the experts
of the equestrian world and their understanding audience to Alagra,
but also many prominent figures of the contemporary art world.
Already on the race days, the crowd was huge at the Western Railway
Station, and even more people watched the races on the tracks. Many
of them continued to discuss their experiences in the Pavilion after
the races, which attracted a number of pen-turners here. The most
famous of them were Jenő Heltai, Ernő Szép, Marcell Vidor, Zoltán
Szerémy. He spent the last years of his last life in Alagon, and his
grave is also located here.
Ignác Konrád has been painting
animals since he was young, studying their physique and movement.
This is how he arrived in Alagra to capture the muscles of the
racehorses and their movements while running. He made his debut as a
horse portrait painter for the first time at the Geist stable, where
he commissioned Mrs. Gáspár Geist to paint his lovely horse. His
work was a great success among lovers of equestrian sports, so after
the First World War front service he returned home to Konrád Alag,
where after a few limited years, with the support of the Hungarian
Equestrian Association, he was able to move into a house with a
horse. His works made him famous, his painting Morning Work in the
Alagon was also exhibited by the Art Gallery. He came to France and
later to the United States in 1922, and Károly Engel also became a
famous horse portrait painter among his students.
For alag, equestrian sport was a huge change from previous
centuries. The sparse population of the plain began to swell, in
addition to the training sites, a village center, a villa site and
other infrastructure investments also appeared. Although not too
many hospitality places were created due to the proximity of the
capital, the Pavilion (now a condominium is in place) was built in
1898, the predecessor of which was the forestry pavilion of the
Millennium Exhibition. The building was transported to Alag, but
from the top there was too good a view for the bookmakers, so the
president of the Equestrian Association, Count Elemér Batthyány,
demolished it and erected a different style building a little
further away. The Pavilion became the center not only of equestrian
sports, but of the social life of the locals, where balls were held
and served as a meeting point for trainers, jockeys, stable owners,
literary masters, artists, etc. for.
Contributing to the
construction of the tunnel was the fact that the more modest fitters
and jockeys often moved with their families to the settlement, where
they built their own houses. This is how the Villatelep was
established, north of today's Fóti út, in the part bordered by
Kápolna and Batthyány Elemér streets, on which it was first built by
prominent figures of the equestrian world of English origin;
Hungarian builders and jockeys, as well as Austrian, German and
American experts, soon appeared among the builders. The buildings of
the villa farm accordingly reflect a number of architectural styles,
thus also showing the diversity of the old rider world. However, in
addition to the Villatelep, several equestrian flats were built in
Alagon, which were built by the Equestrian Association, on empty
plots located from the race track in the direction of Dunakeszi. In
the five blocks of flats with rooms and kitchens and front gardens,
the family grooms were accommodated here, so they did not have to go
from Dunakeszi to work every day.
In addition to the
institutional system essential for equestrian sports, the Hungarian
Equestrian Association also did a lot for the village: two sacral
buildings (St. John of Nepomuk Chapel, St. Imre Church), basic
arenas of public administration (village house, gendarme barracks),
educational buildings municipal elementary school), but
infrastructure investments were also made (water tower, plumbing
network). In addition, a butcher's shop, a slaughterhouse, a market,
a post office and a horse auction site were set up.
History
of Dunakeszi and Alag between 1910 and 1950
In 1910, the village
of Alag separated from Dunakeszi, which brought many changes in the
life of the village. The lord of Alag, the payment of taxes by the
Hungarian Equestrian Association, was the main income of the
settlement, so Dunakeszi struggled with serious financial problems
in the first years after the secession, as the inhabitants of the
settlement lived their income only in the second half of the year.
However, the inhabitants of the village found a solution: a credit
cooperative was established under the leadership of the parish
priest István Révész.
One of the significant players of the
period was the parish priest István Révész (1862–1929), who was a
person of “outstanding ability, looking to the future” and “served
the parish of Dunakeszi for two decades”. Not only did he pay
attention to the spiritual care of his followers and the maintenance
of church buildings and estates, but as an amateur archaeologist he
took part in the exploration of the prehistoric finds of
Kopolya-roof, formed the Dunakeszi credit union, played a major role
in organizing local social life. Thanks to him, he also founded the
Roman Catholic Elementary School, which still operates as a primary
school on Táncsics Street. The establishment of the Catholic Circle,
which operated on the site of today's Eszterlánc Kindergarten, can
be linked to Révész's name. István Révész had an inexhaustible merit
in the creation of a chapel in the territory of the Hungarian
Equestrian Association, which was named after St. John of Nepomuk.
The First World War was also a serious trauma in Dunakeszi's
life. There were almost no families in the settlement who had no
losses, and in addition to two smaller ones, they also operated a
military hospital capable of accommodating 1,000 people. In the
post-World War II period, international and national crises and
problems also had an impact on Dunakeszi. Nevertheless, the MÁV Main
Workshop opened its doors in 1926, as a result of which a new part
of the settlement (Workshop) was established, with residential
houses, a school, a chapel (the Church of the Heart of Jesus was
built in 1944), and a cultural center. The most famous workshop
product of the period between the two world wars is the so-called It
was a golden train. In 1938, the country celebrated the 900th
anniversary of the death of Hungarian King Stephen I (Saint), on the
occasion of which Saint Right was toured in Hungarian settlements.
To transport this very valuable relic, the Golden Train was made at
the Dunakeszi Main Workshop, which consisted of an ornate car,
carriages and locomotive covered with 24 carat gold plates. The
exterior decoration of the car consisted of Byzantine motifs and
images of Hungarian saints, and the inside was covered with drapery,
with a copy of the Holy Crown and four angels on the top. The Holy
Right lay on a podium, with copies of the coronation insignia on two
sides. The cost of building the ornamental car kicked in at 19,000
pengos.
The Dunakeszi plant of "Ocean" Magyar Konzervgyár és
Kereskedelmi Rt. Started production in 1917.
The Second World
War also affected Dunakeszi strongly. Part of the population was on
the front lines, and those who remained at home tried to survive the
adversity. The people of Dunakeszi took part in most of the great
battles, including the military operations of the Dan breakthrough;
the doctor of the village, dr. Tibor Cseresnyés. Those who remained
at home from 1942 devoted much of their strength to defending
against air raids; and a section of the Israeli population was
interned in Vác in 1944, and only a few returned. The front reached
the Dunakeszi area in early December. As the settlement is close to
Budapest, there were fierce fighting between Soviet and German
troops. Many buildings were damaged by mines and counter-mines, and
strategically important points (eg workshop and Dunakeszi-Alsó water
towers) were blown up. The German formations left the territory of
Alag and Dunakeszi on December 27-28, 1944.
Simultaneously
with the involvement of the Soviet troops, the National Liberation
Commission was formed in Dunakeszi, and restoration work began. It
was difficult for the Soviets to take a large part of the population
to forced labor, and they were also plagued by sabotages and
requisitions. The main task of the village management became to
organize the care. Soon the land reform was also implemented in the
settlement, as a result of which a number of small farms were
established. These, in line with national trends, were later forced
into teahouses.
World War II did not escape Tunnel either.
During the air raid on Budapest on September 4, 1942, Soviet planes
also bombed Alag - three houses were completely destroyed and
several others were damaged. Subsequently, under the auspices of the
Air Defense League, the construction of bunkers and shelters began,
which was needed from the spring of 1944, the beginning of the great
bombings. From September, direct airstrikes also affected the
settlement. Action against the basic Israeli population (35 in 1941)
also intensified from the spring of 1944, with a list drawn up by
the village clerk containing 23 names ordered to be transported to
the Vác ghetto on 25 May. Two of them managed to escape. Few of the
Jews who went to the Vác ghetto returned, most of them first to the
brick factory in Monor and then to the Auschwitz-Birkenau
concentration camp. At the beginning of December 1944, the Soviet
forces arrived in Alag, with the aim of encircling Budapest. After a
three-week struggle with the Germans, the front left Alag on 27-28
December. Reconstruction then began. In 1950, the independence of
the village ceased, and since then it belongs to Dunakeszi again.
After World War II
World War II ended on December 28, 1944 in
Dunakeszi. The two villages (Dunakeszi and Alago) were reunited in
the early 1950s. The first council of Dunakeszi was formed in
October 1950.
After 1945, the industry was represented in the
settlement by the vehicle repair and canning factory for many years.
In Dunakeszi the poor peasants received land, and in Alagon the
former servants. Several producer cooperatives were formed. The
140-acre estate, the basic major, was the core of the basic state
economy founded in 1948. In the 1960s, the farm rose to the ranks of
the county’s best farms. Its area of 5,000 hectares extended from
Dunakeszi to Ipoly. Prior to its liquidation, it operated more than
35 branches. One of its significant properties was the Tihany
Tourist Center, for example.
The path of urbanization was
opened by the dynamic industrial development after 1957. The factory
unit of the Mechanical Laboratory was established in the village.
The cannery soon expanded with a large investment. House No. 3 was
rebuilt, followed by a European-standard cold store. The house
factory produced wall elements for 4,200 homes a year. The
prefabricated bathroom space elements were also manufactured there.
In 1977, the pasta factory of the cannery also started production.
For the work seen in the 1970s, the Dunakeszi factory of the
Hungarian Refrigeration Industry. It mainly processed berries for
export and stored products for the meat, poultry, fish and dairy
industries. Smaller factories and cooperatives were formed. The
basic leather industry cooperative has been operating since 1948,
the small construction cooperative since 1952, the concrete
production plant of the Post Office since 1949, and the Transdanubia
Soil Improvement and Soil Protection Company since 1970. By the
early 1970s, the industry employed 70% of the people living here.
All this brought with it large-scale housing construction, a
whole range of other communal investments, and a faster improvement
of supply. The idea of becoming a city became a mature reality by
this time. Dunakeszi was declared a large village on January 1,
1970, and a town on April 1, 1977.
Urbanization
One third
of the population of Dunakeszi lives in all-comfort homes in housing
estates or in settlement-like multi-storey modern housing estates,
but the majority live in family houses. The first 3 10-storey panel
houses were completed in 1974, before Dunakeszi became a city.
Subsequently, the Dunaparti housing estate was built between 1977
and 1979. In the city, the drinking water supply is 100% solved with
the built backbone network. The sewer network is installed in 99% of
the properties. The electricity supply in the city is 100%, as is
the piped gas supply. Its road network is almost completely paved.
The telecommunications supply is good.
Dunakeszi has been
performing district center tasks since 1984. The modern,
well-equipped clinic has been welcoming the residents of Göd and Fót
together with the specialist clinics since 1987. The city police
station, the city court, the city prosecutor's office, the document
office, the labor service branch office and the land office branch
also perform district-central functions. Secondary education
institutions also accept students from the surrounding settlements.
More distant residents will be accommodated in a dormitory. Since
2013, Dunakeszi has been a district center, so the district
institutions have been located in the city.
Due to the
construction of the northern sector of the M0 motorway (via the
Dunakeszi peat lakes) and the M2 motorway, Dunakeszi's road
connections with the world improved significantly in the 1990s,
which had a beneficial effect on the development of the city's
economy. The congested road network was relieved and the M2 motorway
was widened twice to two lanes and two new exits were built.
Geographical location
The city of Dunakeszi is
located on the left bank of the Danube, about 15 kilometers north of
Budapest. Geographic coordinates: north latitude 47 degrees 38
minutes and east longitude 19 degrees 8 minutes. Dunakeszi belongs
to the middle of the plain along the Danube of the Great Plain, most
of which is located in the Pest alluvial plain, and a smaller part
in the Vác – Pest-Danube Valley micro-regions. Dunakeszi borders
Budapest, Fót, Göd and the Horánny belonging to the Szigetmonostor
on Szentendre Island. Due to its geographical position, it is the
"northern gate of the capital and Pest" and also the "gate of the
Danube Bend".
Most of the territory of
Dunakeszi is located at an altitude of between 100 and 160 m above
sea level. Along the Danube, the area belonging to the
Vác-Pesti-Danube Valley is the lowest, which is a plain with a
slightly wavy surface. Here, the low and high floodplains are on
average 3 and 6 meters higher than the 0 point of the Danube,
respectively, and the vast majority of the surface forms were formed
by the destructive (erosive) and building, accumulating
(accumulating) activities of the river water. The area belonging to
the Pest alluvial cone is in a higher position, the Danube I. and
II. formed on alluvial terraces, rising steadily to the east towards
higher terraces. The surface of the roughly north-south terrace
strip was transformed into a valley divided by valleys due to the
small watercourses flowing into the Danube, the slope movements and
the surface-forming effect of the wind.
Hydrography
The
Danube, which is the second longest and most extensive river in
Europe after the Volga, forms the western border of Dunakeszi. The
width of the Great Danube riverbed, which is divided into two
branches at Szentendre Island, is 500-600 m wide at Dunakeszi, and
its water depth at a distance of 50-100 m from the shore exceeds 2.5
m. More precise data are known nearby in Budapest, where the maximum
water depth is between 3 and 10 m, and the water velocity increasing
with increasing water depth can reach 0.5 m / s on average, but can
also reach 2.5 m / s during floods. The water level of the Danube
and the amount of water flowing in the riverbed change according to
the rainfall conditions. Due to rainfall and snowmelt in the Alps,
there are two floods a year, one is the spring icy flood and the
other is the early summer green flood. Flood protection is provided
by dams built along the river and by former ditches that also
facilitate navigation. The current floodplain of the Danube at
Dunakeszi is approx. It is located at an altitude of 101-102 m above
sea level.
Due to the east-west slope of the surface in the
area of Dunakeszi and its surroundings, smaller watercourses run
from the Gödöllő hills towards the Danube valley. At the southern
border of the town, the Mogyoródi stream flows, which flows into the
Szilas stream at Újpest, collecting the water of the Csömöri stream
from the south and the Ocean trench, which has been transformed into
a canal from the north, and finally flows into the Danube. In the
Danube riparian zone, the river is reached by several short
east-west small watercourses, water leaks, of which only the largest
are named: Nagycsurgó flows in the Malom Trench on the northern
border of the city and Kiscsurgó is located slightly north of the
ferry crossing. Such water leaks occur, for example, in the part
from the main road 2 towards the Danube, the so-called Also in the
area of wet gardens.
The stagnant waters are represented by
small marsh ponds located west of Szabadságliget, ie Dunakeszi-Alsó,
as well as artificial lakes created during peat and gravel mining
(Peat Lakes, Pebble Lake, Barrakuda Lake). Currently, the Peat Lakes
are used and managed by the MÁV Sport Angling Association,
Kavicsbánya Lake and Barrakuda Lake by the Dunamenti Sport Angling
Association.
The groundwater level along the Danube is close
to the surface, above a depth of 1 m. To the east, his situation is
getting deeper due to the rising surface. Thus, 100-200 meters from
the Danube, 1-4 m, 600-700 meters, 4-8 m, then it continues to grow,
and in the highest places it exceeds 30 meters. Groundwater flows
from east to west with an average flow rate of 200 m / year. At
varying depths below the surface, below the watertight layers, there
are aquifers, from which the water is brought to the surface with
40-50 m deep artesian wells.
Climate
The climate of
Dunakeszi is moderately warm-dry. The average annual temperature
varies between 9-10 ° C, the average annual rainfall is 500-550 mm,
the duration of sunlight is approx. 1920-1940 hours / year based on
data measured between 1971 and 2000. The prevailing wind direction
is northwest, but southerly and north-northeast winds are not
uncommon either. The average wind speed is 2-2.5 m / s, which is a
small value compared to other domestic areas. Strong winds of more
than 6 m / s are rare. The rate of evaporation exceeds the amount of
precipitation. Due to the proximity of the Danube, the air humidity
is relatively high, so fog formation is common.
In addition to the climate, the soil conditions of the
area are largely determined by the soil-forming rocks near the
surface, which are mainly formed by quicksand and river sand,
gravelly sediments. Therefore, in the area of Dunakeszi, humus
sand soil is the most common. It has a very high or high water
absorption and conductivity, a low or medium water storage capacity,
and a stock of organic matter of only 50-100 tons / hectare or less,
which makes it poor. A large area is also covered by meadow casting
soil, mainly in the Danube strip. In some places, slightly more
fertile, weakly acidic brown forest soil, brown soil and clay-washed
brown forest soil were also formed. Meadow and marshy meadow soils
have formed around peat lakes. The thickness of the soils usually
exceeds one meter.
Flora and fauna
In the areas of
Dunakeszi on the Pest alluvial plain, open sand steppe grasslands,
sand steppes, sand oaks and poplar junipers form potential
vegetation, but only small fragments of these have survived. They
were replaced by mainly white acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) and
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Sand steppe grasslands can only be
found at the airport and in the area of the racecourse. In the
area belonging to the Vác – Pesti-Danube Valley, the potential
vegetation is the forest steppe. Water-bound habitats have developed
on the banks of the Danube. Today, in the floodplain, we can find
only small remains of the original bush willows, softwood and
hardwood groves.
In the field of crop production, the
cultivation of tomatoes, which began in the late 19th century,
should be highlighted, but other varieties of vegetables and fruits
that prefer sandy soils (mainly apricots) have also been grown.
Today, however, there is much farmland left fallow.
In terms
of the fauna of the area, the animals and fish living in the Danube
are significant. A beggar species called the Danube flower also
lives here. Among the waterfowl, the seagull and the duck species
are the most typical in winter. Groves and meadows are also home to
a wide variety of animals, in addition to a variety of insects and
birds such as lizards, foxes, deer, wild rabbits, bulls, and mice.
Birds include capercaillie, captive, quail, Balkan gerbil and
magpie.
The distribution of natural flora and fauna is
determined by land use. At present, only 12% of the Dunakeszi area
is grassland, 5% forest and wooded, 7% green with few trees, 20%
arable, 1% orchard and 15% animal husbandry.
Nature reserves
In Dunakeszi, the 181.64 hectares, which are classified as Natura
2000 areas as part of the European Union's nature conservation and
bird protection network, are of key importance for nature
conservation. This represents 5.85% of the city’s area. This
includes the Danube riverbed and its floodplain with the coastal
forest strip, which is protected by the city municipality. In
addition, wetlands are, by their nature, automatically 'Ex lege'
protected areas of national importance. This includes the southern
marshland of the Ocean Trench with the Dunakeszi peat lakes and the
springs near the Danube. A protected area of local significance is
the outer and inner area of the permanent site of Nemzeti
Lóverseny Kft., Where both natural and artificial values are
protected. The core area of the National Ecological Network
includes the bog of the Ocean Trench, the basal airport and the
racecourse, while the ecological corridor consists of the softwood
forest remains along the Danube, the small swamps along the canal
from the western edge of the city to the , the water area of the
Danube, the reeds along the Mogyoródi stream and along the Ocean
Trench, small grass patches and part of the marshland. The area with
the topographical number 060 managed by the Mechanical Laboratory
has also received nature protection through its valuable habitats,
flora and fauna.
State of the environment and environmental
protection
There is no regular air pollution measurement in
Dunakeszi, data from the measuring stations in Budapest and Vác are
available. Based on these, the air in Dunakeszi is adequate / good.
Air pollution is mainly caused by industrial activities as well as
road traffic.
The municipality has developed the “Green
Dunakeszi” program, in the framework of which it has made a number
of provisions for the protection of the inhabited and non-inhabited
urban environment. At Dunakeszi, presumably, the water of the Danube
is still of good quality, but there is no measuring station in its
area. There is no measurement data on the quality of smaller
watercourses, but they are likely to be contaminated.
The
environmental impact of mines has rarely been studied. In the
Dunakeszi area, after the extraction of the useful material of
several sand mines, a landfill was established at the site of the
mines during the reclamation, which causes environmental problems.
Therefore, an impact assessment and environmental geological,
engineering geological and possibly hydrogeological studies are
required before starting the waste disposal.
However, illegal dumping is a major problem, as contaminated
water seeping from landfilled waste enters groundwater in a short
period of time on the sand-covered surface of the city. As some of
the wells that provide not only their own drinking water but also
the water bases of the capital can be found in the area of
Dunakeszin, proper waste disposal is of paramount importance. With
the introduction of the field guard service, the amount of illegal
dumping has decreased. There is also separate waste collection in
the city.
The wastewater of the city and the surrounding
settlements (Fót, Mogyoród, Göd, Csomád) is collected by the
Dunakeszi Wastewater Treatment Plant, where 10,000 m³ of wastewater
can be treated per day, and the discharged treated wastewater meets
the expected limit value. Nevertheless, it is a problem that the
treated wastewater is discharged into the Ocean Trench and that
there are still many works in the gardens.
Road: On the eastern border of the city, the main road 2 runs in a
north-south direction, which is also part of the European main road
E77. In order to relieve the load of the road, it was built in the
second half of the 1990s, then the motorway numbered 2 / a now bears
the numbering M2, as a motorway. Later, section 2 / b (due to Phare
support) of the then M0 ring road was built. In the territory of the
city, the 2101 road branches off from the main road 2 in the
direction of Fót and Gödöllő; several other inland road sections are
also considered national roads with five-digit numbering.
Railway: Hungary's first railway line, the Budapest-Szob railway
line No. 70, passes through Dunakeszi, the first section of which
between the Nyugati railway station and the Vác railway station was
handed over in 1846. Archduke József, István Széchenyi and Lajos
Kossuth also traveled on the first train. In Dunakeszi there is one
railway station (Dunakeszi railway station) and two stops (Dunakeszi
lower stop and Dunakeszi-Gyártelep stop) on this line. The area of
Dunakeszi is also affected by the Budapest – Vácrátót – Vác
railway line, it has one stop (Alagimajor stop) within the
administrative boundaries.
Waterway: The Danube, as an
international waterway, plays an important role in river navigation.
The city is connected to Szentendre Island (Horány) by a regular
ferry service, the driveway of which is by road from the main road
2, at its 20,200-kilometer section, branching in a west-northwest
direction, on the nearly one-kilometer-long side road No. 12 301
(called Rév utca). ) is available.
Aerial: There is a sailing
airport next to the racecourse, mainly for hobbies and sports
(gliding, kite, helicopter, small machines).
The coat of arms of the city is coulter-shaped. In the middle is a standing shield divided by a silver wavy line, symbolizing the Danube. The upper part is blue in base color, in it the patron saint of the city, St. Michael, can be seen in silver. The horse head in the green, lower field of the coat of arms in silver symbolizes the famous equestrian sport of the place - Alag district - in Europe.