Keszthely is the center of the Keszthely district, located in Transdanubia, in Zala county, in the western corner of Lake Balaton, with a lively tourism, an important economy, a significant history and culture.
Location
It is located at the western end of Lake Balaton, on
the shores of Keszthely Bay, north of the mouth of the river Zala,
in a flat area on the south and slightly hilly in the north. The
hills and mountains of the Zala Hills and the Keszthely Plateau in
the area surround the city. Its climate is more balanced due to the
proximity of the Adriatic Sea and Lake Balaton, the summers are less
hot and the winters are less frosty.
Transport
Railway
The city is on the Balatonszentgyörgy – Tapolca – Ukk railway line.
It can be reached by direct flights from Budapest, Miskolc,
Nyíregyháza and several large Transdanubian cities (such as
Kaposvár, Pécs, Siófok, Székesfehérvár, Szombathely). Due to the
growing tourist traffic in the summer, the number of flights to
Keszthely will increase, and direct flights will depart from several
parts of the country and from Vienna. Suburban trains run to Tapolca
and via Marcal to Somogyszob (on the Somogyszob – Balatonszentgyörgy
railway line, passenger transport will be suspended from 13 December
2009 and from the 2009/2010 schedule change). In the improperly
organized railway network of Zala county, the connection between
Keszthely and other county settlements is not solved, so no one
other than three neighboring villages can be reached by direct
train.
Road traffic
Despite the good railway connections,
the driving force of Keszthely's transport is not provided by rail,
but by road. The city can also be reached by car on the main road 71
from the northern shore of Lake Balaton or through
Balatonszentgyörgy from the southern shore. The main road 75 from
Rédics – Lenti and the main road 76 from Körmend – Zalaegerszeg end
at the border of the city. The city is surrounded by the ring road
of road 71. Parking in the city center is subject to a fee.
There are several inferior but national road sections in the
territory of Keszthely, some of which were a section of the main
road 71 before the handover of the ring road bypassing the city;
other routes used to start in the city center, while they now start
on the periphery. Major inferior roads include road 7327 to Sümeg
and road 7343 to Várvölgy; the roads that relieve the downtown area
include, but are not limited to, road 7347 running east-west in the
northern part of the city and road 7348 running along the western
edge of the city.
Due to the good road conditions (and the
poor railway supply of the surrounding settlements), the suburban
bus network operated by Volánbusz is far above the Hungarian
average. An average of 10–20 flight pairs connect the city with the
settlements of the micro-region on a daily basis, but there are also
frequent flights to the county seat (Zalaegerszeg) and Tapolca.
There are long-distance flights between Keszthely and Budapest, as
well as almost all major cities in Transdanubia, as well as
Kecskemét, Baja and Szeged. The city also has local transport on six
lines. There is a flight to Hévíz from Keszthely every quarter of an
hour.
Tram
According to the plans published in the
2014-2030 Balaton Regional Development Concept, Hévíz and Keszthely,
located next to Keszthely and famous for its medicinal water, would
be connected by a tram line. The tram would pass through 2 cities to
connect the intercity and local bus stations. Several ideas were
made for the trail as well as the stops. According to the study,
they would not buy new trams on the line, but e.g. nostalgic, yet
"semi-modern", used vehicles (eg SGP E1 trams, which are no longer
used in Miskolc).
Ship
In summer, boat services connect it
with several settlements on Lake Balaton, including Badacsonny and
Balatonlelle.
Airport
Not far from the city, Sármellék
International Airport operates in Sármellék, which mainly receives
German planes.
Prehistoric times
Excavations in the city today still provide more and more
evidence that the first traces of human life around the city date
back to the Neolithic Age. However, it can be assumed that humans
may have lived for this before, but the remains of its waterfront
settlements are currently covered by Lake Balaton. A BC. In the 6th
millennium, the people living there switched from the collecting,
fisherman-hunter lifestyle to the productive way of life, farming
and animal husbandry. Thus, permanent settlements inhabited for a
longer or shorter period of time were established here.
Archaeological finds have been made in different parts of the city,
but there were three well-separated settlement nodes inhabited and
served as burial sites in several eras. These settlements can be
observed in the northern part of the city border, in the vicinity of
Dobogó Hill, in the present-day area of the city, and in the
south, around Fenékpuszta. These sites mark the route of a
north-south long-distance trade route leading to the Balaton
crossing. More tangible evidence of the trade has been found, such
as obsidian blades known from Neolithic deposits or a Triton snail
horn from the Mediterranean region found in a Middle Copper Age cult
building in the Fenékpuszta. However, farming and animal husbandry
did not cover the full needs of the people who lived here, so
gathering, hunting and fishing could continue to play an important
role. As proof of this, the objects of a late Copper Age, open water
fishing hut were found in Fenékpuszta under peat almost 2 m deep.
We do not know the exact names of the tribes that settled in the
south in different periods of prehistory, and the science classifies
them into cultures named after their characteristic objects,
ornaments, first location, and area of distribution. The second
phase of the Neolithic line-decorated pottery culture is called the
Keszthely group from a settlement along Zsidi út. Findings from the
lowest strata of excavations in the city center also confirm this.
The material culture of the Middle Copper Age was named the
Balaton-Lasinja culture based on the sites around Keszthely. There
were different numbers of settlements in each pre-time period. The
densest is the BC. From the 12th century, at the end of the Bronze
Age, the so-called during the urn field culture they lived around
the city. A BC. In the early Iron Age, which started in the 7th
century, the lower part of the Zala Valley became uninhabited, but
until the late migration, the area of the town remained inhabited
due to the Fenékpuszta crossing, which served as the most important
West-Balaton crossing. A BC. In the 4th century, the Celts came to
the area, who conquered the northern half of Transdanubia to the
line of Lake Balaton. The use of iron was widely disseminated, from
which not only weapons and jewelery, but also utensils and tools
were made, and the introduction of the foot-driven potter's disc is
associated with their name. Vibrant trade relations were maintained
with Italy and the Balkans, and silver was minted on the Greek
model.
From the Romans to the conquest
BC Between 13 and
8, General Tiberius conquered Transdanubia, where the Romans
organized the province of Pannonia. The important trade and war
route that crossed this diagonally, connecting the provincial
capital Aquincum with Aquileia, crossed Lake Balaton in Fenékpuszta
(Valcum). Here he crossed another important road that connected
Sopianae (Pécs) with Augusta Treverorum (Trier). Several settlements
have been established around the important junction. The finds and
tombstones of the cemetery of the settlement in the southern part of
the city prove that not only the Celtic natives, but also those with
Roman civil rights - mainly merchants - lived here. The advanced
Roman industry, agrotechnics and trade brought rapid changes to the
life of the area, and a great deal of development began in
agriculture. After 160, a series of invasions by barbarians living
on the other side of the Danube wreaked havoc, so by the 3rd century
there was probably only one settlement left in the area
(Fenékpuszta). Elsewhere, smaller or larger villas built in the 1st
century may have stood. Some of them had full comfort and a separate
bathroom in addition to the central heating. The results of the
current excavations in the city center suggest that the ruins of the
building (villa), which also extend under the medieval parish church
and the adjacent grammar school, may date from two Roman periods.
In the 4th century, with the construction of the Fenékpuszta
fortress (presumably Valcum), the area around Keszthely became
densely populated again. In the north-south direction of the
settlement, many cemetery finds of this age have been found. A
cohors (a tenth of a legio) may have been stationed in the fort. In
addition to protecting the important road to Italy, the fortress can
also serve as a warehouse to supply the fortresses of the Danube
limes. In 374, the invading barbarian peoples left traces of severe
destruction on the fort. After that, the population of the area
became sparse, but the area did not become uninhabited. The fort was
later restored, so it continued to protect the people living here,
even after the withdrawal of the Roman army in the 5th century. From
433 the area came under Hun rule.
From the two decades of the
Huns' presence, we know the graves of two rich burial sites, a
cavalry warrior and an upscale little girl from Keszthely. In 455
Emperor Avitus briefly restored Roman rule, but in 456 the Eastern
Goths occupied the whole of Southern Transdanubia, including the
fortress of Fenékpuszta, which was set on fire, so that most of the
population was destroyed. Then, with the remaining locals, the
building was put in order, which later served as the seat of one of
their kings, Thiudimer (the father of Theodoric the Great). In the
early 6th century, the area may have been under the influence of the
Italian kingdom of the Eastern Goths, but after the death of
Theoderic the Great in 526, it came under the rule of the
Longobards. The fort was not occupied, but the crossing was brought
under their control.
Keszthely and its surroundings were not
inhabited by the Avars, here the indigenous people lived
undisturbed, taxing food and handicrafts. After 568 more Christians
came here. In the area around the Fenékpuszta fortress, the dead
were buried in an area of about 30 km in diameter, decorated with
hitherto unknown Byzantine-rooted costumes, and the Fenékpuszta
basilica was rebuilt. After 626, a civil war broke out, in which the
leadership layer of Fenékpuszta stood on the side of the later
losers, so the Avars destroyed the fortress around 630, and the
remaining population was relocated to the area of today's downtown
Keszthely. The Christian population came under military
surveillance. The Christian population, isolated from the outside
world, created a unique material culture (the “Keszthely culture”),
which is known only from seventeen cemeteries around Keszthely. It
was then that Keszthely became the center of the area, after the
Hévíz bay of Lake Balaton became so foggy that it was possible to
pass through it. Thus, the Fenékpuszta crossing lost its
significance, and the significantly narrower crossing at the end of
Lake Balaton took over its role.
After the Franks abolished
the Avar Empire at the end of the 8th century, Christians living in
the vicinity of Keszthely were soon able to adopt Western Christian
customs and bury their dead without any tomb attachments. The
fortress of Fenékpuszta was re-established in the 9th century and
the descendants of the Avars as well as the South Slavs moved here.
However, the new center of the area was built around the other
crossing point, on the Castle Island of Zalavár, around 840. The
fortress created here was called Mosaburg (swamp castle) and was
built by the Slavic chief, Pribina, who was expelled from Nitra and
took refuge with the Franks. Later, this castle will be a Spanish
center and named after Zala County.
From the conquest to the
Turkish times
Between the 10th and the 12th century, no
information was available on the population of the Keszthely area.
In 1247 he first mentions the place in a written source, with a
parish church dedicated to St. Martin in front of today's castle.
The charter mentions another church, the Church of St. Lawrence,
which can be identified with a round church - a rotunda - excavated
in the Castle Garden. Its foundation walls can be seen south of the
parish church on Fő tér. The royal estate with two churches,
Keszthely, may have been a significant place as early as the middle
of the 13th century. At the end of the century it was acquired by
the Marcali family of the Péc genus, and by that time the southern
part of the settlement already existed. Károly Róbert regained
Keszthely, but his son, Lajos Nagy, gave it to István Lackfi. In the
14th century, a serious economic boom was observed in Keszthely, the
settlement entered the path of urbanization. Its owner around 1385
settled Franciscan monks here. Their church was already standing in
1386, which is the same as today's parish church on Fő tér. His
frescoes, discovered and restored in the sanctuary at the end of the
14th century, are the largest Gothic murals in present-day Hungary.
In 1397, István Lackfi, who was in favor of the opposition, was
harassed by King Sigismund of Luxembourg. He was buried in the
sanctuary of the Franciscan church, his tombstone was moved to the
south wall of the sanctuary at the end of the last century. During
the 15th century, the owners of Keszthely changed frequently. In
1403 Keszthely was already called oppidum (market town). Its
inhabitants were still mainly engaged in agriculture, animal
husbandry and fishing, the proportion of craftsmen and traders could
not exceed 15-20%, but they provided the management. In 1390 the
University of Vienna also had a student from Keszthely. After 1430,
Keszthely became the property of the Gersei Pethő family from the
Nádasd family for a long time. The family also had several stone
houses in the town, their walled mansion standing on the site of
today’s castle. Later, another building was built in the middle of
Main Street.
At the end of the 15th century, Keszthely had a
population of about 1,000, making it the most populous settlement in
the area. For the prosperous city, however, this century was by no
means a peaceful period. From 1359, the castle owners and landowners
of the area gradually began to restrict the people of Keszthely in
their rights or took away their property. In 1442, the prior of the
Carthusians of Lövöld broke into the city, robbed the houses and
churches, and set fire to the mansion of Pethők. In 1444 the
Marcalis attacked the city and took away everything that could be
moved, all the damage kicked in at about two thousand gold.
Meanwhile, the people of Keszthely also forcibly occupied the island
of Páh and attacked the neighboring villages.
The first
raiding Turkish troops appeared in Keszthely in 1532, during the
campaign against Vienna. Keszthely was looted in 1548, and the Pethő
mansion was again the victim of a fire. The family moved to the
abandoned Franciscan monastery, then János Geresi Pethő Jr.
transformed its surroundings into a border castle. The number of
guards, partly paid by the Pethő family and partly by the king,
changed frequently. The castle guard stood next to István Bocskai in
1605, the peace of Vienna was not taken into account either, so the
royal army had to siege the castle in 1608. Soldiers raided
regularly to meet their livelihood needs, primarily in
Turkish-dominated villages. In 1589, the town of Koppányi ravaged
the city. After that, in the middle of the 17th century, the city
center was surrounded by a plank wall and a ditch, thus dividing
Keszthely into parts outside and inside the walls. Those living
inside the wall were exempt from all lordly payments, while those
stuck outside (residents of Kiskeszthely, Polgárváros) remained
landlord serfs. In 1650, the Turks launched another attack on the
castle, but he failed to take it, so Keszthely could remain in
Hungarian hands throughout.
After the Turkish rule that ended
in 1686, military service in the city was no longer needed. They
were in danger of rejoining the serfs, so they joined the Rákóczi
War of Independence. Between 1705 and 1709, the city was in Kuruc
hands. After the peace of Satu Mare, the castle's defensive works,
the city's gates were destroyed and the ramparts were filled.
From the Rákóczi War of Independence to the present day
At
the beginning of the 18th century, Keszthely was owned by several
landlords. Kristóf Festetics bought his parts from the biggest
owner, János Pethő, in 1739. Subsequently, by acquiring the shares
of the smaller owners, Keszthely became the sole owner. He, and
later his son Paul, sought to deprive the townspeople of their
privileges acquired in the Turkish age. They even restricted their
market town rights, such as free election of judges and jurors. By
1772, the townspeople had only their dwellings in their possession,
their vacant lands, without exception, passed to the Festetics
family. But the appearance of the Festetics in the city also brought
positive changes. Keszthely became the center of a huge estate,
providing a livelihood for a growing number of craftsmen with many
jobs. By 1772, 215 craftsmen had been enumerated in the city,
grouped into 12 guilds. By 1785, its population was close to 3,500,
which was more than the population of Zalaegerszeg or Kaposvár at
that time, the second most populated settlement in Southwestern
Transdanubia after Kanizsa. Kristóf Festetics founded a hospital in
1759 and Pál a grammar school in 1772. Construction of the castle
began in 1745, but it did not gain its final form until the 1880s.
Keszthely, also the most significant figure of the Festetics family, György Festetics (1755–1819), who lived in Keszthely from 1791. He put a lot of energy into tidying up the outdated, debt-laden estate. In 1797, he founded Europe's first agricultural college, Georgikon, to meet his professional needs. The Phoenix galley, the largest sailing ship on Lake Balaton, was built in 1797 at the shipyard in the bottom. Between 1799 and 1801, he built a library wing for the castle, supporting the publication of several periodicals and works of fiction. From 1817 he organized the Helikon celebrations twice a year, hosting the most famous poets and writers of Transdanubia. Hence the saying from the mouth of Dániel Berzsenyi, who calls Keszthely “little Hungarian Weimar”.
Description of the settlement at the end of the 18th century:
Ornate field City Island Várm. lord of the earth G. Festetich
Lordship, the enriched city of 'who e', and will be famous for it by
the newer part of the Castle that is now being built, its
inhabitants are Catholics, lies on the Country Road at the Lake
Balaton party, close to fertile mountains, 's beautiful forests and
fenced groves: fence, and from the south the' Róna free area shows
rich fields, 's fat meadows.
Both its cynicism and its population
were markedly aged by the construction of the late Castle of Paul G.
Festetich, the famous Castle, and by various types of master people,
which the current owner ages even more effectively. In addition to
the said Castle, this ‘City’ is adorned with the ‘Holy Church’, in
which the ‘Apostle of Hhotai bears the inner calling’. Other
Szenteghyáz, of strong strength, also belong here, belonging to the
‘Fathers of the Monastery of St. Francis; 'S close to the School,
which is in nice growth. The ‘inn’ also adorns the ‘City’, and is
quite suitable accommodation for travelers. And if the castle of the
Lord is fully built, there will be no other in a piece of land: in
which there will be a rich library, and the ‘public will be open to
profit. It adorns this ‘castle’, the ‘fruit garden’ made of selected
trees; and if the ‘School of Economics’ is also set up, it will gain
some attraction to this ‘City’ and the ‘Homeland’ will be of little
use. The riches of the ‘our e’ City are both rich and diverse. The
so-called Hévíz bath in Hungary, which has various benefits, is
quite large (see 'in the work bag that came out of it in printing)'
and if the water in the work bag that came out of it in printing)
and if the water was separated from the cold water flowing to it. ,
without a doubt, one could hope for greater effectiveness: The stone
mine is also rich, which the 'earthly lord' raises to stone quarries
to even greater perfection by propagation, and by which the 'City'
can be built more ornately, which in good time can become a famous
trading city. A reminder is also the public benefit of the Lord, who
“built good sails and a large sailing ship, brought it from Trieste
by workers so that‘ even, ’and more, easier,’ and less could be
transported to Keszthely. Its border is rich in fruit, its wine has
enough fruit, its air is healthy, it has wood, its hunting grounds
are beautiful, its fish is plentiful; so the City of Keszthely is
nice and provides a good apartment for its residents.
(András Vályi: Description of the Hungarian Country, 1796–1799)
The son of György Festetics, László, built the bridge in 1839,
facilitating traffic between Keszthely and Somogy counties. In 1829,
Keszthely had about 7,000 inhabitants, including Cserszegtomaj,
Gyenesdiás and Vonyarcvashegy, which belonged to the city at that
time. The bathing life of Lake Balaton also started in the
Reformation, the first bathing house was built, and in 1846 the
first steamship of Lake Balaton, Kisfaludy, started its journey in
Keszthely.
In the 1848 revolution, the 47th Army Battalion
was formed from Georgikon students and high school students, and in
September 1848, the 56th Battalion was formed from the citizens of
Keszthely. After the defeat of the war of independence, the
development of Keszthely slowed down. The liberation of serfdom did
not particularly affect the city, as the residents owned barely 800
acres.
The most serious blow to the city’s history was that the Southern
Railway, opened in 1861, avoided the city. There was a station
called Keszthely on the line of the Southern Railway between Buda
and Nagykanizsa, but it was not located in Keszthely, but in
Balatonszentgyörgy, about ten km away. Bridging this 10-kilometer
distance, the city has cherished various railway construction plans
for decades, and even the horse-rail connection has been seriously
considered. Railways were a matter of life for the city, because in
its absence, industry and commerce were unable to maintain
competition with other cities with better infrastructure. Railway
construction began in 1888 and was completed in just a few months.
Its construction was also significantly supported by the Festetics
family, it is no coincidence that the two locomotives of the railway
company were named György and Tasziló, and a separate waiting room
was built for the family in the building of the Keszthely railway
station, which is now really in Keszthely. In 1903, the railway line
between Keszthely and Tapolca was built. The line between
Balatonszentgyörgy-Keszthely-Tapolca was typically a railway line
meeting local traffic needs. It did not play a role in the tourism
of Lake Balaton, the more it was used by the shoppers going to
Keszthely, the winegrowers around Tapolca.
In the 19th
century, industrialization avoided the city, so between 1785 and
1900 the population barely doubled.
The only direction of
development could be the strengthening of the character of the
school town of Keszthely and its development into a spa town. This
was also recognized by the city’s leaders, mainly thanks to
Wenceslas Reischl, a brewer from Moravia who had served the city as
a city judge for decades. The first holiday home in Keszthely was
built in 1862 and the first stone theater in Keszthely was opened on
the site of the open-air stage. The city center has been renewed in
a romantic and eclectic style. After the city took possession of the
shores of Lake Balaton, the island bath was built, and then the two
patinated hostels, Hullám and Balaton, still stand today. On the
eastern edge of Helikon Park, the Queen Elizabeth Road was built,
and a line of villas was built next to it in a few years. In 1865,
as a successor to the Georgikon, the State Institute of Agriculture
opened its doors. In 1870 the first kindergarten in the city was
founded, and in 1871 the construction of the convent and school of
the Sisters of Mercy began. In 1872 a civic boys 'school and a
higher girls' school were established, in 1884 the industrial school
began to operate, and in 1892 the city built the building of the
grammar school still in use today. In 1879 the Boating and Skating
Association was organized. In order to preserve cultural goods, the
Balaton Museum Association, the first museum of Zala County, was
established in 1898. By the beginning of the 20th century, Keszthely
was once again a thriving city and a popular holiday destination.
In the unfavorable economic situation after the First World War,
the development of the city came to a halt. Between the two world
wars, Keszthely gained a reputation as a “city of retirees”. In
1925, five hotels, two cafes, ten restaurants and 11 pubs awaited
the settlers. The neo-baroque palace of the Balaton Museum, the new
building of the Post Office and the Jobs Sanatorium were built at
that time.
World War II did not cause serious physical
destruction in the city, although the destruction of the famous
collection of the Lake Balaton Museum in Zalaegerszeg took place at
that time, but the furniture and library of Festetics Castle
remained intact. During the ghettoization ordered on May 8, 1944,
900 Jews from Keszthely and 110 Jews from the district were forced
into the "lower ghetto" on Unterberger Street and the "upper ghetto"
that included the Goldmark block. The ghetto was evacuated on June
20, 1944, during which those deported to the ghetto were transported
mainly to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The city's
population suffered a loss of approximately 7 percent during World
War II as a result of the deportation and deportation of Jewish
citizens to the death camp, and the memorial erected in front of the
Keszthely Synagogue commemorates the 829 victims of the Holocaust.
The Georgikon Major Museum was opened in 1972. As the fourth largest castle in the country, Festetics Castle awaits visitors with significant exhibitions and prestigious musical events after its complete renovation. After the change of regime, the city began to develop seriously. The House of Lake Balaton Wines has been located in the 500-year-old cellar system of the castle since 2005. In the park of the castle there is the largest surviving carriage collection in Hungary in the former stables; the rich exhibition consists of several cars and carriages, which came from the famous Kölber Fülöp car factory in Budapest.