Kőszeg (German: Güns, Croatian: Kiseg, Swedish: Küseg, historical
Slovak name: Kysak) is a town on the western edge of Vas county, near
the Austrian border. The center of the Kőszeg district. District:
Kőszegfalva.
Due to its rich past, it has often played a
significant role in the history of Hungary and Austria. It was the only
one in the county of Vas to receive the title of royal city in 1328,
which was confirmed with the rank of free royal city in 1648. In 1532,
the castle captain Miklós Jurisics defended his city from an attack
against the Turks, thereby preventing the occupation of Western Hungary
and Vienna. The successful establishment of the city first brought fame
and then economic prosperity. As it was spared by wars after that, it
has now become one of the richest cities in our country in terms of
monuments. In 1978, it received the János Hild Award for the renovation
of the historic city center, and in 2004, based on the votes of
Hungarian Television viewers, it earned the title "Settlement of the
Year". In 2009, the Írottkő Nature Park Association, which operates in
the settlements of the Kőszeg Mountains, achieved the title of
"Hungary's most developing ecotourism destination". It is the center of
the Kőszeg Landscape Protection District, offering many attractions to
nature lovers.
Three cultures are mixed in the city: Hungarian,
German and Croatian. Most of the Germans settled under the 200-year
Austrian rule, while the Croatians even before that, after the Turkish
attacks. International relations are represented by sister cities, the
Douzelage organization and colorful city programs. There is also a
university in Kőszeg.
Viticulture and winemaking were introduced
by the Romans, a surviving source mentions this as early as 1279, and
the "Book of the Coming of Grapes" from 1740 also testifies to it. In
addition to its natural beauty, Hungary's highest snow thickness (151
cm) and highest precipitation (1510 mm) were also measured in the city
area.
Writer Géza Ottlik, author of the book School on the
Border, ornithologist István Chernel, obsessed with skiing, and football
player Gyula Lóránt, a member of the Golden Team, should be mentioned
among the first famous people connected to the city.
Kőszeg is located in Hungary, in Western Transdanubia, in the Western Transdanubia tourist region, on the western edge of Vas county, along the Austrian border, 110 km south of Vienna, 260 km west of Budapest, 130 km northeast of Graz, 18 km from Szombathely to the north, 15 km south of Felsőpulya. The center of the Kőszeg sub-region and the Kőszeg Landscape Protection District, district: Kőszegfalva. With the accession of our country to the Schengen Convention in 2007, its role as a border town ceased, and its relations with the area of the former Kőszeg district, which is considered its catchment area, became easier.
Kőszeg lies between the eastern reaches of the Alps, at the foot of the Kőszeg Mountains, which continue beyond the border into the Borostyánkői Mountains. The settlement is located in the valley of the Gyöngyös stream. Among the recrystallized rocks, the bedrock consists of limestone and green slate. Thanks to their good water-tightness, there are many springs and fast-flowing streams.
Its climate is subalpine, with a moderately cool-humid climate, but cool-humid in the higher areas. The winter is snowy, but not harsh, the summer is cool and rainy. The annual amount of sunshine is around 1800 hours. The average annual temperature is around 8.5 °C, and that of the growing season is 15.0 °C. Between April 25 and October 14, the average daily temperature exceeds 10 °C for about 172 days (frost-free period). The landscape is extremely rich in precipitation. Based on the records, the highest multi-year average precipitation amount in the country was measured here with 807 mm. In 1937, the highest annual rainfall ever measured at the Stájer houses was recorded as a domestic record: 1510 mm. (the 73-year-old record was broken by Miskolc-Jávorkút in 2010.) The average rainfall for the summer semester is 450–470 mm. The length of the snow cover period is around 60 days at the higher points of the mountain range, and 50 days in the deeper areas. The average snow thickness is around 50 cm, but the highest snow thickness in the country was also measured at the Stájer houses: 151 cm, on February 19, 1947.
The Kőszeg Mountains belong to the Ceticum flora region and the Noricum flora region. The higher parts of the mountain range have a natural pine forest, mainly spruce and Scots pine. The most common forest associations are the oak-stemless oak forests, the beech and the lime-shrinking oak-oak forests. There is also plenty of forest cyclamen here, but the only stand of white saffron in Hungary can be found in Alsórét. The southern slopes are famous for sweet chestnuts. 60% of the city's extensive area is made up of forests, 16% of arable land, 4-4% of lawns and orchards, and 1% of vineyards. The vineyards form separate Kőszeg and Környéke Hegyközés within the Sopron Wine Region. The forests in the Kőszeg Mountains are under protection, yet certain species are threatened by destruction caused by environmental changes.
The fauna of the Noricum fauna area is characterized by the eastern Alpine and mountainous character. Ground dwellers are centipedes and centipedes, while ground beetles and stag beetles live on the surface, but we also find ticks. The spotted salamander occurs around springs and streams. The agile lizard is common in sunny meadows and forest glades. Among the birds that live in the area, the peregrine falcon, the crested banka and the great watchdog deserve mention, and the black stork is a rare guest. István Bechtold had significant merit in observing the bird population. Among the mammals, wood mice, voles and shrews, and deer are found in large numbers. Squirrels are common, big peles, mouflons, chamois, hedgehogs and bats are less common. Many predators include foxes, badgers, hares, squirrels, and weasels.
Founding and Medieval Period (13th–15th Centuries)
Kőszeg’s
origins date to the third quarter of the 13th century, when the Volfer
branch of the powerful Héder clan (who had settled in Hungary in 1157)
established the settlement. The influential Kőszegi family—specifically
Henry I (Henry the Great) Kőszegi and his son Ivan—moved their court
from Güssing (Németújvár) to Kőszeg before 1274, turning it into their
family seat and developing it into a fortified trading town. They built
a strong castle that became the core of the settlement.
In 1327, King
Charles Robert of Anjou (Charles I) broke the Kőszegi family’s regional
power. The following year (1328), he elevated Kőszeg to the status of a
free royal town—the only one in historical Vas County. Town boundaries
were fixed during the Anjou dynasty (roughly 1347–1381). In 1392, it
became a fiefdom when Palatine Nicholas Garai redeemed it from the
Ellerbach family (who had received it as a pledge from King Sigismund of
Luxembourg in 1387). The Garai era ended in 1441. By 1445, the town fell
under Austrian control and was incorporated into Lower Austria,
remaining there until 1647 despite Hungarian attempts to reclaim it.
This medieval foundation laid the groundwork for Kőszeg’s strategic
importance as a border fortress and market town.
The Little War
in Hungary and the Famous Siege of 1532
Kőszeg’s most legendary
chapter unfolded during the Ottoman–Habsburg wars. Following the
catastrophic Battle of Mohács (1526), which destroyed the independent
Kingdom of Hungary, the region became a flashpoint in the “Little War in
Hungary.” In 1532, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent launched a massive
campaign toward Vienna with an army estimated at over 100,000–120,000
troops, led on the ground by Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha.
The
small border fort of Kőszeg—south of Sopron and just miles from the
Austrian border—stood in their path. Croatian captain Nikola Jurišić
(Hungarian: Miklós Jurisics) commanded a tiny garrison of roughly
700–800 defenders: fewer than 50 professional soldiers plus Hungarian
villagers, armed with no cannons and only a few guns. The Ottomans
launched 19 major assaults between 5 and 30 August, using artillery
bombardment, mining (countered by defender tunnels), and repeated
infantry storms. The walls were breached multiple times, yet the
defenders held out for nearly four weeks through sheer grit and
counter-mining.
The siege ended without a decisive Ottoman victory:
sources differ on whether Jurišić accepted nominal surrender terms
(allowing a token Ottoman flag-raising) or rejected them outright. A
Janissary revolt and the arrival of August rains forced Suleiman to
withdraw, abandoning the march on Vienna. This delay allowed Habsburg
reinforcements (under Charles V) to assemble, saving Vienna from siege.
Ottoman losses were moderate; defender casualties were heavy. The event
became a symbol of heroic resistance across Europe.
Local tradition
holds that the last Ottoman troops departed around 11 a.m. on 30 August
1532. Since 1777, the church clocks in Kőszeg have been set to 11
o’clock in perpetual commemoration.
Heroes’ Tower (Hősök Tornya),
completed in 1932 for the 400th anniversary, stands above the southern
town gate as a monument to the defenders.
Early Modern Period
(16th–18th Centuries)
After the Turkish wars, the castle and
surrounding lands passed to the powerful Esterházy dukes in 1695, who
held them until 1931. Kőszeg lost much of its strategic value following
the Rákóczi War of Independence (1703–1711), though it served briefly as
a key kuruc (anti-Habsburg) fortress alongside Szombathely from
1705–1708. The 18th century brought the longest peaceful era in its
history.
To recover from population losses (exacerbated by earlier
conflicts and a fire that destroyed much of the town in the early
1700s), authorities founded the German-speaking settlement of
Schwabendorf (Kőszegfalva) in 1712. In 1677, the Jurisics Miklós
Gimnázium was established—the oldest continuously operating
international school in Hungary, still renowned today for its
multilingual and global curriculum.
19th Century: Economic Shifts
and Civic Growth
By the mid-19th century, Kőszeg had lost its leading
position in Vas County. The guild system crisis during the Hungarian
Reform Era (early 1800s) affected crafts, but small workshops survived.
Civic institutions emerged: public companies, societies, and the
county’s first financial institution. The town evolved into a center of
education, sanatoria, and small garrisons while retaining its historic
core.
World War II, the Holocaust, and Immediate Aftermath
(1939–1945)
Kőszeg’s Jewish community, officially recognized since
1395 (with roots possibly from the late 14th century), faced devastation
in 1944. Jews were among the last deported from Hungary to Auschwitz in
summer 1944. The Nazis established a slave-labor camp at the brick
factory and brewery; roughly 4,500 prisoners died there of typhus. As
the Red Army approached in 1945, the camp was liquidated. About 2,000
survivors endured a brutal 300 km (190 mi) death march over the Alps to
Ebensee concentration camp. In March 1945, Hungarian commander Béla
Király surrendered the town to Soviet forces to prevent further
destruction. Kőszeg largely escaped the physical ravages of the war,
preserving its medieval character.
Communist Period
(1945–1989/1990)
Under communist rule, Kőszeg followed the standard
Hungarian pattern of nationalization, collectivization, and ideological
control. Details are sparse in primary sources, but the town functioned
as a modest administrative and garrison center. Post-war expulsions of
the German-speaking population (Schwabendorf) occurred, and the economy
was reoriented toward state planning. Architectural heritage survived
relatively intact, though maintenance was limited.
Post-Communist
Era (1990–Present)
Since 1992, Kőszeg has operated under democratic
local government and a market economy. It has actively pursued renewal
through EU funding, tourism, and heritage preservation. In 1978
(pre-transition), it received the Hild Prize for architectural
conservation; today it ranks among Hungary’s most attractive towns.
Annual “Castle Days” reenact the 1532 siege. The town structure remains
largely unaltered, with only minor damage to bastion gates. It thrives
as a cultural and tourist destination, emphasizing its medieval
“jewellery box” charm.