Mohács (Croatian: Mohač German: Mohatsch, Moosach, Serbian: Мохач) is a town in Baranya County, the center of the Mohács district. It is the southernmost settlement on the Danube in Hungary. One of the city’s main attractions is the annual bus tour, visited by thousands, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009. The historic battle took place south of the city on August 29, 1526, during which the unprepared Hungarian army was defeated by the Turkish superiority.
The settlement in the southeastern corner of Southern
Transdanubia is one of the southernmost cities in Hungary. It is a
city with favorable infrastructure and surrounded by extremely high
quality agricultural land.
The road to the Danube at Baja is
divided into two branches. The wider Danube branch takes a
south-westerly direction and then turns at a right angle to the
south-east. It continues its way to the narrower south. The two
branches meet again on the Croatian-Serbian border. Where the wider,
“old” Danube turns, lies Mohács. Most of the city is located on the
right bank, with 95% of the population living here. The population
of the left bank part of the city (Újmohács) is almost 700 people.
Since 2007, Mohács has been the Danube border port of the European
Union. The city is avoided by the main road 56, which runs from
Szekszárd to the Croatian border. Mohács is connected to Pécs, the
seat of Baranya County, by the main road 57 (40 km). The Croatian
border is 10 km away and Budapest is 190 km away. In the eastern
part of the Mohács district, in the flood-free areas, there is a
loess cover 15–20 m thick, the surface of the island of Mohács
consists of layers of silty alluvium. Unfortunately, nitration
occurs in a significant area. The floodplain of the island is a
dangerous area for flood and inland water.
Kismohács, located
next to the embankment of the Danube, is also part of the inner
city. The area connected to Rákóczi Street consists of a single row
of houses.
In the area with a moderately warm and humid climate, the number of hours of sunshine per year is around 2060, the average annual temperature is between 10.5 and 10.8 ° C, and only in the northern part of the micro-region is the average annual temperature below 10 ° C. The annual amount of precipitation varies between 650 and 700 mm.
Until the 20th
century
According to research, man has settled in and around
Mohács since prehistoric times. Researchers have found the remains
of houses built on stone, copper, bronze and Iron Age piles.
The i. e. From the 1st to the 4th century, the area belonged to the
province of Pannonia in the Roman Empire. The area was located along
the Danube, on the border of the province, so the important line of
defense, the limes, also stretched for this. South of Mohács, in
today's Kölkeden, was Altinum, one of the important stations of the
limes. After the fall of the Roman Empire, a 6-7. century Avar
settlement stood in the countryside. It is believed that the area
inhabited by Gepids with a population of 150-180 is the largest
known Avar settlement in the Carpathian Basin.
The name of
the town is first mentioned in the sources in 1093, when King St.
Ladislaus donated it to the bishop of Pécs in 1093. The inhabitants
of the small village were the serfs of the bishop of Pécs.
Livestock, farming and fishing took place in the area. It was
already mentioned as a market town in the 15th century, and by the
middle of the century, according to research, it numbered about 800
souls. It was fortified with planks due to the strong southern
Turkish expansion. After a tragic defeat on August 29, 1526, on the
outskirts of the settlement, the Turks destroyed the city.
The Turks did not return to Hungary until a decade and a half later.
At that time the palisade was rebuilt and from 1543 to 1566 and then
from 1570 again became a sandwich center. During the years of
Turkish occupation and the 18th century, Serbian, Sokac and German
settlers arrived in the city. About 20 km west of the city, at
Nagyharsány, the notable event of Hungary's liberation from Turkey,
the II. Battle of Mohács.
In 1724, Mohács received the rank
of a market town (later it was downgraded). During the reform era,
the commercial character of Mohács was further strengthened. From
1832, the ships of the Danube Steamship Company sailed the river. In
1857, the 56 km long railway line between Pécs and Mohács was built,
on which the coal mined in Pécs was transported to the Danube, which
was transported from there by boat.
The news of the
revolution of 1848 was brought on March 17 by a merchant from
Komárom on the ship “Nádor”.
In 1868 it lost its status as a
market town and was re-elevated to a large village.
A 20-21.
century
At the beginning of the 20th century, the machinery
industry appeared in the city and then gradually gained more and
more ground. New public institutions, town halls and department
stores were erected. In 1910, the city had a population of 17,000.
Between 1918 and 1921, the town was under Serbian occupation, in
1921 it was part of the short-lived Baranya-Baja Serbian-Hungarian
Republic. The Treaty of Trianon soon drew the new frontier under
Mohács. Many Serbs moved out of the city, but in the mid-1920s the
city’s population once again reached its previous level. It gained
its current city and county seat status in 1924. From 1929 it is a
county town. It was around this time that the grammar school began
to operate.
Mohács was occupied on November 26, 1944 by the
Workers' Peasant Red Army. At that time a pontoon bridge was built
on the Danube, which was taken away by the ice a month later. The
river soon froze completely, so the Soviets built a plank road to
the Danube, which operated in January and February 1945.
In 1949, they planned to build the Danube Ironworks around the
city, which was then moved to the then Dunapentele, later Stalin
Town (now Dunaújváros) due to its proximity to Yugoslavia. In 1956,
due to the icy flood, 80% of the island’s homesteads collapsed. Then
the village settlements of Újmohács and Sárhát on Mohács Island were
formed. Then the intensive industrialization of the city began. At
that time, the largest fibreboard factory in Central Europe was also
built. In socialist times, several housing estates were built in the
city. Its favorable road, rail and water connections have made it
one of the major commercial centers in the country.
The city
is still developing dynamically today. In 2002, he received the John
Hild Memorial Medal.