Zalaegerszeg (Egersee in German, Jegersek or Jagersek in
Croatian; common abbreviation: “Zeg”) is the seat of Zala County, a
town with county status. As the center of the Zalaegerszeg district,
many settlements belong to its catchment area. It is the 17th most
populated city in Hungary.
Its first written mention dates
from 1247 as Egurscug, and in 1293 it is already called Egerszeg.
After the fall of Kanizsa in 1600, its role grew, it gradually
became the center of Zala County, and in today's terms it became a
county seat in the 18th century. The prosperity of the city began in
the 1920s, under the office of Mayor Mátyás Czobor, nearly 40 new
streets were opened, a new public cemetery, a row of love houses and
rental flats were built, and the public hospital was expanded. In
1929, Zalaegerszeg became a county town.
One of the most
flowery, greenest cities in Hungary, in 2008 it won the highest
prize of the Organizing Committee for a Flowery Hungary, the Golden
Rose Prize.
Geographical coordinates of Zalaegerszeg é. s. 46.84538 ° and k. h. 16.84721 °. It is the seat of Zala county, a city with county status. It is located in Western Transdanubia, on both banks of the river Zala, at approximately equal distances (50–70 km) from the Austrian, Slovenian and Croatian borders, in the Zala Hills region, on the edge of the Göcsej micro-region. It has an average elevation of 156 meters above sea level. Lake Balaton is 45 km east of it. Its distance from Budapest is 213 kilometers by road and 239 kilometers by rail. The nearest motorway exit is 50 km away, next to Nagykanizsa on the M7 motorway.
The thickness of the earth's crust here is
25-27 km, that of the lithosphere 60-80 km. Throughout the history
of the earth, marine and terrestrial sedimentation in the area have
alternated during periods of ascent and descent. The most important
event of the Pliocene age was the formation of gravel areas from
river embankment. During the Pleistocene, loess covered large areas.
Almost exclusively the youngest rocks are found on the surface, but
upper Pannonian rocks can also appear on the valley bottoms.
The city is located in the northern part of the Zala Hills, on the
border of three micro-regions. The south-western parts of the city
already extend into the territory of Göcsej, so there are
characteristic “mountains” of 200-250 meters high, with varying
exposures. The north-eastern and eastern slopes are the steepest,
descending to the south-southwest, gradually decreasing, formed by
derasis and gel solifluction. The northern and central parts are
located in the tectonically predicted and funnel-like widening to
the east in the Upper Zala Valley. On the right side of the valley
were deep, narrow valleys, hard-to-recognize terraces, Old Holocene
sediments associated with Pannonian clay, and sloping, sloping
slopes covered on the left. However, human activity has almost
completely transformed them into more suitable forms for settlement.
The eastern parts of the city stretch on smaller meridional lines
connecting to the Söjtöri ridge of the East Zala Hills.
The
duration of sunlight varies between 1950 and 2000 hours / year,
which is the lowest value compared to Hungarian areas in the same
latitude. This is due to the average annual cloud cover of 56-62%
caused by the strength of the Atlantic impact. Among the wind
directions, the most common are north and south, totaling approx.
30%, the meridional valleys help to maintain their direction.
Windless periods are also common, about 25%.
The annual
rainfall is around 800 mm. The average number of snow-covered days
is 45.
In the clayey, clayey parts there are opportunities
for the formation of a dense water network, which is one of the
densest in Hungary. In this context, the valley density is also very
high. The formation of the valleys was also facilitated by the loose
surface rock and the Quaternary uplift of the area. However, the
fragmentation of the topography is not conducive to the formation of
large watercourses, so the largest one, Zala, is only in the
vicinity of the stream-sized Zalaegerszeg. As the erosion base of
the area, it collects water from smaller ditches. These include
Válicka, which flows from the south to Zala. There are several small
and large lakes in the city. The most significant is Lake Gébárti,
artificially created in 1975. Pose in a part of town after the
abandonment of gravel mines, fishing lakes were established.
Around Zalaegerszeg, there are two types of plant associations: the
valleys are characterized by waterfront meadows, willow and alder
groves. In the higher areas there are hornbeam and sessile oaks,
Zala beeches, and oak trees, and the occurrence of sweet chestnuts
is common. Within the city, only parks show the memory of the old
rich forests. (Peace Park, Dózsa Park, Park Forest)
The
livestock associated with the Zala flora is not different from the
Hungarian average, it typically consists of large game (deer, roe
deer, wild boar) and is home to few special animal species. This
game is of economic importance, both for game meat and for hunting.
The deer trophies of Zala are famous, they have already won several
world championship medals.
Poor quality soils have developed
around the city, the most significant of which are clay-washed brown
forest soils. Due to this feature, large areas are utilized even
within the city limits for vineyards, where more undemanding
varieties are created.