in: Békéscsaba, County seats in Hungary, Settlements in Békés County
Births etc
City limit sign (rovas script)
Location of Békés County in Hungary
Location of Békéscsaba in Hungary
Location of Békéscsaba in Békés County
Coordinates: 46°40′44″N 21°05′28″E / 46.679, 21.091
Southern Great Plain Region
Békés County
• Density 342/km2 (890/sq mi)
Area code(s)
Békéscsaba (German: Tschabe, Romanian: Bichişciaba, Slovak: Békešská Čaba) is a city in Southeast Hungary, the capital of the county Békés.
2 Name
5 Tourist sights
6.1 Born in Békéscsaba
6.2 Died in Békéscsaba
7 International relations
7.1 Twin towns — Sister cities
Evangelical churches, the symbols of the city
Gyula Andrássy High School
According to the 2001 census, the city has a total area of 193.94 km2 (75 sq mi).
Name[]
The name of the city comes from the word "Békés", which means "peaceful" in Hungarian, and "Csaba", a popular Hungarian male given name of Turkish origin.
Trianon memorial, Békéscsaba built by sculptor Attila Meszaros (inaugurated on June 4, 2008)
The area has been inhabited since the ancient times. In the Iron Age the area had been conquered by the Scythians, by the Celts, then by the Huns. After the Hungarian Conquest, there were many small villages in the area.
The village of Csaba was first mentioned in the 1330s. Besides Csaba, eight other villages stood where now the town stands. When the Turks conquered the southern and central parts of Hungary, and these territories became part of the Ottoman Empire, the town survived, but it became extinct during the fights against the Turks in the 17th century.
In 1715 Csaba is mentioned as a deserted place, but only one year later its name can be found in a document mentioning the tax-paying towns. It is likely that the new Csaba was founded by János György Harruckern, who earned distinction in the freedom fight against the Turks and bought the area of Békés county. By 1847 the town was among the twenty largest towns of Hungary, with a population of 22,000. Nevertheless, Csaba was still like a large village, with muddy streets and crowded houses.
By 1858 the railway line reached the town. This brought development; new houses and factories were built, the town began to prosper. Still, by the end of the 19th century the unemployment caused great tension, and in 1891 a revolt was oppressed by the help of Romanian soldiers. One of the most important person in the politics of the town was András L. Áchim, who founded a peasants' party and succeeded in having Békéscsaba elevated to the rank of "city with council".
World War I brought suffering to the town. Between 1919 and 1920 Békéscsaba was under Romanian occupation. After the Treaty of Trianon Hungary lost its most important Southern cities, Arad and Oradea, and Békéscsaba had to take over their roles, becoming the most important town of the area.
Between the two world wars the recession caused poverty and unemployment, and a flood in 1925 didn't help, either.
During World War II battles weren't fought in the area, but two tragic events shook the town in 1944: between June 24 and 26th over 3,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz. A few of the Békéscsaba families who were lost at Auschwitz, Dachau.
On 21 September, the British and American Air Force bombed the railway station and its surroundings, killing more than 100 people. On 6 October 1944 the Soviet army occupied Békéscsaba.
During the Socialist times Békéscsaba became the county seat of Békés (1950), and began to develop into one of the most important centres of food industry of Hungary. After the change of regime in 1990 the industry got into a crisis, and lots of people lost their jobs. Today the crisis seems to be over and Békéscsaba is prospering again.
Population[]
±%
29,490 +6.8%
37,153 +13.8%
42,118 −12.7%
67,157 −0.1%
Population change of Békéscsaba (1870-2007)
Ethnic groups (2001 census):
Hungarians - 93.8%
Slovaks - 6%
Germans - 0.6%
Romanians - 0.4%
Religions (2001 census):
Roman Catholic - 24.2% (mainly Magyar descendants)
Lutheran - 20.5% (mainly Slovak descendants)
Calvinist - 10.9% (only Magyar descendants)
Other - 2.1% (mainly Christian)
Atheist - 30.5%
No answer, unknown - 10.8%
Tourist sights[]
Árpád Bath
Baroque church (18th century)
Classicist church (19th century)
City hall (designed by Miklós Ybl, 1873)
Mihály Munkácsy Museum
Mór Jókai Theatre
Slovak folklore museum
Notable people[]
Born in Békéscsaba[]
Ján Valašťan Dolinský (1892–1965), Slovak composer
Károly Klimó (1936), artist
László Vidovszky (1944), composer and pianist
Ádám Szepesi (1945), high jumper
Gyula Hegyi (1951), politician
Henrietta Ónodi (1974), gymnast
Béla Szabados (1974), swimmer
Eniko Mihalik (1987), model
Agnes Kesmarki (1981), supermodel
Died in Békéscsaba[]
Sándor Erkel (1900), composer, son of Ferenc Erkel
International relations[]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary
Twin towns — Sister cities[]
Békéscsaba is twinned with:
Beiuş, Romania
Mikkeli, Finland
Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania
Skoczów, Poland
Tarnowskie Góry, Poland
Trenčín, Slovakia
Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Wittenberg, Germany
Zrenjanin, Serbia
Penza, Russia
Salonta, Romania
Photos of the town
Aerial photography: Békéscsaba
County seat: Békéscsaba
Battonya
Csorvás
Dévaványa
Füzesgyarmat
Gyomaendrőd
Körösladány
Medgyesegyháza
Mezőberény
Mezőhegyes
Mezőkovácsháza
Orosháza
Sarkad
Szeghalom
Tótkomlós
Újkígyós
Vésztő
Almáskamarás
Békéssámson
Békésszentandrás
Bélmegyer
Biharugra
Bucsa
Csabacsüd
Csabaszabadi
Csanádapáca
Csárdaszállás
Dombegyház
Dombiratos
Ecsegfalva
Gádoros
Gerendás
Geszt
Hunya
Kardos
Kardoskút
Kaszaper
Kétegyháza
Kertészsziget
Kétsoprony
Kevernes
Kisdombegyház
Kondoros
Körösnagyharsány
Köröstarcsa
Körösújfalu
Kötegyán
Kunágota
Lökösháza
Magyarbánhegyes
Magyardombegyház
Medgyesbodzás
Méhkerék
Mezőgyán
Murony
Nagybánhegyes
Nagykamarás
Nagyszénás
Okány
Örménykút
Pusztaföldvár
Pusztaottlaka
Sarkadkeresztúr
Szabadkígyós
Tarhos
Telekgerendás
Újszalonta
Végegyháza
Zsadány
Counties of Hungary
Bács-Kiskun · Baranya · Békés · Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén · Csongrád · Fejér · Győr-Moson-Sopron · Hajdú-Bihar · Heves · Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok · Komárom-Esztergom · Nógrád · Pest · Somogy · Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg · Tolna · Vas · Veszprém · Zala
Békéscsaba · Budapest (capital) · Debrecen · Dunaújváros · Eger · Érd · Győr · Hódmezővásárhely · Kaposvár · Kecskemét · Miskolc · Nagykanizsa · Nyíregyháza · Pécs · Salgótarján · Sopron · Szeged · Székesfehérvár · Szekszárd · Szolnok · Szombathely · Tatabánya · Veszprém · Zalaegerszeg
This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Békéscsaba. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
County seats in Hungary
Settlements in Békés County
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