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It is astonishing that some places have completely disappeared, such as the Royal Hotel and the Margaret Bath, and others have undergone massive changes, such as the Dósa (formerly Dégenfeld) square and Hal köz.

Today’s  Petőfi Square was called the Népkert (People’s Garden) around 100 years ago. The Royal Hotel shone on the old Deák Ferenc Street, on the northern edge of today’s Petőfi Square from 1907 to the airstrikes in 1944. This lavish building had electric lighting, bath, and central steam heating. Its foundations still lie in the ground and were seen in the lastest landscaping.

The widespread use of windmills in Hungary dates back to the second half of the 19th century. According to statistics, there were 476 windmills in the country by 1863. At the same time, the number of steam mills was increasing in popularity. 

Steam mills were far more productive because they were not reliant upon the wind, however, they were more expensive to run and so, the number of windmills first increased then started to decrease. In 1880, there were still more windmills than steam mills due to the lack of economic progress.

Most of the windmills were set up in the Great Plain including towns as Szeged, Kiskunfélegyháza, Debrecen, and Hódmezővásárhely.

Stuck at home with nothing to do at home during the Coronavirus lockdown?  Why not choose a movie to watch, but not just any movie, choose one with a purpose besides just entertainment.  Choose a Hungarian film, for a better understanding of the Hungarian psyche, – there are many movies to choose from, – subtitled in English. 

Hungarian filmmakers have a long and illustrious history internationally, with many an influential director originating here to become famous internationally.   In fact, Americans with Hungarian roots were in large part behind the creation of Hollywood. Consider both Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Pictures) and William Fox (founder of Fox – now 20th Centuries Fox) had Hungarian roots.

In what is a long-time tradition, the St. George’s Day Herd-out festival and crafts fair has been canceled this year as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The importance of this annual event for raising awareness of Hortobágy as a UNESCO World Heritage Site cannot be understated because of its cultural significance.  At this time of year, the work of animal husbandry comes to the fore, as cattle are moved from their winter dwellings into the open grasslands and pastures.  It is a time when shepherds and farmhands are hired and for the counting of sheep. 

The event’s importance is because how the work is done today, is how it was done long ago, Hortobágy is a window into a way of life. The tradition is protected, maintained for future generations to witness, and to garner an understanding of what came before.  The nearby city of Debrecen was built upon the herdsman way of life, a waypoint along trading routes that grew from being a settlement into a city, a trading post which prospered.  However, the way of life started long before the establishment of Hortobágy the place, which was established to supply Debrecen with cattle.  The way of life came first, it brought the trading, which led to the establishment of the settlement which later became.

The coronavirus is not the first epidemic or even pandemic in the history of Debrecen, but the city has always been in a privileged position in terms of healthcare (relatively speaking). 

By 1583 there was a surgeon’s and barber’s guild in Debrecen, where Latin-speaking students of lower grades of the College worked and traded with medicines.

In 1709, nine masters worked in Debrecen. Famously, the father of the famous Hungarian poet and a leading figure in the Hungarian literary revival of the Enlightenment, Mihály Csokonai Vitéz,  was a barber and surgeon but did not receive membership of the guild.

In recent times the wealthy citizens of Debrecen have not benefited from the elite status of aristocrats, but in the past they did, and they followed the classical practices in the design of the luxury houses. Just as in Rome, houses that are used for holiday or permanent residences, – outside of the city were called just “Villas” and those built on estates belonging to the category ‘Villa Rustica’, while those built for entertainment were ‘Villa Urbana”.

The Great Forest had become a popular place to walk by the end of the 18th century. Neither water nor wooded parks were in the city center at the time and so, to get relief from the dusty dry heat. The clean, cool, forest air between the trees offered great relief. In 1794, the city leaders considered it dangerous and unnecessary to park in the part of the Great Forest facing the city, let alone build an “ordinary” entertainment place in it. The rigid attitude changed radically by the 1820s. The sparsely forested south side was opened to walkers in an attempt to keep them away from the forested area. 

In an interview with Dehir.hu, the Managing Director of Campus Nonprofit Kft., the organizer’s of the Campus festival explained that due to the coronavirus epidemic, they have found themselves in a difficult situation. 

According to the festival director the decision of whether to proceed, postpone or cancel Campus Festival, scheduled for July 22-26, has not yet been made.  It will either be held at the original time or the festival will be canceled this year. A decision on this will be taken in early June at the latest. 

Péter Miklósvölgyi, managing director of Campus Nonprofit Kft., said that it is a question whether it will be possible to hold a mass event at the end of July, he said that since practically all major events are postponed until August or September because holding them now involves a great deal of risk. 

The movie entitled “Hungarian Wanderer” is a fictional comedy by the film director Gábor Herendi. The story is a Hungarian favorite telling the story about the seven Hungarian leaders of the invasion of the Carpathian Basin.

The story begins as the seven leaders wake up to find that the Hungarians armies have already left without them. They are forced to follow them and on arrival find that, not only their new homeland but their people as well. During their wanderings, they experience comic and tragicomic episodes of Hungarian history in forests and castles, inns and hotels, while fighting the Tartars, harem ladies, the Kurucs and the English footballers. 

April 16th marks the Day of Remembrance for the Hungarian Victims of the Holocaust. On this day in 1944 the Hungarian Holocaust began with the systematic sending of Hungarian Jews to the ghettos by the German occupation.

Ever since the arrival of Jewish merchants in Debrecen during the 1780s the community grew and settled, to such an extent that it was officially recognised in 1852.  Along with settlement and official status came the development of synagogues, Jewish schools along with a hospital and social welfare institutions.

The coronavirus has shaken the whole world, not only in terms of health but also economically. No sector has been impacted more than Tourism.

In a recent interview, Gábor Gődény, managing director of the VisitDebrecen, Debrecen’s Tourism Agency, talked about the impact of the coronavirus on both tourism and the economy and looked to the aftermath. He addressed the question of how quickly the city’s tourism industry can revive after the coronavirus.  

The local history exhibitions of the Péter Méliusz Juhász Library present the history of Debrecen over the last hundred years in a series of exhibitions. Due to the Coronavirus, the exhibitions can be viewed virtually only on the library’s website.

The exhibitions are organized as by The Méliusz Library within the framework of the TOP-6.9.2 Local Community Development in Debrecen 1/2/3 district.

The aim of the tender is to strengthen the local identity, help the establishment of the communities operating in the city district and to support their operation. The material of the exhibitions is selected from the documentary library of the local history collection and from the photos offered by the residents. Its goal is to get residents involved in the community life of their own part of the city.

Spring brings a burst of life, this year it does so regardless of the coronavirus that has locked humanity down. Newborns are arriving just like last year.

Following the birth of a Palawan leopard back in November 2018, the zoo welcomed another healthy leopard offspring at the end of February. The six-week-old male leopard is growing up very fast. His current weighs 660 g and just recently got his very first vaccine. In Hungary, members of this subspecies can only be found in Debrecen; and in a total of six zoos around the world. 

Debrecen Zoo along with three other European zoos helped to found a conservation breeding program for Palawan leopards (Prionailurus bengalensis heaneyi), with the aim of establishing a stable and genetically viable zoo population for future reintroduction to the wild. 

*UPDATE – ALL CELEBRATIONS ARE CANCELLED DUE TO COVID19 VIRUS*

The 11th of April is celebrated each year because this day marks the date when Debrecen was established as a Free Royal city and the independence it was granted.

Debrecen city was first documented in 1235, as Debrezun. Some believe that the name derives from the Turkic word “debresin”, while others say that it has Slavic origin and means ‘well-esteemed’. 

Debrecen thrived during the middle of the 13th century, becoming more important than some of the small villages of the area.  This was due to its location on important trading routes from East to West, as a result of which it became an important trading post.

One of the most characteristic architectural monuments of the City of Debrecen, is the Town Hall, a classicist building which stands on Piac street.

The building was home to elected city officials including the judiciary, and other officers of elected bodies. The Old town hall has been characterized by frugality for centuries. Until the 19th century, the city spent relatively little on “ordinary” (city-owned) houses and their decoration. 

The first town hall was built in 1531 by expansion from the construction of single-storey residential buildings over the centuries. In 1802, the city leaders wanted to build a new town hall, but due to lack of money, neither the plans ofMihály Péchy nor Ferenc Povolny was realized.