Somogyszil (german: Sil) is a village in Somogy county,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

Etymology

It was first mentioned in 1138 as ''Scilu'' in

Dömös Chapter The Dömös Chapter was a collegiate chapter, established around 1107, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch. Establishment Duke Álmosthe younger brother of Coloman the Learned, King of Hungaryestablis ...

's land donation letter. Its meaning is ''covered with

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...

''. In 1864 its name got conjunct with ''Somogy'' to distinguish it from other settlements.

Geography

It lies south of the ''River Koppány'', near to Igal, 22 km from

Kaposvár Kaposvár (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in the southwestern part of Hungary, south of Lake Balaton. It is one of the leading cities of Transdanubia, the capital of Somogy County, and the seat of the Kapo ...

History

Its name appeared in 1329 in an official decree, then between 1332 and 1337 in the papal registration of

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

. In the 15th century it became a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

. From 1551 for 150 years Szil was a part of the ''Sanjak of

Törökkoppány Törökkoppány ( hr, Kopan) is a village in Somogy county, Hungary. Culture The Hungarian folk song Kinyílt a rózsa, hajlik az ága was collected in 1923 in Törökkoppány by László Lajtha. External links Street map (Hungarian) Refe ...

''. During the war of Christian reoccupation its citizens became '' Hajdús'' which meant a certain freedom. In the Habsburg administration Somogyszil came from

Tolna County Tolna ( hu, Tolna megye, ; german: Komitat Tolnau) is an administrative county ( comitatus or megye) in present Hungary as it was of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares border ...

under the control of

Somogy County Somogy ( hu, Somogy megye, ; hr, Šomođska županija; sl, Šomodska županija, german: Komitat Schomodei) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''megye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Somogy County lies ...

in 1696, after the Turkish occupation thanks to a decree of Pál Esterházy. German settlers arrived in the at that time - due to the Ottoman rule - deserted settlement in the beginning of the 18th century. Somogyszil experienced a strong economic development and regained its sealing right. In 1891 it had 2672 mostly German and Hungarian residents.

Coat of arms

Standing truncated shield. In its blue field armored arm to the right holding a silver saber. Above his elbow stands three gold wheatear on the shield line, the two on the edge are decorated with one gold leaf. The armored arm is framed by a triangular gold crown decorated with red jewels on the top and by a silver ploughshare turning to the right on the bottom. The crown refers to the former market town right of the settlement, the armored arm refers to the former Hajdú settlement. eraldika.hu Heraldika - Somogyszil/ref>

Main sights

* Roman Catholic Church (built in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages * Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes ** Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoke ...

in the Middle Ages, rebuilt in

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

in 1726)

Notable residents

* Illés Károly Edvi (1842–1919), Hungarian jurist * Mór Szegfi (1825-1896), Hungarian journalist, state secretary * Gyula Hajdu (1886-1973), Hungarian jurist * József Kelemen (1939-2007), Hungarian industrial designer

Literature

* Fülöp Márta : Múlt, jelen és jövendő a József-hegy alatt - Somogyszil monográfiája

External links

* Hungarian Wikipedia page of Somogyszil
Somogyszil website

Street map (Hungarian)

References

Populated places in Somogy County Hungarian German communities in Somogy County {{Somogy-geo-stub