Harkány () is a town in

Baranya county Baranya ( hu, Baranya megye, ) is a county () in southern Hungary. It is part of the Southern Transdanubia statistical region and the historical Baranya region, which was a county (''comitatus'') in the Kingdom of Hungary dating back to the ...

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

History

The area has been inhabited since medieval times, the name "Nagh Harkan" was mentioned in a document from the year 1323. The origin and meaning of the name ''harkány'' is unknown, but there are archaeological findings showing that the area was inhabited by

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

and Avars about 1000 years ago. Until the end of World War II, the majority of the Inhabitants was

Danube Swabians The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...

, also called locally as ''Stifolder'', because there Ancestors once came at the 17th century and 18th century from

Fulda (district) The Fulda District (; ) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north-east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Wartburgkreis, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Rhön-Grabfeld, Bad Kissingen, Main-Kinzig, Vogelsbergkreis. History T ...

. Mostly of the former German Settlers was expelled to

Allied-occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...

and Allied-occupied Austria in 1945–1948, about the Potsdam Agreement. Only a few

Germans of Hungary German Hungarians (german: Ungarndeutsche, hu, magyarországi németek) are the German-speaking minority of Hungary, sometimes called Danube Swabians (German: ''Donauschwaben'', Hungarian: ''dunai svábok''), many of whom call themselves "Shwov ...

live there, the majority today are the descendants of Hungarians from the

Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange The Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange was the exchange of inhabitants between Czechoslovakia and Hungary after World War II. Between 45,000 and 120,000 Hungarians were forcibly transferred from Czechoslovakia to Hungary, and their propert ...

. They occupied the houses of the former Danube Swabians Inhabitants.

Spa

Medical waters rich in sulfur were discovered by Pogány János in 1823, a well digger who sensed the warm waters had a good effect on his ill leg. The

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

benefits of the waters are proved in treatment of locomotor disorders, chronic gynaecological inflammations and lymphatic malfunctions and for

psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...

. The spa is located in a huge 13.5-hectare primeval park, among hundreds of years old trees, where it awaits visitors who want to relax with a beach bath, spa and slide park. In addition to healing skin diseases, the bath water is also excellent for treating infertility problems.

Tourism

Since the discovery of the medical waters 150 years ago, the number of tourists visiting the spa of Harkány has reached one million people yearly. Harkány is one of the most famous city spas; a lot of places of accommodation and recreation have been built. Most of the hotels are of European standards. Harkány has a hospital for treatment of rheumatic related illnesses.

Twin towns – sister cities

Harkány is twinned with: *

Băile Tușnad Băile Tușnad (; hu, Tusnádfürdő, ) is a town in Harghita County, Romania in eastern Transylvania. With a population of 1,617, it is the smallest town in Romania by population. It is located at an altitude of 650 metres in the southern reac ...

, Romania * Bačko Petrovo Selo, Serbia

References

External links

* in Hungarian, English, German, Croatian, Czech and Russian
Harkány at funiq.hu

Additional information about Harkany Thermal Spa
Populated places in Baranya County Thermal baths in Hungary {{Baranya-geo-stub