Komárom (Hungarian: ; german: Komorn; la, Brigetio, later ; sk, Komárno) is a city in

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, Cr ...

on the south bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárno,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, is on the northern bank. Komárom was formerly a separate village called . In 1892 Komárom and Újszőny were connected with an iron bridge and in 1896 the two towns were united under the name city of Komárom. The fortress played an important role in the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although t ...

and many contemporary English sources refer to it as the Fortress of Comorn.

History

Following the

Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, also known as the Hungarian conquest or the Hungarian land-taking (), was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10t ...

at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, Prince

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' g ...

gave Komárom and the Komárom county vicinity to tribal chieftain

Ketel Ketel is a legendary Magyar tribal chieftain of perhaps Kabar origin, who lived at the end of the 9th century. He was the father of Alaptolma,Tamás HölblingA honfoglalás forráskritikája I. - A külföldi kútfők Ad Librum Kiadó, 2010, p ...

. Ketel was the first known ancestor of the famous

Koppán (genus) Koppán is the name of a Hungarian genus (Clan Koppán) in the Kingdom of Hungary. According to one theory the kindred was called Katapán originally. According to another theory the original was Kupan. The first known ancestor of the family was a l ...

clan. At the beginning of the 12th century, this tribe founded the town's Benedictine Monastery in honor of the Blessed Virgin, mentioned in 1222 by the name of Monostorium de Koppán. The Turks destroyed much of the monastery and its surroundings in 1529, and the area was thus depopulated. Later references refer to it as the Pioneer Monastery (Pusztamonostor). Presently, it is called Koppánymonostor (Koppán's Monastery) in honor of its founding family. Roman ruins (including a stone mile marker and watchtowers) still stand today. The town was heavily damaged in the 1763 Komárom earthquake. Between 1850 and 1871 the Fort Monostor (Monostori Erőd) was built nearby. In 1920 Komárom was split by the newly created border of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. In 1920 Hungary was forced to sign the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

recognizing the new imposed borders including the border with Czechoslovakia. The loss of its territory created a sizable Hungarian minority in Slovakia. The Slovak part is today Komárno,

. In 1938 the entire city was returned to Hungary, its Regent,

Admiral Horthy Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

receiving a tumultuous welcome from the citizens as he crossed the old bridge and entered the formerly dismembered part. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the city was again divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. After World War II the occupying Soviets built the country's biggest ammunition storage in the Fortress of Monostor. Thousands of wagons of ammunition were forwarded from this strictly guarded area. One of a series of forts, the Monostor is today open to the public as a museum. Komárom and Komárno are connected by two bridges: The older iron bridge, and a newer lifting bridge. Currently a third bridge is under construction with estimated completion by 2020/2021. The vast majority of its funding coming from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

Connecting Europe Facility The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is a European Union fund established in 2014 for infrastructure investments (in particular the Trans-European Networks) across the union in transport, energy, digital and telecommunication projects, which aims at ...

. The two towns used to be a border crossing between Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia) and Hungary, until both countries became part of the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

, resulting in all immigration and customs checks being lifted on December 12, 2007.

Notable people

* Franz Heckenast (1889–1939), Austrian artillery officer and opponent of Nazism *

Jovan Monasterlija Jovan Monasterlija ( sr-cyr, Јован Монастерлија; fl. 1683–1706) was a Serbian ''vice-voivode'' (podvojvoda) and Austrian (Holy Roman Empire) imperial officer that led a Serbian Militia against the Ottoman Empire and other enemie ...

(d. 1706), Serb vice-voivode and Habsburg imperial officer * Julie Kopacsy-Karczag (1867–1957), operatic soprano * Cardinal

Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (also spelt ''Collonicz'', ''Colonitz'', ''Kollonitz'', ''Kolonits'' and ''Kolonić''; 26 October 1631 – 20 January 1707) or Lipót Kollonich was a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop of Kalocsa and lat ...

(1631–1707), Catholic prelate *

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life a ...

(1870–1948), Austro-Hungarian composer * Theodor Körner, Austrian President * Mór Jókai (1825-1904), writer * Hans Selye (1907–1982), Hungarian-Austrian-Canadian

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

* Tünde Szabó (1945-2021), Hungarian actress *

Péter Szijjártó Péter Szijjártó (; born 30 October 1978) is a Hungarian politician who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 2014. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Parliamentary State Secretary of the ...

(born 1978), Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade * Endre Komaromi-katz, painter

Twin towns – sister cities

Komárom is twinned with: *

Gratwein-Straßengel Since 2015 Gratwein-Straßengel is a market town in the Graz-Umgebung District of Styria, Austria. The town took effect as part of the Styria municipal structural reform, from the end of 2014 with the merging of the former municipalities Gratwein, ...

, Austria * Khust, Ukraine * Komárno, Slovakia * Lieto, Finland *

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018 ...

, Germany *

Sebeș Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania. Geography The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the ri ...

, Romania *

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Indus ...

, Poland

References

External links

* in Hungarian, English, German and Slovak
Aerial photography: Komárom

Komárom on wiki.utikonyvem.hu

"The Battle at Comorn in Hungary on 11th July 1849" - painting by Albrecht Adam, 1855
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komarom Populated places in Komárom-Esztergom County Divided cities Hungary–Slovakia border crossings Populated places on the Danube

History

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

See also

References

External links