Bicske (; or ) is a town in

Fejér County Fejér (, ) is an administrative county in central Hungary. It lies on the west bank of the river Danube and nearly touches the eastern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Veszprém, Komárom-Esztergom County ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

. It is around west of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Its administration has undergone many changes; it has been a settlement, a village, a market town, and a village constituting an administrative division.

History

The name of the Byckche family has been known since 1258 when some members got a large donation of land from the king. According to a document dating from 1306, Botond's sons János (John) and Péter were granted permission to levy tolls in the locality of Bicske. From 1596 onward, Bicske belonged to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Count Ádám

Batthyány The House of Batthyány () is an ancient and distinguished Hungarian noble magnate family. The Head of the family bears the title Prince (Fürst) of Batthyány-Strattmann, while other members of this family bear the title Count/Countess ( Graf ...

bought the land in 1642. The Batthyány family built a castle in 1754–1755, and made it their residence. The Batthyány family also built an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

and a little castle (''Hegyi-kastély'') for the

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

s. During the Batthyány era, the village, which had been destroyed by the Turks, became a prosperous town. From 1688 to 1877, it was the chief town of the district. A

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community developed in Bicske during the 18th century; most of its members were associated with the Neolog or

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

movement. They built a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

and a school, which was open to both Christian and Jewish students.https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/bicske Beit Hatfutsot Jewish Genealogy Databases By the 19th century Bicske was a well-developed market town and cultural centre. From 1877 to 1946 it belonged to the district of Vál. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, an era known as the " White Terror," lasting from 1919 - 1921, saw the Jewish community of Bicske under attack by Christians, as homes were looted and citizens were murdered. In 1940, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Jewish farms and shops were confiscated and nationalized and able-bodied Jewish men were sent to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

to work in the mines. In May 1940, a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

was erected in Bicske and Jews from neighboring towns were brought there for confinement. In June 1940, the ghetto was liquidated and its entire Jewish population was sent to the Komárom ghetto and, that same month, to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

for extermination. The town's synagogue was completely destroyed. Bicske was captured on 24 December 1944 by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in the course of the Budapest Offensive. On the night of 4 January 1945 the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

5th SS Panzer Regiment, under the command of Fritz Darges, advanced towards Bicske but was stopped by the 41st Guards Rifle Division of the Soviet 4th Guards Army. The Germans retreated, but destroyed more than thirty Soviet tanks during the battle. In 1947 Bicske became independent. There were 12,000 inhabitants in 1986.

Main sights

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Church (18th century) with a Maulbertsch panel painting * (built in 1754-1755) *In the center of the town are excavated ruins of a temple with several tombs, dating from the 15th century *Ruins of the Observatory and the astronomers' castle

Sport

The

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, Bicskei TC, is based in the town.

Twin towns – sister cities

Bicske is twinned with: * Altshausen, Germany * Băile Tușnad, Romania * Chop, Ukraine *

Reci Reci (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania composed of four villages: Aninoasa (''Egerpatak''), Bita (''Bita''), Reci, and Saciova (''Szacsva''). It also included the village of Comolău (''Komolló' ...

, Romania

References

External links

* in Hungarian {{authority control Populated places in Fejér County