Esztergom County (, , , ) was an administrative county of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, situated on both sides of the Danube river. Its territory is now divided between

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 ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The territory to the north of the Danube is part of Slovakia, while the territory to the south of the Danube is part of Hungary.

Geography

Esztergom County shared borders with the counties , , and . Its territory comprised a 15 km strip to the west of the lower part of the Garam river and continued some 10 km south of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river. Its area was 1076 km² around 1910.

Capitals

The capital of the county was the

Esztergom Castle Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with S ...

and the town of

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

, then from 1543 onwards, when the territory became part of 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 ...

, the county officials fled to

Nagyszombat Trnava (, , ; , also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic a ...

and Érsekújvár, the latter functioning as a seat (e. g. 1605–1663) and finally since 1714 the previous situation was restored.

History

A predecessor of the county existed as early as in the 9th century, when Esztergom () was one of the most important castles of

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

. The Esztergom county as a comitatus arose at the end of the 10th century as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary. The county had a special status in that since 1270 its heads were at the same time the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s of Esztergom. In the aftermath of the

revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire The revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire took place from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalism, nationalist character: the Austrian Empire, ruled from Vienna, included ethnic Germans, Hungarians, ...

Hungary came under military administration and was divided into five military districts. In 1850 Komárom and Esztergom counties were divided along the Danube: the areas north of the river (along with a small part of

Győr County Győr county (in Hungarian: ''Győr (vár)megye'') was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated mostly on the right (south) side of the Danube river. Its territory is now part of Hungary, except seven villages on t ...

on the north bank and the

Szőny Szőny was a port town in Hungary on the south side of the Danube River. Since 1977, it has been absorbed as part of the city of Komárom. History The Roman legion Legio I Adiutrix was based in Szőny from 86 AD to the mid-5th century and too ...

suburb of Komárom on the southern bank), including Esztergom's Muzsla ('seat-district'), were combined into a new Komárom county (under the German name ) administered by the

Military District of Preßburg The Military District of Preßburg was one of the administrative units of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary from 1850 to 1860. The seat of the district was Preßburg (Pozsony, now Bratislava). It included western parts of present-day Slovakia and n ...

; the southern parts of the traditional Komárom and Esztergom counties (the Gran (Esztergom) and and Komárom's Kócs and

Dotis In Greek mythology, Dotis () is a name that may refer to: ''Male'' *Dotis (son of Asterius), Dotis, son of Asterius (mythology), Asterius and Amphictyone. ''Female'' *Dotis, also called Dotia, mother of Phlegyas by Ares *Dotis, mother of Syme (myt ...

) were merged to form a new (Esztergom) county administered by the

Military District of Pest-Ofen {{refimprove, date=June 2012 The Military District of Pest-Ofen was one of the administrative units of the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary from 1850 to 1860. The seat of the district was Buda, Ofen (Buda). It included central parts o ...

. The districts were dissolved and traditional counties restored in 1860. Until the later 19th century the area of

Lábatlan Lábatlan () is a town in 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, Roma ...

and Piszke (now merged with Lábatlan) was an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

belonging to Komárom county within Esztergom county. In the aftermath of

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 ...

, the part of Esztergom county north of the Danube became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in 1920 by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

. The southern part remained in Hungary and merged with the southern part of

Komárom county Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources re ...

to form Komárom-Esztergom County in 1923. Following the provisions of the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, whic ...

, the Czechoslovak part became again part of Hungary in November 1938. The old Esztergom county was recreated. After World War II, the Trianon borders were reestablished and Komárom-Esztergom County was recreated again. In 1950, it was renamed to Komárom county and received some additional territories. This county was eventually renamed to Komárom-Esztergom county again in 1990. The part of the county north of the river Danube is now in Slovakia and is part of the

Nitra region The Nitra Region (, ; ) is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. It was first established in 1923 and from 1996 exists in its present borders. It consists of seven districts () and 354 municipalities, from which 16 have a town status. T ...

Demographics

In 1900, the county had a population of 87,651 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities: Total: * Hungarian: 69,429 (79,2%) *

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 ...

: 9,995 (11,4%) * Slovak: 7,491 (8,6%) * Croatian: 61 (0,1%) *

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

: 15 (0,0%) *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: 7 (0,0%) * Ruthenian: 1 (0,0%) * Other or unknown: 652 (0,7%) According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities: Total: *

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 ...

: 74,017 (84,4%) *

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

: 9,829 (11,2%) *

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 ...

: 2,974 (3,4%) *

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

: 733 (0,8%) *

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

: 54 (0,1%) *

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

: 33 (0,1%) * Unitarian: 6 (0,0%) * Other or unknown: 5 (0,0%)

Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Esztergom county were: Esztergom county administrative map

Štúrovo Štúrovo (, ) is the southernmost town of Slovakia, situated on the river Danube not far from the mouth of the Hron. Connected by the Mária Valéria Bridge it forms a cross-border urban area with the city of Esztergom in Hungary. In 2023 the tow ...

and

Mužla Mužla () is a village and large municipality in the Nové Zámky District in the Nitra Region of south-west Slovakia. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of 121 metres and covers an area of 52.097 km2. History In historical rec ...

are now in Slovakia.

References

{{Authority control States and territories established in 1690 States and territories established in 1790 States and territories established in 1938 1543 disestablishments 1786 disestablishments States and territories disestablished in 1920 States and territories disestablished in 1923 States and territories disestablished in 1945 Esztergom Counties in the Kingdom of Hungary