Soltvadkert (; ; ), formerly known as ''Vadkert,'' is a town in

Bács-Kiskun County Bács-Kiskun (, ) is a county (''vármegye'' in Hungarian) located in southern Hungary. It was created by the merger of the pre-World War II Bács-Bodrog and the southern parts of Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun counties. With an area of 8,445 km2, ...

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 ...

with approximately 8,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by several areas of Kiskunság National Park and Lake Vadkert.

History

The name Vadkert was a reference to the region's active wildlife in

. Founded in 1376, the town was renamed to Soltvadkert in 1900. While Hungary was occupied by the Turkish army, Soltvadkert lost much of its population. In the beginning of the 1740s,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Orczy moved

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 ...

settlers to Soltvadkert. The town has quickly developed its main center of tourism in the county. Lake Vadkert (also called Büdös-tó), is nearby Soltvadkert. It attracts many tourists every year from all over Europe. Soltvadkert is well known throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

for its wine production which goes back centuries in history. Its multicultural past, present, and future mainly depends on the grape and wine industry. According to the 1910 census, Soltvadkert had 7,836 residents. The religious make-up of the town was as follows: *

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 ...

: 3,176 people (41%) *

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 ...

: 2,983 people (38%) *

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 ...

: 1,220 people (16%) *

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 ...

: 312 people (4%) *Other denomination: 145 people (2%)

Jewish history

Soltvadkert was home to a thriving

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

community, numbering approximately 400 people before

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 ...

. The community had a synagogue located on the main street, a

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

with one

melamed Melamed, ''Melammed'' ( "teacher") in Biblical times denoted a religious teacher or instructor in general (e.g., in Psalm 119:99 and Proverbs 5:13), but which in the Talmudic period was applied especially to a teacher of children, and was almost i ...

and about 60 students, and a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

with 20-25 students, which was bigger than the

Kiskőrös Kiskőrös (, ''Kishkerish'', , ) is a town in Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Kiskőrös is situated between the Danube and Tisza rivers at around . Sándor Petőfi, the national poet of Hungary, was born here. Geography Kiskőrös is the sixth bigge ...

yeshiva. From 1905, the Vodkerter Rav (town

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

) was Rabbi Yeshaya Pollak (1871-1941), who was the son of Rabbi Baruch Pollak and Perl Rivka Pollak (née Grünfeld). Rabbi Yeshaya Pollak was born in

Senta Senta ( sr-cyrl, Сента, ; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Zenta'', ; Romanian language, Romanian: ''Zenta'') is a town and municipality located in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the bank of the Tisza, Tisa river in the geographical ...

and studied Torah from Rabbi Yeshaya Zilberstein (died 1930), the Chief Rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Vietzen and the Shevet Sofer. He was also the son-in-law of Rabbi Yehuda Grünfeld, the rabbi of Bűdszentmihály. He wrote and published many books by leading Torah scholars of many eras with his comments. After his death, his son, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Pollak (1900-1949) became the town rabbi. Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Pollak's son-in-law, Rabbi Asher Anshel Katz, is the rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Vien community in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Rav Yehuda ("Reb Yiddel") Weber (1920–2006) was born in Soltvadkert to Rav Yisoscher (Berman) Weber, a descendant of the

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

, and Rebbetzin Chana, a niece of the Arugas HaBosem. After his

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

, Yehuda was sent to learn in

Pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

under Rav Yaakov Yechezkiye Grünwald (the Vayaged Yaakov and

Rebbe), who was his ''rebbi muvhak'' for 7 years. When he died at the age of 58, he was succeeded by his son, Rav Yosef Grünwald, the Vayechi Yosef. Rav Yehuda then served as

mashgiach A mashgiach (, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouses ...

of Pupa. When the yeshiva was closed in 1944, Rav Yehuda spent 6 months in the local work camps before being deported to

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

. In 1946, his sister introduced him to his Rebbetzin, Batsheva. A year later, his sister, Miriam (1918-2019), who was also born in Soltvadkert, married the Rebbe, Rav Yosef Grünwald. Both families settled in Antwerp, then moved to

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

, New York, in 1950. In 1952, Rav Yehuda was appointed as a Maggid Shiur in the newly established Pupa Yeshiva, first located in Queens, then in Ossining, Westchester County. Although his family stayed in Williamsburg, Reb Yiddel made the 40-mile drive for sixteen years. By 1935, antisemitism was present in Soltvadkert. According to Jozsef Faludi, a student at the Soltvadkert yeshiva, there were often fights. The Christian children waited for Jewish students after lessons and threw rocks at them. At the end of May 1944, the Soltvadkert Jews were concentrated in the ghetto located by the market square, with 308 Soltvadkert Jews according to the

Kiskőrös District Kiskőrös () is a district in central part of Bács-Kiskun County. ''Kiskőrös'' is also the name of the town where the district seat is found. The district is located in the Southern Great Plain Statistical Region. Geography Kiskőrös Distr ...

chief judge's 23 May 1944 proclamation. The chief judge ordered the Jewish community to form a

Judenrat A ''Judenrat'' (, ) was an administrative body, established in any zone of German-occupied Europe during World War II, purporting to represent its Jewish community in dealings with the Nazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to form ''J ...

consisting of three individuals and permitted leaving the ghetto for only two people and only for 2 hours each day to purchase food for the ghetto residents. In June 1944, the ghetto was liquidated, and Jews were forced to march 26 kilometers to a copper sulfide factory near Kecskemét, from where they were deported 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 ...

. Upon arrival, one Soltvadkert resident, Isabella Bernath, was separated from her mother and sister by the infamous

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

. After the war, Soltvadkert became home to the last active yeshiva in Hungary under Rabbi Simon Yechezkel Jakobovics's (1902–1983) leadership with about 50 students. Among the students was Rav Yitzchak Schlesinger (died 2001), who became an advocate for the preservation of Jewish cemeteries in Hungary with a blessing from the Berach Moshe, the Satmarer Rebbe. The yeshiva eventually closed in 1956 when the students and rabbis emigrated abroad. Today, the Jewish cemetery remains the only sign that Jews ever lived in Soltvadkert, which is also the resting place of rabbis Yeshaya and Moshe Mordechai Pollak.

Geography and environment

Soltvadkert is located at 46°34'41" North, 19°23'45" East. The village of Selymes located south of the town towards

Kiskunhalas Kiskunhalas (; ) is a city in the county of Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Railroad The city is an important railway junction. It crosses the Budapest-Subotica-Belgrade railway line. The Kiskunfélegyháza railway ends in Kiskunhalas. Geography Kisk ...

is administratively part of Soltvadkert.

Demographics

As of 2022, the town was 91% Hungarian, 1.6%

, 1.7%

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

, and 2.1% of non-European origin. The population was 29.5%

, 20.3%

, and 9.5%

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

Economy

Soltvadkert is the center of one of the biggest

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

regions in Hungary. There are

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

on over 8,000 ha in the area. Soltvadkert is home to a variety of grapes. The town annually produces about 250-300 thousand hl of

Education

Soltvadkert is home to the Lajos Kossuth Elementary and Middle School (''in Hungarian'': Kossuth Lajos Általános és Művészeti Alapiskola), but does not have any

high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Religion

Soltvadkert is among the rare Hungarian towns that have a

church in the center. This is due to the high number of

immigrants in the 18th century who built the church. Freedom of religion was, however, forbidden, and 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 ...

and his servants of Kalocsa have many times destroyed the church. A new Lutheran church was built in 1837, which is still in a very good shape. During the centuries, schools and other church-oriented buildings were constructed around it. The church currently has three bells in use. Inside the church there is a historical Rieger

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, which was installed in 1908. On the side of the church wall is a German sign which states: "Dies ist der Denckstein der evangelica Kirche in Vadkert" (This is the cornerstone of the Lutheran church of Vadkert). Even after 40 years of

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

, the Lutheran community is still active in Soltvadkert. The

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

has been represented in Soltvadkert since 1737. It is currently the biggest

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

in town by population. The first church was built in the 18th century for

Lőrinc Orczy. Since 1908, a larger church has also been in use. In 1722, seven

families moved to Vadkert from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Others followed them in the 1740s. After years of religious persecution, they were finally allowed to build a church, which was finished at noon on September 26, 1794. The

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

mission started in 1891 in Soltvadkert. As of 2000, there are over 200 followers of the church. The history of the

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

church in Soltvadkert goes back to 1935. The Pentecostal movement, which started in 1900 in the United States, reached Soltvadkert after World War I.

Government

The city of Soltvadkert is managed by the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. After the 2019 election, its members include: * Temerini Ferencz, Mayor of Soltvadkert, FIDESZ 2,063 votes (67.84%) * Galántai Norbert, FIDESZ, * Kárász András, FIDESZ, * Lantosné Dr. Mayer Zsuzsanna, FIDESZ, * Medgyes Attila Jenő, independent representative * Dr. Pozsgai Boglárka, FIDESZ * Weppert Sándor, independent representative * Zsikla Győző, independent representative * Zsikla Tamás, FIDESZ

Tourism

Soltvadkert is one of Hungary's most visited towns. The city center has numerous specialty shops and

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

that offer fine food. The town center is home to a nationally renowned

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

and coffee shop, famous for housing the "National Cake of the Year" competition every year, held on August 20, Hungary's King Day. Soltvadkert also offers a variety of community programs every month and hosts a number of

concerts A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

and

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

in the summer. The nearby Lake Vadkert is visited by many people all year long.

Sports

Vadkert FC is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team from Soltvadkert. They are widely known in the region and their games attract many fans. Soltvadkert is the hometown of retired tennis player

Ágnes Szávay Ágnes Szávay (, ; born 29 December 1988) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. The 2007 WTA Newcomer of the Year achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 13 in April 2008. Personal life Szávay was born in Kiskunhalas an ...

Twin towns

* Bodelshausen,

Sărmășag Sărmășag (; ) is a commune in Sălaj County, Crișana, Romania. Geography and climate The commune's altitude is low, between 160m and 379m. The climate is continental, the average temperature in January is -3 °C, in July 21.1 °C. ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

References

External links

* in Hungarian
2006 election results
in Hungarian
Vadkertinfo
Local News in Hungarian {{Authority control Populated places in Bács-Kiskun County Populated places established in the 1370s 1376 establishments in Europe 14th-century establishments in Hungary Towns in Hungary