Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the border, near Lake Neusiedl.
History
Ancient times-13th century
In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely.
[Patek, Erzsébet (1982). "Neue Untersuchungen auf dem Burgstall bei Sopron" New. Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 63, 1982, pp. 105–177.]
When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a city called Scarbantia stood here. The site of its forum is now the main square of Sopron.
During the Migration Period, Scarbantia was believed to be deserted. When Hungarian people arrived in the area, the city was in ruins. From the 9th to the 11th centuries, Hungarians strengthened the old Roman city walls and built a castle. The city was named in Hungarian after a castle steward named Suprun. In 1153, it was mentioned as an important city.
In 1273, King Otakar II of Bohemia occupied the castle. Even though he took the children of Sopron's nobility with him as hostages, the city opened its gates when the armies of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary arrived. Ladislaus rewarded Sopron by elevating it to the rank of free royal town.
16th-19th centuries
During the Ottoman occupation of
Hungary, the
Ottoman Turks ravaged the city in 1529, but did not occupy it. Many Hungarians fled from the occupied areas to Sopron, and the city's importance grew.
While the Ottomans occupied most of Central Europe, the region north of Lake Balaton remained in the Kingdom of Hungary (1538–1867) (captaincy between Balaton and Drava).
In 1676, Sopron was destroyed by a fire. The modern city was born over the next few decades, when Baroque buildings were built to replace the destroyed medieval ones. Sopron became the seat of the comitatus Sopron.
The town was the seat of the Ödenburg comitat near 1850.[Dictionnaire universel de M.N. BOUILLET, Paris, 1852 (in French).] After the compromise of 1867 and until 1918, the city (known with the dual bilingual name of
Sopron - Ödenburg)[Handbook of Austria and Lombardy-Venetia Cancellations on the Postage Stamp Issues 1850-1864, by Edwin MUELLER, 1961.] was part of the Habsburg-ruled Kingdom of Hungary.
20th century to present
Following the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ethnic Germans inhabited parts of four western Hungarian counties:
Pozsony County (Pressburg in German;
Bratislava in Czech/Slovak), Vas (Eisenburg),
Sopron County (Ödenburg) and
Moson County (Wieselburg). The German-inhabited parts of those counties were initially awarded to Austria in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919). After local unrest and Italian diplomatic mediation in the
Venice Protocol,
Sopron's status as part of Hungary (along with that of the surrounding eight villages) was decided by a controversial, local
plebiscite held on 14 December 1921, with 65% voting for Hungary. Since then Sopron has been called
Civitas Fidelissima ("The Most Loyal City", ), and the anniversary of the plebiscite is a city holiday. However, the western parts of Vas, Sopron and Moson counties joined Austria and now form the Austrian federal state of
Burgenland, and Pressburg/Pozsony was awarded to
Czechoslovakia.
Sopron suffered greatly during World War II and was bombed several times. The Soviet Red Army captured the city on 1 April 1945.
The city of Sopron and the village of Sopronbánfalva began to stretch towards each other at the beginning of the 20th century, they unified in 1950 and since the areas have merged.
On 19 August 1989 Sopron was the site of the Pan-European Picnic, a protest on the border between Austria and Hungary, which was used by over 600 citizens of East Germany to escape to the West. As the first successful crossing of the border, it helped pave the way for the mass flight of East German citizens that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.
During the Socialism era, the government tried to turn Sopron into an industrial city, but much of the medieval town center remains, allowing the city to remain an attractive site for tourists.
Today, Sopron's economy immensely benefits from the European Union. Having been a city close to nowhere, that is, to the Iron Curtain, Sopron now has re-established full trade relations to nearby Austria. Furthermore, after being suppressed during the Cold War, Sopron's German-speaking culture and heritage are now recognized again. As a consequence, many of the city's street-and traffic-signs are written in both Hungarian and German making it an officially bilingual city due to its proximity to the Austrian frontier. Visitors admire the large number of buildings in this city that reflect medieval architecture—rare in war-torn Hungary. Situated close to the Austrian border, Sopron receives many visitors from Vienna ( away), and from Bratislava, Slovakia ( away), as well as from the United States, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, and Scandinavia, who visit to take advantage of the excellent low-cost dental services offered: Sopron boasts so many dental clinics—more than 300—that the city is known as the "dental capital of the world."
Wine production
Sopron is a significant
wine producing region, one of the few in Hungary to make both
red wine and
. Grapes include Kékfrankos for red wine and
Traminer (Gewürztraminer) for white wine. In climate it is similar to the neighbouring Burgenland wine region in Austria, and several winemakers make wine in both countries. Blue Frankish (= Kékfrankos, Blaufränkisch), Traminer, and Green Veltliner (= Zöld Veltelini, Grüner Veltliner) are well-known Sopron wines. Sopron's Blue Frankish and Pinot Noir wines are particularly prized.
The group of ethnic German wine growers in the Sopron area in the Habsburg Monarchy were the so-called Ponzichter.
Demographics
In 1910, Sopron had 33,931 inhabitants (51%
Danube Swabians, 44.3%
Magyars, 4.7% other). Religions: 64.1%
Roman Catholic, 27.8%
Lutheran, 6.6%
Jewish, 1.2%
Calvinist, 0.3% other.
In 2001, the city had 56,125 inhabitants (92.8% Hungarian, 3.5% German, 3.7% other).
[ 2001 census - Nationalities ] Religions: 69% Roman Catholic, 7% Lutheran, 3% Calvinist, 8.1%
Atheist, 11.9% no answer, 1% other.
[ 2001 census - Religions ][ Historical population of Győr-Moson-Sopron (Hungarian Central Statistical Office) ]
Architecture
The architecture of the old section of town reflects its long history; walls and foundations from the
Roman Empire are still common, together with a wealth of
Medieval,
Renaissance, and Baroque structures, often artistically decorated, showing centuries of stability and prosperity.
There is an old synagogue and other remains from the town's former community, which was expelled in the 16th century.
On Daloshegy, there is a 165-metre tall FM-/TV-broadcasting tower, nicknamed "Rakéta" (Hungarian for rocket).
Places of interest
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City centre
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Firewatch Tower
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Walls with Roman origin
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Széchenyi Square and Flag of Loyalty
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Kecske Church
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Esterházy Palace (baroque)
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Eggenberg House
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City Hall (eclectic, 1895)
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Storno House (renaissance)
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Fabricius House
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"Two Moors" House (18th century baroque)
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Chemist's Museum (15th–16th century. The house was pronounced the first national monument in Hungary by Louis II of Hungary in 1525.)
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Lábasház (16th–17th century)
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Gambrinus House (Old city hall)
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Taródi Castle (István Taródi built the castle by himself. He started the building operations in 1945, when he was 20.)
Amusement
-
Cartoon Forum (From Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 September 2010)
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Spring Festival of Sopron (Soproni Tavaszi Fesztivál)
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Festal Weeks of Sopron (Soproni Ünnepi Hetek)
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Civitas Pinceszínház (Civitas Basement Theater)
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Liszt Ferenc Művelődési Központ (Franz Liszt Conference and Cultural Centre )
Politics
The current mayor of Sopron is Ciprián Farkas (
Fidesz-KDNP).
The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 18 members (1 Mayor, 12 Individual constituencies MEPs and 5 Compensation List MEPs) divided into this political parties and alliances:
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| Fidesz-KDNP | 13 | M | | | | | | |
| 4 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Dialogue | 1 |
Gallery
File:Goat Church and Holy Trinity Column, Sopron.jpg|Goat Church and Holy Trinity Column
File:Saint Michael's Church, Sopron.jpg|Saint Michael's Church
File:Sopron Megyeháza.jpg|County Hall of Győr-Moson-Sopron County
File:Sopron 86 Stadtturm.JPG|Fire Tower
File:Sopron 156 Városháza.jpg|Town Hall
File:Sopron Petőfi Színház főhomlokzat.jpg|Petőfi Theater
File:Eszterhazypalota.JPG|Esterházy Palace in the Temple Street
File:Lábasházsopron.JPG|Orsolya Square and the Mary Fountain
File:SopronneugasseNr4.JPG|New Street
File:Új utca 16 Sopron.jpg|Gothic house in the New Street
File:Előkapu3sopron.JPG|Előkapu Square
File:Kolostor u 13 Sopron.JPG|House, Kolostor Street 13.
File:Ikvahidsopron.JPG|Ikva Bridge
File:István Széchenyi statue in Sopron z01.jpg|Statue of István Széchenyi
File:Sopron.Grabenrunde.zweisprachiges.Strassenschild.jpg|Bilingual (Hungarian/German language) road signs in Sopron.
File:Ortstafel Ödenburg.jpg|Bilingual sign
Sports
The women's basketball team Sopron Basket is one of the most successful Hungarian basketball team in history, with 15 National titles and success in Europe, in 2022 they won EuroLeague Women. MFC Sopron was a football team based in Sopron. The successor of the club is Soproni VSE.
Notable residents
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Rogerius of Apulia (1205-1266), medieval chronicler
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Anna Maria von Eggenberg, née Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1609-1680), Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and Princess of Eggenberg
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Dániel Berzsenyi (1776-1836), poet
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Ludwig von Benedek (1804-1881), Austrian general
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Franz Liszt (1811-1886), composer
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Franz von Suppé (1819-1895), composer
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Julius Lenck (1845 - 1901), Hungarian-German brewer, wholesaler and the founder of the Sopron Brewery (Soproni Sörgyár).
-
Gyula Fényi (1845-1927), astronomer
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László Rátz (1863-1930), mathematics teacher
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Kálmán Kánya (1869-1945), politician, diplomat, Foreign Minister
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Franz Lehár (1870-1948), composer
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Béla Bartók (1881-1945), composer
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Charles I of Austria (1887-1922), last king of Hungary
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Georg Trakl (1887-1914), poet
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Mátyás Rákosi (1892-1971), politician, communist leader
-
David-Zvi Pinkas (1895-1952), signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence
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Margaret Mahler (1897-1985), psychoanalyst
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Sandor Gallus (1907-1996), archaeologist
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(born 1933), Professor of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), sociologist
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Alexander Gallus (born 1940), medical researcher
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József Szájer (born 1961), politician
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István Hiller (born 1964), politician, Minister of Culture
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Mihály Tóth (born 1974), football player
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Vilmos Radasics (born 1983), BMX rider
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Tímea Babos (born 1993), tennis player
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Botond Balogh (born 2002), football player
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Balogh de Mankó Bük, Hungarian nobility
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József Rokop, freedom fighter
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Terezia Mora, writer
Twin towns – sister cities
Sopron is Sister city with:
-
Bad Wimpfen, Germany
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Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia
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Bolzano, Italy
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Eilat, Israel
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Eisenstadt, Austria
-
Kazuno, Japan
-
Kempten, Germany
-
Mediaș, Romania
-
Rorschach, Switzerland
-
Seinäjoki, Finland
-
Sparta, Greece
See also
-
Daughters of the Divine Redeemer
-
Jewish history of Sopron
-
Lake Neusiedl
- Notes
External links
Statistics
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