Solymár

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = HUN
timezone=CET
utc_offset=+1
timezone_DST=CEST
utc_offset_DST=+2
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Solymár
pushpin_mapsize =

official_name=Solymár
Schaumar


subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Pest
population_as_of=2005
area_total_km2=17.86
population_total=9455
population_density_km2=529395
postal_code_type=Postal code
postal_code=2083
area_code=26
latd=47.591
longd=18.929

Solymár ( _de. Schaumar) is a village north-west of Budapest, neighbouring the 3rd and 2nd districts of the city, Nagykovácsi, Pilisszentiván, Pilisvörösvár, Csobánka, Pilisborosjenő, and Üröm. Its picturesque surroundings (hills to the south and east, the highest point is Zsíroshegy at 424m) and good accessibility (the 64 and 164 city buses from Hűvösvölgy, a train from Budapest-Nyugati, and coaches from Árpád-híd) have made it a primary target for prosperous city-dwellers moving out of the city in the past decade.

History/People

The name of the village is first mentioned in a charter by Béla IV dated 5 May 1266, as Solomar. The most likely etymology of the name is Hungarian "solymár" (more commonly "solymász") 'falconer', i.e., the place where the royal falconers live. (Several neighbouring villages were named in the same vein.) The village prospered during the following centuries and probably hosted a royal hunting castle (Szarkavár) which burnt down after 1561. The advance of the Ottoman Empire left the village deserted after 1580. It remained uninhabited until the first new settlers arrived in around 1700; firstly Serbians and Bulgarians fleeing from the withdrawing Ottoman Empire. Soon afterwards came Germans (die Donauschwaben), and it was them who later formed the vast majority of the population. About half of the population of the village was deported to Germany as a collective punishment after World War II (leaving 332 households vacated). This sad event has been commemorated since 1990. The empty households were occupied by ethnic Hungarians from other parts of the country (mainly Mezőkövesd), as well as refugees from Transylvania. Later ethnic Hungarians deported from Czechoslovakia arrived. With the large-scale immigration of people from Budapest in the past decade, ethnic Germans became a minority of the population.

Population

There are 9455 residents, mainly Hungarians and ethnic Germans.

Mayors

*1990–1994: Péter Dercsényi (Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ))
*1994–2006: László Enczmann (independent)
*2006–2010: [http://www.szentekalman.hu Kálmán Szente] (independent)

External links

* [http://www.solymar.hu Official website of Solymár] (in Hungarian)
* [http://forum.index.hu/Article/showArticle?t=9099166 Unofficial forum at index.hu] (in Hungarian)

References

* [http://www.solymar.hu/tortenet/1k_001_352.htm Seres István, "Solymár története és néprajza," Solymár 1993.]