Balassagyarmat

Balassagyarmat
Jahrmarkt (in German)
Balašske Ďarmoty (in Slovak)
Town
Balassagyarmat County Hall

Flag
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Civitas Fortissima (The Bravest City)
Balassagyarmat
Location of Balassagyarmat
Coordinates: 48°04′43″N 19°17′39″E / 48.07861°N 19.29417°E / 48.07861; 19.29417Coordinates: 48°04′43″N 19°17′39″E / 48.07861°N 19.29417°E / 48.07861; 19.29417
Country  Hungary
County Nógrád
District Balassagyarmat
First written mention 1244
Government
 • Mayor Lajos Medvácz (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
 • Total 23.33 km2 (9.01 sq mi)
Population (2017)
 • Total 15,058[1]
Demonym(s) balassagyarmati
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code 2660
Area code (+36) 35
Website balassagyarmat.hu

Balassagyarmat (formerly Balassa-Gyarmath, Slovak: Balašske Ďarmoty, German: Jahrmarkt) is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád comitatus.

History

Since 1998, the town's coat of arms has borne the Latin inscription "Civitas Fortissima" (the bravest city) because in January 1919 Czechoslovak troops crossed the demarcation line delineated in December 1918 in preparation for the Treaty of Trianon, illegally occupying towns south of the line, including Balassagyarmat. The local population managed to push back the Czechoslovak troops in a serious military encounter in which many of the civilian participants lost their lives.[2]

The heroics of the town's people against the illegal and unprovoked invasion has been immortalised in the Kárpátia(hu) song "Civitas Fortissima"[3]

During World War II, May 9, 1944, Germans kept 3,000 Jews from the town and the surrounding villages imprisoned in a ghetto. They were all sent to Auschwitz concentration camp on June 11 and 14, 1944.[4]

Balassagyarmat was captured on 9 December 1944 by Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the course of the Budapest Offensive.

Geography

The town lies on the left bank of the Ipoly river, which marks the state border with Slovakia.

Demographics

In 2001 Balassagyarmat had 18,474 inhabitants. The population were homogeneous with Hungarian majority (Magyars 98%, Romani 2%),[5] 100% of the total population speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Balassagyarmat is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Balassagyarmat, KSH
  2. ↑ Hungarian foreign policy: Fidesz or Duchy of Fenwick style? http://hungarianspectrum.org/2009/09/09/hungarian-foreign-policy-fidesz-style/
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-18. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  4. ↑ http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/he/research/ghettos_encyclopedia/ghetto_details.asp?cid=149
  5. ↑ Hungarian census 2001
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