Budakeszi

Budakeszi
Wudigeß (in German)
Town
Aerial view

Coat of arms
Budakeszi
Location of Budakeszi
Coordinates: 47°30′44″N 18°55′41″E / 47.51227°N 18.92806°E / 47.51227; 18.92806Coordinates: 47°30′44″N 18°55′41″E / 47.51227°N 18.92806°E / 47.51227; 18.92806
Country  Hungary
County Pest
District Budakeszi
Area
 • Total 37.11 km2 (14.33 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Total 13,590
 • Density 351.46/km2 (910.3/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code 2092
Area code (+36) 23
Website www.budakeszi.hu

Budakeszi (German: Wudigeß) is a town in Pest County, in the Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It is located beyond the Jánoshegy hill at the western city limits of Budapest, about 12 km (7 mi) west of the Zero Kilometre Stone in the city centre. A popular recreational area, the landscape is characterized by forests, predominantly oaks, by vineyards and by orchards.

Meaning of the name

Buda is the western side of Budapest, Keszi was one of the seven ancient Hungarian tribes.

History

The settlement in the Kingdom of Hungary was first mentioned about 1270, it was completely devastated during the Ottoman Siege of Buda in 1541. In the aftermath of the Ottoman defeat at the 1683 Battle of Vienna, the depopulated area was re-settled with "Danube Swabian" (most of them actually descending from Lorraine, the Palatinate and Alsace) immigrants by the order of the Habsburg King Leopold I. Budakeszi was for centuries a predominantly "Schwabian" (ethnic German) village.

After World War II Budakeszi's history was influenced by the deportation of its ethnic German population according to Article 12 of the 1945 Potsdam Agreement. Though the expulsion was ordered under pressure of the Soviet forces, many Hungarians relished in the humiliation of ethnic Germans throughout the region and collectively took part in organized, forced deportations of German-speaking citizens to Germany proper. Most of these expellees had never been to Germany before, as even their great-grand parents had been born in Hungary. Budakeszi lost a great number of its citizens due to the above and the vacuum was later filled with the settlement of families from other regions, such as Transylvania.

Budakeszi today

Many inhabitants commute to work to the capital Budapest daily. With mass transportation (No. 22 bus or Volánbusz intercity bus) this normally takes about 15 minutes.

Budakeszi has a historic main street and a baroque Roman Catholic church in its valley. There is also a Protestant church, the cemetery of which has largely German-named headstones, some of which date back to the early 19th century. (There are also about a dozen WW2 Polish soldiers buried in the cemetery).

Today Budakeszi's population is mixed; Hungarians, Schwabian-Germans, and Transylvanians share this small town. Near Budakeszi there is an airfield for sailplanes (gliders) and for small planes, as well as a recently established World War 2 German military cemetery.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Budakeszi is twinned with:

City Country Year
Delbrück-Westenholz Germany Germany
Deyda Ukraine Ukraine
Lich Germany Germany
Neckarsulm Germany Germany
Snakt Margarethen an Raab Austria Austria
Toplița Romania Romania

Notable citizens

Among the ethnic Germans expelled from Budakeszi in 1946 were the parents of Joseph "Joschka" Fischer, born in 1948, German foreign minister from 1998-2005. Fischer today holds an honorary citizenship.

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