Debrecen, Hajdú-Bihar County, Northern Great Plain Region, Hungary

🇭🇺 Debrecen is Hungary's second-largest city and the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. It was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and it is one of the Hungarian people's most important cultural centres. Debrecen was also the capital city of Hungary during the revolution in 1848–1849. During the revolution, the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty was declared in the Reformed Great Church. The city also served as the capital of Hungary by the end of World War II in 1944–1945. It is home of the University of Debrecen.

History The settlement was established after the Hungarian conquest. Debrecen became more important after some of the small villages of the area (Boldogasszonyfalva, Szentlászlófalva) were deserted due to the Mongol invasion of Europe. It experienced rapid development after the middle of the 13th century.

In 1361, Louis I of Hungary granted the citizens of Debrecen the right to choose the town's judge and council. This provided some opportunities for self-government for the town. By the early 16th century, Debrecen was an important market town.

King Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, as part of a treaty with Serbian ruler Stefan Lazarević, gave him the opportunity to rule Debrecen in September 1411. A year after Lazarević's death in 1426, his role was taken over by his successor, Đurađ Branković. Between 1450 and 1507, it was a domain of the Hunyadi family.

During the Ottoman period, being close to the border and having no castle or city walls, Debrecen often found itself in difficult situations and the town was saved only by the diplomatic skills of its leaders. Sometimes the town was protected by the Ottoman Empire, sometimes by the Catholic European rulers or by Francis II Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania. Debrecen later embraced the Protestant Reformation quite early, earning the monikers "the Calvinist Rome" and "the Geneva of Hungary". At this period the inhabitants of the town were mainly Hungarian Calvinists. Debrecen came under Turkish control as a sanjak between 1558 and 1693 and orderly bounded to the eyalets of Budin (1541–1596), Eğri (1596–1660) and Varat (1660–1693) as "Debreçin".

In 1693, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor elevated Debrecen to free royal town status. In 1715, the Roman Catholic Church returned to Debrecen, and the town gave them a place to build a church, so the Piarist monks could build the St. Ann's Cathedral. By this time the town was an important cultural, commercial and agricultural centre, and many future scholars and poets attended its Protestant College (a predecessor of today's University of Debrecen and also of Debrecen Reformed Theological University).

In 1849, Debrecen was the capital of Hungary for a short time when the Hungarian revolutionary government fled there from Pest-Buda (modern-day Budapest). In April 1849, the dethronization of Habsburgs (neglected after the fall of the revolution) and the independence of Hungary was proclaimed here by Lajos Kossuth at the Great (Calvinist) Church (Nagytemplom in Hungarian.) The last battle of the war of independence was also close to Debrecen. The Russians, allied to Habsburgs, defeated the Hungarian army close to the western part of the town.

After the war, Debrecen slowly began to prosper again. In 1857, the railway line between Budapest and Debrecen was completed, and Debrecen soon became a railway junction. New schools, hospitals, churches, factories, and mills were built, banks and insurance companies settled in the city. The appearance of the city began to change too: with new, taller buildings, parks and villas, it no longer resembled a provincial town and began to look like a modern city. In 1884, Debrecen became the first Hungarian city to have a steam tramway.

After World War I, Hungary lost a considerable portion of its eastern territory to Romania, and Debrecen once again became situated close to the border of the country. It was occupied by the Romanian army for a short time in 1919. Tourism provided a way for the city to begin to prosper again. Many buildings (among them an indoor swimming pool and Hungary's first stadium) were built in the central park, the Nagyerdő ("Big Forest"), providing recreational facilities. The building of the university was completed. Hortobágy, a large pasture owned by the city, became a tourist attraction.

During World War II, Debrecen was almost completely destroyed, 70% of the buildings suffered damage, 50% of them were completely destroyed. A major battle involving combined arms, including several hundred tanks (Battle of Debrecen), occurred near the city in October 1944. Debrecen was captured by Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on 20 October. After 1944, the reconstruction began and Debrecen became the capital of Hungary for a short time once again. The citizens began to rebuild their city, trying to restore its pre-war status, but the new, Communist government of Hungary had other plans. The institutions and estates of the city were taken into public ownership, private property was taken away. This forced change of the old system brought new losses to Debrecen; half of its area was annexed to nearby towns, and the city also lost its rights over Hortobágy. In 1952, two new villages – Ebes and Nagyhegyes – were formed from former parts of Debrecen, while in 1981, the nearby village Józsa was annexed to the city.

Geography: Location Debrecen is located on the Great Hungarian Plain, 220 km (137 mi) east of Budapest. Situated nearby is the Hortobágy National Park.

Economy The development of Debrecen is mainly financed by agricultural, health and educational enterprises. The city is the main centre of shopping centres in Eastern Hungary. The Forum Debrecen is the largest shopping centre in the region. Debrecen is one of the most developed cities in Hungary, the regional centre of international companies such as National Instruments, IT Services Hungary, BT, Continental, BMW and Healthcare Manufacturers (Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Gedeon Richter Plc.).

Culture Chiefly thanks to the reformation and the prestigious Calvinist College, founded in 1538, Debrecen has been the intellectual and cultural centre of the surrounding area since the 16th century. Over the centuries, the college was transformed into a university, and its intellectual life developed a sphere of influence between Eger and Oradea (Hu: Nagyvárad, now in Romania). In 1949–1950, several departments of the university were shut down, due to Communist takeover, with many students and teachers being expelled. The University of Debrecen, as it is now called, is still widely recognised work of architecture (mostly thanks to its main building). The university is the largest university in Hungary, has more than 100 departments and is a major research facility in Europe. The university is well known for the cactus research laboratory in the botanic gardens behind the main building.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Debrecen press attracted several notable figures to the city. Endre Ady, Gyula Krúdy, and Árpád Tóth all began their journalistic careers in Debrecen. Prominent literary figures from the city have included Magda Szabó, and Gábor Oláh [hu]. One of Hungary's best known poets, Mihály Csokonai Vitéz, was born and lived in the city. The city's theatre, built in 1865, was named in his honour in 1916, but can trace its roots back to the National Theatre Company founded in Debrecen in 1789, which at first gave performances in the carthouse of an inn. Celebrated actress Lujza Blaha is among those to have performed there.

Debrecen is home to Tankcsapda, one of Hungary's most successful rock bands. There is also a rock school in the city which offers training and mentoring to young musicians. Classic media in the city include the newspaper Napló, two TV channels, a range of local radio stations and several companies and associations producing media material.

Debrecen is the site of an important choral competition, the Béla Bartók International Choir Competition, and is a member city of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. Every August the city plays host to a flower festival.

Transport The city used to be somewhat isolated from Budapest, Hungary's main transport hub. However, the completion of the M35 motorway means Budapest can now be reached in under two hours. Debrecen Airport (the second largest in Hungary) has recently undergone modernisation in order to be able to handle more international flights, although almost all flights to and from Hungary still use Budapest's Ferihegy Airport (now called Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport). Cities that can be reached from the Debrecen Airport include Brussels, Eindhoven, London, Malmö, Milan, Tel Aviv, Moscow and Paris. There have also been improvements to some parts of the railway between the capital and Debrecen as part of Hungary's mainly EU-funded National Development Plan for 2004 to 2006.

There are many railway stations in Debrecen, the most significant is the main station of Debrecen, in addition other smaller stations exist, these include Debrecen-Csapókert, Debrecen-Kondoros, Debrecen-Szabadságtelep and Tócóvölgy.

Debrecen's proximity to Ukraine, Slovakia and Romania enables it to develop as an important trade centre and transport hub for the wider international region.

Local transport in the city consists of buses, trolleybuses, and trams. There are 2 tram lines, 5 trolleybus lines, and 60 bus lines. It is provided by the DKV (Debreceni Közlekedési Vállalat, or Transport Company of Debrecen). Nearby towns and villages are linked to the city by Hajdú Volán bus services.

Sport The city's most famous association football club is Debreceni VSC which won the Nemzeti Bajnokság I seven times, the last one in 2014. Debreceni VSC also known at international level since they reached the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League group stage and the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League group stage. The club's newly built stadium was opened in 2014, where the club could celebrate their seventh title by winning the 2014-15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The stadium is also the occasional home of the Hungary national football team. The team hosted Denmark in 2014 and Lithuania in 2015.

The city had other association football clubs competing in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. One of them was Bocskai FC who could also won the Magyar Kupa once in 1930. The other club from the city was Dózsa MaDISz TE who competed in the 1945-46 Nemzeti Bajnokság I.

The city has hosted several international sporting events in recent years, such as the second World Youth Championships in Athletics in July 2001 and the first IAAF World Road Running Championships in October 2006. The 2007 European SC Swimming Championships and World Artistic Gymnastics Championships of 2002 also took place in Debrecen. Most recently, the city hosted the 19th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship in October 2010. In 2012, Debrecen hosted the 31st LEN European Swimming Championships.

Association football • Debreceni VSC (competing in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I) • Bocskai FC (defunct) • Dózsa MaDISz TE (defunct) • Debreceni EAC.

Tourist Industry • City Downtown • Reformed Great Church (Nagytemplom) • City Park (Nagyerdő) and spa • Déri Museum (art collection including paintings of Mihály Munkácsy; also has a collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts, and weapons from Europe, the Middle East and Far East) • Flower Carnival of Debrecen held on 20 August every year • „Hortobágy” mill • Nagyerdei Stadion (the home football stadium of the association football club Debreceni VSC) • Ravatalozó (cemetery) • Csokonai theatre.