Halásztelek, Pest County, Central Hungary Region, Hungary

🇭🇺 Halásztelek (Халастелек,  Halastelek) is a town in Pest County, Hungary. Halásztelek lies on the northern part of Csepel Island, on the Danube.

History The Romans, during their occupation, found Halásztelek dangerous because of the regular flooding of the Danube. It is likely that Attila the Hun started his attacks here against the Roman fortress which may have been at Százhalombatta. The occupying Hungarians from East Asia used Csepel Island as a summer retreat, and Szőlős, Háros and Tököl grew into settlements over time.

At the end of the 19th century the population of Halásztelek numbered no more than fifty.

The settlement was named after Ernő Warmann's sister and was called Herminamajor ("Hermina's field") or Herminatelep ("Hermina's land"). The next owner was Pál Sándor who grew melons. As agriculture became more developed, the population started to increase and in 1920 it reached 254 people. Not much later, the settlement had new owners in the Malonyay family, whose castle was famed for its balls. During the world economic crisis of the 1930s the family went bankrupt and workers and Bulgarian families started to buy parts of their estate (which is why signs at the town limits are in both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets). After these sales of the estate, the castle's value was greatly reduced, and István Füzessy became its owner. It is said that he lost the castle in a card game to Emil Stein. Stein planted peach orchards, and the land around the castle is still known as such, even though the land is now used for housing.

After World War II the population rapidly increased, especially with migration from Zala County, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County and Hajdú-Bihar County. In 1949, the population was 1,401.

From 1 May 1950 the settlement became an independent village (Hungarian: község) called Herminatelep. In 1951 it changed to its current name of Halásztelek. Around that time the population was around 1,500, but its proximity to Budapest had the population double by 1955.

From the 1970s, with the population increase, the settlement became more modernized and 70% of all properties had mains water and electricity. During this time the telephone network was also introduced to the area.

On 1 July 2008 Halásztelek got status of a town.

Transport The M0 leads to Halásztelek from Lakihegy.

The transport infrastructure started to develop from the 1950s, and the BKV Budapesti Közlekedési Vállalat, "Mass Transport Company of Budapest" started to run one bus route, increasing to three in the 1960s. After Communist rule ended, the BKV ended operations, which were taken over by the Volánbusz company. The increased population led to increasing demands on the roads, and new ones were built.

Education In 1944 the Tököl council decided the street names and opened a state school, and in this year education started as a single classroom in Mária Szabadosás apartment, which is now called Kisiskola ("Small School"). A few years later there were two classes, and when the settlement became independent a new school was built. In the 1970s there was a large change in education practice, and in 1971 a vocational school for horticulture opened, called nowadays István Bocskai Reformed Secondary School.

** Malonyay Castle** The eclectic, mostly neo-baroque building was built in 1892. It is surrounded by an ancient park of more than one hectare, its floor plan corresponds to the layout of classical castles, in fact it consists of an outbuilding that was torn in two by a bomb hit by the main and a World War bomb. The main building is covered with a mansard roof, inside it there is a 130 m² ballroom, in the basement there are rooms separated by an arched solution.

Originally, the builder Warman, then the Malonyay family owned the building and the surrounding area. At the end of World War II, it was looted by occupying troops.

The trees of the ancient park were felled, most of it was filled with building debris during the post-war ruin clearance, and then a housing estate was built. Only the one-hectare area surrounding the castle has remained in its original form, although the fountain has been demolished and the shrubs have disappeared. The building complex was empty for a long time, then TSZ offices and the offices of the Pest Machinery Factory (aircraft repair plant) were housed in it. Service apartments were also created for these. Subsequently, it became the property of the local council, and major structural changes were carried out in it, for example, an upper level was created with a reinforced concrete slab. By the 1980s, it was in a state of ruins because neither the council nor the community could raise the money needed to save it. Finally, it was renovated in 2005 with Austrian capital according to the plans of Tamás Pintér and Zoltán Deák, since then we can admire it again in its original splendor, except for the magnificent marble stairs that led to the side entrances from the outside. The carport of the period was also demolished because it did not fit the neoclassical late Baroque building, and many believed that it was also of twentieth-century origin. In fact, it was built for horse-drawn carriages, probably at the end of the nineteenth century or at the beginning of the century.

For the past 10 years it has been operated by an Austro-Hungarian company; The castle is used for weddings, concerts, lectures, conferences.

In 2017, the Municipality of Halásztelek bought the castle, and - after renovation and landscaping - the Mayor's Office moved into the castle, which is now in a very beautiful condition. The ceremonial (re)handover took place on August 2017, 20.