Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and the country's third-largest city, Szeged, from both of them and almost equal distance from the two big rivers of the country, the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

. It is the northern of two centres of the Hungarian Southern Great Plain (Hungarian: Dél- Alföld) region (comprising the three counties Bács-Kiskun,

Békés Békés (; ro, Bichiş; sk, Békéš) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. It lies about north of Békéscsaba and east of Budapest. History The area of the present town has been inhabited since ancient times, due to its good soil and pr ...

and

Csongrád Csongrád ( ro, Ciongrad; tr, Conğrad sr, Чонград, Čongrad, archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd'') is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. History At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) the ...

); the southern centre is Szeged, the seat of Csongrád county.

Etymology

The name of the city stems from the Hungarian word ''kecske'' meaning "

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

" and ''-mét'' meaning "

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...

Geography

Kecskemét was established at the meeting point of a large sandy region and a sandy yellow soil; its elevation is

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The territory west of the city is covered by wind-blown sand, characterised by the almost parallel northern-southern sand dunes and the plain between them. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the pastures had become depleted. Overgrazing by cattle had destroyed the natural vegetation cover, and the movement of sand seriously endangered the town. Concentrated reforestation and planting of fruit and vines was carried out to stabilise the soil again. Kecskemét is in the centre of

Kiskunság Kiskunság ("Little Cumania", la, Cumania Minor) is a historical and geographical region in Hungary situated in the current between Kalocsa and Szeged. Its territory is 2,423 km2. Like other historical European regions called Cumania, it is na ...

, one of Hungary's famous regions. The

Kiskunság National Park Kiskunság National Park ( hu, Kiskunsági Nemzeti Park) is a national park located in Danube–Tisza Interfluve mainly in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It was created in 1975 and declared a biosphere reserve by the UNESCO. The park covers an ar ...

was established in 1975 to preserve the many different regional species of plants and animals. It is a "mosaic"-type national park, consisting of units that are not connected.

Climate

The characteristic weather in the Kecskemét region of Kiskunság is continental warm, dry, sometimes extreme. The amount of sunlight makes it possible for the region to produce agricultural products such as wheat, apricots, red peppers, and tomatoes. The warmest month in Kecskemét is July, with an average temperature of ; the coldest is January, with . Early spring and late autumn frosts are frequent on the Great Hungarian Plain. The possibility of frost usually ends only in the middle of April. After the third week of October, the temperature is frequently below .

History

The first

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

trace of a human in the area is about five thousand years old. The Sarmatians invaded the area in the first century B.C.; since then the area has been continuously inhabited by a variety of cultures. János Hornyik, the first town historian, believed that the settlement known as ''Partiskum'' of the Sarmatian Jazygian was here. Contemporary consensus among historians is that it is more likely permanent settlement occurred only after the Hungarian conquest. At the beginning of the 13th century, there were seven villages in the area, each with a population of 200–300 formed near the village church, a typical rural pattern. They were all destroyed by the

Mongol Invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

. Some of the villages revived at the time of the

Cumanians The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...

' colonization. As Kecskemét was situated at an important trading route, it grew as a customhouse and a market-place; in 1368 it was identified in one of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

's charters as an ''oppidium'' (town). The town's active economic life and relatively dense population attracted more traders, craftsmen and residents, including

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

who became an important part of the town. During the

Turkish invasion The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Arm ...

, settlers from neighboring villages sought shelter in Kecskemét, which was protected by defensive

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

s. They also were escaping the oppression of the ''spahi'' landlords. In addition to the protection of its setting, the town of Kecskemét had arranged to pay tax directly to the ''

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

'' in Buda, thus gaining his protection and enjoying a special situation. Kecskemét gradually absorbed the lands of those who had taken refuge in the town. Residents created a large

common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

field for the animals they were breeding. By the beginning of the 18th century, residents held nearly 30,000 cattle, which grazed on an almost field. At the end of the 18th century, animal breeding started to decline in economic importance, as the fields had become overgrazed and denuded. It took nearly 100 years before the region developed its next major agricultural commodity. In the 19th century, Kecskemét was already part of an important wine district, but the city increased in importance after the vine-pest destroyed most vineyards in the hilly regions. Damage was less significant in the plains' areas of loose, sandy soil. In the 1870s, landowners planted large plantations of grapevines around the town. These were the basis of the 20th-century vineyards and wine industry of the 20th century in Kecskemét. Cottage-type settlements grew up at the vineyards to house workers, a pattern still characteristic of the rural areas around the town. The growth of the wine industry stimulated those of the food industry and trade. The city is still known for its '' barackpálinka'', an

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

brandy. With their accumulation of capital, peasants began to adopt bourgeois customs and goods, stimulating trade in the town. Such regional wealth led to construction of new buildings, especially those surrounding Kecskemét's main square. This

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

complex is architecturally significant: the Town Hall, the New College, the Ornamented Palace, the Luther-Palace, the House of Trade (today the House of Young), and the Gentlemen's Casino, now used as the Hungarian Museum of Photography. The town's growth suffered in the 1929–33 economic world crisis and

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, followed by the upheaval and destruction of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the war and especially May–June 1944, Hungarian authorities rounded up and deported most of the Jews from the city to

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, where most were killed. Jewish Hungarians had been an important part of Kecskemét's thriving culture and trade. After 1945, the new Communist government, strongly influenced by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, imposed a different social-political system. Kecskemét's development slowed. Due to reorganisation in local government, Kecskemét lost its big territory; several new independent villages were formed in the area. They were economically connected to the town. In 1950, for the first time, Kecskemét took on a significant political administrative role, as it was made seat of the country's largest county, Bács-Kiskun. In the special system of the so-called ''controlled economy'' under the Communist regimes, such status provided political and financial advantages that greatly helped the city continue its growth. The architect József Kerényi (1900–1975) adapted and renovated several historic buildings for other uses, helping keep the varied historical character of the city alive. For instance, in the early 1970s, he renovated the early-eighteenth-century

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

for use as the Zoltán Kodály Conservatory; it opened for classes in 1975. Feszület Kecskemét Belvárosában

The Hungarian Association of Photographers formed the Hungarian Photography Foundation in 1990. It helped raise funds for the restoration of an 18th-century building in Kecskemét last used as an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

synagogue. It was adapted for the Hungarian Museum of Photography (''Magyar Fotográfiai Múzeum''), which opened in 1991. The museum holds work by Hungarian and other photographers of international and national reputations. It especially collects Hungarian photographers who successfully worked abroad. On 18 June 2008, German car manufacturer

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

announced that it would build a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

manufacturing plant in Kecskemét, planning to invest €800 million (US$1.24 billion). The plant, one of the biggest if not the biggest-ever in the region, provides work for 2,500 people.

Economy

In March 2012, the German automobile manufacturer

Daimler AG The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

opened a plant nearby Kecskemét, to manufacture the new B-Class, A-Class and

CLA-Class The Mercedes-Benz CLA class is a series of Luxury vehicle#Premium compact, luxury compact executive cars manufactured by Mercedes-Benz since 2013. The first generation was a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan based on the platform of the Mercedes ...

models. The

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

-based company invested €800 million (US$1.24 billion) to build the new plant, which is expected to create 3,000 new jobs in the region. According to the plans, more than 100,000 vehicles will be produced annually at the factory. Wikicamp 2019 by Samat 012

Kecskemét main railway station SE, 2016 Hungary

As of 2021, the largest companies were: *

– cars: 5,000 employees * Duvenbeck IMMO – logistic: 1,100 employees * ACPS Automotive – towbars: 1,000 employees * Knorr-Bremse – brakes: 950 employees * Phoenix Mecano – enclosures and mechanical components: 850 employees * CabTec – cable: 800 employees * Fornetti – baked goods: 800 employees *

Univer Product Verapamil, sold under various trade names, is a calcium channel blocker medication used for the treatment of high blood pressure, angina (chest pain from not enough blood flow to the heart), and supraventricular tachycardia. It may also be used ...

– canned goods: 800 employees In the city, unemployment is extremely low. Over the last few years, thousands of jobs have been created to promote a low unemployment rate. In 2021, unemployment was 3.60%.

Public transport

With the 1900s industrialisation of Hungary, Kecskemét developed public transportation by

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s for a population of 50,000. Not until after World War II did bus travel begin in the city. In 2010, with competitive funding from the EU, the city launched a number of trolley bus lines and in 2011 completely rebuilt the town centre as a

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

and pedestrian tourist zone. Currently, bus travel is the only public transportation to many destinations. Bus destinations (): *1 Noszlopy park - GAMF - Homokbánya kollégium *1D Homokbánya kollégium - Mercedes gyár I. kapu *2 Széchenyi tér - Rendőrfalu *2A Széchenyi tér - Gokart Stadion *2D Noszlopy park - Mercedes gyár I. kapu *2S Noszlopy park - Déli Ipartelep - SMP gyár *3 Széchenyi tér - Műkertváros - Nyíri Úti Kórház *3A Széchenyi tér - Műkertváros *4 Margaréta Otthon - Széchenyi tér - Repülőtér *4A Széchenyi tér - Kisfái *4C Széchenyi tér - Repülőtér *5 Széchenyi tér - Máriaváros *6 Széchenyi tér - Szeleifalu *7 Noszlopy park - Knorr Bremse - Szilády Nyomda *7C Noszlopy park - Mindszenti körút *9 Széchenyi tér - Talfája köz *10 Széchenyi tér - TESCO M5 Hipermarket *11 Széchenyi tér - Petőfiváros - Kadafalvi út *11A Széchenyi tér - Petőfiváros - AUCHAN Kereskedelmi Központ *12 Margaréta Otthon - Belváros - Köztemető I. kapu *12D Hunyadiváros (Serleg utca) - Mercedes gyár I. kapu *13 Széchenyi tér - Knorr Bremse *13D Széchenyi tér - Mercedes-gyár I. kapu *13K Széchenyi tér - Georg Knorr út *14 Széchenyi tér - Széchenyiváros *14D Széchenyiváros (Margaréta Otthon) - Mercedes gyár I. kapu *15 Noszlopy park - Hetényegyháza *15D Hetényegyháza - Mercedes gyár I. kapu *16 Széchenyi tér - Miklovicsfalu *18 Széchenyi tér - Köztemető II. kapu *19 Noszlopy park - Miklóstelep *20 Széchenyi tér - Megyei Kórház - Széchenyiváros *20H Széchenyi tér - Köztemető II. kapu - Kórházak - Széchenyi tér *21 Noszlopy park - Széchenyiváros - Nagykörút - Noszlopy park *21D Noszlopy park - Kurucz körút - Mercedes gyár I. kapu *22 Noszlopy park - Csabay Géza körút - Nagykörút - Noszlopy park *23 Széchenyi tér - Katonatelep *23A Széchenyi tér - Hunyadiváros - Katonatelep *25 Noszlopy park - Műkertváros *28 Széchenyi tér - Szeleifalu *29 Széchenyi tér - Hetényegyháza *32 Noszlopy park - Matkó *34 Kadafalva - Széchenyiváros - Kadafalva *34A Széchenyi tér - Széchenyiváros - Kadafalva *34V Kadafalva - Petőfiváros - Kadafalva *169 Széchenyi tér - Miklovicsfalu - Széchenyi tér *350 Máriaváros vasútállomás - Széchenyiváros *353 Hetényegyháza vasútállomás - Hetényegyháza központ *354 Hetényegyháza vasútállomás - Hetényegyháza központ *916 Széchenyi tér - Talfája köz - Széchenyi tér

Demographics

Kecskemét has 107,267 residents (). The population is homogeneous with a large Hungarian majority. A few thousand of the Romani minority live in the city; they formed their independent minority government in 1994. (95% Hungarian; 0.8% Romani; 0.4%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

; 0.2% Slovak; 4.8% other.) The city had a thriving Jewish population before World War II, as represented by their grand

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

. Most of the Jews were deported by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

forces in 1944 to concentration camps, where they were killed. The Vice President of the German minority in Kecskemet is Ms Rozalia Neuendorf. Since 19 March 2007, there is also a minority self-government for

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

in Kecskemét.

Districts

Kecskemét is divided into 21+1 sections. *Belváros (

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

) *I. Árpádváros (

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or ''kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' gy ...

town) *II. Máriaváros ( Marytown) *III. Széchenyiváros ( Széchenyitown) *IV. Bethlenváros ( Bethlentown) *V. Rákócziváros ( Rákóczitown) *VI. Erzsébetváros ( Elisabethtown) *VII. Kossuthváros ( Kossuthtown) *VIII. Hunyadiváros ( Hunyaditown) *IX. Szent István-város (Műkertváros, Szolnoki-hegy) (

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

town) *X. Szent László-város (Rendőrfalu) (

Saint Ladislaus Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...

town) *XI. Alsószéktó (Szeleifalu) *XII. Felsőszéktó (Petőfiváros, Sutusfalu) *XIII. Talfája *XIV. Katonatelep *XV. Repülőtér (Reptéri-lakótelep) *XVI. Matkó *XVII. Kadafalva *XVIII. Szarkás *XIX. Hetényegyháza *XX. Méntelek *XXI. Borbáspuszta

Main sights

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

*"Cifra Palota" * Co-Cathedral of the Ascension of the Lord, Kecskemét *Old Church *Synagogue *

József Katona József Katona (11 November 1791, Kecskemét – 16 April 1830, Kecskemét) was a Hungarian playwright and poet, creator of the Hungarian historical tragedy ''Bánk bán''. Biography József Katona was born and died in Kecskemét. He studi ...

Theatre *Hungarian Museum of Photography *Museum of Hungarian Naive Artists
MiG-21 Monument
File:Ev. templom (2225. számú műemlék).jpg,

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Church File:Görögkeleti templom (Szentháromság) (2252. számú műemlék) 2.jpg,

Church

Activities

*Adventure Spa & Waterslide Par
www.csuszdapark.hu
*Kecskemét Baths http://www.kecskemetifurdo.hu/ *Kecskemét Wild Park http://www.zookecskemet.hu/ *Katona József Theatre of Kecskemét http://kecskemetikatona.hu/hu/english. *Kecskemét Arboretum http://www.kecskemetiarboretum.hu/

Events

Csiperó- Future of Europe International childrend and youth meeting
*

Kecskemét Animation Film Festival Kecskemét Animation Film Festival () (KAFF) is an animated film festival held biennially during the month of June in Kecskemét, Hungary. Although the bulk of the festival is oriented toward efforts in Hungarian animation, the associated KAFF-spo ...

Kecskemét Air Show The Kecskemét International Air Show is a two-day-long air show held since the early 1990s at the Kecskemét Air Base of the Hungarian Defence Force. In 2008, when the annual Royal International Air Tattoo was cancelled, the Kecskemét Air Show b ...

Politics

The current mayor of Kecskemét is

Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki (née ''Pataki''; born 4 March 1976) is a Hungarian politician, member of the National Assembly (MP) from Fidesz Bács-Kiskun County Regional List from 2013-14. She graduated from the Corvinus University of Budapest i ...

(Fidesz-KDNP). The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 21 members (1 Mayor, 14 Individual constituencies MEPs and 6 Compensation List MEPs) divided into this political parties and alliances:

List of mayors

List of City Mayors from 1990:

Notable natives and residents

*András Gáspár (1804–1884), Hungarian

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

*Adrienne Nagy (born 1988) Hungarian pop singer *

(1791–1830), author * Antal Szabó (1875-1926), painter * Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967), Hungarian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

, educator,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and philosopher. A music conservatory was named in his honor. The train station was built on the site of his family's house. *

Kálmán Latabár Kálmán Latabár (1902–1970) was a Hungarian comedian and film actor, perhaps the country's most popular comic in the post-war years. "Latyi" reached his peak popularity during the war years and in the early days of Hungarian television, d ...

(1902–1970), actor,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Nicolas Abraham Nicolas Abraham (; hu, Ábrahám Miklós; 23 May 1919 – 18 December 1975) was a Hungarian-born French psychoanalyst best known for his work with Mária Török. The pair took a distinctive approach to psychoanalytic theory, holding that th ...

(1919–1975), French psychoanalyst *

Ákos Kónya Ákos Kónya (born 1974) is a Hungarian ultramarathon runner from Oceanside, California. Early life While growing up in Kecskemét, Hungary, Kónya began running at age 12. He ran track in high school and ran his first marathon at age 15. He has ...

(born 1974), ultramarathoner

Twin towns – sister cities

Kecskemét is twinned with: *

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

, Japan * Berehove, Ukraine *

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, United Kingdom * Dornbirn, Austria *

Galanta Galanta ( hu, Galánta, german: Gallandau) is a town (about 15,000 inhabitants) in the Trnava Region of Slovakia. It is situated 50 km due east of the Slovak capital Bratislava. Etymology The name is derived from a Slavic name ''Golęta'' ( ...

, Slovakia *

Szabadka Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Subotica is ...

, Serbia *

Hyvinkää Hyvinkää (; sv, Hyvinge, ) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region, approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was chartered in 1960. The population of Hyvinkää is (). Its neighboring municipal ...

, Finland *

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40 000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköpin ...

, Sweden *

Nahariya Nahariya ( he, נַהֲרִיָּה, ar, نهاريا) is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. In it had a population of . Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton (river is ''nahar'' in Hebrew), which bisects it. Hist ...

, Israel *

Rüsselsheim am Main Rüsselsheim am Main is the largest city in the Groß-Gerau (district), Groß-Gerau district in the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhein-Main region of Germany. It is one of seven special status cities (implementing several functions that counties nor ...

, Germany *

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

, Romania * Târgu Mureș, Romania * Tekirdağ, Turkey * Wadowice, Poland

Friendly cities

Kecskemét also cooperates with: * Großenhain, Germany *

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, Serbia *

Tábor Tábor (; german: Tabor) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. Administrative parts The followi ...

, Czech Republic

Military

The MH 59th "

Dezső Szentgyörgyi Warrant Officer Dezső Szentgyörgyi (16 January 1915 – 28 August 1971) was the highest scoring Hungarian fighter ace of the Royal Hungarian Honvéd Air Force in World War II. Early life/Royal Hungarian Honvéd Air Force Dezső Szentgyör ...

" Tactical Wing, the only jet fighter unit of the Hungarian Defence Forces, is based at Kecskemét air force base. The

is held here every two years.

Sport

Kecskeméti TE Kecskeméti Testedző Egyesület, commonly known as Kecskeméti TE or simply Kecskemét, is a sports club based in Kecskemét, Hungary. It is most famous for its football team which competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungar ...

, association football club *

Kecskeméti LC Kecskeméti Labdarúgó Club is a professional football club based in Kecskemét, Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary, that competes in the Bács-Kiskun county league. Name changes *1992–2017: Kecskeméti Labdarúgó Club *2017–2018: Kecskeméti ...

, association football club

References

;Notes

External links

* in Hungarian, English and German
Kecskemét's local map

Aerial photography: Kecskemét

"Hungarian Museum of Photography"
Official Website, English
Kecskemét at funiq.hu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kecskemet County seats in Hungary Cities with county rights of Hungary Populated places in Bács-Kiskun County Populated places established in the 9th century