Kötcse (german: Kötsching) is a village in Somogy county,

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 ...

. The village is known for being a summer resort because of its proximity to

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

and its good weather conditions. Several houses are weekend houses and have no permanent residents. Among others former Prime Minister and leader of the DK political party,

Ferenc Gyurcsány Ferenc Gyurcsány (; born 4 June 1961) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports between 2003 and 2004. He ...

spends his holidays here with his family. Since 2004 the settlement and the Dobozy Chateau hosts the ''Polgári Piknik'' meeting organized by the ''Polgári Magyarországért Alapítvány'' of the Christian-conservative elite. Leading figures of Hungarian life - politicians, thinkers, scientists, business people - gather together in the village for the event. The settlement is part of the

Balatonboglár wine region The Balatonboglár wine region, also known as the South Balaton wine region, is the only one wine region in Somogy County, Hungary. The area consists of 37 settlements, mainly located on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, but also some near Kapo ...

Etymology

The name ''Kötcse'' derives from a personal name ''Kékcse'' which is the combination of the word ''kék'' ( en, blue) and the affix ''-cse''. The name of the village changed with time from ''Kékcse'' to ''Kötcse''.

Geography

It is located in the northern part of

Somogy County Somogy ( hu, Somogy megye, ; hr, Šomođska županija; sl, Šomodska županija, german: Komitat Schomodei) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''megye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Somogy County lies ...

, 9 km from Lake Balaton, approx. 130–260 meters above sea level. Kötcse is just 400 meters away from the closest village,

Nagycsepely Nagycsepely is a village in Somogy county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the north ...

. The closest town is Balatonföldvár 15 km away. The nearest railway station is located in

Somogymeggyes Somogymeggyes is a village in Somogy county, 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 t ...

about 6 km away. The settlement is part of the ''Balatonboglár Wine Region''.

History

Kötcse was first mentioned by

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 ...

in 1229 as ''Keccha inferior'' (Lower-Kötcse) and ''Keccha superior'' (Upper-Kötcse). In the 14th and 15th century it was owned by

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of the Diocese of Székesfehérvár. During the Turkish occupation the village perished. Later the ''Antall'' family brought here Lutheran Germans from

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

to revive the settlement.Zoltán Tefher - A község telepítéstörténete
/ref> In most settlements of Somogy County, like in Kötcse, several small manor houses and mansions were built in the 18th century. There were 19 mansions of small landowner noble people in Kötcse. For now just 9 of them survived.

Main sights

* archeological finds from the new stone age and ancient times * coins from the middle ages * 9 of the former 19 noble mansions (e.g. ''Kazay Mansion'', ''Keserű Mansion'', ''Antall Mansion'', ''Bíró Mansion'' (''Békavár''), ''Csepinszky Mansion'') * Lutheran Church (built in late Baroque style, 18th century)

Notable residents

* ''Atala Kisfaludy'' (1836–1911) poet, first female member of the ''Petőfi Society'' * ''István Roboz'' (1828–1916) journalist, founder of the first county weekly newspaper called ''Somogy''

External links

Street map (Hungarian)

Literature

* Zoltán Tefher : Kötcse - A község telepítéstörténete

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotcse Populated places in Somogy County Hungarian German communities in Somogy County