Szulok (german: Sulk, hr, Suljok) 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 ...

Etymology

Its name derives from a South Slavic person name ''Sulko'' or ''Sulek''. He could be the first owner of the village.

Geography

It lies on the southern side 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 ...

, 14 km northeast of

Barcs Barcs ( hr, Barč; german: Bartsch or ) is a border town in Somogy County, Hungary, and the seat of Barcs District. The Drava River marks the southern boundary of the settlement. Geography Located at the Croatian border and the River Drava, the t ...

, on the road between Barcs and

Kaposvár Kaposvár (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in the southwestern part of Hungary, south of Lake Balaton. It is one of the leading cities of Transdanubia, the capital of Somogy County, and the seat of the Kaposvá ...

History

''Szulok'' was first mentioned as ''Zoloc'' in a decree of

Béla III Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá, derived from ''bílá'' (''whit ...

for the Johannites of

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

in 1193. In the papal

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

registration between 1332 and 1337 it was written as ''Zulak''. During the Turkish occupation the settlement perished. In the 18th century it came into the hands of the

Széchenyi Széchenyi or Széchényi is the name of a wealthy Hungarian noble family which produced many politicians, landowners and influential figures within Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is not to be confused with other Szécsényi family that went extinct. ...

family. ''István Széchényi'' invited German settlers from

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

between 1715 and 1757. They worked with

charcoal burning A charcoal burner is someone whose occupation is to manufacture charcoal. Traditionally this is achieved by carbonising wood in a charcoal pile or kiln. Charcoal burning is one of the oldest human crafts. The knowledge gained from this indust ...

, but after the loss of forests they started to plant tobacco. Szulok rapidly achieved a reputation in the whole country for his tobacco. In 1772 the village already had its Catholic parish and school. The first seal of the village was made in 1788. In 1811 Szulok got market town rights. During the 20th century the town was still well known for its tobacco. The Germans started to use cattle or horses for ploughing, already before the Croats and Hungarians in

. According to the registers there were more horses in German villages than in the Hungarian and Croat ones. During the time that they saved with this technique they use to plant more plants especially tobacco which they could sell. The residents of Szulok were among the first who started to drain the swamp to increase the tillable fields. They also used this methode for others for payment. For the money they made with it they invested in buying new plough lands or vineyards. However they produced a lot of vine, they were also those who consumed the less. The money accumulation was among the Germans the most remarkable in

which caused their economic development in the 19th century.László Szita : Somogy megyei nemzetiségek településtörténete a XVIII-XIX. században - Somogyi Almanach 52. (Kaposvár, 1993)
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Main sights

* Roman Catholic Church (built in 1800 and was dedicated to Saint Simon and Judas Tadeo, the patrons of the

lumberjacks Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Uni ...

) * Holy Trinity Column * traditional country house * thermal spa - operates since 1969. Its over 50 °C water is recommended for the treatment of

rheum Rheum (; from Greek: ῥεῦμα ''rheuma'' 'a flowing, rheum') is a thin mucus naturally discharged from the eyes, nose, or mouth, often during sleep (cf. mucopurulent discharge).Amodio, Aime"Where Do Eye Boogers Come From?" Families.com blog ...

and

gynaecological Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

problems. * epitaph in the cemetery is a work of

Mihály Vörösmarty Mihály Vörösmarty (archaically English: Michael Vorosmarthy 1 December 180019 November 1855) was an important Hungarian poet and dramatist. Biography He was born at Puszta-Nyék (now Kápolnásnyék), of a noble Roman Catholic family. H ...

according to some sources who found refuge in the village after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...

„Meg ne háborítsd a csendet, mely e sír körül lebeg. Itt egy édes jó anyának fáradt teste szendereg. Éltében sokat virrasztott, hadd nyugodjék hamva hát. Gyermekei és unokái könnye könnyítse meg porát.”

External links

Street map

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Somogy County Hungarian German communities in Somogy County