Dunaújváros (; also known by alternative names) is an industrial city in

Fejér County Fejér (, ) is an administrative county in central Hungary. It lies on the west bank of the river Danube and nearly touches the eastern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Veszprém, Komárom-Esztergom County ...

, Central

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

. It is a

city with county rights A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city is best known for its

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

, which is the largest in the country. It was built in the

1950s File:1950s decade montage.png, 370x370px, Top, L-R: U.S. Marines engaged in street fighting during the Korean War, late September 1950; The first polio vaccine is developed by Jonas Salk.Centre, L-R: US tests its first thermonuclear bomb with co ...

on the site of the former village of Dunapentele and was originally named Sztálinváros, before acquiring its current name in 1961.

Geography

Dunaújváros is located in the

Transdanubia Transdanubia ( ; , or ', ) is a traditional region of Hungary. It is also referred to as Hungarian Pannonia, or Pannonian Hungary. Administrative divisions Traditional interpretation The borders of Transdanubia are the Danube River (north and ...

n part of the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain (however, the Great Hungarian Plain was not par ...

(called Mezőföld), south of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

on the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, Highway 6, Motorways M6, M8 and the electrified Budapest- Pusztaszabolcs-Dunaújváros-

Paks Paks is a small town in Tolna (county), Tolna county, in the south of Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube River, 100 km south of Budapest. Paks as a former agricultural settlement is now the home of the only Hungarian Paks Nuclear Pow ...

railway.

Etymology and names

The city replaced the village of ''Dunapentele'' ("Pantaleon up on the Danube"), named after Saint Pantaleon.Antal Papp: Magyarország (Hungary), Panoráma, Budapest, 1982, , p. 860, pp. 542–544 The construction of this new industrial city started in 1949 and the original village was renamed ''Sztálinváros'' ("

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

City") in 1951. After the

Hungarian revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

, the new government renamed the city the neutral ''Dunaújváros'' in 1961, which means "Danube New City" (New City on the Danube). The city is also known by alternative names in other languages: ; ; and .

History

Dunaújváros is one of the newest cities in the country. It was built in the 1950s during the industrialization of the country under Socialist rule, as a new city next to an already existing village, ''Dunapentele''.

Dunapentele

Dunapentele was not built until the 1950s. The construction started on the

's right bank. The area has been inhabited since ancient times. When Western Hungary was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

province under the name ''Pannonia'', a military camp and a town called ''Intercisa'' stood in this place, at the border of the province. The Hungarians conquered the area in the early 10th century. The village of ''Pentele'', named after the medieval Greek saint, Pantaleon, was founded shortly after. Between 1541 and 1688 the village was under Ottoman rule, and during the 150-year war, it was destroyed. During the freedom fight led by Prince Ferenc II Rákóczi of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, the place was deserted again. In the 18th, century the village began to prosper. In 1830 the village was given the right to hold market days twice a week. In 1831 there was a cholera epidemic which caused a small-scale peasants revolt. In 1833 Pentele was granted town status ''(oppidum)'' by Ferdinand V. The citizens took part in the freedom fight in 1848–49. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the new,

Communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

started a major industrialisation programme, in support of its rearmament efforts. In 1949 ''Dunaújváros'' was chosen as the site of the largest iron and steel works in the country. The focus on steel production had the purpose of arming the socialist territories in fear of a third world war. With a strong steel industry, they could quickly stock up on weaponry and machinery. Originally they were to be built close to

Mohács Mohács (; Croatian: ''Mohač''; ; ; ; ) is a town in Baranya County, Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube. Etymology The name probably comes from the Slavic ''*Mъchačь'',''*Mocháč'': ''mъchъ'' (moss, Hungarian ''moha'' is a loanword ...

, but the Hungarian-

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n relations worsened, and this new site was chosen, farther away from the Yugoslav border. The city was designed to have 25,000 residents. The construction of the city began on May 2, 1950, near Dunapentele. Within one year more than 1,000 housing units were built and construction on the factory complex began. The city officially took the name of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

on April 4, 1952; its name was ''Sztálinváros'' 'Stalin City' as a parallel to

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

in the USSR. The metal works (formerly called: Dunai Vasmű, no
ISD DUNAFERR
were opened in 1954. The city had a population of 27,772 at this time; 85% of them lived in nice, comfortable apartments, while about 4,200 people still lived in uncomfortable barracks which originally provided "homes" for the construction workers. In the middle of the 1950s, public transport was organized, with buses carrying 24,000 passengers each day. During the 1950s many cultural and sports facilities were built, the Endre Ságvári Primary School being the largest school in Central Europe in the 1960s. The official and obligatory architectural style and art movement of the communist system was socialist realism. Per definition the style's meaning was communist, its form was national, and its preferred mode of representation was the

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

. There are several public statues and reliefs in the town, which represent the allegoric union of workers, peasants, and intellectuals, surrounded by traditional folk motifs. Thanks to the inspiration of

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

the buildings and monuments of this era (1949–56), like the forge, the cinema, the theatre, the hospital, and the city's schools were characterized by

structural functionalism Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is "a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability". This approach looks at society through a macro-level o ...

, but the ideological function resulted in classicist decorations, like columns, tympanums, and arcades, because of which the informal name of the style became 'Stalin's Baroque' . Penteleihid1

In 1956, the construction was hindered by an earthquake and a flood, and in October by the start of the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. During the revolution, the city used its historical name ''Dunapentele'' again. The ''Rákóczi'' radio station, which was created by the revolutionaries, was broadcast from Dunapentele (in fact from a bus that was constantly moving around in the city so that it couldn't be located.) Even though the citizens of Dunapentele tried to defend their city, the Soviet army occupied the city on November 7, 1956. The city came under martial law and Soviet tanks were stationed throughout the city. After the revolution, the city was still the "trademark city" of socialism in Hungary and was presented as such to foreign visitors. Among the visitors were

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

and the Indonesian president

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

. The city also provided a scenic backdrop to popular movies. In 1960, the ten-year-old city already had 31,000 residents who celebrated its anniversary. On November 26, 1961, the city's name was changed to ''Dunaújváros'' (Duna, új, város meaning ''Danube-new-city''; "New City upon

". See also Tiszaújváros) as a consequence of Stalin's death (1953) and the Hungarian Revolution (1956). In 1990 it became a city with county rights—as one of the then four, (now five) cities in the country that have this status but are not county capitals—in accordance with a new law that granted this status to all cities with a population over 50,000. Even though the population of Dunaújváros has been under 50,000 since 2008, it has kept its status as a city with county rights (along with

Hódmezővásárhely Hódmezővásárhely (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, on the Great Hungarian Plain, at the meeting point of the Békés-Csanádi Ridge and the clay grassland surrounding the river Tisz ...

, which is in a similar situation). The ISD DUNAFERR (formerly: Dunai Vasmű) factory complex is still an important enterprise in the Hungarian steel industry, and a major employer (as of 2020, it has 4,500 employees) in the area. College of Dunaujvaros

Today, Dunaújváros is home to many new infrastructures ( Pentele Bridge, direct M6-M8 highway link between

and Dunaújváros), the new

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Hankook Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (), also known simply as Hankook ( , ), is a South Korean tire company based in Seoul. It is the seventh-largest tire company in the world. It is a part of Hankook & Company. History Hankook Tire was establis ...

factory, Europe's biggest tire factory of

, and Hamburger Hungaria, one of the largest containerboard manufacturers in Europe. This and other projects make Dunaújváros a new Hungarian boomtown. Thanks to its formal political and economic importance, the communist

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

, the socialist realist architecture, and its unique atmosphere the town is the considerable memento of communism. Many of the half-century-old buildings have received the protection of historic monuments, and the town is the focus of growing touristic interest.

Demographics

In 2001 Dunaújváros had 55,309 residents (92.5% Hungarian, 0.6% Romani, 0.6%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 6.3% other). Religions: 38.9%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 8.3%

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, 2%

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, 37.8%

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, 0.2% other, 12.8% no answer.

Politics

The current mayor of Dunaújváros is Pintér Tamás (

Jobbik The Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary (, ), commonly known as Jobbik (), and previously known as Conservatives () between 2023 and 2024, is a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Hungary, political party in Hungary. Ori ...

). The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 15 members (1 Mayor, 10 Individual constituencies MEPs, and 4 Compensation List MEPs) divided into political parties and alliances:

Sport

The most popular sport is

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, and the city is home to the Steel Bulls (which plays at the Ice Hockey Stadium of Dunaújváros). The second most popular sport in the town is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. The town has one team playing in the top-level league, the

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

, the

Dunaújváros PASE Dunaújváros (; also known by alternative names) is an industrial city in Fejér County, Central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city is best known for its steelw ...

. However, the most well-known team is the defunct Dunaújváros FC which also won the 1999–2000 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. The women's

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

team of

Dunaújvárosi FVE Dunaújvárosi Főiskola Vizílabda Egyesület is a Hungary, Hungarian water polo club from Dunaújváros founded in 1989 in the Dunaújváros College. It is best known for its women's team, which has won eight Női Országos Bajnokság I, nation ...

won the 2018 edition of the LEN Trophy.

Notable people

* Károly Bezdek (born 1955), professor of mathematics * Fruzsina Brávik (born 1986), 2008 Olympian in water polo * Anita Bulath (born 1983), handball player * Csanád Erdély (born 1996), ice hockey player * (born 1988), ice hockey player * Viktor Horváth (born 1978), Modern Pentathlete * Miklós Kiss (born 1981), designer and visual artist * Zsófia Kovács (born 2000), gymnast * Balázs Ladányi (born 1976), ice hockey player * Bálint Magosi (born 1989), ice hockey player * Gergő Nagy (born 1989), ice hockey player * Imre Peterdi (born 1980), ice hockey player *

Miklós Rajna Miklós Rajna (; born 22 June 1991 in Dunaújváros) is a Hungary, Hungarian professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for Coventry Blaze in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Playing career Producing a 94.8 percent saving perce ...

(born 1991), ice hockey player * Viktor Szélig (born 1975), ice hockey player * Viktor Tokaji (born 1977), ice hockey player * Georgina Toth (born 1982), Hungarian–Cameroonian hammer thrower * János Vas (born 1983), ice hockey player * Márton Vas (born 1980), ice hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities

Dunaújváros is twinned with: * Alchevsk, Ukraine *

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

, Albania *

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; ; ) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse on the op ...

, Romania *

İnegöl İnegöl (known as , ''Angelokomis'' in the Byzantine period) is a municipality and district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,118 km2, and its population is 302.251 (2024). İnegöl is one of the centers of the Turkish furniture indus ...

, Turkey *

Silistra Silistra ( ; ; or ) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Silistra is the administrative center of the ...

, Bulgaria *

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava, Sava river. , the city has a total population of 36,764 inhabitants, while its adminis ...

, Serbia *

Terni Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...

, Italy * Villejuif, France

References

Notes

External links

* in Hungarian
Dunaújváros 2400
(detailed history, Hungarian only, with many pictures)
Portal site
(Hungarian only)
Video news portal
(Hungarian only)
Aerial photography: Dunaújváros
*The city features prominently in the film '' The Ister''
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunaujvaros Socialist planned cities Populated places in Fejér County Populated places established in 1951 Populated places on the Danube Cities with county rights of Hungary Planned communities in Hungary Roman settlements in Hungary Serb communities in Hungary De-Stalinization