Gyönk () is a village in

Tolna County Tolna (, ; ) is an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus or vármegye) in present-day Hungary as it was in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares borde ...

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 ...

History

Gyönk was mentioned for the first time in 1280, but the neighborhood (and Gyönk) was already a populated area by then. The village was inhabited by Turks for some time, and by the time of the

Rákóczi The House of Rákóczi (older spelling Rákóczy) was a Hungarian nobility, Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary between the 13th century and 18th century. Their name is also spelled ''Rákoci'' (in Slovakia), ''Rakoczi'' and ''Rako ...

it was depopulated. In the early 18th century, Hungarian and German families arrived in the village. The school was founded in 1806. In 1882, the Budapest-Pécs-Dombóvár-rail line, which passes through the Kapos Valley connected the village. In 1891, there were 3,371 German and Hungarian inhabitants. In 1947, a Czechoslovak-Hungarian population exchange saw 9 Highland Hungarian families (55 people) resettled in the upland village of Martos. Until the end of World War II, the inhabitants' majority was

Danube Swabian The Danube Swabians ( ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in east-central Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in greater numbers in the 17 ...

(Schwowe), whose ancestors had come from

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

and

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

. Around 1790, Catholic German families from Gyönk settled in Illocska. Most of the former German settlers were expelled to

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

and

Allied-occupied Austria Austria was occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies and declared independence from Nazi Germany on 27 April 1945 (confirmed by the Berlin Declaration (1945), Berlin Declaration for Germany on 5 June 1945), as a result of the Vienna offen ...

in 1945–1948, following the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

. Only a few

Germans of Hungary German Hungarians (, ) are the ethnic German minority of Hungary, sometimes also called Danube Swabians (German: ''Donauschwaben'', Hungarian: ''dunai svábok''), many of whom call themselves "Shwoveh" in their own Swabian dialect. Danube Swab ...

live there, the majority today are the descendants of Hungarians from the

Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange The Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange was the exchange of inhabitants between Czechoslovakia and Hungary after World War II. Between 45,000 and 120,000 Hungarians were forcibly transferred from Czechoslovakia to Hungary, and their propert ...

Notable landmarks

The Reformed Church was built between 1775 and 1777, and consecrated on May 25, 1777. The tower was completed in 1836. The second organ of the church, dated to 1910 is a masterpiece. The neo-Gothic style Lutheran Church designed by Gyula Reppmannin was completed in 1896. The Catholic Church was built in 1926. Magyary Kossa-Castle was built in 1830.

Demographics

As of 2022, the town is 91.7% Hungarian, 8.7%

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 ...

, 2.8%

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

, and 1.1% of non-European origin. 27.7% of the townsfolk are

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 ...

, 13.8%

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 ...

, 13.1%

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

, and 10.8%

nondenominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Gyönk is twinned with: *

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany, since 1990 * Griesheim, Germany, since 1990 *

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, ...

, France, since 1996 *

Wilkau-Haßlau Wilkau-Haßlau () is a town in the Zwickau (district), Zwickau district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Zwickauer Mulde, about 6 km south of Zwickau. Geography Location The town lies at the foot of the Ore Mountains in ...

, Germany, since 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyonk Populated places in Tolna County