Hács is a village in Somogy county,

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 ...

Geography

It lies 14 km southern of

Fonyód Fonyód () is a town and holiday resort on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, in north-west Somogy County, western Hungary, with over 4,700 residents. It is the seat of Fonyód District. History The first mention of Fonyód was in a letter of La ...

and 6 km southern of

Lengyeltóti Lengyeltóti is a town in Somogy county, Hungary. The settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine region. Settings The town can be found south from Fonyód, along the highway to Somogyvár, the old seat of the county. The highway went from t ...

. The settlement consists of three parts, the former Hács village and two outer uninhabited territories, ''Béndekpuszta'' and ''Gárdonypuszta''. The village of Putenda (''Petendpuszta'' between 1849 and 1936) was earlier a separate settlement, but it has grown together with Hács.

History

Hács was first mentioned as ''Alchy'', ''Béndekpuszta'' as ''Bennuk'' and ''Terra Bendek'', ''Putenda'' as ''Pettend'', ''Gárdonypuszta'' as ''Gardon'' in medieval documents. During the ancient times Germanic tribes and Avars settled there. There were also two villages, ''Thuul'' and ''Sutak'' on this territory according to 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. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

register. The second also had its own parish. They all disappeared during the Ottoman invasion. The landowners of ''Nagyhács'', the ''Inkey'' family invited Lutheran Germans to ''Nagyhács'' who came from

Bonyhád Bonyhád () is a town in Tolna County in Southwestern Hungary. History The area around Bonyhád has been inhabited since ancient times, primarily by Celts. The modern town can trace its history back to 14th century. The town was briefly uninhab ...

and its surrounding 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 ...

. Originally they came from

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

and

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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

to the

Hungarian Kingdom The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. ''Antal Inkey'' and his wife, ''Terézia Kiss'' made a contract with 30 German settlers which detailed regulated their duties and laws. The first teacher of Hács was ''Georgius Ritzl'' who worked there between 1828 and 1858. The landowners of ''Kishács'', the ''Lengyel'' family settled Lutheran as well as Roman Catholic Germans from

Veszprém Veszprém (; , , , ) is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name. Etymology The city's name derives ...

and

. There were also some Hungarian families in the village. The landowner of ''Pettend'', ''Ferdinánd Fechtig'' settled Lutheran and Roman Catholic Hungarians and Germans in 1849. But according to the records there were also 2-3 Serbian and 1 Jewish family among the settlers. In 1849 the whole population of Hács was German with 414 people of which 400 Lutherans and 14 Roman Catholics. Four years later, in 1853 41 Lutheran family came to ''Nagyhács''. There was a huge cholera epidemic in 1855 which caused several deaths. In this years the residents built their new Lutheran church and the building of their school. The second one does not exist today. Until 1870 their worships were held only in German, after that in both Hungarian and German respectively on different Sundays. ''Zsigmond Inkey'' changed his lands with ''Nepomuk János Zichy'', therefore became the ''Zichy'' family the owner of Hács. There was a huge conflagration in which the half of the houses burnt down. In 1876 the ''Inkey'' family established a foundation to spread the usage of Hungarian language among the residents which helped the

magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

. The village became administratively independent on August 9, 1907, from

. Its first judge was ''János György Moschberger''. Later he was followed by Gábor Ember, Henrik Koch, Kálmán Fűzfa, Sándor Kirner and Mátyás Vogel. In

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

at the turn of the 19th century several people emigrated to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

because of the poverty and joblessness. Fifty people left Hács for the US, most of them came back. In 1910 a new Lutheran school was built and the old one demolished. There was also a Roman Catholic school between 1878 and 1953.Szita László: Somogy megyei nemzetiségek településtörténete a XVIII-XIX. században - Somogyi Almanach 52. (Kaposvár, 1993)
/ref> Several residents of Hács fought in the world wars. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

died 21, in 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 ...

31. There are two marble plaques on the churches remembering on those who fell. Between the two world wars the village experienced a great economic development. In 1945 the older land system was abolished and all the residents got smaller land portions. The Catholics built a new church in 1953. On October 26, 1956, the residents marched on the streets of the village and declared their solidarity with the revolutionaries of 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 ...

. They elected their own Revolutionary Committee and a new secretary of the village council.

Main sights

* Lutheran Church - was dedicated on October 18, 1936 * Roman Catholic Church - was built between 1949 and 1953 in

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

, was dedicated to Saint Elisabeth * medieval chapel ruins in ''Béndekpuszta'' - was built in the 12th or 13th century in

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

. In 1590 Turkish troops attacked the village. The inhabitants flew into the chapel. The Turks set the roof on fire, therefore they all died. *

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

chapel - was built in 1857 on the ruins of the medieval chapel * stone cross - was built on the ruins of a 19th-century chapel in ''Gárdonypuszta'' * fish pond in ''Gárdonypuszta''

Gallery

File:Szent Erzsébet-templom, légi, 2016 Hács.jpg File:Hács 2.jpg File:Hács 3.jpg File:Hács 5.jpg

Literature

* László Szita : Somogy megyei nemzetiségek településtörténete a XVIII-XIX. században - Somogyi Almanach 52. (Kaposvár, 1993)

External links

Street map (Hungarian)

References

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