Kötcse () 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 ...
. The village is known for being a summer resort because of its proximity to
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...
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 retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Government of Hungary, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sp ...
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.
Etymology
The name ''Kötcse'' derives from a personal name ''Kékcse'' which is the combination of the word ''kék'' () 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 (, ; ; , ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary.
Somogy County lies in south-western Hungary, on the border with Croatia's Koprivnica- ...
, 9 km from Lake Balaton, approx. 130–260 meters above sea level. Kötcse is just 400 meters away from the closest village,
Nagycsepely. The closest town is Balatonföldvár 15 km away. The nearest railway station is located in
Somogymeggyes 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 (, , , ; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, and again between 1208/1209 and ...
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 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 ...
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