Solymár () is a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in northwest 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 ...
metropolitan area, bordering the 3rd and 2nd districts of the city, as well as
Nagykovácsi,
Pilisszentiván,
Pilisvörösvár,
Csobánka
Csobánka is a village in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. Csobánka is located in the Pilis Mountains which is a National Park in Hungary.
The name Csobánka comes from Ottoman Turkish چوبان (çoban) rooted in < Persian � ...
,
Pilisborosjenő
Pilisborosjenő () is a village in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, 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, Ukrai ...
, and
Üröm. Its picturesque surroundings (hills to the south and east, the highest point is
Zsíroshegy at 424m) and good accessibility the 64, 64A, 64B, 164, 164B, 264, 157 and 964 city buses from
Hűvösvölgy
Hűvösvölgy is a neighbourhood in the 2nd district of Budapest, 2nd District of Budapest. The area is a popular hiking destination and is also an important transport hub. The suburb is known for its terminus of the Budapest Children's Railway.
A ...
, 218 from
Óbuda
Óbuda (, ) is, together with Buda and Pest, one of the three cities that were unified to form the Hungarian capital city of Budapest in 1873. Today, together with Békásmegyer, Óbuda forms a part of the city's third district, although the to ...
, 831 from
Pilisszántó, a train from
Budapest Nyugati and
Esztergom
Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...
, and coaches from
Árpád-híd) made it a desirable destination for affluent city-dwellers moving to suburban homes outside of Budapest from the mid-1990s. It's historical
German-speaking majority was
depopulated following 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 ...
, some
non-compulsively, and a great majority by force in a series of deportations, which is solemnly remembered in a
commemorative monument erected in the village in 1990.
History
The name of the village is first mentioned in a charter by
Béla IV
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 may refer to:
Places in the Cze ...
dated 5 May 1266, as Solomar. The most likely etymology of the name is
Hungarian ''solymár'' (more commonly ''solymász''): ‘
falconer’, i.e., the place where the royal falconers live. (Several neighbouring villages were named similarly.) The village prospered during the following centuries and probably hosted a royal hunting castle (
Szarkavár), which burnt down after 1561. The advance of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
left the village deserted after 1580.
The village was uninhabited until the first new settlers arrived around 1700; first
Serbians
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
and
Bulgarians
Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...
migrated from the south, to escape the withdrawing Ottoman forces. Soon afterward came Bavarian immigrants, recruited by the monarchy from Habsburg and similar southern provinces along the Danube. The Crown paid their transportation and assisted in their getting settled in Hungary; the newcomers were promised they could retain their language and religion (generally
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 ...
). The monarchy wanted to resettle the area and knew the Germans could restore farmlands along the Danube. Because the settlers continued to speak a form of German and maintained their cultural and religious traditions, they were called ''die Donauschwaben'' (
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 ...
s). Their descendants, who were citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and succeeding governments, later formed the great majority of the population in this area and called the village ''Schaumar'' in German.
Post-war
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 ...
During
World War II
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 ...
,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
appealed to ethnic Germans in other countries, no matter how long they had resided there. In some areas, ethnic Germans supported his program, but in many cases had loyalty to where they were living. Because part of the Nazi rationale for war was to unite all ethnic Germans and oppress and exterminate other populations, many eastern European countries, such as Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union, expelled ethnic Germans after the war. About half the population of Solymár was deported to Germany in 1946 as a collective punishment as part of that massive displacement. More than 330 households in Solymár were vacated.
The empty houses were occupied by ethnic Hungarians relocated from other parts of the country (mainly
Mezőkövesd
Mezőkövesd is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies from Miskolc and from Eger.
Mezőkövesd is a town in northeastern Hungary, located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, near the Bükk Mountains. It is known as the ...
), as well as refugees from
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 ...
. In later years, ethnic Hungarians deported from
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
arrived. Together with the large-scale migration of people from Budapest in the past decades of
suburbanization
Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...
, ethnic Germans have become a minority of the population. Since 1990 the deportation has been commemorated; a memorial was installed at Templom tér.
Attractions
*Historic Catholic church and other buildings in the village
*Hilltop ruins of a castle
*Budapest War Cemetery contains 173
Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, all of them airmen whose graves were brought in from sites all over Hungary after the war, plus a single First World War burial. The cemetery also contains one French and 37 Polish War Graves.
*On the slope of Zsiros Hill is the opening to the Devil's Hole Cave (''Ördöglyuk-barlang''), an extensive system approximately 3 kilometres long. It is possible for experienced spelunkers to explore the caves with a guide, but it is not otherwise accessible.
Population
As of 2022, there are 11,220 residents, mainly ethnic Hungarians, with a minority of ethnic Germans, mainly those who returned after the war.
Mayors
*1990–1994: Péter Dercsényi (
Alliance of Free Democrats
The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (, , SZDSZ ) was a liberal political party in Hungary.
The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and of Liberal International. It drew its su ...
(SZDSZ))
*1994–2006: László Enczmann (independent)
*2006–2010
Kálmán Szente(independent)
*2010–2024
Kálmán Szente(FIDESZ-KDNP)
*2024– :
Péter Zlinszky(TESO/Let’s Act Together for Solymár Association)
References
Solymár, 1993
External links
Solymár Official website (in Hungarian)
Forum Index.hu (in Hungarian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solymar
Populated places in Pest County
Hungarian German communities