Veszprém (; , , , ) is one of the oldest urban areas in

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 ...

, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the

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 ...

. It is the administrative center of the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of the same name.

Etymology

The city's name derives from the West Slavic-language

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Bezprem'' or '' Bezprym'' (

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...

''Bezprěmъ'') which translates literally to "stubborn", "self-confident, not willing to retreat". ''Besprem'' (before 1002), ''Vezprem'' (1086), ''Bezpremensis'' (1109). The form ''Vezprem'' originates in early medieval scribal habits and frequent exchange of ''B'' and ''V'' under the influence of the

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

Location and legend

The city can be reached via the M7 highway and Road 8. It can also be reached from

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

via Road 82 and from

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

via Road 8. According to a local legend, Veszprém was founded on seven hills. The seven hills are Várhegy (Castle Hill), Benedek-hegy (St. Benedict Hill), Jeruzsálem-hegy (Jerusalem Hill), Temetőhegy (Cemetery Hill), Gulyadomb (Herd Hill), Kálvária-domb (Calvary Hill), and Cserhát.

History

'' Anonymus Belæ Regis Notarius'' (the anonymous notary of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Béla III) wrote that a castle already stood here when the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

first occupied the area. The castle was probably a 9th-century Frankish fortress. The castles of Veszprém,

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

, were the earliest Hungarian stone castles, which had already been built during the reign of High Prince Géza, a time when motte castles were much more common. Veszprém had an important religious role during the struggle to make

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

the official religion of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary— Stephen I, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, was crowned

in 1000 or 1001, and defeated the armies of his chief opponent, Koppány, near Veszprém. The city became the first episcopal seat of Hungary in 1009 and an archiepiscopal seat in 1993. ''Comitatus Veszprém'' was one of the earliest historical counties of Hungary. Veszprém was the favorite city of Queen Gisela, the wife of Stephen I. For centuries, the queens of Hungary were crowned by the bishop of Veszprém. The city is still often called "the city of queens". In the year 1294 Queen Fenenna confirmed that, at that time, the former Queen Elizabeth had the privilege to collect the donations of the church in the Veszprém County. Veszprém was among the first Hungarian cities to have a university—students studied law and arts here for several centuries. The university was destroyed by fire in 1276, when Peter I Csák invaded and devastated the Diocese of Veszprém. Veszprém became a university town again in the 20th century. The town was taken over by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

during the Hungarian–Ottoman Wars in 1552, but was lost to the Habsburgs in 1566. The Ottomans once again successfully besieged the town in 1593 during the Long Turkish War. The castle was demolished in 1706. Until 1918, ''VESZPRIM'' (also named ''WESZPRIM'' and ''WESPRIM'' near 1850, and ''WEISSBRUNN'' in German) was part of the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ( composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it ...

/Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of Hungary; in Transleithania after the compromise of 1867 in the

Kingdom of Hungary 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 ...

. Between 16 August and 4 October 1919, Romanian troops occupied the city under colonel Constantin Neagu and major Alexander Totescu. 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 ...

, Veszprém was captured by Soviet troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 23 March 1945, in the course of the Vienna Offensive.

Economy

The Hungarian automotive plastic spare parts manufacturer ''Videoton Plastic'' (part of Videoton), the Hungarian kiosk manufacturer ''Kiosksystems'', the Hungarian shutter manufacturer ''Roll-Lux'', the Hungarian label manufacturer ''Imprenta'', the Hungarian tool manufacturer ''Solidsteel'', the Hungarian technical ceramics manufacturer ''Bakony Ipari Kerámia'', the Hungarian furniture manufacturer ''Balaton Bútor'', the Hungarian machine manufacturer ''Flexmont'', the Hungarian watermanagement company ''PureAqua'', the Hungarian automotive spare parts manufacturer ''Win-Pres'', the Hungarian construction company ''VEMÉVSZER'', the Hungarian metal manufacturer ''Ferro-Trio'', the Hungarian ''OOK Printhouse'', the Hungarian toolmanufacturer ''Plasticor'', the Hungarian machine manufacturer ''Transmoduls'', the Hungarian ''Prospektus Printhouse'' have both their headquarters and main production facilities in Veszprém. The French pharmaceutical company ''Citoxlab'', the Austrian plaster manufacturer Lasselsberger-Knauf, the Swiss electric motor manufacturer Maxon Motor, the Austrian tile manufacturer ''Bramac'', the French automotive spare parts manufacturer

Valeo Valeo is a French global automotive supplier headquartered in France, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange ( CAC Next 20 Index). It supplies a wide range of products to automakers and the aftermarket. The Group employs 113,600 people in 29 countri ...

, the German electromagnetical controlsystems manufacturer ''nass magnet'', the German automotive spare parts manufacturer Continental AG, the German automotive spare parts manufacturer ''Thun'', the German sensor manufacturer Pepperl+Fuchs, the Austrian chimney and ventilation system manufacturer Schiedel, the American power supply security company ''CoreComm'', the German sensor manufacturer ''Balluff'', the German automotive spare parts manufacturer ''Jost'', the German health devices manufacturer Beurer, the British-Dutch food producer

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

and the Hungarian dairy product manufacturer ''Pannontej'' operate production plants in the city. The Dutch General Logistics Systems, the Hungarian Magyar Posta, the German Penny Market, the Hungarian ''Locargo'' and the Austrian ''Persped'' have logistics centres there. The Hungarian owned ''Vöröskő'' electrical retailer (holder of the brand Euronics in Hungary) is also based in the city. The Veszprém Aréna provides place besides sport events for exhibitions and conferences.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census beside the 83.9% Hungarian majority the city has a historical German minority numbering 2.4% of the population. The second largest ethnic group is the Roma with 0.7%. The others are all marginal.KSH - Veszprém, 2011
/ref> The religious affiliation of the citizens has a Catholic majority with 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 ...

and 0.3%

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

. The Calvinists (7.0%) have the second, the

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

(2.1%) the third largest denomination in the city. 20.6% are not religious.

Politics

The current mayor of Veszprém is Gyula Porga (''Fidesz-KDNP''). The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 18 members (1 Mayor, 12 Individual constituencies MEPs and 5 Compensation List MEPs) divided into this political parties and alliances:

Public transport

The city's public transportation consists exclusively of buses, which are run by the city-funded company V-Busz. 30 bus lines run throughout the city, including lines 44 and 45 which are night buses. All buses are easily recognizable even from a distance due to their purple livery. Tickets can be purchased on the buses, from ticket machines across the city and at bus stations from the ticket desks. V-Busz took over the city's public transportation in 2018 from the regional, state-funded bus company (ÉNYKK) due to a lack of funding and an old rolling stock of buses, some of which were from the mid 80s.

Notable people

* Péter Andorka (born in 1984), footballer * Leopold Auer (1845–1930), violinist, academic, conductor and composer * Tamás Kádár (born 1990), footballer *

Attila Mesterházy Attila Mesterházy (born 30 January 1974) is a Hungarian politician, who served as the seventh chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) from 10 July 2010 to 29 May 2014. He was a Member of Parliament between 2004 and 2022. He was the par ...

(born 1974), politician ( MSZP) * Tibor Navracsics (born 1966), politician, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth (2014–present) * Leopold Óváry (1833–1919), historian and archivist * Csaba Vastag (born 1982), singer * Tamás Vastag (born 1991), singer * Ádám Lang (born 1993), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Veszprém is twinned with: *

Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...

, Germany * Debeljača, Serbia * Gladsaxe, Denmark * Most, Czech Republic * Nitra, Slovakia * Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium *

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

, Germany *

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

, Finland * Senftenberg, Germany * Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania *

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, Estonia * Tirat Carmel, Israel *

Žamberk Žamberk (; ) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zon ...

, Czech Republic *

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

, Poland

Tourism

* Kittenberger Kálmán Zoo & Botanical Garden

Gallery

Egyem. lakóház (10654. számú műemlék).jpg, View of the city Tüztorony (10689. számú műemlék) 7.jpg, Fire-watch tower Szentháromság-szobor (10685. számú műemlék) 3.jpg, Holy Trinity Column Veszprém panorama.jpg, View from the Castle Hill Székesegyház (10682. számú műemlék) 6.jpg, St. Michael's Cathedral, Veszprém Veszprem varabenedekhegyrol.jpg, Castle Hill Veszprem Ersekipalota2.jpg, Episcopal Palace Veszprem Varoshaza1.jpg, City hall Veszprem Megyehaza.jpg, Veszprém County Hall Veszprem varkapu.jpg, Castle gate Veszprem Szentharomsagter dny.jpg, Holy Trinity Square Veszprem nagyprepostipalota.jpg, Nagypréposti Palace Veszprem-County-Library-Hungary.jpg, Library of Veszprém Veszprem Sed2.jpg, Séd Stream Veszprem Gizellakapolna.jpg, Gisela Capel Székesegyház (10682. számú műemlék).jpg, The Holy Trinity Square behind St. Michael's Cathedral, Veszprém in the Castle Hill Bone of Giselle of Bavaria.jpg, Bone of Queen Gisela kept in a church in Veszprém Szt. István és Gizella Veszprém.JPG, Statue of King Stephen I and Queen Gisela

References

;Notes