Veľký Meder (1948–1990 ''Čalovo'', , ) is a town in the

Dunajská Streda District Dunajská Streda District ( Slovak: ''Okres Dunajská Streda'', Hungarian: ''Dunaszerdahelyi járás'') is a district in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was mostly part of the county of Kingdom of Hungary of Pozs ...

Trnava Region The Trnava Region (, ; ; ) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It was established in 1996, before which date, most of its districts were parts of Bratislava Region which was established on the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1923. ...

in southwestern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Etymology

The name is derived from the name of the ancient Hungarian ''Megyer'' tribe.

Geography

Veľký Meder lies in the eastern part of

Great Rye Island Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, on the western border of historical

Komárom County Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources re ...

, around 20 km southeast of

Dunajská Streda Dunajská Streda (; ; ) is a town located in southern Slovakia ( Trnavský kraj). Dunajská Streda is the most culturally significant town in the Žitný ostrov area. The town has a population of 22,730, with ethnic Hungarians forming the 72% maj ...

and 35 km northwest of

Komárno Komárno (, , ), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom'', ''Öregkomárom'', ''Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian, is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Historically it was formed by the "old ...

. Administratively, the town belongs to the Trnava Region, Dunajská Streda District. The town is renowned for its thermal spring.

History

In the 9th century, the territory of Veľký Meder became part of 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 ...

. The first written record about Veľký Meder was in 1248 under name ''Villa Meger''. The population of the town has been predominantly Hungarian at least since the Middle Ages. In the Middle and Modern Ages, the settlement was a little market town in the western part of Komárom county. In 1466, Hungarian king

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

gave the town privileges. During the period of 1914-18 (World war I), near the town's railway station, was the location of the Austro-Hungarian death camp Kriegsgefangenenlager Nagymegyer. The Serbian cemetery in Veľký Meder has mass graves and monument to 5,153 Serb and Montenegrin war prisoners who died in the Kriegsgefangenenlager Nagymegyer, Austro-Hungarian POW camp. After the

Austro-Hungarian 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 between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

army disintegrated in November 1918,

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

troops occupied the area, later acknowledged internationally by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

. Between 1938 and 1945 Veľký Meder once more became part of

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

's Hungary through the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, whic ...

. From 1945 until the

Velvet Divorce The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the self-determined partition of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries of the Czech Republic (also known as Czechia) and Slovakia ...

, it was part of

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 ...

. Since then it has been part of Slovakia.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the most dominant group in the town are 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 ...

(84.6%), next are the

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

(13.5%), and there are small minorities of

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

(both 0.7%).

Twin towns — sister cities

Veľký Meder is twinned with: *

Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population ...

, Serbia *

Dębica Dębica (; ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voiv ...

, Poland *

Dobruška Dobruška (; ) is a town in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,500 inhabitants. The town is known as the birthplace of Czech patriotic writer František Ladislav Hek, whose career was ...

, Czech Republic * Bácsalmás, Hungary *

Kapuvár Kapuvár (; ) is a small but ancient town of some 11,000 inhabitants in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary. The town is known for its thermal water which some believe has hydrotherapeutic properties. It is served by highway 85, and has a train ...

, Hungary * Tápiógyörgye, Hungary

References

External links

Town website

* ttp://travel.spectator.sme.sk/articles/1928/vealk_meder_from_under_the_ground Spectacular Slovakia travelguide - Veľký Meder: From under the ground Cities and towns in Slovakia Municipalities in Slovakia where Hungarian is an official language {{Trnava-geo-stub