Villány (; , or ; Živko Mandić: Hrvatska imena naseljenih mjesta u Madžarskoj, ) is a town in

Baranya County Baranya (, ; German language, German:Croatian language, Croatian:'' Baranjska županija'') is a Counties of Hungary, county () in southern Hungary. It is part of the Southern Transdanubia statistical region and the historical Baranya (region), B ...

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 ...

that is famous for its

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. Residents are Hungarians, with minority of

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

Serbs 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

Germans of Hungary German Hungarians (, ) are the ethnic German minority of Hungary, sometimes also called Danube Swabians (German: ''Donauschwaben'', Hungarian: ''dunai svábok''), many of whom call themselves "Shwoveh" in their own Swabian dialect. Danube Swab ...

. Until the end of

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 ...

, the inhabitants were

Danube Swabians 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 ...

, also called locally as ''Stifolder'', because their ancestors arrived around 1720 from

Fulda (district) The Fulda District (; ) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north-east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Wartburgkreis, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Rhön-Grabfeld, Bad Kissingen, Main-Kinzig, Vogelsbergkreis. Histo ...

. Most of the former German settlers were expelled to

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

and

Allied-occupied Austria Austria was occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies and declared independence from Nazi Germany on 27 April 1945 (confirmed by the Berlin Declaration (1945), Berlin Declaration for Germany on 5 June 1945), as a result of the Vienna offen ...

in 1945–1948, pursuant to the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

. Only a few

live there, the majority today are descendant of Hungarians from the

Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange The Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange was the exchange of inhabitants between Czechoslovakia and Hungary after World War II. Between 45,000 and 120,000 Hungarians were forcibly transferred from Czechoslovakia to Hungary, and their propert ...

. They received the houses of the former Danube Swabians inhabitants.

Etymology

The name derives from the Hungarian word for lightning, ''villám''. Formerly (centuries ago), the settlement was recorded under this form of name.

History

After the Ottoman occupation until 1918, ''VILLÁNY'' 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 ...

, province of Hungary; in

Transleithania The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River), were the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, throughout the latter's entire existence (30 March 1867 – 16 ...

after the

compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...

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 ...

. A post-office was opened end of 1867 (depending on from Oedenburg Post Directorate).

Geography

The city is located in the encounter of three large geographical regions: the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain (however, the Great Hungarian Plain was not par ...

from the south, Baranya Hills from the north, and finally

Villány Mountains Villány Mountains ( ) is a relatively low mountain range located west from the town of Villány, in Baranya county, Southern Hungary. Its highest summit, the Szársomlyó is 442 metres high. The latter has an extraordinary flora: on its sou ...

border it from the west. On the plain, agricultural activity is common. The mountains and the hills provide a suitable place for wine producing. A fossil site known as "Villány locality 6" or "Villány-Kalkberg Süd" has yielded many vertebrate fossils from

Lower Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span th ...

Demographics

The settlement's population, divided to age groups:

Twin towns – sister cities

Villány is twinned with: * Eislingen, Germany *

Stainz Stainz () is a municipality in the district of Deutschlandsberg in the Austrian state of Styria. A notable building there is Schloss Stainz, a former monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters a ...

, Austria *

Vețca Vețca ( or colloquially ''Vécke'', Hungarian pronunciation:) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania that is composed of three villages: Jacodu (''Magyarzsákod''), Sălașuri (''Székelyszállás''), and Vețca. Geography The com ...

, Romania *

Zamárdi Zamárdi is a town in Somogy County, Hungary. It is known for its beaches at Lake Balaton and for its music festivals during the summer (e.g. ''Strand Festival'', Balaton Sound etc.). The settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine region. A ...

, Hungary

Wine region

Villány is the most famous red wine region in Hungary. The southernmost wine region has the highest number of sunshine hours. Hungary's climate is continental. However, the Villány wine region is characterized by its sub-Mediterranean climate because of its location. Here's a great, full-bodied Bordeaux-style red wine cuvee. French varieties

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

had a great time here. There is also Portugieser, Kékfrankos, but we can also meet Kadarka and Syrah grapes. White grapes are also cultivated by winemakers such as Italian Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Green Veltelini.

References

External links

* in Hungarian {{DEFAULTSORT:Villany Populated places in Baranya County Wine regions of Hungary Baranya (region) History of Baranya (region) Hungarian German communities Serb communities in Hungary