Városlőd () is a village in
Veszprém county
Veszprém (, ; ) is an administrative county (''vármegye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county.
Veszprém county
Veszprém county lies in western Hungary. It covers the Bakony hills and the norther ...
,
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 ...
. Its partner town (sister city) is Wiesthal, Germany.
History
Városlőd, or Waschludt (German), was established after the end of
Ottoman rule in 1699, when German settlers from
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, the
Rhine area and the
Spessart
Spessart () is a ''Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg (Spessart), Geiersberg at 586 metre ...
came to the region. It was a popular migratory area due to its woods and the rich resources of clay and ore. Thus, many settlers built glass and iron-hammer factories or worked as lime-burners. The first foreman was Rubner Péter János who had come to Városlőd from the region of
Linz
Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
with his family and a group of iron workers. Business leaders and Foremen that followed were of German origin as well, such as Michael Gasteiger from Upper Bavaria and Ferdinand Adler from Moravia who came from a famous dynasty of glass factory owners.
Alongside the craftsmen, the manufactures of Városlőd played a big role in the city's economy. Vince Stingl and Károly Stingl founded a small pottery in the early 19th century which soon was very successful. They mostly produced tableware but also water bottles, vases, pots, jars and tiles. For some time, they even had their porcelain painted in Városlőd. Later on, Vince Stingl founded the now famou
Herend Porcelain Factory
Culture
Városlőd has a long history of German culture, and has a German Culture Museum in the city The village also has a heritage museum which displays everyday objects of
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 ...
.
The Museum preserves the traditions of
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 ...
and frequently offers events, such as the Ball of Swabians. Furthermore, the local choir and folklore dance group have a 40-year-old tradition of Hungarian and Swabian performances which contribute to the commemoration of the history of Danube Swabians.
The baroque church, which was built on the foundations of a former gothic monastery, is worth visiting. The monastery was the site of the
Érdy Codex of 1527. In the park next to the church, a memorial for displaced people can be found which commemorates the partnership between Városlőd and the Bavarian Wiesthal. Furthermore, a hero memorial displaying Városlőd's victims of World War I and II can be seen.
Demographics
In the census of 1941, 86 percent of the inhabitants registered as native speakers of German.
References
External links
Street map (Hungarian)
Populated places in Veszprém County
{{Veszprem-geo-stub