Balassagyarmat

Balassagyarmat
Town
County House of Balassagyarmat
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Civitas Fortissima (The Bravest City)
Balassagyarmat Location of Balassagyarmat
Coordinates: 48°04′43″N 19°17′39″E / 48.07861°N 19.29417°ECoordinates: 48°04′43″N 19°17′39″E / 48.07861°N 19.29417°E
Country	Hungary
Statistical large region	Great Plain and North
Region	Northern Hungary
County	Nógrád
Subregion	Balassagyarmati
Government
• Mayor	Lajos Medvácz (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	29.03 km^2 (11.21 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	16 055
• Density	695,87/km^2 (180,230/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	2660
Area code	35
Website	balassagyarmat.hu

Balassagyarmat (formerly Balassa-Gyarmath, Slovak: Balašske Ďarmoty, German: Jahrmarkt) is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád comitatus.

History

The town's coat-of-arms bears the Latin inscription "Civitas Fortissima" (the bravest city), because in January 1919 Czechoslovak troops crossed the demarcation line delineated in December 1918 in preparation for the Treaty of Trianon, illegally occupying towns south of the line, including Balassagyarmat. The local population managed to push back the Czechoslovak troops in a serious military encounter in which many of the civilian participants lost their lives.^[1]

The heroics of the town's people against the illegal and unprovoked invasion has been immortalised in the Kárpátia(hu) song "Civitas Fortissima"^[2]

During World War II, May 9, 1944, Germans kept 3,000 Jews from the town and the surrounding villages imprisoned in a ghetto. They are all sent to Auschwitz concentration camp on June 11 and 14, 1944.^[3]

Balassagyarmat was captured on 9 December 1944 by Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the course of the Budapest Offensive.

Geography

The town lies on the left bank of the Ipoly river, which marks the state border with Slovakia.

Demographics

In 2001 Balassagyarmat had 18,474 inhabitants. The population were homogeneous with Hungarian majority (Magyars 98%, Romani 2%),^[4] 100% of the total population speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.

Famous people

• Balassi (Balassa) family (means "from Balassa")
  • János Balassi
    • Bálint Balassi (aka Balassa) (1554, Zólyom - 1594), "Baron of Kékkő and (Balassa-)Gyarmat"
• Josef Dobrovský (1753–1829), a Czech philologist and historian
• Márk Rózsavölgyi (1789–1848)
• Rabbi Maier Zipser (1815–1869, Rechnitz)
• Károly Bérczy (1821–1867)
• Károly Balogh de Mankó Bük (1879-1944), Hungarian statesman and writer.
• Iván Nagy (1824–1898), genealogist, heraldic, historian (hu)
• Father János Zádori (1831, Kátlovce - 1887), a Hungarian Ecclesiastical writer, lived here
• Albert Kenessey (1889–1973)
• Rose & Jenny Dolly, Hungarian-American dancers and actresses
• Lőrinc Szabó (de Gáborján) (1900, Miskolc - 1957), a poet and literary translator, lived here
• Lajos Ligeti (1902–1987), orientalist (hu)
• Ilona Tokay (1907–1988)
• Ernő Zórád (1911–2004) (hu)
• Károly Jobbágy (1921–1998) (hu)
• Iván Markó (born 1947), dancer (hu)
• Zoltán Szlezák (born 1967), football player
• Orsolya Szatmári (born 1975) (hu)
• Sigmund Streisinger (born 1880-1942) (hu) - Famous glazer; moved to the United States in the early 1900s

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Balassagyarmat is twinned with:

•  Romania Dej
•  Germany Heimenkirch
•  Poland Ostrołęka
•  Italy Lamezia Terme
•  Slovakia Slovenské Ďarmoty

External links

• Balassagyarmat website (Hungarian)

See also

• Slovenské Ďarmoty
• Salesians in Hungary
• Balassa
• Prison of Balassagyarmat (hu)
• Lutheran Church of Balassagyarmat (hu)
• Palóc Museum (hu)
• Public transport of Balassagyarmat (hu)

References

1. Hungarian foreign policy: Fidesz or Duchy of Fenwick style? http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/
2. http://www.karpatiazenekar.hu/oldal/album.php
3. http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/he/research/ghettos_encyclopedia/ghetto_details.asp?cid=149
4. Hungarian census 2001