Lébény Summary
Lébény
Summary
Summary
The large settlement of Lébény known as the eastern capital town of the Hanság, a borough earlier, certainly plays a significant role with its written history of eight hundred years among the inhabited places of the historic Moson county, and today’s Győr-Moson-Sopron county.
It lies at a point where three small regions of the Kisalföld meet, the Fertő-Hanság recess, the Mosoni-plain, and the Rábaköz. In the draughty lane of the corridor of the west winds blowing continuously from the Dévény gate of the Large-Danube, in a still varied climatic environment of the moors of Hanság, so dangerous at one time.
The Hanság, considered to be the largest moor of Central-Europe embraced the village, with an increasing population later, with hundreds of menaces one or two generations ago. The huge water surface of the area was often turned into a sea by the flooding of the Mosoni-Danube, and the Rábca, the rivers marking the northern and southern borders of the territory. Due to their capriciously changing river-beds, the population was compelled to find new places for settlement from time to time, and only the water construction work of the late XIX century could somewhat brake their dangerous flooding. The moorland of the Hanság could only be finally regulated in the 1960-ies.
The human communities preceding the settlement settled in this menacing geographical environment as early as in the ancient times. They lived on an elevation of the eastern brim of the Hanság, on one of the fifty-two gravel hills surrounded by marshy tracts.
The settlement of different groups of people on top of each other is proven by a collection of highly important archaeological relics. During the Roman times, there was a Roman road following the borderlines of the settlement going from Győr (Arrabona) to Magyaróvár (Ad Flexum), and a castrum called Quadrata. The smallest fortress of this borderline guarded the settlement for two-hundred years. This is where the well-known saying comes from: “even the Roman road leads to Lébény.”
Later, Celtic, Avar, and Slavic peoples settled here, and that is how the core of the community which stayed here permanently was formed together with the settling Hungarians in the melting-pot of the early Middle-Ages. The early appearance of the Hungarians is mainly proven by the archaeological excavations of the last ten years. In spite of the ethnical versatility created by the force of some situations in history, the village could retain its Hungarian nature to the end even in the dominantly multi-national environment of Moson county.
The royal border county of Moson, also covering our settlement, was donated by Saint Stephen I to the Geur-Győr dynasty. Palatine Pot of the dynasty, the bailiff of the county and his family received the Lebyn estate from king Emeric later, which he then gave to the Benedictine monks to settle here, and to build a church and a monastery on the seat of the dynasty. There is a charter from 1208, which gives information about the monastery and its owners. It was the Benedictine monks who conquered the land from the Hanság, and made it suitable for farming.
The monastery and the wonderful national church built in the XII–XIII centuries served as a model for the jewels of Hungarian romanticism to be built later: among others the churches in Ják and Sopronhorpács. The monastery and the church with its two towers also determined the settlement structure of the village, which was also guiding during the re-settlement and the reconstruction.
After the Benedictine monks, the chapter of Bratislava, and later from 1631 the Jesuit order became the owners of the estate and the village, which took its share from the changes of fortune of the whole country from the very beginning. This was so during the Mongol invasion in 1241– 42, and also later during the military campaigns of the Turks in 1529 and 1683, when they were marching across the country to attack Vienna. In 1532, there were only ten households paying tax, and further ten were registered as being abandoned. Then came the Croatians and the Germans to settle in the village. But around 1706, there were also the Kurutz and their opponents, the Labants collecting taxes as well, and the soldiers of Napoleon also had to be served a hundred years later. Thanks to the good owners, and the renewing population, which was developing in a fortunate way even on the given ethnic basis, the village managed to uplift itself again and again from the ruins of devastation caused by each menace.
In 1773, Maria Theresa suppressed the Jesuit order, and thus, the estate was incorporated in the educational fund established for the maintenance of Catholic schools. The Zichy counts stood out from its subsequent owners, with their generosity, but the Sina barons and the Wenckheim counts were also humane owner-capitalists.
The initially antagonistic religions – the Evangelicals and the Catholics – with time, showed a nice example of the fruitful co-operation of the multi-lingual population with several beliefs. Around the middle of the XX century, however, the forced removal of the Jewish group of the population, and the translocation of those of a German origin in 1946 caused a final change in the ethnic composition of the settlement. Only the accidentally existing architectural heritage, and folk traditions could preserve something from the common history of the people, which used to speak in three different languages before.
The second largest estate of the county, in this farming environment with all sorts of different resources, was a major factor in the local economic development for more than half a millennium. The rising of Lébény at the end of the XVIII century could be attributed to the Zichy family, which was one of the high society: its craftsmen founded independent guilds, and through the instrumentality of their lords, they received the right of a borough in 1780. And the immensely rich Sima family founded Fabrika, the very first large country-side factory in this part of the country right here, close to the village, and it was here that the first part of the Vienna-Pest-Buda railway line was erected. After the abolishment of serfdom, even the peasant farms became part of the international exchange of commodities, which was due to the nearby Austrian market.
In the earlier borough, where there were several national fairs every year, and in addition to craftsmanship, the large-scale production of the Hanság hay also had an important role, and animal husbandry as well as the co-operation movement in processing dairy products also flourished in the XX century.
The XX century, which neglected traditions and heritage, turned the right of the borough, which had been carefully watched during the happy times of peace, into history. Due to the geographical location, and the population of Lébény, it could preserve its role as the gateway of the East-Hanság, the leader of the small region until today. There is, however, a price to be paid for this: among others the maintenance of the high level of local education stretched beyond its means, and the construction of the infrastructure of a European level, which has a major role in the maintenance of the settlement. In the industrial park next to the road leading to the village, a new industrial site has recently grown out almost from nothing to lead the way into the XXI century.
These factors play an important role in the capability of the village to be self-sufficient and to retain its population. The vicinity of the neighbouring towns – Győr and Mosonmagyaróvár – has become an advantage by now. Thanks to the diligence of the population of the settlement with its 3086 people today, and the utilisation of its natural and economic resources, there is a human and intellectual culture evolving in this large village today, which is worthy of both the past and the envisaged future.
The settlement structure of the old core of the village with the huge sacral building, and the narrow little streets of the settlement centre provides the atmosphere of a small medieval town. Thanks to the first spectacular result of Hungarian architecture protection, the national church has been renewed. The visitors coming to see the church, are received by Lébény not only with a monumental but also with an outstandingly beautiful natural environment. The remaining area of the former moor starts at its west end, which as part of the Fertő-Hanság National Park may be also visited by car.
