Martonvásár Summary
Martonvásár
Summary
Summary
Forum Martini, Mortunwasara, Martinweiser, MWassár, Vásár Martony. The name of the village with a population of five thousand, lying at thirty kms from Budapest, known today as Martonvásár all over the world, has been written in many different ways over the past centuries. The special flavour and contents of the name of the village are given by a unique combination of the relics of faded past and tangible present. Beethoven; and the mystery of the Immortal Beloved; Teréz Brunszvik, the pioneer in baby care and education; the English Park established as a nature protection area; and last but not least, the results of the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences personified in the MV maize hybrids and wheat varieties, all bring this village back to our memory.
The emergence and destiny of the village, following the curves of the Saint Ladislas stream, were largely influenced by the fact that there were always important roads going across it. Water, indispensable for life, the wide and gently sloping neighbourhood, and the productive Pannonian land attracted settlers since ancient times. The emergence of the settlement in the age of the Arpads is due to the fact that Márton, its landowner was granted the right of organising fairs sometime in the first half of the1200. The village called Forum Martini was first known from a document dated around 1259. It became the market centre of the vicinity, and later one of the largest settlements in Fejér County. During the rule of the Turkish half-moon, however, life in it got so much on the verge of extinction, that Martonvásár, which rose in its place a hundred years later, preserves memories of the Arpadian settlement only in its name.
The new formation of the wild and devastated puszta, to become a place of culture again, started after 1758. While in other areas of the conquered part of Hungary, wind-blown sand, or intruding forests and thickets caused problems, Martonvásár had to be re-conquered from water. This “nature subduing work” was one of the great success stories of the Hungarian past, the pioneers of which are considered to be the builders of small farms in Bácska, Bánát, Szeged and Kiskunság, although the work of those in Martonvásár was not a bit easier. Antal Brunszvik Senior, took the teaching of the Old Testament literally – “Take the world under your control” –, and made huge efforts together with the serfs recruited by him to resuscitate this swampy puszta ruined by catastrophe and surrounded by unhealthy atmosphere. His homeland creating work was finally made successful by Ferenc, his grandson, who turned Martonvásár into a “paradise”. The Brunszvik domain prospered due to the merino sheep, and during their time, sheep husbandry remained the leading branch of the farm till the very end.
In 1897, after a short archducal intermezzo, the estate fell into the hands of the family owning the Dreher brewery, and the domain stayed one of the “significant fortresses” of Hungarian agriculture. The model farm established in Erdőhát in 1945 (later: pilot farm), and the research institute established in 1949 may look back to such an ancestor.
The Brunszvik family had connections with this place from 1758 until 1893. They resuscitated the village, and developed it into a borough, they started to create the image of the village setting out the places of houses and streets, they built the church, the mansion and other old buildings in the settlement, they shaped the English Park, but they were also those who fostered the school and the kindergarten. In one word: it is impossible to talk about the history of Martonvásár without mentioning them.
The new village started out as a Hungarian-Slovakian settlement, and by the beginning of the XIX. century it officially used Hungarian-Slovakian-German languages, its nations, however, became fully Hungarian during the following one hundred years. From the point of view of religion, Martonvásár could be characterised by the dominance of Catholics from the very beginning. The bulk of the population were serfs and cottars, and after 1848, their descendants – smallholders and day-labourers –, as well as the servants working in the domain.
The life of Martonvásár from the very first moment was dominated by the large estate, which both in a direct and a figurative sense fully embraced the settlement. Although the tight interdependence of the settlement and the estate came to an end after the consolidation of holdings in 1857, the large estate, and the shortage of land were preserved until the repartition of land in 1945. In addition to the large estate, the closeness of the capital also left a mark on the life of the settlement: it offered job opportunities for those who could not earn their living locally.
In the course of time, different views prevailed about the people of Martonvásár: diligent gardeners, bee-keepers, farmers, ingenious, smart horse breeders, religious people with good morals and appealing nature, and so on. Land – being scarce – had a great value for them, they honoured it. They worked hard on it, and hardly engaged in politics. In 1848, they were reluctant to sign up for the national guard, but neither could the Hungarian Nazi party take root in their circles.
After the end of the XIX. century, social life became bustling in Martonvásár. Reading circles, drama societies, and a host of clubs formed, headed by outstanding intellectual leaders who provided not only for high level education for the population, but also for keeping national identity and local patriotism awake. These traditions are still alive within the community, and are expressed in several forms (folk dance, clubs, foundations, events).
The question arises: What has Martonvásár given and what is Martonvásár giving to the country, to Europe?
In the distant past, it gave the example of farming, sheep and cattle, purified by breeding, and over the last fifty years, it gave Europe’s first hybrid maize, the scientific results of the research institute, purified wheat varieties, maize hybrids and their seeds.
Once, it gave a homely atmosphere for Beethoven, a place in the Brunszvik brothers’ lime-tree republic, and one in Josefin’s heart. And today, it gives an intimate island for the Beethoven cult, it gives museums and concerts. Sometime in the past, it gave Teréz Brunszvik, and by her, the infant school, and also the evergreen example of love for God, homeland, and children. Today, however, it gives a Kindergarten Museum, the Brunszvik Mausoleum, as a place of homage, and the foundation which undertook the task of publishing the journal, a legacy by Teréz.
In the old days, it gave orders and support to several artists via the Brunszvik family. Today: it gives an Arts School to the local children, and the children from the neighbourhood, the Százszorszép Folk Dance Group that travelled all over the world, and abodes for several artists, among whom we find the representatives of fine arts, and applied arts, musicians, and the masters of photography, flower arrangement, and straw braids.
It used to give the hospitality and home concerts of the Brunszvik family. Today it gives the equally attractive park, museums and the rich programme of the Martonvásár Days.
In 1983, Gyula Fekete writing about an event in Martonvásár, mentions the “fire strikers”, that is the “heroes without a rank” who write history fighting against “indifference, incomprehension, mockery, suspicion, malevolence, and the red tape of the authorities”. The history of Martonvásár has always gained momentum from such anonymous heroes. They drained the swamps, baked bread for the troops in Pákozd during the Hungarian War for Freedom1848/1849, they gave birth to a host of children, and they gave soldiers to defend the country. This book is mainly to commemorate them.
