Nagyrábé Summary
Nagyrábé
Summary
Summary
The large village of Nagyrábé lies on the southwest edge of Hajdú-Bihar county, bordering on Békés county, at a distance of about fifty kilometres from the capital city of the county.
The Nagy-Sárrét (Large Mud Meadow), a small region is a more characteristic landscape in the geographical environment of the settlement. Its soils are mostly drained and allotted plain moor-lands, with remains of meadows, pastures, marshy meadows, and marshy forests to be found in them, and the surface-islands under cultivation. The area of the village was populated by a food growing community, settled here in the earliest times. Signs of any communities from the period between the Hungarian Settlement and the XI century were only found on the tongue of land stretching from the Görbe-hill to Nagyrábé, and the name of Rábé first surfaced in a litigation case in 1215.
The original village did not lie in its present place, but one kilometre north of if, on the so called Puszta-hill, and its environs. Among its landowners, there were the Okányi, the Bacsó from Hencida, the Tordai and the Verbőczi families as co-owners, but the Rábéi family owned it for the longest period of time according to a charter document. By the beginning of the XVI century, Nagyrábé (Large Rábé) got into the hands of the Bajomi family, while the landowner of its twin village, Kisrábé (Small Rábé), became the bishopric in Várad.
The environs of Rábé and its population could first feel the consequences of the Turkish rule in 1551. The village was lying in no man’s land with an either escaping or back-trickling population, and regardless of its population, it was freely donated back and forth to its old or new owners. Kisrábé finally became desolate in 1660, and Nagyrábé in the 1570-ies, but it revived at the beginning of the 1590-ies.
After the Turks were expelled, and the country got liberated at the end of the XVII century, the Catholic church regained its properties, and the first register made in 1703 on the church properties in Várad mentioned Nagyrábé as a property fully owned by the bishopric.
The population of Nagyrábé embarked upon the road of bourgeois development in the shade of the large estate. Two thirds of the land properties of the village were owned by the Roman Catholic bishopric of Várad, and the Des Escherolles Kruspér family, thus they could influence the way the economy and society of the village were developing. The dignitaries of the village, and its total population together with the representative of the estate signed the agreement of socage in November 1852.
The population kept growing continuously – with the only drop in 1920 – and came to its peak in 1960. The floods of river Berettyó disturbed the life and economy of the village several times, and the works of regulation came to an end in 1879.
More than ninety percent of the population of Nagyrábé became reformed. The elementary school functioned under the management of the church. There were several parties – the social democrats, the agrarian socialists and the small holders – in the village, trying to establish their local organisations – with no success. The educational, economic and social type societies, however, were live and functioning organisations.
The Trianon Peace Treaty, and the economic crises between 1929 and 1933 put the Hungarian economy and society into a difficult situation for years. The disannexation of Nagyvárad caused a serious problem for the Bihar region, and Nagyrábé: they lost the capital city of the county. The 2nd World War brought further grave trials for the village. Forty civilians died during the fights, and the buildings of the village were also seriously damaged.
Due to its characteristics, and earlier historic and socio-economic reasons, Nagyrábé, similarly to many other villages in Bihar and Sárrét, became disadvantaged communities with multiple disadvantages. Its mere economic potential is rather invalid due to the relatively gross natural-geographical resources, the average soil quality, the lack of industry, the controversial character of the privatisation processes, the weakening and later liquidation of the agricultural co-operative, and the lack of capital resources necessary for the establishment of effectively operating and prosperous businesses. Almost two thirds of the operating businesses work in the service industry, trade and catering.
During the lengthy, almost eight century long history of the village, it could always preserve its population, who lived to protect this wetland. Its population started a dynamic growth at the end of the XVII century, after the Turks had been expelled, it was a home for 1192 people in 1785, 2101 people in 1869, more than three thousand people at the beginning of the XX century, and 3814 people during the census of 1949, at the peak of its growth. There is a significant number of Roma minority of about two hundred and sixty people living in Nagyrábé now, which is almost ten percent of its total population.
The forms and proportions of agricultural production in Nagyrábé underwent significant modifications at times, mainly in the function of natural resources and characteristics. In addition to animal husbandry, cereal production was the leading branch of agriculture. As a result of water regulation at the end of the XIX century, the landscape was significantly changed, which facilitated the extension of agricultural production to new land areas. Also the earlier proportions of animal husbandry and land cultivation changed, and the weight of crop production increased.
After the beginning of the 1920-ies, the number of those working in industry was more than thirty, and that of the tradesmen was more than twenty. This headcount – in comparison to other villages with a similar size – ensured that Nagyrábé became a well-supplied village. These people belonged to the honoured middle class of the society of the village. They were a group of advanced people, who supported culture, and nourished patriotic feelings. They established the Reading Self-Educational Circle of the Industrialists of Nagyrábé in 1911, which was an example for other clubs and societies to start their work between the two world wars. The changes after the 2nd World War deprived the villages – and also Nagyrábé – of their reliable, traditional good craftsmen and tradesmen, and the spirit of the earlier workshops, circles and societies went with them.
In spite of the difficulties in living, the turning points of human life, the marked days were celebrated both by the villagers and the tenants of the puszta. But the life of the community was mostly controlled by the strict order of working, the diligent and hard-working weekdays, and their share of the work.
There are still several superstitions and stories alive, even about witches, in the rather colourful world of beliefs of the village. At one time, natural healing practices also used to be rich.
