Gödöllő, officially the City of Gödöllő, is a city in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is 34,396 according to the 2010 census and is growing rapidly. It can be easily reached from Budapest with the suburban railway (HÉV), and national railway (MÁV-START).
Gödöllő is home to the Szent István University, the main education institute of agriculture in Hungary. The palace at Gödöllő was originally built for the aristocratic Grassalkovich family; Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and his wife Elisabeth ("Sisi") later had their summer residence here.
Communism saw much of the town's original one-storey housing levelled to make way for the blocks of flats which continue to dominate the town centre, as well as much of the Royal Forest and Elisabeth's Park levelled for industrial use.
History Early Ages The city has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, as shown by archaeological discoveries. Around 5,000 BC, the Transdanubian culture, known for its line-ornate pottery, lived in the region.
Ancient times The earliest evidence of occupation is from the Roman period. The Devil's Dykes (Hungarian: Ördögárok) is situated south from Gödöllő. It is also known as the Csörsz árka ("Csörsz Ditch") or the Limes Sarmatiae (Latin for "Sarmatian border"), are several lines of Roman fortifications built mostly during the reign of Constantine I (312–337).
Turkish rule
After the disastrous defeat at Mohács in 1526, the invading Turkish troops occupied Buda and then Gödöllő, too. As a result of this, the population decreased to merely a few families. No data on property rights during the 160-year-long Turkish rule remain.
By the mid-17th century, Gödöllő again became a village. Its proprietor, Ferenc Hamvay, was the first owner who resided in the locality, in his country house in the village centre. At that time, the village consisted of a few houses with walls of wattle and daub and thatched roofs in addition to the mansion and the reform church.
Habsburg rule
A decisive turn in the life of Gödöllő was brought about by Antal Grassalkovich I (1694–1771), one of the most notable noblemen of 18th-century Hungary. Grassalkovich, born of an impoverished family of the minor nobility, began his career as a lawyer in 1715. A year later he was already working with the "Hofkammer" (the Royal Chamber, a body of the Habsburg financial administration in the 16–18th centuries). In 1727, he became president of the Commission of New Acquisitions (Neoaquistica Commissio), dealing with the revision and arrangement of the chaotic ownership rights after the Turkish rule. It was in this capacity that he first came across the estate of Gödöllő, whose then proprietress, Krisztina Bossányi, could verify her ownership rights.
Increasing in political power and wealth, Grassalkovich planned the development of a large estate, having its centre in Gödöllő. This became possible after the death of Krisztina Bossányi in 1737, when Grassalkovich successively purchased the properties from her heirs. He began to build his palatial residence as early as 1741, which, as the greatest Baroque manor house in Hungary, is even today the principal landmark of Gödöllő.
Grassalkovich, who curried favour with King Charles III and Queen Maria Theresa, also managed very successfully the properties of the treasury. For his economic and political abilities, he received first the title of baron and later on became a count.
He took meticulous care in making his properties profitable and in keeping them in good order. On his estates, he built 33 churches, including the church in the holy place of Máriabesnyő, and the chapel of the mansion house in Gödöllő. In the centre of Gödöllő, he had rows of houses built and settled German artisans and craftsmen there, thereby increasing the number of Roman Catholics alongside the Reformed population. He added a storey to Hamvay House and made it operate as a retreat. In public places, Baroque works of art were also made on his initiative (such as the Calvary, the Column of the Holy Virgin, and the statue of St. John of Nepomuk). Owing to his village-planning activities, Gödöllő became a country town in 1763, with the right of holding markets.
The son of Grassalkovich I, Antal Grassalkovich II (1734–1794), who was raised to the rank of prince, cared little for the estate. He leased out the properties one after the other, liquidated the household in Gödöllő and moved to Vienna. Following his death, the estate, heavily charged with debts, was inherited by his son, Antal Grassalkovich III. He continued to increase the debts and died without offspring, hence the properties were inherited on the female line.
At that time, the mansion house came to be the scene of an important political event. In the course of the spring campaign of the 1848-1849 War of Independence, the Hungarian soldiers gained a victory in Isaszeg on 6 April 1849. After this, Lajos Kossuth and his generals set up quarters in the mansion house of Gödöllő. Here a war council was held where the idea to dethrone the Habsburgs and to fight for Hungarian independence emerged.
In 1850, a banker, György Sina, purchased the estate of Gödöllő. He, and later his son, rarely stayed in Gödöllő; they considered the transaction merely a capital investment and in 1864 sold the whole of the property to a Belgian bank. The Hungarian state bought it back from this bank in March 1867 and gave it, together with the mansion house, to Francis Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria ("Sissi") as a coronation gift. From that time on, the royal family stayed in Gödöllő mainly in spring and autumn, and this resulted in a significant upswing in the life of the town.
The northern railway line, for instance, contrary to the original plan, passes close to Gödöllő because the royal summer resort was there. The gas factory, destined to produce the gas needed for the railway station and the royal mansion house, was accomplished by 1874. The number of artisans and small shopkeepers increased. Many of them were provided with work by the estate and the court. In 1869, the Gödöllő Savings Bank was established, its first shareholder being Francis Joseph I. The country town (that is, from 1864 on, a large village as an administrative division) grew into an increasingly popular summer resort, owing, in addition to the presence of the royal family, to its natural endowments and fresh air. Annually 300–400 families of Pest spent the summer season in Gödöllő, which was growing richer and richer with bathing places, restaurants, and village inns. The "Hotel Queen Elisabeth", established in the Hamvay mansion, became the scene of a teeming social life. The casino was open there and various social clubs and circles often organised their evening parties linked with theatrical performances.
The agrarian character of the village began to take shape at the tum of the century. The legal successors of the agricultural training institutes and model farms established in the territories of the royal demesne are still operating today. Besides, the number of artisans further increased since, partly because the royal summer resort was here; no big industry had settled in Gödöllő: A result of the transport development was the lengthening of the suburban ("HÉV") railway line, originally between Budapest and Kerepes, up to Gödöllő. This line still works well today.
Gödöllő at the turn of the century also wrote its name into the history book of Hungarian art. From 1901 to 1920, the only organised artists colony of the period of the Hungarian Sezession was working here.
This was the time when secondary school teaching started in the community. The Grammar School of the Minorites opened its gates in 1911. By 1924, the Grammar School of the Premonstratensian Order had also been built.
4th World Scout Jamboree
Gödöllő in the area around the royal palace hosted the 4th World Scout Jamboree during 2–13 August 1933 at the Royal Forest of Gödöllő. A total of 25,792 scouts from 54 nations camped on the site. The Jamboree Camp Chief was the Chief Scout of Hungary, Count Teleki Pál, a member of the International Committee who had previously been and would later once again become Prime Minister of Hungary. The General Camp Manager was Vitez Kisbarnaki Ferenc Farkas, a general staff officer of the Hungarian Royal Army, who was later appointed the Chief Scout of Hungary on Teleki Pál's death in 1941. The scouts lived in ten sub-camps. The overall encampment was serviced by its own post office, ambulance station, hospital, a steam railway and station, an electric local tram line with four stations, radio service, water supply with 9 wells, and an air-service.
This event was notable as the first international gathering where Air Scouts were represented, including the famous pilots, Hungarian László Almásy and Austrian Robert Kronfeld. In 1939 the royal park also hosted a jamboree of Girl Scouts.
Gödöllő and the Holocaust Gödöllő has records of a Jewish population since the first half of the 19th century, suppliers to the court of Francis Joseph I since 1867. A synagogue was built in 1870, and a Jewish school operated from 1857 to 1944. The Jewish population was 195 in 1880, and 276 in 1930, after reaching a peak of 451 in 1920. After World War I, the Jews were severely persecuted, particularly after László Endre's 1923 appointment as district commissioner of the town.
According to Yad Vashem, there were 188 Jewish people resident in the town in 1941. The area governor, Dr Laszlo Endre, sent many of the Jewish men to Hungarian army for forced labour, where most perished on the Eastern Front in Ukraine. The town ghetto was established at the end of April 1944, before the publication of the decree ordering the establishment of ghettos in the district, which according to Yad Vashem was issued on 12 May 1944 by the deputy commissioner of the district, Dr Laszlo Andre.
The Jewish population of Gödöllő was deported to Auschwitz via a sugar beet factory in Hatvan on 12 June 1944 as part of the so-called "emergency" deportations from Zala County and other parts of southern Hungary, rather than as part of the operations in Zones III and IV. Randolph L. Braham suggests this order came directly from Hungarian government circles, citing allegations that it was "to enable Miklós Horthy to walk around the town without having to see any Jews and to make it possible for him to personally experience the consequences of the anti-Jewish measures." The town was at this time the "summer residence" of Horthy, regent of Hungary.
Soviet Era
After World War II, the development of the community took a new turn. Soviet troops were stationed in part of the mansion house, while in a larger part there was a social welfare home. In contrast to its earlier character as a summer resort, industry started in Gödöllő. The first step in this direction was the building of the Ganz Factory of Electric Measuring Instruments in 1950, which was followed by other industrial plants. In the same year, the University of Agricultural Sciences moved into the buildings of the closed-down institute of the Premonstratensian. This meant the completion of the community's character as an agrarian centre and resulted in a further expansion of the network of agricultural institutions linked to the university.
The role of the ecclesiastical schools nationalised in 1948 was taken over by the general and secondary schools of the state. In 1951, the School of Apprentices started its activities and in 1955, the "Török Ignác" General State Grammar School began its work. The library of the community opened in 1955 and since then it has been extended with departments for children and for music.