Hungarian Slovenes
Encyclopedia
Hungarian Slovenes are an autochthonous
ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary
. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes in the Rába Valley in western Hungary
between the town of Szentgotthárd
and the borders with Slovenia
and Austria
. They speak the Prekmurje dialect
of Slovene. Outside the Rába Valley, Slovenes mainly live in the Szombathely
region and in Budapest
.
The ancestors of modern Slovenes have lived in the western part of the Carpathian basin since at least the 6th century AD; their presence thus dates back to before the Magyars came into the region. They formed the Slavic
Balaton Principality
and were later incorporated in Arnulf
's Kingdom of Carantania which extended to most of modern south-eastern Austria
, southern Hungary and northern Croatia
. After the Hungarian invasion in the late 9th century, most of the local Slavs were magyarized
. Between the 11th and 12th century, the current linguistic and ethnic border between the Hungarian and Slovene people was established.
In the 10th century, the western border of the Kingdom of Hungary
was fixed on the river Mura, so the region between the Mura and the Rába
rivers, known in Slovene as Slovenska krajina
and in Hungarian
as Vendvidék, inhabited by Slovenes, remained in Hungary. After World War One, there was a failed attempt by a small group of Hungarian Slovenes to acquire independence (see Slovene March
and Mura Republic). In 1919, the majority of the region was annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia
), and became known under the name of Prekmurje
. Only a small portion in the Vas County
, in the triangle between the northern border of Slovenia, the Raba river and Austria, remained in Hungary.
In 1920, the number of Slovenes that had remained in Hungary was estimated at around 7,000, but in the next decades many of them emigrated to other Hungarian cities, mostly to Budapest
. In 2001, there were around 5,000 Slovenes in Hungary, of whom only around 3,000 remained in their original settlement zone in western Vas
county, with others living mostly in larger urban areas.
), which is almost identical with the dialect spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia. The traditional Magyar name for the Slovenes used to be Vendek or Vends; as a result, many Slovenes in Hungary accepted this name as a common denomination, although in their dialect, they always referred to themselves as "Slovenes". In the last decades of the 19th century, and especially during the Horthy regime
, the denomination "Wends" was used in order to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, including attempts in creating a separate identity.
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes in the Rába Valley in western Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
between the town of Szentgotthárd
Szentgotthárd
Szentgotthárd is the westernmost town of Hungary. It is situated on the Rába River near the Austrian border, and is home to much of Hungary's small Slovene ethnic minority....
and the borders with Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. They speak the Prekmurje dialect
Prekmurje dialect
Prekmurian, also known as the Pannonian-Slovene, East-Slovene, or Wendish , is the easternmost separate dialect of Slovene, spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia and by the Hungarian Slovenes in Vas county in western Hungary...
of Slovene. Outside the Rába Valley, Slovenes mainly live in the Szombathely
Szombathely
Szombathely is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria...
region and in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
.
History
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
Balaton Principality
Balaton Principality
The Principality of Lower Pannonia was a Slavic principality located in the western part of the Pannonian plain, between the rivers Danube to its east The Principality of Lower Pannonia (also called Pannonia, Lower Pannonia, Pannonian Principality, Transdanubian Principality, Slavic Pannonian...
and were later incorporated in Arnulf
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...
's Kingdom of Carantania which extended to most of modern south-eastern Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, southern Hungary and northern Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. After the Hungarian invasion in the late 9th century, most of the local Slavs were magyarized
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
. Between the 11th and 12th century, the current linguistic and ethnic border between the Hungarian and Slovene people was established.
In the 10th century, the western border of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
was fixed on the river Mura, so the region between the Mura and the Rába
Rába
The Rába is a river in southeastern Austria and western Hungary and a right tributary of the Danube. Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of Bruck an der Mur below Heubodenhöhe Hill. It flows through the Austrian states of Styria and Burgenland, and the Hungarian counties of Vas and...
rivers, known in Slovene as Slovenska krajina
Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)
The Slovene March or Slovene krajina was the traditional denomination of the Slovene-speaking areas of the Vas and Zala County in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 18th century until the Treaty of Trianon in 1919...
and in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
as Vendvidék, inhabited by Slovenes, remained in Hungary. After World War One, there was a failed attempt by a small group of Hungarian Slovenes to acquire independence (see Slovene March
Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)
The Slovene March or Slovene krajina was the traditional denomination of the Slovene-speaking areas of the Vas and Zala County in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 18th century until the Treaty of Trianon in 1919...
and Mura Republic). In 1919, the majority of the region was annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
), and became known under the name of Prekmurje
Prekmurje
Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region settled by Slovenes and lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the most western part of Hungary...
. Only a small portion in the Vas County
Vas (former county)
Vas was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in western Hungary, eastern Austria and eastern Slovenia . The capital of the county was Szombathely.-Geography:...
, in the triangle between the northern border of Slovenia, the Raba river and Austria, remained in Hungary.
In 1920, the number of Slovenes that had remained in Hungary was estimated at around 7,000, but in the next decades many of them emigrated to other Hungarian cities, mostly to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. In 2001, there were around 5,000 Slovenes in Hungary, of whom only around 3,000 remained in their original settlement zone in western Vas
Vas
Vas is the name of an administrative county in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. The county is a part of the Centrope Project.-Geography:...
county, with others living mostly in larger urban areas.
Language and terminology
The Hungarian Slovenes speak a specific dialect of Slovene (the Prekmurje dialectPrekmurje dialect
Prekmurian, also known as the Pannonian-Slovene, East-Slovene, or Wendish , is the easternmost separate dialect of Slovene, spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia and by the Hungarian Slovenes in Vas county in western Hungary...
), which is almost identical with the dialect spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia. The traditional Magyar name for the Slovenes used to be Vendek or Vends; as a result, many Slovenes in Hungary accepted this name as a common denomination, although in their dialect, they always referred to themselves as "Slovenes". In the last decades of the 19th century, and especially during the Horthy regime
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
, the denomination "Wends" was used in order to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, including attempts in creating a separate identity.
Religion
Differently from their counterparts in Prekmurje, where there is a significant Lutheran minority, almost all Rába Slovenes are Roman Catholic, with religion playing an important role in their local traditions and communal life.Frequent Slovene names in Hungary
- Doncsecz (Dončec)
- Bajzek (Bajzek)
- Szvétecz (Svetec)
- Gyécsek' (Geček)
- Sulics (Šulič)
Famous Slovenes in Hungary
- József KossicsJózsef KossicsJózsef Kossics, also known in Slovene as Jožef Košič was a Hungarian-Slovenian writer, Catholic priest, ethnologist, linguist, poet, and historian. He was of Croatian descent....
(1788-1867) - Ágoston PávelÁgoston PávelÁgoston Pável, also known in Slovenian as Avgust Pavel was a Hungarian Slovene writer, poet, ethnologist, linguist and historian....
(1886-1946) - Károly DoncseczKároly DoncseczKároly Doncsecz was a Slovene potter in Hungary and in 1984 he received the award Master of folk art for his work. Doncsecz was born in Orfalu, ....
(1918-2002) - Antal Rogán (1972-)
- Tibor GécsekTibor GécsekTibor Gécsek is a retired male hammer thrower from Hungary. Gécsek is of Hungarian Slovenian descent....
(1964-)
See also
- Demographics of HungaryDemographics of HungaryThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Hungary, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Historical:...
- List of Slovene writers and poets in Hungary
- Republic of PrekmurjeRepublic of PrekmurjeThe Republic of Prekmurje or Mura Republica was an unrecognized state in Prekmurje, an area traditionally known in Hungarian as Vendvidék ...
- Slovene LandsSlovene LandsSlovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
- Slovenes in SomogySlovenes in SomogySlovenians of Somogy were a Slovenian community living in the Somogy county, Hungary.In the 17th and 18th century numerous Slovene families from Vas County settled down in Somogy County. According to recent research, there were sixteen Slovene settlements in three country districts...
- Wendish questionWendish questionThe Wendish question in Hungarian politics concerns the origin and nomenclature of the Hungarian Slovenes.The traditional Hungarian term for the Slovenes living in Hungary was "Wend" . Many Slovenes in Hungary accepted this nomenclature, although in their dialect, they always referred to...
- Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)The Slovene March or Slovene krajina was the traditional denomination of the Slovene-speaking areas of the Vas and Zala County in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 18th century until the Treaty of Trianon in 1919...
- PrekmuriansPrekmuriansThe Prekmurje Slovenes are Slovenes from Prekmurje in Slovenia and Vendvidék and Somogy in Hungary. The Prekmurje Slovenes speak the Prekmurje dialect and have a common culture...