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ILLUSTRATIONS: KARIN DREHER; KARIN-GRAFIKDESIGN.COM; SHUTTERSTOCK.

ÁRPÁD’S CHILDREN

In 896, the Magyar tribes under the leadership of

Árpád, settle in the Carpathian Basin, entering

the stage of European history for good.

1000 King Stephen I. King Stephen of the Árpád dynasty converts to Christianity. Hungary’s holy Crown of Saint Stephen, in use since the 12th century, is named after him.

1241 Mongol invasion The Mongolian Tatars under Batu Khan invade and devastate the medieval kingdom of Hungary under King Belá.

1526 Battle of Mohács Ottoman forces defeat the Hungarian army, leading to the partition of the country. After the recapture of Buda 160 years later, the Hungarian parliament recognizes the Habsburgs as hereditary kings of Hungary.

1867 Ausgleich The Austro-Hungarian Compromise establishes the dual monarchy, dividing the Empire into the lands governed from Vienna and those ruled from Pest-Buda.

1920 The Trianon Treaty, reduces Hungary’s area by two-thirds and the population by a third following defeat in World War II. The treaty left many Hungarians as minorities in neighboring countries.

1940-44 Part of the Axis Under Miklós Horthy, Hungary fights alongside Nazi Germany in World War II. Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews and 28,000 Roma are deported and killed in the Holocaust. The Wehrmacht occupies Hungary in 1944, before being defeated by Soviet troops in 1945.

1956 Hungarian Uprising In a nationwide revolt starting with student protests on Oct. 23, Hungarians bring down the oppressive regime. Soviet forces invading on November 4 crush the uprising in one week, killing thousands of civilians and tightening the USSR’s grip on the Eastern Bloc.

1989/90 Rendszerváltás The Communist Party gives up its monopoly of power and a multiparty parliamentary democracy comes into being. The Soviet army leaves Hungary.

1848 People’s Spring A national revolution breaks out in Pest, as Hungarians dethrone the Habsburg emperor and elect Lajos Kossuth as governor. The uprising is brutally crushed in 1849 by the Habsburgs with Russian help.

2004 Accession to the European Union (EU) Hungary joins the EU following a national referendum with 83.3% voting in favor.

1458-1490 King Matthias Corvinus In the kingdom of Hungary, the largest in Central Europe at the time, arts and culture flourish in the royal palaces of Buda and Visegrád.

1947 Blue-ballot elections The last remotely free election in Hungary takes place. In the aftermath, the Hungarian Communist Party installs a Soviet-style system, beginning a 43e-year period of autocratic rule that sees thousands of dissenting Hungarians resettled by force, imprisoned or executed.

FOR HUNGARIANS, 96 IS A SPECIAL NUMBER. The Hungarian land-taking took place in 896; the Budapest metro started service in 1896; no building in Budapest can be taller than 96 METERS; and the Hungarian anthem, at proper tempo, takes 96 SECONDS to sing.

FACTSPOPULATION 9,797,000AREA 93,030 KM2 CAPITAL BUDAPEST (1,752,000 INHABITANTS)GDP €123 BILLIONGDP PER CAPITA €11,800

96LAKE BALATON Hungary’s large freshwater lake is one of the country’s foremost tourist destinations and, on the northern shore, a major wine growing area.

PÉCS This ancient town, located close to Croatia, has been a crossroads of cultures and commerce for centuries, calling itself “The Borderless City.”

SZEGED Hungary’s third biggest city is the regional center of the Southern Great Plain and famous for the Szeged Open Air Theater Festival, taking place since 1931.

LAKE HÉVÍZ The world’s largest thermal lake offers a plethora of thermal baths with sauna and massages to relax and enjoy the pristine nature.

ESZTERHÁZA The grand Rococo edifice is sometimes also called “Hungarian Versailles.” The palace was built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy in the late 18th century and hosts festivals throughout the year.

SKANZEN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM Visitors to the village of Skanzen can tour houses and check out traditional Hungarian architecture from the region, folk art exhibitions, villagers dressed in traditional costume and crafts such as basket making.

LILLAFÜRED This northern Hungarian town is a popular tourist resort, offering spas, an impressive waterfall, a palace, hotels and even hanging gardens.

AGGTELEK NATIONAL PARK The limestone landscape is dotted by 280 caves, including the largest stalactite cave in Europe.

HORTOBÁGY NATIONAL PARK Hungary’s biggest national park is also Central Europe’s largest and best-known steppe region, the puszta. Hortobágy offers stunning sunsets and horsemanship demonstrated by Hungarian cowboys, the csikós.

SZIGET One of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe, Sziget rocks Old Buda Island every August with more than 1,000 performances.

HOLLÓKŐ The Palóc are Hungarians with a distinctive dialect and traditions, which is on display at their grand Easter festival.

ESZTERGOM BASILICA The neoclassical basilica of Esztergom, Hungary’s ancient capital, is also the country’s tallest building and largest church.

SZENTENDRE Located in central Hungary, Szentendre can be reached by river from Budapest and offers art galleries, museums and well-preserved baroque houses.

KECSKEMET Famous for its apricot brandy, the region around Kecskemet beckons also with its blooming orchards and its art deco buildings with rich ceramic decorations and several museums.

BUDAPEST Hungary’s capital offers a plethora of stunning sights, from the Chain Bridge and Buda Castle to the Hungarian Parliament and the Fisherman’s Bastion.GRAND SYNAGOGUE The biggest synagogue in Europe stands as a testament to the big Hungarian Jewish community.

SIÓFOK Perched on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, this small town hosts beach parties among the palm trees all summer long.

BOKOD Built on a lake that never freezes, the floating houses of Bokod are Central Europe’s version of the Maldives.

Source: Eurostat (2017).

Em

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Part IV. Hungary

Hungarians have won a TOTAL OF 498 OLYMPIC MEDALS as of 2018, boasting a medal per every 20,000 citizens. Hungary is thus the country with the fifth most Olympic medals per capita, outranked only by Sweden, Finland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

HUNGARIANS HAVE THEIR OWN COWBOYS: The csikós, mounted horse-herdmen who dash on their Nonius horses across the Great Hungarian Plain, also known as the puszta.

With a total of 13 NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATES, Hungarians have won a prize in every category except peace.

Compiled by Anastasia Gromontova & Benjamin Wolf