Repopulation of Újhartyán

The German settlers in Újhartyán

                                                                 The Grassalkovich family resettlement activity                                                                                                 

 Újhartyán Town in Pest County, 43 km from the capital, at the Dabas-Pilis junction of the M5 motorway. The town was inhabited in the Middle Ages but was completely deserted during the Ottoman Hungary (the Turkish subjugation). Újhartyán is one of the settlements in Hungary which were populated by Swabian settlers from the Danube in the 18th century. The planned settling of the Germans, at first mainly in the Pest and Buda areas, began as early as 1686, after the liberation of Buda from Ottoman rule. The first modern German settlements in Hungary were established in the following years: Budajenő 1686, Pilisvörösvár 1692, Dunaharaszti 1694, Pilisborosjenő 1696, Budakeszi 1698, Üröm 1699. The idea of settling Germans was first conceived in Lipót Kollonics' Einrichtungswerk. Leopold I's Royal Order of Settlement of 1689 summarized the principles based on which agreements were concluded with the settlers of Hungary.

 The repopulation of Újhartyán is linked to the name of the Grassalkovich family. Anthony, King of Saxony (1693-1771) was born in the Upper Hungary, in Nyitra County, and studied law. For his political activities, Charles VI granted him the title of baron, and in 1743 Maria Theresa granted him the title of count. In 1730 he acquired the deserts of Kakucs, Kerekegyház and Szent Dienes. His estate was spread over 135 000 cadastral around the city of Pest. In 1744 he had his castle built in Gödöllő in the Baroque style. Grassalkovich populated several of the villages in the Gödöllő estate with German settlers. Among these were Soroksár, Vecsés and Újhartyán, which flourished and became the best villages of the domain. According to the parish vital records of Dunaharaszti, the first settlers of Soroksár arrived already in the late 1710s. The real wave of settlers, however, occurred in the 1730s and 1740s. Antal Grassalkovich signed a contract with the farmer Forster Jakab from Soroksár, in which he commissioned him to repopulate the village. Soroksár soon became the largest settlement of the estate. The first inhabitants of Újhartyán were settled in 1765 by Antal Grassalkovich. The first inhabitants, who were mostly Germans and to a lesser extent Hungarians and Slovaks, appeared in the parish vital records of Sari in that year, marked "ex Hartian". After the death of Antal Grassalkovich, his widow, Teréz Klobusicky, completed the settling process. The church of Újhartyán was built in 1776 and consecrated a year later in honour of St. Barbara. In 1780, the village was the fifth largest settlement of the estate in terms of serf’s land quantity. Under Antal Grassalkovich II (1734-1794) Vecsés and Örkény were populated by Germans. Under Antal Grassalkovich II (1734-1794) Vecsés and Örkény were populated by Germans. After him Antal Grassalkovich III (1771-1841) led a lavish lifestyle and became indebted. After his death, the Gödöllő estate was no longer exists.

The question of secondary settlements

The question of which part of Germany the local population originated has long been a topic of interest in the literature on Germanic studies in Hungary. Linguist Henrik Schmidt, in his study of German dialects in Hungary, says: "Who wouldn't want to know their family origins? Where are the houses and landscapes where his ancestors once lived, created, and worked, rejoiced in the beauties and bounties of mighty nature, and bore its whims with a sorrowing heart? Just as the love of parents and the memory for a long-lost mother, is eternal in the heart of every good child, so too is the desire in every human being to know where their ancestors were cradled. In most cases, Southern Germany, the Black Forest and Swabia are mentioned as answers. However, the Germans who arrived in Hungary were not coherent. They were not only Swabians, but also Bavarians, Austrians, Franks, Alsatians and Lorrainians. The history of Újhartyán (New Hartian) has already been covered in a monograph by Imre Kökényesi in 1980. Regarding the origins of the New Hartians, he writes: "...in the spring of 1764, the 30 to 40 brave families, following the promises of Grassalkovich and his politicians, embarked somewhere in Germany and landed in Soroksár to resurrect Hartian Wasteland in the same year with about the same number of Hungarians and half as many Slovaks. However, many of the names of the Újhartyán settlers can be found in the 18th century documents of German villages around Pest. The following papers suggests that the Germans who settled in Újhartyán did not come directly from Germany, but from the surrounding villages. Újhartyán is a so-called "sub-settlement" or "secondary settlement" in study terms. The population came from settlements in Hungary where Germans had settled earlier. The historical background of this statement is the fact that in the last third of the 18th century bringing settlers directly from Germany was rare. One but not negligible reason was that bringing settlers in the country becomes expensive. Already in 1768, the Chamber of Commerce recommended the settlement of the inhabitants because it was cheaper. Despite this, several villages gained their population from Germany through state settlements, such as Dunakömlőd and Németkér in the 1780s. The other reason was that permission was needed from the landlords to release their subjects, who in many cases, ban emigration, like how the governor of Donaueschingen did in 1756. There are several secondary German settlements in Pest vicinity, all of which were established in the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century. The first of these was Újhartyán (1764), and others include Örkény (1783) and Vecsés (1786), mentioned earlier. Ceglédbercel was settled as state property by Joseph II in 1785/87 with Lutheran Germans from Hannover. However, the population of the village died out because of a cholera outbreak. In 1791 new, now Catholic, German settlers arrived from various villages in the Pest County. Fegyvernek was populated even later, in the 1830s, by the House of Szapáry, also from the area.

 Újhartyán Germans origins

The purpose of the study is to identify the founders of the town (village in the past) and to establish the date of their arrival. Where possible, it aims to show which neighboring German villages they came from, confirming the secondary nature of the settlement. This sheds light on the scale of internal migration between German villages in the Pest area in the last third of the 18th century. The study examined the population in the first half of the century, who lived in the settlement between 1764 and 1813. The reason for this is that the population process of Újhartyán took place over a very long period after 1764. Many of the newcomers moved on after a few years of residence and were followed by new settlers. There are many families who moved to Újhartyán only in the second, third or fourth decade of the town. The first census of the settlers of Újhartyán by name dates to 1828, 65th year after the settling. The only source for the earlier period is the civil registers, which give the names of the inhabitants. In this way, the vital records are extremely important in establishing continuity. The study only covers residents with German surnames who are listed on the birth certificates. Újhartyán has had its own records since 1779, the data for the earlier period can be found in the parish records of Sári. The residents are listed by family and follow each other in alphabetical order. All families of the half century whose children were born in Újhartyán are included. Residents can be divided into two groups. On the one hand, the husband and wife married in another village and moved from there to Újhartyán. Here it is straightforward to determine their origin and the date of relocation. Other times, the marriage took place in Újhartyán. In this case, it is possible to trace the origin of the parties through the age given in records. In addition to age, the records may in some cases also indicate the place of origin. This is always stated in the study. Sources often use different spellings for family names. The reason for this is that the names were written by the parish priest based on hearing. The study has tried to adapt to the German spelling of the names. As can be seen from the data, the population of the town comes mainly from Dunaharaszti, Soroksár and Taksony. Some families moved from Szigetszentmárton. Residents who came to Újhartyán by marriage also come from these settlements or the neighboring Kakucs, Inárcs and Hernád. Some of them married from Ceglédbercel. There are a significant number of people whose origins are unknown, but their names suggest that they may have come from the surrounding settlements. Of course, there may also be some who came directly from Germany. However, this does not change the fact that Újhartyán is a secondary settlement by historical context. Settlers moved out at a quite high rate. Many people moved to the later founded Ceglédbercel. Some families moved to Vecsés in the 1790s. In Örkény, many residents from Újhartyán settled in the 1780s. Others returned to their native settlement. All this indicates a large scale of internal migration.                                                                                    

 

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Duharasztiba még az 1690-es években települtek németek. Taksonyt, a klarissza apácák egykori birtokát 1711 - tıl lakják németek.