History of town to 1526

Mosonmagyaróvár is the composite of the names of two cities united in 1939. The name Moson is probably of Slavic origin, which means ’castle in the marsh’. It first appeared in 1046 in the form of Musun, its German name (Wieselburg), which refers to the castle from the Middle Ages which once stood in its place. The name Óvár originates from the Roman military camp called AD Flexum that was located in the area of the today’s Magyaróvár downtown and castle. The name Mosonmagyaróvár first appeared in 1263 as Ouwar; its German name is known from 1271-as Altenburh. The Hungarian anterior component of its name (Ungarisch Altenburg) was to differentiate it from the city of Németóvár (Deutsch Altenburg), which is located east of Vienna. 

Mosonmagyaróvár and its region have probably been inhabited from the early stages of human history; however, archeological evidence was discovered only in the 5th millennium BC. Archeological evidence from the site of Mosonmagyaróvár was found in the beginning of 1st century AD when the area of the later Moson County was joined to the Roman Empire as part of Pannonia. From that time on, the border of the empire was along the Danube, which was a significant strategic point of the military camp set up by the Mosoni-Duna (Danube). Although establishing Ad Flexum had mainly military reasons, it also helped the development of the settlement emerging next to it since the trade between east and west took place on the military route leading through the area.

Behind the modern defence lines emerged a new line of craftsmen and trades people who felt protected by the presence of military. This protection, however, was not enough when between 169-171 AD large troops of Germans living on the left side of the Danube invaded the border. During the battles of these three years the Limes and the settlement next to the camp had been almost completely wiped out.  Later in the 3rd century this area prospered indicated by the several findings of that era such as jewellery, dishes, bronze- and ceramic artefacts.  The population of the town was about 3000-4000 people at that time and the military camp must have been situated from the today’s Magyar Street to the middle of Károlyliget (Charles park). Following the death of Valentinianus in 375 the attacks of Hunnish tribes made the inhabitants flee and later during the Lombard and Avar Empire most of the settlement and the camp must have been destroyed. The name Óvár (Old Castle) indicates that during the Arpad era some remains of the roman camp and the settlement still existed and these formed the foundations where the Middle Age town must have been built. 

After the defeat of the Avar Empire in 796, Charlemagne joined the area of Mosoni-Danube that was mainly populated by Slavic people to his empire. The role of Moson became more important after settlement of the area and establishment of the royal castle by King Stephen 1st in order to protect the borders. The settlements of the region organised themselves around the wooden castle of the reeve in Moson (Királydomb King Hill). The internal area of the sconce castle later was strengthened with stonewall whose measurements were around 150-170 x 70-90 meters. Moson was always considered as a strong castle and busy merchants town in the 11th century Chronicles. However, in 1030 the guards were unable to prevent Conrad 2^nd from invading it with his huge army and from advancing to the river Raba. Between 1063 and 1067, during battles for the throne King Solomon frequently stayed in the Castle of Moson. Its strength had a significant role during the Crusades in 1096, when between Győr and Moson King Kalman won the battle over the Swabian-Bavarian army of 15 thousand and the same year he defeated the army of 30 thousand of Count Emicho. In the early 13th century Moson experienced significant development. The Danube and the once roman tracks were important trade routes where royal duty was collected. Boat-mills were grinding the grain of the region on the Mosoni-Duna (Danube) river and the maintenance of ports resulted in some industrial development. A charter mentions a big stone house in the market of the castle and probably from the 11th century there was a stone church in the middle of today’s Soproni street. This improvement was halted by the campaign of Ottokar 2nd Czech king in 1271, when the castle of Moson was destroyed so much that the Kings did not consider it worth rebuilding and the headquarters of the county moved to Óvár. 

Conrad, who was a member of the Gyor tribe, began the construction of the Castle of Óvár for which he was given estates in the area of Moson county by Bela 4th. In 1282 Laszlo (Leslie) Kun gave him half of the royal duty of Moson in order to proceed with his meritable castle building activities. Conrad – mainly to protect his estates – turned to Ottokar 2nd Czech king, an enemy of the Hungarian king, then to the Austrian Duke Albert. 

As a result, the disloyal lord was deprived of his Moson county estates regardless of his significant contributions to the improvement of Óvár. He finally died in his estate Baranya county. The multi-storey tower of the Óvár castle and the first Romanesque church of the city were probably built in the 1270s and 1280s. From 1291 on, Óvár had been considered as an estate of the Hungarian queens. 

The earliest settlement level of Magyaróvár was formed following the devastation of Moson castle, when the surviving inhabitants came here for protection. In the 14th and 15th century the road system was more or less similar to the nowadays. There were more-storey brick buildings beside the wooden frame and clay pugging houses. The two major streets of the downtown area emerged as well (Fő (Main) street, Magyar street), with smaller roads and squares in between. As for the development of Óvár, its busy trade, industry and the high-level mill industry mentioned in several charters contributed mainly. Besides the royal mills operating on river Lajta the inhabitants of the town also had several mills. Queen Elisabeth recognised this urbanization when gave Óvár the title of queen’s town in 1354. She gave as patent rights for own jurisdiction, free parish priest election, inheritance as well as gave the right for the citizens free of customs in the whole area of Hungary. Louis the Great, then later Sigmund approved these patents, however the town had to fight in order to recognise these rights. From the 14th century the ealdorman of Moson resided in the Castle of Óvár and in the beginning of the 15th century, as token of vigorousness was given to Wolfurt Redstone then to the Szentgyörgyi (Bazini) family. In January 1522 the tragic fate Louis the 2nd held his wedding in Buda and gave it to his wife, Queen Maria and from that on the fate of the castle was linked to the Habsburgs, and it became one of the outpost to protect Austria. 

History of Magyaróvár and Moson from the Battle at Mohacs to 1848 

In 1529 the Turks were defeated and in retreat from Vienna. On their way back they set the town and the castle ablaze, destroying the double towers of the Romanesque church, the Middle Age archives of the county as well as many other values. The armies of Szapolyai János and Ferdinand 2nd fighting for the country also caused anguish and pain. After the appearance of Martin Luther the evangelistic doctrines started to spread. By the middle of the 16th century most of the inhabitants of Magyaróvár became Protestant. Huszár Gal the learned preacher and travelling pressman settled down in the town that time. In 1555 he founded the first school of Magyaróvár and he also taught in Moson as well. His press printed three significant pieces of religious literature and he started to put together his famous protestant songbook, but due to harassment he was forced to finish it in Debrecen. A decision of the chamber forbade the practising of the protestant religion in the town in 1672, their school and church was closed down. This prejudicial counter-reformation decision was only partly implemented by the town, so nobody was forced to change religion. 

Since Moson and Óvár was frequently on the way of armies, therefore following the Turkish and German mercenaries ravaging in the 16th century, in 1605 the troops put the castle ablaze then in 1619 Bethlen Gábor occupied it for two years. After the Turkish invasion of Buda then fall of Győr in 1594 the castle was modernised based on the plans of Italian engineers, its bastions that symbolize a star were linked with a rampart strengthened with stone-wall. In 1607 the domanial mill on the two sides of river Lajta was rebuilt and supplied with modern equipment. The amount of duty collected on the exported crops and livestock increased significantly, the revenue of the so-called ’thirtieth’ of Magyaróvár was half of the total earnings of the country from duties. This huge amount however was usually spent on the personal expenses of the Habsburg family, the town did not get much of that. Although the independence of Magyaróvár and the patents of the citizens was ensured by a 1556 regulation that was also approved by Ferdinand in 1557 and by Archduke Maximilian in 1558 the town had to have constant debates in order to enforce its rights. The cost of the soldiery was a great burden for the inhabitants and the soldiers as well as the foreign constables frequently impinged on the citizens. 

In the beginning of each year after the church service the citizens of Magyaróvár came together at the County Hall and elected their judge with secret vote. Citizen could only be the person who owned a house or a profession to make his living in the town. In 1584- the number of the citizens directing the town was 54 and a century later it was still only 63 people. The main task of the judge of the city was to ensure order and peace in town and enforce its rights. On lawful days he made decisions by the houses and the administration issues were completed by the notary at the Town Hall. In the evening the gates were closed and since then it was forbidden to be on the streets. The inhabitants of the town organised the fireguards and the civic guards in order to protect the town people. In the middle of the 17th century alms-house was also established in the town. In 1665 Evlia Cselebi a famous traveller also accommodated in the town as a member of a Turkish delegation who, based on his own experience, gave a description of the that time Óvár. The two famous inns were already operating that time, one was the foregoer of Fekete Sas (Black Eagle) (Ranthof) and the other was outside the city walls, the enormous Ökör (Ox) tavern. 

In 1683 following the failed attack of Vienna the Turks in retreat put Moson, Óvár and almost every other settlement of the county ablaze. That time almost the full archives of the town were destroyed altogether with the documents of the guilds. However since 1640 there had been saddler- and harness makers, skin dressers, millers, boot-makers, coopers, and rope-maker guilds. From 1609 for two years the brick factory of the town only made bricks for the building of church. 

During the Rákóczi riot the ’kuruc’ people could not establish themselves in the town and after the fall of the fight for freedom the castle lost its military importance and all the equipment were transported to Pozsony in 1712. The governors of the Habsburg estate step by step eliminated the patents of the town using counter reformation actions and the economic strength of the empire. Only a few judges were brave enough to affront the powerful lords of the estate. The bravest and most successful of these judges was Kehrling András who, due to the forced contributions to the ’kuruc’ troops, was not able to collect the amount required for everlasting redemption of the town. In 1716 the Chamber of the King abolished the economic independence of the town and a few years later the estate took over the right of advowson as well. 

After the war times the trade and industry of the guilds started to prosper again in Moson and Magyaróvár. Besides the flourishing livestock trade the crop trade and milling industry was becoming more important from the second part of the 17th century. In 1743 officially defined the amount of assize for the boat wharfing by the Danube bank and in order to have untroubled water transport the cleaning of the Danube bad was arranged. These years the old guilds became stronger as well as new ones were also founded. There had been a pharmacy (Segítő Máriához Gyógyszertár) in Óvár since 1690, and to improve the public health a town doctor was employed since 1736. An event of great importance was in the town when a piarist secondary school was established from the heritage of Zsidanits family in 1739. In 1766 Maria Theresa gave the estate as present to her daughter, Maria Christina. It had the right for decapitation from 1770, which gave an opportunity to humiliate the prefectures of the town. Joseph 2nd united Győr and Moson county in a decree and during his reign the estate had full power of the town. All these resulted in strong impatience of the inhabitants therefore they sent a delegate to Vienna and to Buda in 1794 to find solution to their discontent. As a result of this message the estate after two years of negotiations signed an agreement with the town under the title ’Liber Regulationis’ that regulated their relations up to the 2nd World War. In 1809 the soldiers of Napoleon used up all the reserves of the town that the redemption planned again was out of question. 

In 1818 Duke Albert Kazimier, the owner of Magyaróvár estate established a school of estate agents in the town to educate train professionals in higher education system for his estates. This institution was operating with only a few years of interruption, and its successor is the today’s university of the town. Famous professors made the high-level institution well known, they made the farmers learn up-to-date methods and took pioneer role in the research and development as well. In 1776 Maria Christina founded a cloth-mill in Moson to process the wool of her sheep bred at her estates. This cloth-mill was operating here until 1809. In 1835 Czéh Sándor opened a successful printing-house shop in the town. In 1847 to the reform congress of the country one of the elected delegates of Moson county was Count István Széchenyi. 

From 1848 to the end of the 2nd World War 

The news of the revolution ’Hungarian March’ quickly reached Óvár and Moson as well. Czéh Sándor issued a political newspaper with the title ’Der Emancipierte Satanas’ that was judging the Vienna government, this can be considered as the first Moson county periodica. In the summer of 1848 the national Guard of the two settlements were organised that were forced to retreat on 4th October due to the overpower of Jellasich army, however the forty soldiers left behind were mowed down by the cavalry so called ’hussars’ of the relieving Hungarian troops. On 23rd October Kossuth Lajos made his recruitment speech from the balcony of the archducal residence. In December Windischgrätz commander-in-chief took back the town to start again a long-lasting Habsburg control of these two settlements. 

In 1842 the archduke converted the silo built at the Moson port into sugar works that was processing the beet grown in the region until its closing-down in 1873. In 1855 the railway traffic was started between Győr and Bruck, and from that on the load of the ships were put into wagons at the railway station here. The machine repair shop established in 1856 was later improved to become a famous agricultural machine works by Kühne Ede. In 1899 the cartridge factory of Hirtenberg founded a branch in Magyaróvár and in 1913 the big armoury of the Monarchy was started to be built here. It was disassembled after the Trianon peace treaty and was mainly destroyed. In its enormous improved site the first synthetic silk factory of the country started to operate in 1923, in 1934 the first aluminium factory and in 1935 a toothbrush factory were opened. 

In 1863 the Karolina Hospital opened in Magyaróvár and medical care of the social institutions (arms-house and asylum) became regular as well. The first kindergarden was established in Moson by Ostermayer Károly in 1881 and one year later the Association of Archeology and History of Moson County (Moson megyei Történelmi és Régészeti Egylet) was established. In 1874 the estate agents institution received Academy grade and its teachers established a national research institution in Magyaróvár. 

Owing to the Trianon peace treaty Moson county lost its independence in 1924 just as about two-third of its area. Óvár and Moson also got separated from most of their economic relations. At the end of the 1930s there were 7287 Hungarians, 1205 Germans and 41 Croatians living in Magyaróvár, in Moson 4619 Hungarians, 1701 Germans, 61 Croatians and Slovakians. In 1908 the thought of uniting the two settlements had already been suggested. That was finally decided by a Home Office Decree and the two bodies of representative approved that on a meeting on 28th June 1939. According to the census taken in 1941 out of the 17 073 inhabitants of Mosonmagyaróvár 83% were Hungarians, 13% Germans, 3% Jewish and 1% other nationality. The war economy of Hungary brought improvements for Mosonmagyaróvár as well. There was no unemployment, industries and the building industry employed 47,5% of the people, 17,8% were employed in the agriculture and transport, trade and service gave work for 8,4%. From 1939 to 1943 the production of the Kühne Agricultural Machine Factory tripled, the Cartridge Factory and the Bauxite Industry Co. also became war factories.  In the autumn of 1942 the Agricultural Academy became a College and the four-year-course trainings were introduced.  In May 1944 there were 466 Mosonmagyaróvár Jews deported, the number of inhabitants of the town reached 45 thousand by the last days of the war. At the end of March 1945 German soldiers exploded the bridges of the town as well as its radio tower. On 1st April Soviet troops invaded the town almost without any fights. 

From the 2nd World War up to today 

The town suffered relatively small damages during the war, but the standstill of traffic, the lack of material- and labour force resulted in difficulties to restart production in the factories. In 1946 the members of the SS, Volksbund and those were all deported who stated themselves German nationality or said their mother tongue was German. In 1946 the town bus service was started and by 1948 some permanent- and some flying bridges were completed. In 1948 and 1949 the business entities and education institutions were nationalized. The Academy that had been stopped before was reorganised again in 1954. In 1959 Lajta-Hansági Állami Gazdaság (State Farm) came to existence from several smaller farms. In 1950 the Museum of the town became state owned as well and in 1951 the town library and several culture halls started to operate. On 26th October 1956 the demonstrators marching to the security police forces (AVH) building were received with firing and grenades. There were more than fifty dead and dozens of injured as innocent victims of the barbaric avengement. From the last day of October ten thousands of people were fleeing towards the western border through the town. 

In the intimidated and proclaimed as guilty town life revived slowly. In 1959 the reorganisation plan of the town was prepared that contained a new town centre to be built on the empty lands between Moson and Magyaróvár. In 1957 the Agricultural Academy became a University and the education courses took four years. The thermal bath opened with two hipbath pools in 1969. Between 1960 and 1990 there were four new kindergarden, two schools, post office, police station, culture centre, new secondary school and a vocational training school built and the University of Agriculture improved. In 1983 the town museum could occupy the renovated Cselley-house. Boathouses were built along the riverbank of Mosoni-Duna (Danube), the sport clubs of the factories and the university had several divisions and the Town Sport School started to operate in 1969. 

As a result of the local government elections held after the change of system the Mayor of the city became Plutzer István elected by the Young Democrats led representatives. In a few years the factories of the town were reprivatized and tourism to the town started to increase (thermal bath, shopping, dentistry), consequently several private enterprises were founded. There were two main investments regarding infrastructure: the gas supply of the town was built within two years (1996-1997) and the improvement of the sewage system advance with giant strides. There is a six grade two-language education in the Kossuth Lajos Gimnázium (Secondary School) and a Piarist primary and secondary school started to operate in the former piarist building.

Since the local government elections held in 1994 the strongest fraction of the representatives has been the Hungarian Socialist Party and the inhabitants of the town have elected Stipkovits Pal as Mayor three times (1994, 1998, 2002).Mr. Miklós Szabó is the mayor of Mosonmagyarovar since 2006.