Savaria Historical Carnival

The tradition & historical record

Szombathely (Hungarian: [ˈsombɒthɛj]; German: Steinamanger) is a city in Hungary. It has about 78,000 inhabitants, making it the 10th most populous city of Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams Perint and Gyöngyös, where the Alpokalja (Lower Alps) mountains meet the Little Hungarian Plain. The oldest city in Hungary, Szombathely is known as the birthplace of Saint Martin of Tours. ¹

The name Szombathely is from the Hungarian szombat, "Saturday" and hely, "place", referring to its status as a market town, and the medieval markets held on Saturday every week. Once a year during August a carnival is held to remember the history of "Savaria". The Latin name Savaria or Sabaria comes from Sibaris, the Latin name of the river Gyöngyös (German Güns). The root of the word is the Proto-Indo-European word *seu, meaning "wet". The Austrian overflowing of the Gyöngyös/Güns is called Zöbern, most probably a derivation of its Latin name. The city is known in Croatian as Sambotel, in Slovene as Sombotel and in Yiddish as סאמבאטהעלי (Sombathely). The German name, Steinamanger, means "stone on the green" (Stein am Anger). The name was coined by German settlers who encountered the ruins of the Roman city of Savaria. The Slovak name, Kamenec, also stems from the root 'stone' (kameň = stone), similar to the German variant. ¹

Szombathely is the oldest recorded city in Hungary. It was founded by the Romans in 45 AD under the name of Colonia Claudia Savariensum (Claudius' Colony of Savarians), and it was the capital of the Pannonia Superior province of the Roman Empire. It lay close to the important "Amber Road" trade route. The city had an imperial residence, a public bath and an amphitheatre. In 2008, remains of a mithraeum were discovered. Emperor Constantine the Great visited Savaria several times. He ended the persecution of Christians, which previously claimed the lives of many people in the area, including Bishop St. Quirinus and St. Rutilus. The emperor reorganised the colonies and made Savaria the capital of the province Pannonia Prima. This era was the height of prosperity for Savaria: its population grew, and new buildings were erected, among them theatres and churches. St. Martin of Tours was born here. During the reign of Emperor Valentinian III, the Huns invaded Pannonia. Attila's armies occupied Savaria between 441 and 445. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 456. ¹

The city remained inhabited throughout the Middle Ages. Its city walls were restored, and new buildings were constructed using the stones from the remains of Roman buildings. Much of the Latin population moved away, mostly to Italy, while new settlers, mostly Goths and Longobards, arrived. In the 6th–8th centuries, the city was inhabited by Pannonian Avars and Slavic tribes. In 795, the Franks defeated these peoples and occupied the city. Charlemagne visited the city where St. Martin was born. King Arnulf of the Franks gave the city to the archbishop of Salzburg in 875. It is likely that the castle was built around this time, using the stones from the Roman baths. Around 900, they were succeeded by Hungarians, who became the dominant population. In 1009, Stephen I gave the city to the newly founded Diocese of Győr. The city suffered during the war between King Sámuel Aba and Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, between 1042 and 1044. Szombathely was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241–1242 but was rebuilt shortly after. It was granted Free royal town status in 1407. In 1578, it became the capital of Vas comitatus. The city prospered. In 1605 it was occupied by the armies of István Bocskai. ¹

During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, the Ottomans invaded the area twice, first in 1664, when they were defeated at the nearby town of Szentgotthárd. Nearly twenty years later, they invaded again in 1683, during the Battle of Vienna. The city walls protected Szombathely both times. A peaceful period followed the retreat of the Turks until Prince Rákóczi's rebellion against the Habsburgs in the early 18th century. During the rebellion, the city residents supported the prince. The city was occupied by Habsburg armies in 1704, freed in November 1705, then occupied alternately by the two armies over the next years. In June 1710, more than 2,000 people died in a plague, and on May 3, 1716, the city was destroyed by a fire. After such losses throughout the region, the Habsburg Crown recruited Germans to resettle the depopulated areas, particularly along the Danube River. They were valued for their farming abilities. The Crown allowed them to keep their language and religion. As a result, the city had a German majority for a long time. With increased population, the city began to prosper again. With the support of Ferenc Zichy, Bishop of Győr, a high school was built in 1772. The Diocese of Szombathely was founded in 1777 by Maria Theresa. The new bishop of Szombathely, János Szily, did much for the city: he had the ruins of the castle demolished and had new buildings constructed, including a cathedral, the episcopal palace complex, and a school (opened in 1793). In 1809, Napoleon's armies occupied the city and held it for 110 days, following a short battle on the main square. In 1813, a cholera epidemic claimed many lives. In 1817, two-thirds of the city was destroyed by fire. During the revolution in 1848–49, Szombathely supported the revolution. ¹

After the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost many of its western territories to Austria. Only 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the new state border, Szombathely ceased to be the centre of Western Hungary. Trying to regain the throne of Hungary, Charles IV visited the city, where he was greeted with enthusiasm, but he failed to regain power. Between the world wars, Szombathely prospered. Many schools were founded, and between 1926 and 1929, the most modern hospital of the Transdanubian region was built. During World War II, as with many other towns in the region, Szombathely was strategic due to the railway, junction, marshalling yards, local aerodrome, and barracks. The town formed part of the logistical military infrastructure supporting Axis forces. In 1944 and 1945, the town and locality were bombed by day on several occasions by aircraft of the US 15th Air Force; at night, bombing runs were made by aircraft from the Royal Air Force 205 Group. These aircraft operated from bases in Italy. On 28 March 1945, the 6th SS Panzer and 6th Armies were pushed back by an assault from the east across the Raba River by the 46th and 26th Armies of the USSR and the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Soviet forces took control of Szombathely on 29 March 1945. After the war the city grew, absorbing many nearby villages (Gyöngyöshermán, Gyöngyösszőlős, Herény, Kámon, Olad, Szentkirály, Zanat and Zarkaháza). The government of Hungary was dominated by the Soviet Union. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Szombathely”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Savaria Historical Carnival is cultural festival in Szombathely, Hungary, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 4 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²