{"id":24118,"date":"2026-02-20T11:38:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mck.krakow.pl\/publikacje\/miasto-pogranicza-twierdza-czy-pomost\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T13:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T13:03:31","slug":"miasto-pogranicza-twierdza-czy-pomost","status":"publish","type":"publikacje","link":"https:\/\/mck.krakow.pl\/en\/publikacje\/miasto-pogranicza-twierdza-czy-pomost\/","title":{"rendered":"Borderland city – fortress or bridge?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The origins of K\u0151szeg date back to the 13th century and the Mongol invasion of Central Europe. There was already a castle there, which in subsequent years was the subject of dispute between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Empire. At the end of the thirteenth century, the area of \u200b\u200btoday’s Burgerland came under the control of the K\u0151szegi family, who moved their court here from nearby G\u00fcssing. The name of the city comes from the family, which in 1328, thanks to the decision of King Charles Robert, became a royal city and became a strategic fortress. Great history entered here at the beginning of the 16th century with the Turks invading Hungary. In 1532, under the leadership of the Croatian nobleman Nikola Juri\u0161i\u0107, the army arrested the Ottoman army attacking Vienna in K\u0151szeg. Standing at the head of an eight-hundred-strong squad, he held Suleymaniye the Magnificent army over 100 times in check for nearly a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Herito, No. 58: Borderlands<\/div>\n
\n Borders have not disappeared \u2013 they have changed their character. The issue we are presenting to you is an invitation to reflect on how our everyday experience of the borderland fits into the broader context of Central European history, which has taught us that identity is shaped by movement, tension and dialogue. <\/div>\n\n
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Successful defense made the proud city from the western flank of the Hungarian kingdom become the eastern bastion of the Habsburg lands and the border of two civilizations. In the following centuries, despite the weakening of Turkey and the further taking over of Hungarian territory by the Habsburgs, K\u0151szeg still belonged to key military centers and was an important stop on the road from Vienna to Buda. At the same time, the lack of real threat and wars meant that the city survived mostly in the medieval shape. The idyllic landscape was supplemented by numerous new buildings and investments created during the Austro-Hungarian period, when a new main square was marked out on the southern side of the city and a neo-Gothic church was erected. Sacred Heart of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fate of the picturesque village surrounded by vineyards changed profoundly after the end of World War I and the fall of Austria-Hungary. The place that until now connected two capitals and was an important point for postal activity suddenly found itself just near the border of two different countries. Located no longer on the road from Vienna to Budapest, but on the outskirts of Hungary, K\u0151szeg lost the chance for further development becoming a provincial, frozen in its historical form a city-monument. In the interwar period, extensive conservation work was undertaken and the Gate of Heroes belonging to the city’s symbols was rebuilt. How different life became K\u0151szeg is evidenced by the fact that suddenly the nearest road to nearby Sopron led through another country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Hungarians. A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat (W\u0119grzy. Tysi\u0105c lat zwyci\u0119stw w kl\u0119skach)<\/div>\n
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The sense of dismissal and abandonment strengthened after 1945. Although during the war the city was not bombarded like nearby Szombathely, it lost the entire Jewish community, deported by one of the last transports from Hungary to Auschwitz. After the war, on the border between Hungary and Austria, an iron curtain ran. K\u0151szeg was in a restricted zone – not only could it not be possible to leave for Austria, but it also became difficult to travel to other cities on Hungarian territory. For almost half a century, his fate was determined by the needs of the army. The function of the Cold War garrison of Warsaw Pact troops “froze” the space of the city, which only in the seventies did the first breezes of normality reach. In 1989, barbed wires separating Austria and Hungary, West and East were cut near Sopron. K\u0151szeg once again found himself on the route connecting the two countries and began to attract guests from Austria and other places of the region. In 1994, the city established the Institute for Social and European Studies, an international organization that attracts students from around the world teaching about the complicated history of Hungary and Central Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n The historic old town of K\u0151szeg, Hungary <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Sights of the town of K\u0151szeg<\/div>\n \n \n
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The historic old town of K\u0151szeg, Hungary<\/div>\n \n \n
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View of the Hungarian town of K\u0151szeg <\/div>\n \n \n
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Map with the town of K\u0151szeg marked <\/div>\n \n \n
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