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Szekesfehervar (Hungary)

Székesfehérvár Megyei Jogú Város

Last modified: 2014-04-18 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: hungary | fejer | szekesfehervar |
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image by István Molnár, 9 February 2001



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Overview

From: http://www.konkoly.hu/staff/budavari/Szfvar.html :
the city of the kings ', was the first capital of Hungary. Its name is Alba Regia in Latin. Now it is the seat of Fejér county, its population is 130,000 and it is a road and railway junction. The downtown is rich in historical monuments and museums.
Dov Gutterman, 2 August 1999

Székesfehérvár is a city in Fejér County in Hungary near to the Lake of Velence (10 km West). The city has got 107.073 inhabitants (1990 census), nearly all of them are Hungarians. Five of the Official Ethnic Minorities of Hungary has got ethnic council in the city. Gipsy, Polish, German, Armenian and Serb. Neighbouring settlements are: Zámoly, Sárkeresztes, Moha, Iszkaszentgyörgy, Csór, Sárszentmihály, Szabadbattyán, Tác, Aba, Seregélyes, Pákozd and Pátka villages. The name of the city: Székes means Royal and Fehérvár means White Castle. The German name is a wrong translation: Stuhlweissenburg. Stuhl in Hungarian Szék (means chair) The Latin name of the city in the Middle Ages was Alba Regalis (means Royal White Castle).
From http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/drszfveng/history.htm/:
"Székesfehérvár, named Alba Regia in the middle ages, is one of our most ancientcities. The significant events of our history happened here through the centuries. This was the place where our kings were crowned and buried. The king's throne and the symbols of the royal power were kept here (...) Géza the great emperor established Székesfehérvár as a emperor abode during his principality (972 - 997) on the hills surrounded by swamps. He built an abode surrounded by ditches and a mound. It was a Byzantine-style quatrefoil church, one of the first Hungarian stone built churches, which later served as his resting-place. The ground plan of the church is marked by the different coloured paving stones on the square in front of the cathedral. The name Alba Civitas first appeared in the bishopric diploma of Veszprém in 1009. Under King Saint Stephen's rule (1001 -1038) it was a populous and extended settlement, which was surrounded by palings and walls built of soil. King Stephen's basilica was one of the monumental buildings of its time in Europe; it was quite a technical miracle. The basilica was the most significant place of the mediaeval Hungarian State throughout five centuries. There, in the cathedral stood the throne, was kept the crown, the symbols of the royal power, the country's treasury, and archives. It was the scene of forty-six diets (...) the royal coronations and funerals were still held in Alba Regia even after the Árpád dynasty had died out (1301). The Turks occupied the strategically important city in 1543 and kept it under their rule for 145 years. During the days of Turkish rule the pompous buildings of Istolni Belgrád - Turkish name of Alba Regia - were rebuilt into dzsámis, and mosques, and the graves of the royal basilica were completely despoiled. (...) The rule of the Turkish crescent ceased in 1688. At the same time when renovating and rebuilding works were still in process the city had to carry on a fight against the Austrians to get back our privileges and rights. The imperial commissioner wielded the actual power over Székesfehérvár until 1703 when the city  gained back its past rank: it was a free royal city again."
From http://www.fejer.hu/tortenelem2.html/:
In 1910 Székesfehérvár was a city in the Kingdom of Hungary. Number of its inhabitants in 1910: 36.625; 35.354 (96,5%) Hungarian, 539 (1,5%) Croatian, 538 (1,5%) German and 194 (0,5%) other by mother tongue, 29.407 (80,3%) Roman Catholic, 3.121 (8,5%) Calvinist, 3.024 (8,3%) Jew, 660 (1,8%) Lutheran and 413 (1,1%) other by religion. 07.08.1919-07.10.1919 the city was under Rumanian occupation. /Source:
From http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/drszfveng/history.htm/
"Because of its strategic location Székesfehérvár was one of the Hungarian cities that suffered the most during the World War II. One third of its buildings became uninhabitable and 8-10 thousand of its inhabitants was killed or reported missing."

On 19.03.1944 German troops occupied the city. 22.12.1944-22.01.1945 under Soviet rule. 22.01.1945-23.03.1945 under German rule. There were the two last great counter offensives of the German Army in the WWII. Between 1950-1989 Székesfehérvár was only a town. From 1989 city (with county rank) again.

The city has got its Coat of Arms and its flag from King Leopold I. in 1703. The city used this symbols till 1949. Between 1974 and 1989 Székesfehérvár town has got 'communist-style' flag and Coat of Arms. In 1993 the city renewed its original symbols by the Resolution No.33/1993 (X.5.). Description of the Coat of Arms: Standing shield with pointed bottom. In its lower third there is a green triplicate hill, on the hill in blue fields there is a four-sided castle wall built from stone. In the center of the wall there is a gate opened in two directions and the upper third of the gate there is an iron grate. On the wall of the castle there are three towers - each of them have got three windows. The central tower above the gate with a red bulbiform cupola is higher and wider than the two others. The gold crown above the shield relates to the coronations in the past. (based on the Res. No.33/1993.(X.5.) and Res. No.43/1995.(IX.12.))

Information about the flag: The flag is horizontal divided, blue and red. On the center is the coat of arms of the city. Ratio: 180cmX100cm. On the flying end there is gold fringe (10 cm) The colours of the flag are: Blue: Pantone 2945, Red: Pantone 1805. The coat of arms has to have its original colours. The CoA is embroidered. (based on the Res. No.33/1993.(X.5.) and Res.
No.43/1995.(IX.12.))

More informations about the city: http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/drszfveng/geografic.htm and about its history:
http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/drszfveng/history.htm

City scenes (with flying flags):
The City Hall: http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/keptar/foterszelesb.jpg,
The City Hall: http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/keptar/phivalma.jpg
Monument of the 2nd World War (with a vertical one): http://www.szekesfehervar.hu/keptar/haborusb.jpg
István Molnár, 9 Febuary 2001

The chair in the name refers to the throne - the fact that the Hungarian kings were crowned there. To the list above we may add Croatian name: Stolni Biograd (according to the dialect spoken there, and how it is found most often in Croatian sources, cf. Biograd na Moru in Croatia, and Beograd, capital of Yugoslavia - all meaning white city, or castle). After saying that, one can cleary recognize that its name during Ottoman ruling (Istolni Belgrád) is Turcification of the Slavic name.
Željko Heimer, 10 Febuary 2001

'SZÉK' means chair ('trón', or 'trónSZÉK' means throne, 'SZÉKhely' means seat or capital, 'SZÉKes' means royal). However 'SZÉK' means district - it was the name of the autonomous territories-districts of Hungary.
Székesfehérvár's names:
Stuhlweissenburg in German
Stolicný Belehrad in Slovakian
Stolni Biograd in Croatian
Alba Regala in Rumanian
Stoni Beograd in Serbian
István Molnár, 10 Febuary 2001

Yesterday was the great Hungarian national holiday. I have seen some settlements flags on TV.
Székesfehérvár City has got a vertical flag too.
István Molnár, 16 March 2001


Historical Flag


image by Antonio Martins, 28 February 2001

This flag appears at Dr. Széll Sándor: Városaink neve, címere és lobogója (1941) as "Székesfehérvár, Fejér Co.".
István Molnár, 20 October 2000

Seven red and white horizontal stripes.
Antonio Martins, 28 Febuary 2001


1974-1989 Flag


image by István Molnár, 12 February 2001

This is the flags was used by Székesfehérvár Town 1974-1989. It seems the settlement tried to save its original symbols. The CoA related to the original CoA, the colours of the flag related the original colours.
István Molnár, 12 February 2001


Coat of Arms


image by István Molnár, 9 February 2001


Other Flags in Use

1)
image by István Molnár, 30 April 2002

Flag relates to the Anjou Dinasty flying on the City Hall of Székesfehérvár. See: Hungary - Historical Flags - Kingdom of Hungary (Pre-1848).
István Molnár, 30 April 2002

2)
image by István Molnár, 30 April 2002

Flag relates to the Arpad Dinasty flying on the City Hall of Székesfehérvár. See: Hungary - Historical Flags - Kingdom of Hungary (Pre-1848).
István Molnár, 30 April 2002