| Medzev | ||
| Town | ||
|
||
| Country | Slovakia | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Košice | |
| District | Košice-okolie | |
| Elevation | 313 m (1,027 ft) | |
| Coordinates | ||
| Area | 31.88 km2 (12.31 sq mi) | |
| Population | 3,776 (31 December 2005) | |
| Density | 118 / km2 (306 / sq mi) | |
| First mentioned | 1359 | |
| Mayor | Valeria Flachbartová | |
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 044 25 | |
| Area code | +421-55 | |
| Car plate | KS | |
|
Location in Slovakia
|
||
|
Location in the Košice Region
|
||
| Statistics: MOŠ/MIS | ||
| Website: www.medzev.sk | ||
Medzev (Hungarian: Mecenzéf, German: Metzenseifen) is a town and large municipality in Košice-okolie District in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia.
Contents |
In historical records the town was first mentioned in 1359. It was founded and settled by ethnic Germans.
The modern town stems from the merging of Nižný Medzev (Geman: Untermetzenseifen/Nider Metzenseifen/Nider Metzenseiffen/Nieder Mäzenseuffen/Nieder Metzenseif/Unter Mäznsüffen/ Unnter Metzensyffen[1]) [from LX Einleitung Deutschsprachige Handschriften in slowakischen Archiven vom ..., Volume 2 By Jörg Meier, Ilpo Tapani Piirainen]; Hungarian: Alsómeczenzéf) and Vyšný Medzev (German: Obermetzenseifen/Ober Metzenseuf; again independent since 1999) in 1960. The earliest known record of the town Metzenseifen comes from 1359 Mechenseuph. There were most likely German and Slovakian miners living together at that time. After the Mongolian invation, there was a strong surge of German families. The ownership ratio between the two ethnic groups was assigned by the Jasov Monastery.
Mining in the mountain continued to increase throughout and after the 1300s, as well as handcraft. After the 1400s, Medzev/Meztenseifen split between /Nižný/Unter-/Lower and Vyšný/Ober/Upper Medzev/Metzenseifen. During the Reformation, the monastery was closed and its governance discontinued. The struggle for power continued throughout the Counter-Reformation and eventually resulted in the rebuilding of the monastery under the supervision of Maria Theresia, the Habsburg Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Croatia.
Over the course of the industrialization period, Medzev/Metzenseifen became an economic center (site of many well-paid blacksmiths [ca. 100], who created argricultural tools). This led to tension in the 1930s between German and Slovakian speakers in the workplace. Until the end of World War II, the German population significantly outnumbered the Slowakian population. Even today, over 20% of the population are German-speaking. In the past ten years, the number of Germans has increased by ca. 0.75%.[2]
The town lies at an altitude of 313 metres and covers an area of 31.861 km². It has a population of about 3800 people. It is located at the foothills of the Slovak Karst (south) and Volovské vrchy (north) on the Bodva River, around 35 km west of Košice.
According to the 2001 census, the town had 3,667 inhabitants. 75.43% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 13.55% Germans, 6.65% Roma, 1.55% Hungarians and 0.44% Czechs.[3] The religious make-up was 77.58% Roman Catholics, 12.95% people with no religious affiliation, 2.18% Greek Catholics and 0.79% Lutherans.[3]
Medzev is twinned with:
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". Wikipedia. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medzev. Retrieved 2 January 2012.