| Törökbálint | |
|---|---|
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Törökbálint
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Hungary |
| County | Pest |
| Area | |
| • Total | 29.4 km2 (11.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 12,023 |
| • Density | 408.94/km2 (1,059.1/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 2045 |
| Area code(s) | 23 |
Törökbálint [ˈtørøɡbaːlint] is a town in Pest county, Hungary. Törökbálint received town status on 1 July 2007.
The city has also got a German name, Großturwall, which originates from the times of the Swabian immigration after the Turkish occupation of Hungary.
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Törökbálint is ca. 15 km (9 mi) westwards from Budapest, between Diósd and Budakeszi, which were also Swabian settlements.
Törökbálint can be directly approached from the motorways M0, M1 and M7.
Until the first century, the Avaric peoples were the inhabitants of Hungary, which the Romans chased away. Both nations left their footprint over the entirety of Hungary, and in Törökbálint as well, though the region was uninhabited until the 6th century, well after the Roman invasion. Germanic tribes arrived around this time.
After the Magyar settlement in the 9th century, the main leader of the Hungarians, Árpád, gave the lands around the present Törökbálint to prince Kond, whose son, Csörsz built the first castle in the area. Its name was Torbágy (Turobag), which is probably the ancient form of the present German name of the settlement.
Only in the early modern age, ca. the 16. century, was the village renamed to Török-Bálint, with a Hungarian landlord and poet, Bálint Török (in Hungarian form Török Bálint) giving the name to it.
In the 16th century, the lands around Törökbálint were given to the Jesuits, who built many beautiful buildings in Baroque style. They possessed the lands until 1773. By this time, the area was hardly inhabited, which process was partly the result of the Turkish wars two hundred years before. In the 18th century, the first Danubian- Swabes began to arrive. The latter became the major population group in the area in a few decades.
After the order of the Jesuits was dissolved, Maria Theresia, the Kaiserin of Austria and Queen of Hungary gave the lands to Josef Majláth, her chamber counselor.
The first transportation contact with the capital, Budapest was established in 1884 with the opening of a railway.
In 1900, the township obtained a new name. Instead of Török-Bálint, the name Törökbálint became official.
The next important step in the development of the settlement was the opening of the suburban railway, in 1912, which was, however, closed after World War I.
After World War II, the Danibian-Swabes, who had been living there for hundreds of years, were chased away.
Nowadays, Törökbálint is part of the suburban Budapest. More and more people move to the township, which has a very calm and peaceful atmosphere. Tükörhegy (Mirror hill or Spiegelberg in German), an area in the outskirts of Törökbálint, a former orchard, was, for instance, almost fully built in.
In the outskirts of Törökbálint, multinational companies, like Cora, IKEA, Pannon GSM, Porsche, Tesco give work for many inhabitants of the settlement.