Serbs in Hungary


The Serbs in Hungary are recognized as an ethnic minority, numbering 7,210 people or 0.1% of the total population. The number of Serbs in Hungary has drastically diminished; in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries large Serb communities existed throughout Hungary, notably in Buda, Baja, Szentendre and Szeged. The Serb community in the territory of present-day Hungary has its origin in migrations from the territory of medieval Serbian states during and after the Ottoman conquest of these states. Matthias Corvinus and his successors are known to have welcomed Serbs from the other side of the Danube, giving the exiled military commanders fiefdoms to rule and defend from the Ottomans. After the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918 and after new borders were defined by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, only a small fraction of ethnic Serbs remained within the borders of post-Trianon Hungary.

History

The presence of Serbs in the territory of present-day Hungary date from the Middle Ages. The mother of the Hungarian king Géza II was Helena of Raška, a daughter of the great župan of Raška, Uroš I. During the rule of Géza II, her brother Beloš Vukanović was a palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary. When the Magyars arrived to the Pannonian Basin under Arpad in 896, they met there with the already well established Slavic population. This Slavic population however was quickly assimilated or otherwise exterminated. The Serbs who later migrated into the Pannonian Basin from the Balkans, were the descendants of those Slavs who in the 7th century migrated from the Pannonian Basin southwards into the Balkan peninsula.
Since the 14th century, escaping from the Ottoman threat, a large number of Serbs migrated to the Kingdom of Hungary where many of them served as soldiers. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, much of the territory of present-day Hungary came under Ottoman administration. During Ottoman administration towns in the territory of present-day Hungary began decaying and the former Hungarian and German population left them. In that time, especially in the 17th century, many Serb, and other Southern Slavic migrants settled in the territory of present-day Hungary. It is interesting that most of the Ottoman soldiers in the territory of present-day Hungary were South Slavs.
, first half of the 18th century.
After territory of present-day Hungary came under Habsburg administration, a new wave of Serb refugees migrated to the area in 1690, as a consequence of the Habsburg-Ottoman war. In the first half of the 18th century, Serbs and South Slavs were ethnic majority in several cities in the territory of present-day Hungary, including Buda, Szentendre, Baja, Pécs, Szeged, etc. After the devastating Ottoman wars these cities had a very low population.
In 1698, more than a half of population of Pécs were South Slavs. In 1715, the population of Buda numbered 1,539 houses, of which 769 were South Slavic, 701 German, and 68 Hungarian. In 1715, the population of Baja numbered 237 houses, of which 216 were South Slavic, 16 Hungarian, and 5 German. In 1720, 88% of population of Szentendre were South Slavs. In 1720, the population of Szeged numbered 193 houses, of which 99 were Serb.
During the 18th and 19th century, the Hungarian-Serb ethnic border moved southward and fixed in the territory of present-day Vojvodina. Following the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, the Serbian army and South Slavic People's Administration from Novi Sad controlled not only present-day Vojvodina, but also southern parts of present-day Hungary.
The Treaty of Trianon from 1920 defined the border between Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and assigned most of Baranya and the northern part of Bácska to Hungary. As a response to this, a short-lived Serb-Hungarian Baranya-Baja Republic was formed in this area in 1921. The president of the republic was Serb, Petar Dobrović.
After the Serb-Croat-Slovene army evacuated the territory of the Baranya-Baja Republic the two countries signed a citizenship treaty. According to that treaty, members of the Serb minority in Hungary gained right to opt for citizenship of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. About two-thirds of the Serbs left Hungary in the following decade. Almost the whole Serb population of Sárok, Deszk, Újszentiván, Szőreg, Majs and Dunaszekcső became optants.
In 1910, 26,248 people in the territory of present-day Hungary spoke Serbian language. In 1920, number of Serbian speakers was 17,132, in 1930 7,031, in 1941 5,442, in 1970 11,177, in 1980 3,426, in 1990 2,953, 2001 3,388 and in 2011 3,708.

Geography

Small Serb communities are scattered in the southern part of the country. There are also some Serbs who live in the central part of the country - in bigger towns like Budapest, Szentendre, etc. The only settlement with an ethnic Serb majority in Hungary is Lórév on Csepel Island. This small village of 307 people had 180 Serb inhabitants. But there are other small Serb settlements in the town of Ráckeve and the village of Szigetcsép, also on Csepel Island. Not far to the north the Bunjevci settlement of Tököl is to be found. A tradition of mutual weddings between Lórév and Tököl existed as well as strong connections with Serbs from the villages of Medina in the south, three villages north of Budapest -- Budakalasz, Pomáz and Csobánka. We also find Serbs and Bunjevci living together in other Hungarian towns, Baja, Gara and Katymár, and in the following villages, Csávoly, Felsőszentiván, Bácsalmás, Csikéria, Bácsbokod, Mátételke and Vaskút.

Heritage

Serbs left a valuable architectural heritage in Hungary. The number of Serbian Orthodox churches is higher than we should expect by the small number of present-day Serb population. These Baroque churches were mostly built in the 18-19th centuries when Serb merchants formed rich and influential communities in Hungarian towns. Village churches show the historical presence of Serbs in places from where they absolutely disappeared by now.
Towns, cultural institutions, churches and monasteries: