Óbecse

Bečej Бечеј Óbecse
Town and municipality
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Bečej within Serbia
Coordinates: 45°37′N 20°02′E / 45.617°N 20.033°E / 45.617; 20.033Coordinates: 45°37′N 20°02′E / 45.617°N 20.033°E / 45.617; 20.033
Country	Serbia
Province	Vojvodina
District	South Bačka
Settlements	5
Government
• Mayor	Vuk Radojević
Area
• Municipality	487 km2 (188 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
• Town	23,895
• Municipality	37,351
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	21220
Area code	+381 21
Car plates	BČ
Website	www.becej.rs

Bečej (Serbian: Бечеј / Bečej, pronounced [bɛ̌tʃɛːj], Hungarian: Óbecse, pronounced [ˈoːbɛt͡ʃɛ]) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 23,895, while the municipality has 37,351 inhabitants. It is a multiethnic town, predominantly inhabited by Serbs and Hungarians.

Bečej was mentioned first during the administration of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1091 under Latin name Bechey and later in 1238 under Hungarian name Becse. Name probably originated from Bechey family that had possessions in this area. In the 15th century (from 1419 to 1441) the town was a possession of the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. In the end of the 15th century, army of the Kingdom of Hungary led by Serbian despot Vuk Grgurević (Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk) defeated the Ottoman army near Bečej. In 1551, an Ottoman army led by Mehmed paša Sokolović conquered the town. Bečej was administered by the Ottomans between 1551 and 1687 (nominally to 1699) and was part of the Sanjak of Segedin, which was initially in Budin eyalet, laterly in Eğri Eyalet. In Ottoman Turkish it was known as "Beçe".

In the end of the 17th century the Ottoman administration was replaced by Habsburg one and settlement was populated by ethnic Serbs from Banat who ran away from the Ottoman Empire. Between 1702 and 1751, the town belonged to the Tisa-Mureş section of the Habsburg Military Frontier. After the abolishment of this part of the Frontier in 1751, many Serbs that lived in the town emigrated to Russia (notably to New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia). They founded a new settlement with name Bečej in New Serbia. To prevent this emigration, the Habsburg authorities formed autonomous District of Potisje with seat in Bečej. District of Potisje existed between 1751 and 1848. The three privileges were given to the district in 1759, 1774 and 1800. First privilege of the District defined its autonomous status, while the second one allowed ethnic Hungarians to settle in the district. In the following period many Hungarians settled in Bečej (the first ones in 1757) and they replaced Serbs as a dominant nation in the town. In 1751, the entire population of the town was composed of Serbs, while in 1774 half of the population was composed of Serbs and another half was composed of Hungarians. According to the 1910 census, the population of Bečej municipality numbered 54,275 people, of whom 30,465 spoke Hungarian and 22,821 Serbian. The town of Bečej had 19,372 inhabitants in 1910, of which 12,488 spoke Hungarian (64.46%), 6,582 Serbian (33.98%) and 193 German (1%).

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