Solymár Schaumar |
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Location of Solymár | |
Coordinates: 47°35′28″N 18°55′44″E / 47.591°N 18.929°ECoordinates: 47°35′28″N 18°55′44″E / 47.591°N 18.929°E | |
Country | Hungary |
County | Pest County |
Area | |
• Total | 17.86 km2 (6.90 sq mi) |
Population (2005) | |
• Total | 9,455 |
• Density | 567/km2 (1,470/sq mi) |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Postal code | 2083 |
Area code(s) | 26 |
Solymár (German: Schaumar) is an urban village in northwest of Budapest metropolitan area, bordering the 3rd and 2nd districts of the city, as well as Nagykovácsi, Pilisszentiván, Pilisvörösvár, Csobánka, Pilisborosjenő, and Üröm. Its picturesque surroundings (hills to the south and east, the highest point is Zsíroshegy at 424m) and good accessibility the 64, 64A, 164, 264, 157 and 964 city buses from Hűvösvölgy, 218 from Óbuda, a train from Budapest Nyugati, and coaches from Árpád-híd) made it a desirable destination for affluent city-dwellers moving to suburban homes outside of Budapest from the mid-1990s.
The name of the village is first mentioned in a charter by Béla IV dated 5 May 1266, as Solomar. The most likely etymology of the name is Hungarian solymár (more commonly solymász): ‘falconer’, i.e., the place where the royal falconers live. (Several neighbouring villages were named similarly.) The village prospered during the following centuries and probably hosted a royal hunting castle (Szarkavár), which burnt down after 1561. The advance of the Ottoman Empire left the village deserted after 1580.
The village was uninhabited until the first new settlers arrived around 1700; first Serbians and Bulgarians migrated from the south, to escape the withdrawing Ottoman forces. Soon afterward came German immigrants, recruited by the monarchy from Bavaria and similar southern provinces along the Danube. The Crown paid their transportation and assisted in their getting settled in Hungary; the newcomers were promised they could retain their language and religion (generally Roman Catholic). The monarchy wanted to resettle the area and knew the Germans could restore farmlands along the Danube. Because the settlers continued to speak a form of German and maintained their cultural and religious traditions, they were called die Donauschwaben (Danube Swabians). Their descendants, who were citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and succeeding governments, later formed the great majority of the population in this area and called the village Schaumar in German.