Magyarország
Official "tumblog" of Magyarország, also known as Hungary
Come, visit this wonderful country!
Official "tumblog" of Magyarország, also known as Hungary
Come, visit this wonderful country!
Hungary hosts one of only 17 Formula One Grands Prix in the world! Since 1986, the Hungaroring has been hosting one of the most exciting and difficult races of the Formula One (FIA World Championship). Many drivers, including the late Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher considered Hungaroring one of their favorite race circuits. Here is one of the most memorable moments from more than ten years ago:
That iconic pop-rock singer-songwriter-actress Alanis Morissette is half Hungarian?
Alanis’ mother is Georgia Mary Ann Feuerstein, who moved with her parents to Canada in 1956. Although Alanis Morissette does not speak much Hungarian, she is very proud of her roots, and claims her temperament and passion are coming from her mother’s side.
Here is Alanis’ best song, titled Ironic:
The majority of the people living in Hungary are ethnically Hungarian. However there are many minorities living in the country as well. It is remarkable, that all of them enjoy excellent relationship with the majority, and also with each other. Here are the figures for these minorities, according to the population count carried out in the year 2001.
Roma (Gypsy): 205,720
Germans: 120,344
Slovaks: 39,266
Croats: 25,730
Romanians: 8,482
Ukrainians: 7,393
Serbs: 7,350
Greeks: 6,619
Poles: 5,144
Russians: 5,144
Slovenes: 4,832
Chinese: 2,915
Arabs: 2,367
Bulgarians: 2,316
Rusyns: 2,079
Armenians: 1,165
Africans: 321
Please note that the Jews are not considered an ethnic minority in Hungary. They are a religious minority, and because of this their number doesn’t appear on this list.
…that Hungary has 15 Nobel Prize winners?
…that Romania has only two Nobel winners? (One of them, Elie Wiesel is a Transylvanian Jewish author, political activist, who has Hungarian roots.)
…that Slovakia has no Nobel Prize winner at all? (Wikipedia lists Philipp Lenard (Lénárd Fülöp) as Slovakian, which he never was. He had German and Hungarian origins, and was proud Hungarian nationalist.)
Did you know that Hungary with a population of only 10 millions souls, has more Nobel-prize winners per head than any other nation in the world? 15, to be exact!
1905, Lénárd Fülöp (Philipp E. A. von Lenard), Physics
1914, Bárány Róbert (Robert Bárány), Medicine
1925, Zsigmondy Richárd (Richard A. Zsigmondy), Chemistry
1937, Szent-Györgyi Albert (Albert von Szent-Györgyi), Medicine
1939, Ruzsicska István (Leopold Ruzicka), Chemistry
1943, Hevesy György (George de Hevesy), Chemistry
1944, Rábi Izidor (Isidor Rabi), Chemistry
1961, Békesy György (Georg von Békésy), Medicine
1963, Wigner Jenő (Eugene P. Wigner), Physics
1971, Gábor Dénes (Dennis Gabor), Physics
1986, Polányi János (John C. Polanyi), Chemistry
1986, Wiesel Eliézer (Elie Wiesel), Peace
1994, Oláh György (George A. Olah), Chemistry
1994, Harsányi János (John C. Harsanyi), Economics
2002, Kertész Imre (Imre Kertész), Literature
If there is one Hungarian dish that everyone knows, it’s the Goulash (gulyás). It is the most common soup of Hungarians. It is very easy to prepare, but it takes some time and of course, you need authentic Hungarian paprika for it.
This is the official authentic recipe for Hungarian gulyás:
1 kg beef leg or shoulders, diced
2 onions, diced
sunflower oil or lard
authentic sweet Hungarian paprika from Kalocsa
Heat the oil or lard in a large pot. Sauté the onions and add the meat, let it become brown. You can also add some chopped garlic. Then sprinkle with paprika. Be careful, paprika can go bitter very quickly in the hot oil! You can let it simmer in its own juice. You can also add water, but not much. Sometimes Hungarians add potatoes to goulash, and also carrots or spices like bay leaves, but it is not an authentic variety. The goulash is ready when the meat is tender.
Hungarians like to eat gulyás with csipetke, a type of noodle. To make the batter for csipetke, mix 1 egg with about a half cup of flour. Then use a small spoon or csipetkeszaggató to dump the noodles in the soup.
Bon Appetit!
Here are the eight most beautiful things in Hungary, according to Unesco World Heritage Organisation. Why don’t You visit them in Your holidays? Why don’t You make Your holidays a “hunt” for all eight Magyar Wonders? :-)
- Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, the Andrássy Avenue and the Millennium Underground
- The village of Hollókő
- Caves of the Aggtelek
- Millenary Benedictine Monastery of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment
- Hortobágy National Park
- Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs
- Cultural Landscape of Lake Fertõ
- Tokaj Wine Region Cultural Landscape
Dear reader!
This “tumblelog” does not write about political subjects. Its purpose is only to promote the country of Hungary, to show its beauties and curiosities to Anyone interested.
However there is now a subject that is above politics. It is about Hungary, and especially about Hungarians living in Slovakia, in the region called Felvidék. There are more than half a million of those!
The parliament of our neighbours, Slovakia, has recently passed a law concerning the usage of different languages in Slovakia. We don’t want to make judgement about this law. It is not our task.
However we would like to invite You to inform Yourselves about this law, and then make up your mind about which Central-European country you want to visit in Your holidays or in Your spare time.
Sincerely
Magyar Köztársaság Miniszterelnöki Hivatala, Idegenforgalmi Koordinációs Bizottság
The Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, Coordination Board of Tourism
One of the most famous Hungarians is actress Zsa Zsa Gabor (Gábor Zsazsa). She was married nine times. She was also Miss Hungary in 1936. She is over 90 years old but still alive, and her latest husband is a German aristocrat who is 30 years younger.
The Hungarian language - claimed by many to be the most difficult language in the world - is indeed unique in Europe. Unrelated to any of its neighboring countries’ languages, it is an Ugric language from the Uralic family.
Hungarians themselves call the language magyar. It is spoken by about 15 million people in the Carpathian region (Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovakia) and around the world (USA, Canada and Australia).
Hungarians are very proud of their language. In the late 18th and the early 19th century, the Language Reform movement led by the great Hungarian author Ferenc Kazinczy, coined thousands of new words instead of Latin and German words to make the language as pure as possible. Today, Hungarians have their own word for things that in other languages come from Latin or Greek, such as számítógép (computer) or gyógyszertár (pharmacy). Two English words originate from Hungarian: paprika and coach (from “kocsi”, that is: “from the village Kocs”).
The Lake Balaton is the largest sweetwater lake in Central Europe, this is why it is also called “The Hungarian Sea”. The Lake Balaton is the favorite holiday destination for Hungarians, and also one the top choices in the summer among tourists.
Here you can enjoy the world-famous Hungarian hospitality and taste some of the best wines of the region. Not to mention the warm water of the Lake, ideal for swimming and windsurfing.
A Himnusz a világ egyik legszebb nemzeti éneke, a magyar sors, a magyar történelem “zivataros századainak” mesteri és igen mély kifejezője. Kölcsey Ferenc 1823-ban írott verse plasztikusan jeleníti meg a magyar történelem megrázó képeit, és fogalmazza meg példátlan művészi tökéllyel a hazaszeretet érzését, a magyar föld keserveit. Erkel Ferenc, a világhírű zenekszerző 1844-ben zenéje pedig tökéletesen öltözteti egyszerre dísz- és gyászruhába ezt a gyönyörű szöveget. Amikor a Himnusz felhangzik bárhol a világon, akár nagyszerű sportolóink tiszteletére, akár Szilveszter éjszakáján, magyarok milliói pattannak föl, hogy vigyázállásban, könnyeikkel küszködve éljék át mindazt, amit Kölcsey és Erkel a magyarság érzéséről ebben a dalban megfogalmazott.
The hungarian “Hymnus” is one of the most beautiful national anthems of the world. It’s a masterpiece of world famous romantic composer Ferenc Erkel and nations celebrated poet, Ferenc Kölcsey. Expressing the depths of Hungarian Faith, the stormy centuries of national history (for example: the raid of mongols, the 150 years long turkish occupation, etc.) and the emotions of hungarians on their homeland, the Hymnus is the most important song for all the Hungarians.
(On this video the Hymnus is performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the world famous hungarian pianist and conductor, Zoltán Kocsis.)
A magyar futball világhírnevet szerzett az ötvenes években. 1953-ban az évszázad mérkőzésén a magyar válogatott a Wembleyben 6-3-ra legyőzte Angliát. Alig egy évvel évvel később, 1954-ben a világbajnokság döntőjében nagy meglepetésre, egy sajnálatos bírói tévedés következtében csapatunk vereséget szenvedett Németországtól, és ezüstérmes lett. A stílusosan, látványosan játszó magyarokat akkoriban az egész világ futballszerető közönsége a szívébe zárta. Puskás, Kocsis és Czibor nevét még ma is emlegetik öt kontinensen. Világhírű magyar futballisták sora játszott és nevelődött azokban az időkben. Reméljük, futballistáink egyszer még okoznak hasonló örömket a magyaroknak, és az egész világnak.
