Komárom

For other uses, see Komarno (disambiguation).

Komárom
Town
Flag Coat of arms
Komárom Location of Komárom in Hungary
Coordinates: 47°44′25″N 18°7′28″E
Land	Ungarn
Region	Central Transdanubia
County	Komárom-Esztergom
Subregion	Komárom
Rank	City
Area
• Total	70.19 km2 (27.10 sq mi)
Population  (2017)
• Total	18,805
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	2900
Area code	+36 34
KSH code	05449
Website	http://www.komarom.hu

Komárom (Hungarian: [ˈkomaːrom]; German: Komorn; Latin: Brigetio, later Comaromium; Slovak: Komárno) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárno, Slovakia, is on the northern bank. Komárom was formerly a separate village called Újszőny. In 1892 Komárom and Újszőny were connected with an iron bridge and in 1896 the two towns were united under the name city of Komárom. The fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources refer to it as the Fortress of Comorn.

History

Following the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, Prince Árpád gave Komárom and the Komárom county vicinity to tribal chieftain Ketel. Ketel was the first known ancestor of the famous Koppán (genus) clan. At the beginning of the 12th century, this tribe founded the town's Benedictine Monastery in honor of the Blessed Virgin, mentioned in 1222 by the name of Monostorium de Koppán. The Turks destroyed much of the monastery and its surroundings in 1529, and the area was thus depopulated. Later references refer to it as the Pioneer Monastery (Pusztamonostor). Presently, it is called Koppánymonostor (Koppán's Monastery) in honor of its founding family. Roman ruins (including a stone mile marker and watchtowers) still stand today.

The town was heavily damaged in the 1763 Komárom earthquake.

Between 1850 and 1871 the Fort Monostor (Monostori Erőd) was built nearby.

On 10th January 1919, the Czechoslovak army occupied the northern part of the city. On 30th April, an unsuccessful Hungarian attempt was made to recapture that part of the city. On 4th June 1920, Hungary was forced to sign the Treaty of Trianon recognizing the new imposed borders including the border with Czechoslovakia. The loss of Upper-Hungary created a sizable Hungarian minority in Slovakia. The Treaty of Trianon split the city in two, the state of Czechoslovakia was formed the borders of the country on the river Danube divided the historical Komárom county and the city of Komárom. The northern part of the city became part of Czechoslovakia, the town on the northern shore was renamed to Komárno. After setting up the Czechoslovak administration, the ethnic composition of Komárno partially changed, but the Hungarians still outnumbered the Slovak population. During the years of the First Czechoslovak Republic, Komárno became the cultural and social centre of the Hungarians in Czechoslovakia. The southern part of the city remained in Hungary, called Komárom-Újváros, was for a few years the seat of the truncated Komárom County.

In 1938 the entire city was returned to Hungary, its Regent, Admiral Horthy receiving a tumultuous welcome from the citizens as he crossed the old bridge and entered the formerly dismembered part. At the end of World War II the city was again divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

After World War II the occupying Soviets built the country's biggest ammunition storage in the Fortress of Monostor. Thousands of wagons of ammunition were forwarded from this strictly guarded area. One of a series of forts, the Monostor is today open to the public as a museum.

The Slovak part is today Komárno, Slovakia.

Komárom and Komárno are connected by two bridges: The older iron bridge, and a newer lifting bridge. Currently a third bridge is under construction with estimated completion by 2020/2021. The vast majority of its funding coming from the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility.

The two towns used to be a border crossing between Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia) and Hungary, until both countries became part of the Schengen Area, resulting in all immigration and customs checks being lifted on December 12, 2007.

Significant minority groups
Nationality	Population (2011)
Deutschland	163
Slowakei	125
Rumänien	30
Ukraine	25
Polen	12

Notable people

• Franz Heckenast (1889–1939), Austrian artillery officer and opponent of Nazism
• Jovan Monasterlija (d. 1706), Serb vice-voivode and Habsburg imperial officer
• Julie Kopacsy-Karczag (1867–1957), operatic soprano
• Cardinal Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (1631–1707), Catholic prelate
• Franz Lehár (1870–1948), Austro-Hungarian composer
• Theodor Körner, Austrian President
• Mór Jókai (1825–1904), writer
• Hans Selye (1907–1982), Hungarian-Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist
• Tünde Szabó (1945–2021), Hungarian actress
• Péter Szijjártó (born 1978), Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Endre Komaromi-katz, painter

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary

Komárom is twinned with:

• Gratwein-Straßengel, Austria
• Khust, Ukraine
• Komárno, Slovakia
• Lieto, Finland
• Naumburg, Germany
• Sebeș, Romania
• Sosnowiec, Poland

See also

• Komárno
• Komárom county
• Fort Monostor

External links

• Official website in Hungarian, English, German and Slovak
• Aerial photography: Komárom
• Komárom on wiki.utikonyvem.hu
• "The Battle at Comorn in Hungary on 11th July 1849" - painting by Albrecht Adam, 1855