Nagykanizsa
City with county rights
Nagykanizsa Megyei Jogú Város
Flag of Nagykanizsa
Flag
Coat of arms of Nagykanizsa
Coat of arms
Nagykanizsa is located in Zala County
Nagykanizsa
Nagykanizsa
Location of Nagykanizsa
Nagykanizsa is located in Hungary
Nagykanizsa
Nagykanizsa
Nagykanizsa (Hungary)
Coordinates: 46°27′18″N 16°59′33″E / 46.45500°N 16.99250°E / 46.45500; 16.99250
Country Hungary
CountyZala
DistrictNagykanizsa
Government
 • MayorLászló Balogh (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
 • Total148.40 km2 (57.30 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total47,349
 • Rank20th in Hungary
 • Density320/km2 (830/sq mi)
Demonym(s)kanizsai, nagykanizsai
Population by ethnicity
[1]
 • Hungarians85.1%
 • Roma1.3%
 • Germans1.0%
 • Croats1.0%
 • Romanians0.1%
 • Others0.6%
Population by religion
[1]
 • Roman Catholic56.7%
 • Greek Catholic0.1%
 • Calvinists1.9%
 • Lutherans1.7%
 • Jews0.1%
 • Other0.8%
 • Non-religious11.1%
 • Unknown27.6%
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
8800
Area code(+36) 93
MotorwaysM7
Distance from Budapest214 km (133 mi) Northeast
Websitenagykanizsa.hu

Nagykanizsa (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈnɒckɒniʒɒ]; Croatian: Velika Kaniža/Velika Kanjiža, or just Kaniža/Kanjiža; German: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa; Italian: Canissa; Slovene: Velika Kaniža; Turkish: Kanije), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. It is a city with county rights.

It lies not far from Lake Balaton at the meeting point of five routes. For centuries the town has been a connecting link. Goods from Slavonia were transported to Graz via Nagykanizsa, and the town played an important role in the trade from the Adriatic Sea to the Alpine region, Vienna, and Budapest.

History

The city's oldest Roman-era ruins were excavated in the 1960s. During the Middle Ages, Nagykanizsa became one of the most important strongholds of the Hungarian Kingdom. The fortress had a significant role in the southern shield-line of Hungary, guarding the whole of Western Europe against attacks by the Ottoman Empire.

The name Kanizsa was first mentioned in a document in 1245. The Kanizsai family continued building the castle and constructed a rectangular castle with an enclosed back yard on an islet in the River Kanizsa. The town and the castle were in their prime in the first half of the 16th century, when Kanizsa became a centre of trade with Italy and Styria.

Szigetvár and Kanizsa became the most important strongholds in southern Hungary. In 1600, the Turkish army occupied the castle. This castle was the center of an Ottoman eyalet including the sanjaks of Sigetvar, Kopan, Valpuva, Siklos, Nadaj, and Balatin until 1690 (see Ottoman Hungary), when the city was invaded by the Habsburg armies.

In 1601, during the Ottoman-Habsburg War of 1593–1606, a siege began on September 9 and ended on November 18. The Habsburg forces were commanded by Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria, and Tiryaki Hasan Pasha commanded the defence of the castle. Hasan Pasha won the fight against the ten-times larger army of Austrians with many cunning military ploys, and was raised to the rank of Vizier.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the holder of the castle moved German, Croatian, and Serbian settlers into the deserted town. A particularly mixed ethnic group lived in a suburb called Kiskanizsa. After the Turks were driven out (1690), the town lost its strategic significance, so the Vienna war council demolished the castle in 1702.

Business became lively, trade became important again, and crafts developed significantly. In 1765 the Piarist order started to provide elementary and secondary education' supported by Lajos Batthyány, palatine of Hungary. The first business school of Transdanubia opened in Nagykanizsa, and in 1895 it was made into a college.

Many people who had attended Nagykanizsa's schools became famous: Benedek Virág, Pál Király, Ferenc Deák, Károly Kaán, Sándor Hevesi, and Ferenc Mező all studied in the ancient buildings of Nagykanizsa's almae matres.

Nagykanizsa started a new phase of large-scale development in the 1860s. The railway connecting Nagykanizsa with Vienna, Budapest, and Rijeka was constructed at that time. There was rapid development in industry as well. Industrial and commercial development resulted in the foundation of banks. Besides the four local banks, an Austro-Hungarian and an Anglo-Hungarian bank also opened branch offices in town. Telephone lines were established and the town was connected with a long-distance system in 1895. At the same time, a 70-bed hospital was opened.

During World War I, military barracks were built in the town. This necessitated the construction of a municipal water-network. Kanizsa became a modern town; drainage-system construction and paving of streets began. World War I caused grave consequences - changes in international boundaries isolated Kanizsa, which lost its markets in the south and west.

Oil helped the town to survive. After successful exploration by the American corporation Eurogasco, Hungarian-American Oil Inc. (Hungarian: Magyar Amerikai Olajipari Reszvenytarsasag - MAORT) was formed in 1938.[2] Nagykanizsa became the centre of the Hungarian oil industry. Near the end of World War II, the Nagykanizsa oil-fields were the last remaining ones available to the Germans, and to protect these fields the Wehrmacht launched the last German offensive of the war, Operation Spring Awakening, on 6 March 1945.[3] This failed (15 March 1945) and the town soon fell to the Soviet and Bulgarian Nagykanizsa–Körmend Offensive of March to April 1945.

Beer brewed in Kanizsa Brewery regained its reputation as one of the best Hungarian beers, carrying off the palm at more and more international competitions – at the beginning of the century the brewery was closed as demand for beer fell drastically. Kanizsa Trend Ltd. grew out of the company, with its furniture products gaining a high reputation all over Europe. The predecessor of the present-day Tungsram Plc, now belonging to General Electric, started operations in 1965. It is now one of the biggest light-bulb factories in the world.

Károlyi Park, City Park, and large squares like Kossuth, Eötvös, and Erzsébet squares were extended after 1962. A boating lake was formed, becoming a popular recreation centre. In the 2010s Nagykanizsa attracts thousands of dental tourists.

Climate

Nagykanizsa's climate is classified as oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). The annual average temperature is 10.5 °C (50.9 °F), the hottest month in July is 20.9 °C (69.6 °F), and the coldest month is 0.0 °C (32.0 °F) in January. The annual precipitation is 733.1 millimetres (28.86 in), of which September is the wettest with 83.9 millimetres (3.30 in), while January is the driest with only 31.6 millimetres (1.24 in). The extreme temperature throughout the year ranged from −22.9 °C (−9.2 °F) on December 31, 1996 to 38.4 °C (101.1 °F) on July 20, 2007.

Climate data for Nagykanizsa, 1991−2020 normals
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 17.4
(63.3)		 21.4
(70.5)		 23.6
(74.5)		 29.8
(85.6)		 32.9
(91.2)		 35.2
(95.4)		 38.4
(101.1)		 38.3
(100.9)		 32.3
(90.1)		 26.9
(80.4)		 23.6
(74.5)		 17.9
(64.2)		 38.4
(101.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 3.9
(39.0)		 6.7
(44.1)		 11.7
(53.1)		 17.4
(63.3)		 21.8
(71.2)		 25.7
(78.3)		 27.3
(81.1)		 27.3
(81.1)		 21.7
(71.1)		 16.4
(61.5)		 9.8
(49.6)		 4.4
(39.9)		 16.2
(61.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) 0.0
(32.0)		 1.7
(35.1)		 6.0
(42.8)		 11.0
(51.8)		 15.4
(59.7)		 19.2
(66.6)		 20.9
(69.6)		 20.3
(68.5)		 15.2
(59.4)		 10.3
(50.5)		 5.5
(41.9)		 0.8
(33.4)		 10.5
(50.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −3.3
(26.1)		 −2.6
(27.3)		 0.7
(33.3)		 4.7
(40.5)		 8.9
(48.0)		 12.6
(54.7)		 14.1
(57.4)		 13.5
(56.3)		 9.6
(49.3)		 5.1
(41.2)		 1.7
(35.1)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 5.2
(41.4)
Record low °C (°F) −18.7
(−1.7)		 −21.9
(−7.4)		 −19.2
(−2.6)		 −7.5
(18.5)		 −1.9
(28.6)		 2.0
(35.6)		 4.3
(39.7)		 3.9
(39.0)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 −9.2
(15.4)		 −11.5
(11.3)		 −22.9
(−9.2)		 −22.9
(−9.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 31.6
(1.24)		 42.7
(1.68)		 38.7
(1.52)		 47.2
(1.86)		 68.9
(2.71)		 79.7
(3.14)		 81.4
(3.20)		 74.3
(2.93)		 83.9
(3.30)		 69.3
(2.73)		 62.9
(2.48)		 53.4
(2.10)		 733.1
(28.86)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 5.6 6.0 5.9 6.9 8.7 9.0 8.0 6.9 7.7 6.7 8.1 7.1 86.6
Average relative humidity (%) 84.0 76.1 70.9 67.7 71.3 72.4 72.6 74.7 80.7 84.6 86.1 85.9 77.3
Source: NOAA[4]


Education

High schools

Batthyány Lajos High School [5]

Dr. Mező Ferenc High School [6]

Politics

The current mayor of Nagykanizsa is László Balogh (Fidesz-KDNP).

The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 15 members (1 Mayor, 10 individual ward members and 4 compensation-list members) divided into these political parties and alliances:[7]

Party Seats Current Municipal Assembly
  Opposition coalition[lower-alpha 1] 8                
  Fidesz-KDNP 7 M              

Sport

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Nagykanizsa is twinned with:[8]

Bibliography

  • Claire Norton, "The Remembrance of the Sieges of Kanije in the Construction of Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Nationalist Identities," Parergon, 21,1 (2004), 133–154.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Detailed Gazetteer of Hungary". www.ksh.hu.
  2. ↑ Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) and Oil Production in Hungary by MAORT, 1931-1948. European Gas & Electric Company, Standard Oil Company (New Jersey). 1949. p. XIII. Retrieved January 5, 2023. [...] Magyar Amerikai Olajipari Reszvenytarsasag (better known as MAORT) was organized under the laws of Hungary in 1938 as a wholly owned subsidiary of European Gas & Electric Company [...].
  3. ↑ Anderson, Thomas (May 18, 2017). "Bagration: The Soviet Advance". The History of the Panzerwaffe. Vol. 2: 1942-45. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 293. ISBN 9781472814500. Retrieved January 5, 2023. Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen (Operation Spring Awakening) to capture oil fields in the vicinity of Lake Balaton was launched on 6 March 1945.
  4. ↑ "Nagykanizsa Climate Normals 1991-2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Kezdőlap - Batthyány Lajos Gimnázium". www.blg.hu.
  6. ↑ "Kezdőlap - Dr. Mező Ferenc Gimnázium". www.mfg.hu.
  7. ↑ "Városi közgyűlés tagjai 2019-2024 - Nagykanizsa (Zala megye)". valasztas.hu. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Testvérvárosok". nagykanizsa.hu (in Hungarian). Nagykanizsa. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
Notes
  1. ↑ Coalition of ÉVE-DK-Jobbik-MSZP-LMP-Momentum.
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