Editing Szeged (section)

== History ==
[[File:KassVigadóKJ.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Early 20th-century postcard]]

Szeged and its area have been inhabited since ancient times. [[Ptolemy]] mentions the oldest known name of the city: ''Partiscum'' ([[Ancient Greek]]: Πάρτισκον<ref>Klaudios Ptolemaios. Handbuch der Geographie. Griechisch-Deutsch. Herausgegeben von Alfred Stückelberger und Gerd Graßhoff. Schwabe Verlag Basel. 2006, p. 310-311</ref>)''.'' It is possible that [[Attila the Hun|Attila]], king of the [[Huns]] had his seat somewhere in this area. The name Szeged was first mentioned in 1183, in a document of King [[Béla III]].

In the second century AD there was a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[trading post]] established on an island in the [[Tisza]], and the foundations of the Szeged castle suggest that the structure may have been built over an even earlier fort. Today only one corner of the castle still remains standing.<ref>Szeged by Dr. Trogmayer Ottó</ref>

During the [[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongol invasion]] the town was destroyed and its inhabitants fled to the nearby swamps, but they soon returned and rebuilt their town. In the 14th century, during the reign of [[Louis I of Hungary|Louis the Great]], Szeged became the most important town of Southern Hungary, and – as the [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Turkish armies]] got closer to Hungary – the strategic importance of Szeged grew. King [[Sigismund of Luxembourg]] had a [[city wall|wall]] built around the town. Szeged was raised to [[free royal town]] status in 1498.

Szeged was first pillaged by the [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Army]] on 28 September 1526, but was occupied only in 1543, and became an administrative centre of the Ottomans (see [[Ottoman Hungary]]). The town was a [[sanjak]] centre first in [[Budin Province, Ottoman Empire|Budin Eyaleti]] (1543–1596), after in [[Eğri Eyalet]]i. The town was freed from Turkish rule on 23 October 1686, and regained the free royal town status in 1715. In 1719, Szeged received its [[coat of arms]] (still used today) from [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles III]]. During the next several years, Szeged grew and prospered. [[Piarists|Piarist]] monks arrived in Szeged in 1719 and opened a new grammar school in 1721. Szeged also held scientific lectures and theatrical plays. These years brought not only prosperity but also enlightenment. Between 1728 and 1744 [[Witch trials in the early modern period|witch trials]] were frequent in the town, with the [[Szeged witch trials]] of 1728–29 perhaps being the largest. The witch trials were instigated by the authorities, who decided on this measure to remove the problem of the public complaints about the drought and its consequences of famine and epidemics by laying the responsibility on people among them, which had fraternized with the Devil.  In 1720, the ethnic [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] population of the town numbered about 13000 to 16000, while the number of the [[Serbs|Serb]] inhabitants was 1300.<ref>Ádám Fejér, Magyarok és szlávok. (Konferencia, Szeged, 1991. május 30-31). Szerk. Fejér Ádám, H. Tóth Imre stb. (Kiad. a JATE Szláv Filológiai Tansz.), József Attila Tudományegyetem, 1993, p. 262, {{ISBN|9789634819929}}</ref>

The first printing press was established in 1801, and the old town hall and the civil hospital were built at the same time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Farkas |first=József |title=Szeged Története 2 1686-1849 |date=1985 |pages=699 |language=Hungarian}}</ref>

Szeged is known as the home of [[paprika]], a spice made from dried, powdered [[capsicum]] fruits. Paprika arrived in Hungary in the second half of the 16th century as an ornamental plant. About 100 years later the plant was cultivated as an herb, and paprika as we know it.<ref name="paprika">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vickery.tv/acatalog/Paprika.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728021200/http://www.vickery.tv/acatalog/Paprika.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 July 2009|title=Vickery TV Paprika (Hungary)|date=28 July 2009}}</ref> Szeged is also famous for their [[szekelygulyas]], a [[goulash]] made with [[pork]], [[sauerkraut]] and [[sour cream]].<ref name="szekelygulyas">{{Cite web|url=https://www.talktalk.co.uk/notices/web-space-closing.html?accessurl=http://www.fourman.dsl.pipex.com/recipes/szekelygulyas.html|title=TalkTalk Webspace is closing soon!!|website=www.talktalk.co.uk}}</ref> And also famous for their [[halászlé]], [[fish soup]] made of [[carp]] and [[catfish]].

The citizens of Szeged played an important part in the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]]. [[Lajos Kossuth]] delivered his famous speech here. Szeged was the last seat of the revolutionary government in July 1849. The [[Habsburg]] rulers punished the leaders of the town, but later Szeged began to prosper again; the railway reached it in 1854, and the town got its free royal town status back in 1860. Mark Pick's shop – the predecessor of today's Pick [[Salami]] Factory – was opened in 1869.
[[File:Szeged, Dugonics tér a nagyárvízkor, szemben a Kálvária-sugárút. Fortepan 15599.jpg|thumb|Szeged during the flood of 1879]]
Today the inner city of Szeged has wide avenues. This is mainly due to the great [[flood]] of 1879, which wiped away the whole town (only 265 of the 5723 houses remained and 165 people died). Emperor [[Franz Joseph]] visited the town and promised that "Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be". He kept his promise, and during the next years a new, modern city emerged from the ruins, with palaces and wide streets.

===20th century===
[[File:Széchenyi tér, a Zsótér-ház előtti szélesebb járda. Szemben a Kossuth Lajos sugárút torkolata. Fortepan 3593.jpg|thumb|left|Shoppers in Szeged, 1929]]

After the [[Hungary in World War I|First World War]] Hungary lost its southern territories to [[Serbia]], as a result Szeged became a city close to the [[border]], and its importance lessened, but as it took over roles that formerly belonged to the now lost cities, it slowly recovered. Following the Loss of [[Transylvania]] to Romania, University of Kolozsvár (now [[Cluj-Napoca]]), moved to Szeged in 1921 (see [[University of Szeged]]). In 1923 Szeged took over the role of [[Bishop|episcopal]] seat from Temesvár (now [[Timișoara]], Romania). It was briefly occupied by the [[Romanian army]] during [[Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919|Hungarian-Romanian War]] in 1919. It also became a center for right-wing forces which would install [[Miklós Horthy]] as the country's new leader after the overthrow of the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781316137024/type/book|title=The Cambridge History of Communism|date=2017-09-21|volume=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-13702-4|editor-last=Pons|editor-first=Silvio|edition=1|doi=10.1017/9781316137024|editor-last2=Smith|editor-first2=Stephen A.}}</ref> During the 1920s the Jewish population of Szeged grew and reached its zenith.

[[File:Partfürdő, háttérben a Felső-Tiszapart, a PICK szalámigyárral. Fortepan 8569.jpg|thumb|Swimmers at Szeged, 1939]]

Szeged suffered heavily during [[Hungary in World War II|World War II]]. 6,000 inhabitants of the city were killed, In 1941, there were 4,161 Jews living in Szeged. After, March 19, 1944 [[Operation Margarethe|German occupation]], they were confined to a [[Nazi ghettos|ghetto]] together with the Jews from surrounding villages. In June, 1944, the ghetto was liquidated. The [[Nazis]] murdered the larger part of the 8,500 and some were forced into [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labor]] in Strasshof Labor camp, Austria.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database -- Szeged, Hungary Deportation List|url=https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=49448&r=p|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.ushmm.org}}</ref> Szeged was captured by [[Red Army|Soviet]] troops of the [[Steppe Front|2nd Ukrainian Front]] on 11 October 1944 in the course of the [[Battle of Debrecen]]. During the communist era, Szeged became a centre of [[light industry]] and [[food industry]]. In 1965, [[Petroleum|oil]] was found near the city.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

In 1962, Szeged became the county seat of [[Csongrád-Csanád County|Csongrád]]. Whole new districts were built, and many nearby villages (e.g. [[Tápé]], [[Szőreg]], Kiskundorozsma, [[Szentmihálytelek]], [[Gyálarét]]) were annexed to the city in 1973 (as was a tendency during the [[Hungarian People's Republic|Communist era]]).

Today's Szeged is an important university town and a tourist attraction.

The [[Szeged Symphony Orchestra]] (Szegedi Szimfonikus Zenekar) gives regular concerts at the Szegedi Nemzeti Színház.<ref>[http://www.symph-szeged.hu/ Szeged Symphony Orchestra website], accessed 6 August 2012.</ref>