Sopron

For the historical county in the Kingdom of Hungary named Sopron / Ödenburg, Sopron (county).

Sopron's Fire Tower

Aerial photography: Sopron

Sopron (pronounced "shop-ron"; ) is a city in Hungary near the Austrian border. It is located at , a short train ride from Vienna.

History

Ancient times-1400s

The area has been inhabited since ancient times. When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a city called Scarbantia stood here. Its forum was where the main square of Sopron can now be found.

During the Migration Period Scarbantia was deserted and by the time Hungarians arrived in the area, it was in ruins. In the 9th–11th centuries Hungarians strengthened the old Roman city walls and built a castle. The town received its Hungarian name at this time from a castle steward named Suprun. In 1153 it was mentioned as an important town.

In 1273 King Otakar II of Bohemia occupied the castle. Even though he took the children of Sopron's nobility with him as hostages, the city opened its gates when the armies of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary arrived. The king awarded Sopron by elevating her to the rank of free royal town.

1500s-1800s

During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary the Ottoman Turks ravaged the city in 1529 but did not occupy it. Many people from the occupied areas fled to Sopron, and the city's importance grew.

The people of Sopron did not support the revolution led by Francis II Rákóczi against the Habsburgs, and because of this the armies of István Bocskai ravaged the city. In the following decades the citizens strengthened the castle and the city walls.

In 1676 Sopron was destroyed by a fire. The modern-day city was born in the next few decades, when beautiful Baroque buildings were built in place of the old medieval ones. Sopron became seat of the comitatus Sopron.

1900s

Following the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, four western Hungarian counties were awarded to Austria in the Treaties of St.Germain (1919) and Trianon (1920). After local unrest, Sopron's status as part of Hungary (along with that of the surrounding eight villages) was decided by a local plebiscite held on December 14, 1921, with 65% voting for Hungary. Since then Sopron has been called Civitas Fidelissima ("The Most Loyal Town", ), and the anniversary of the plebiscite is a city holiday. The other three counties today form the Austrian federal state of Burgenland.

Sopron suffered greatly during World War II, as it was bombed several times. The Soviet Red Army occupied the city on March 6, 1945. In August 1989 It was the site of the Pan-European Picnic, a protest by anti-communist activists on the border between Austria and Hungary, which was used by over 200 citizens of East Germany to cross illegally to the west. As the first successful crossing of the border it helped pave the way for the mass flight of East German citizens that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

During the Socialist era the government unsuccessfully tried to turn Sopron into an industrial city, allowing the city to remain an attractive site for tourists.

Wine production

Sopron is a significant wine producing region, one of the few in Hungary to make both red and white wines. Grapes include Kékfrankos for red wine and Traminer (Gewürztraminer) for white wine. In climate it is similar to the neighbouring Burgenland wine region in Austria, and several winemakers make wine in both countries.

Architecture

The architecture of the old section of town reflects its long history; walls and foundations from the Roman Empire are still common, together with a wealth of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque structures, often artistically decorated, showing centuries of stability and prosperity.

There is an old synagogue and other remains from the town's former Jewish community, which was expelled in the 16th century.

Sopron: Encyclopedia BETA

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