Hungary — books & literature

The story of Hungary

Hungary's story begins with the Magyar tribes who crossed the Carpathian Basin around 895 CE under the chieftain Árpád, in what is remembered as the honfoglalás (Conquest). In 1000 CE, Stephen I was crowned the first King of Hungary and converted the realm to Christianity, founding a kingdom that would endure for centuries. Medieval Hungary suffered a catastrophic Mongol invasion in 1241, then rebuilt into a major Central European power. The 1526 Battle of Mohács brought defeat by the Ottoman Empire and split the kingdom for over a century and a half, before Habsburg forces reclaimed Buda in 1686 and folded Hungary into the Austrian Empire. Nationalist uprisings, notably the 1848-1849 Revolution, pushed toward self-rule, culminating in the 1867 Compromise that created the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy. The 20th century brought upheaval: the 1920 Treaty of Trianon stripped away a large share of historic Hungarian territory, and decades of Soviet-backed communist rule followed World War II, defied briefly but fiercely in the 1956 Revolution. Hungary shed communism in 1989, declared itself a republic, and joined the European Union in 2004. Today it is known for a language unlike any of its neighbours', its composers, its thermal baths, and a literary tradition that has produced Nobel laureates.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 895

   Magyar tribes led by Árpád settle the Carpathian Basin (the honfoglalás, or Conquest).

2. 1000

   Stephen I crowned first King of Hungary; the kingdom converts to Christianity.

3. 1241-1242

   Mongol invasion devastates the kingdom.

4. 1526

   Battle of Mohács: Ottoman victory begins the kingdom's division into three parts.

5. 1686

   Buda recaptured from the Ottomans; Hungary comes under Habsburg rule.

6. 1848-1849

   Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence against Habsburg rule.

7. 1867

   Austro-Hungarian Compromise creates the dual monarchy.

8. 1920

   Treaty of Trianon redraws Hungary's borders, ceding large territories.

9. 1956

   Hungarian Revolution against Soviet-backed rule, crushed by Soviet troops.

10. 1989

    Communist rule ends; Hungary declared a republic.

Top 10 things to know about Hungary

1. Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe.
2. Budapest was formed in 1873 by uniting the towns of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest across the Danube.
3. Hungarian (Magyar) is a Uralic language, unrelated to most neighbouring languages.
4. The Rubik's Cube was invented in Budapest in 1974 by architect Ernő Rubik.
5. Budapest is often called the "City of Spas" for its many natural thermal baths.
6. Composers Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, and Zoltán Kodály were all Hungarian.
7. Hungary opening its border with Austria in 1989 helped trigger the fall of the Iron Curtain.
8. The Tokaj wine region is one of the oldest classified wine regions in the world.
9. The Hungarian Parliament Building is one of the largest legislative buildings in Europe, set on the Danube.
10. Paprika and goulash (gulyás) are central to Hungarian cuisine.

Famous people from Hungary

Say it in Hungary's language

Did you know?

• ★Hungarian belongs to the Uralic language family, making it distantly related to Finnish and Estonian but unrelated to nearly all its neighbours.
• ★The Rubik's Cube, one of the best-selling toys in history, was invented in Budapest in 1974.
• ★Budapest sits above one of the richest concentrations of thermal springs of any capital city in the world.

Hungary culture

• Thermal bath culture is a national institution, with landmark bathhouses like Széchenyi and Gellért in Budapest.
• Gulyás (goulash), a paprika-spiced meat stew, is considered the national dish.
• The Tokaj wine region, famed for its sweet Tokaji Aszú, has been a protected classification since the 18th century.
• Hungarian folk music and dance, studied and preserved by Bartók and Kodály, remain a living tradition at festivals today.

Why read Hungary's books

Hungarian literature spans a millennium, from medieval Latin chronicles to a modern canon shaped by war, exile, and a Nobel Prize in Literature , its books are as precise and inward as the language itself.