# Esztergom County

Esztergom County (Latin: comitatus Stringoniensis, Hungarian: Esztergom (vár)megye, Slovak: Ostrihomský komitát / Ostrihomská stolica / Ostrihomská župa, German: Graner Gespanschaft / Komitat Gran) was an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated on both sides of the Danube river. Its territory is now divided between Hungary and Slovakia. The territory to the north of the Danube is part of Slovakia, while the territory to the south of the Danube is part of Hungary.

## Geography

Esztergom County shared borders with the counties Bars, Hont, Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun and Komárom. Its territory comprised a 15 km strip to the west of the lower part of the Garam river and continued some 10 km south of the Danube river. Its area was 1076 km$^2$ around 1910.

## Capitals

The capital of the county was the Esztergom Castle and the town of Esztergom, then from 1543 onwards, when the territory became part of the Ottoman Empire, the county officials fled to Nagyszombat and Érsekújvár, the latter functioning as a seat (e. g. 1605–1663) and finally since 1714 the previous situation was restored.

## History

A predecessor of the county existed as early as in the 9th century, when Esztergom (Slovak: Ostrihom) was one of the most important castles of Great Moravia. The Esztergom county as a comitatus arose at the end of the 10th century as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary. The county had a special status in that since 1270 its heads were at the same time the archbishops of Esztergom.
In the aftermath of the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire Hungary came under military administration and was divided into five military districts. In 1850 Komárom and Esztergom counties were divided along the Danube: the areas north of the river (along with a small part of Győr County on the north bank and the Szőny suburb of Komárom on the southern bank), including Esztergom's Muzsla Stuhlbezirk ('seat-district'), were combined into a new Komárom county (under the German name Comorn) administered by the Military District of Preßburg; the southern parts of the traditional Komárom and Esztergom counties (the Gran (Esztergom) Land- and Stadtbezirke and Komárom's Kócs and Dotis Stuhlbezirke) were merged to form a new Gran (Esztergom) county administered by the Military District of Pest-Ofen. The districts were dissolved and traditional counties restored in 1860.
Until the later 19th century the area of Lábatlan and Piszke (now merged with Lábatlan) was an enclave belonging to Komárom county within Esztergom county.
In the aftermath of World War I, the part of Esztergom county north of the Danube became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon. The southern part remained in Hungary and merged with the southern part of Komárom county to form Komárom-Esztergom County in 1923.
Following the provisions of the First Vienna Award, the Czechoslovak part became again part of Hungary in November 1938. The old Esztergom county was recreated. After World War II, the Trianon borders were reestablished and Komárom-Esztergom County was recreated again. In 1950, it was renamed to Komárom county and received some additional territories. This county was eventually renamed to Komárom-Esztergom county again in 1990. The part of the county north of the river Danube is now in Slovakia and is part of the Nitra region.

## Demographics

In 1900, the county had a population of 87,651 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:
Total:
* Hungarian: 69,429 (79,2%)
* German: 9,995 (11,4%)
* Slovak: 7,491 (8,6%)
* Croatian: 61 (0,1%)
* Serbian: 15 (0,0%)
* Romanian: 7 (0,0%)
* Ruthenian: 1 (0,0%)
* Other or unknown: 652 (0,7%)
According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities:
Total:
* Roman Catholic: 74,017 (84,4%)
* Calvinist: 9,829 (11,2%)
* Jewish: 2,974 (3,4%)
* Lutheran: 733 (0,8%)
* Greek Catholic: 54 (0,1%)
* Greek Orthodox: 33 (0,1%)
* Unitarian: 6 (0,0%)
* Other or unknown: 5 (0,0%)

## Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Esztergom county were:
Districts (járás) :
| District | Capital |
| Esztergom | Esztergom |
| Párkány | Muzsla (now Mužla) until 1908, after Párkány (now Štúrovo) |
| Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város) ||
| Esztergom ||
Štúrovo and Mužla are now in Slovakia.