# Komárom

Komárom (Hungarian:; German: Komorn or Comorra; Latin: Brigetio, later Comaromium; Slovak: Komárno) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources refer to it as the Fortress of Comorn. On the south bank of the Danube, Komárom was formerly a separate village called Újszőny. On the northern bank of the Danube Komárom and Újszőny were connected with an iron bridge in 1892 and the two towns were united under the name city of Komárom in 1896. On 4 June 1920 the Treaty of Trianon split the city in two because the borders of Czechoslovakia were determined by the river Danube. This division separated the historical Komárom county of the Kingdom of Hungary and the city of Komárom. The bigger northern part of the city was attached to Czechoslovakia, renamed Komárno, its created a sizable Hungarian minority in present-day Slovakia. The southern part of the city, lying south of the Danube, remained in Hungary. On 2 November 1938 by the First Vienna Award, the northern part of the city was returned to Hungary and the divided Komárom reunified. At the end of World War II the city was again divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Komárno is in today's Slovakia on the northern bank of the Danube.

## History

Following the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, Prince Árpád gave Komárom and the Komárom county vicinity to tribal chieftain Ketel. Ketel was the first known ancestor of the famous Koppán (genus) clan. At the beginning of the 12th century, this tribe founded the town's Benedictine Monastery in honor of the Blessed Virgin, mentioned in 1222 by the name of Monostorium de Koppán. The Turks destroyed much of the monastery and its surroundings in 1529, and the area was thus depopulated. Later references refer to it as the Pioneer Monastery (Pusztamonostor). Presently, it is called Koppánymonostor (Koppán's Monastery) in honor of its founding family. Roman ruins (including a stone mile marker and watchtowers) still stand today.
The town was heavily damaged in the 1763 Komárom earthquake.
Between 1850 and 1871 the Fort Monostor (Monostori Erőd) was built nearby.
On 10 January 1919 the Czechoslovak army occupied the northern part of the city. On 30 April an unsuccessful Hungarian attempt was made to recapture that part of the city. On 4 June 1920 Hungary was forced to sign the Treaty of Trianon recognizing the new imposed borders including the border with Czechoslovakia. The loss of Upper-Hungary created a sizable Hungarian minority in Slovakia. The Treaty of Trianon split the city in two, the state of Czechoslovakia was formed the borders of the country on the river Danube divided the historical Komárom county and the city of Komárom. The northern part of the city, which was the bigger part of the city, became part of Czechoslovakia, the town on the northern shore was renamed to Komárno. After setting up the Czechoslovak administration, the ethnic composition of Komárno partially changed, but the Hungarians still outnumbered the Slovak population. During the years of the First Czechoslovak Republic, Komárno became the cultural and social centre of the Hungarians in Czechoslovakia. The southern part of the city remained in Hungary, called Komárom-Újváros, was for a few years the seat of the truncated Komárom County. During the interwar period, it was possible to travel between Komárom and Komárno with a passport, the only restriction was that the bridge was closed at 23:00, and people had to get back by then. On 2 November 1938 by the First Vienna Award, Komárno was returned to Hungary and the divided Komárom reunified and became a county town once again. Regent of Kingdom of Hungary, Miklós Horthy receiving a tumultuous welcome from the citizens as he crossed the old bridge and entered the formerly dismembered part. During the World War II it was bombarded many times. At the end of war the city was again divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
After World War II the occupying Soviets built the country's biggest ammunition storage in the Fortress of Monostor. Thousands of wagons of ammunition were forwarded from this strictly guarded area. One of a series of forts, the Monostor is today open to the public as a museum.
Komárom and Komárno are connected by two bridges: The older iron bridge, and a newer lifting bridge. Currently a third bridge is under construction with estimated completion by 2020/2021. The vast majority of its funding coming from the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility.
The two towns used to be a border crossing between Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia) and Hungary, until both countries became part of the Schengen Area, resulting in all immigration and customs checks being lifted on 12 December 2007.

## Notable people

* Franz Heckenast (1889–1939), Austrian artillery officer and opponent of Nazism
* Jovan Monasterlija (d. 1706), Serb vice-voivode and Habsburg imperial officer
* Julie Kopacsy-Karczag (1867–1957), operatic soprano
* Cardinal Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (1631–1707), Catholic prelate
* Franz Lehár (1870–1948), Austro-Hungarian composer
* Theodor Körner, Austrian President
* Mór Jókai (1825–1904), writer
* Hans Selye (1907–1982), Hungarian-Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist
* Tünde Szabó (1945–2021), Hungarian actress
* Péter Szijjártó (born 1978), Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
* Endre Komaromi-katz, painter

## Twin towns – sister cities

Komárom is twinned with:
* Gratwein-Straßengel, Austria
* Khust, Ukraine
* Komárno, Slovakia
* Lieto, Finland
* Naumburg, Germany
* Sebeș, Romania
* Sosnowiec, Poland