page_title: Zalaegerszeg
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Zalaegerszeg / History
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: A zalaegerszegi zsinagóga
context_page_description: Zalaegerszeg is the administrative center of Zala county in western Hungary.
context_section_description: The area was already inhabited in the Upper Paleolithic, according to archaeological findings (the oldest ones in Zala county.) Later, the area was inhabited by Celts.
  The first written mentions of the town are as Egerscug (1247) and Egerszeg (1293); the name means "alder-tree corner" and is probably a reference to the town's situation in the angle where two rivers meet. King Béla IV donated the town to the diocese of Veszprém in 1266, so that it became church property. As Egerszeg lay somewhat distant from Veszprém, however, the taxes paid by the town often ended up in the pockets of such local oligarchs as the Kőszegi family.
  In the 14th century, Egerszeg was the largest town of the area. Between 1368 and 1389, it was a royal town for a short time, then Sigismund I donated it to the Kanizsai family who traded it for another town with the bishop of Veszprém. Zalaegerszeg remained their property until 1848.
  In 1381, the town built a stone church. In 1421, Egerszeg was granted oppidum status, which meant they could pay taxes once a year and the citizens could elect their own judge. The population grew quickly, and by the 16th century, Egerszeg became the de facto centre of Zala comitatus.
  In the 1530s, development was brought to a halt. Taking advantage of the power of the king being weakened, the owners of the surrounding lands attacked the town often, and the Ottomans already began to occupy Hungary after the Battle of Mohács in 1526. From 1568, the town was fortified, a castle was built. The Ottomans attacked the town for the first time in the late 1570s, but they failed to capture it.
  After Kanizsa fell to the Ottomans, the strategic importance of Egerszeg grew, but the castle was severely damaged in 1616 and captured by the Ottomans for a short time in 1664. The citizens suffered not only from the war, but from plagues and heavy taxes as well.
  Egerszeg, even though it was on the periphery of the comitatus, became its capital in the 18th century, mostly because the councils were always held there, because of its importance in the Ottoman times and because it wasn't the estate of a local lord, unlike the other towns in Zala. The county hall was built between 1730 and 1732 in Baroque style, and for a long time it was the only significant building of the town. In the 1760s a large church and a barracks was built. Most of the citizens still not owned stone-built houses, and fires often destroyed the town, until 1826, when stone buildings were built.
  Until the early 19th century, there were only a few craftsmen and merchants in the town, because they had to pay taxes to the bishop who owned the city. By the 1830s 10% of the residents of the mostly Roman Catholic town were Jewish, but even they did not give a boost to trade. Because of this, even though the town was the centre of administration, economically and culturally it wasn't really important. Even though it had about 3,500 residents, it had only two primary schools. The cultural centres of the comitatus were Kanizsa and Keszthely.
  Zalaegerszeg played only a minor role in the revolution and freedom fight in 1848-49. In 1870, it lost its town status and became a village, which meant a decrease in prestige, even more so, since Nagykanizsa kept its town status. On May 31, 1885, Zalaegerszeg became a town again. In 1887, the village of Ola was annexed to the town. In 1890, the railway line between Ukk and Csáktornya (now Čakovec) connected Zalaegerszeg to the railway system of the country. In 1895, several new buildings were built, including a new secondary school, a town hall, a hotel, a nursery school and a brick factory, but the town ran into debt and the mayor, Károly Kovács had to resign. His successor, Lajos Botfy decreased the debt and could continue the development of the town, but in the early 20th century Zalaegerszeg was still behind the other county seats in many ways.
  The representative at the Hungarian Parliament József Farkas de Boldogfa was person of deep catholic and monarchist convictions, although he was a very tolerant and also responsible Parliament 
caption: Zalaegerszeg Synagogue
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