Topoľčany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Topoľčany (Slovak: Veľké Topoľčany before 1920; German: (Groß)topoltschan; Hungarian: Nagytapolcsány) is a town in the Nitra Region of Slovakia. The population as of 2005 was 28,945.
The name Topoľčany was assumed to be derived from "topoľ", Slovak for poplar tree. Groves of these trees were once abundant on the banks of the Nitra River. Recent studies show that this name is derived from Old-Slavonic "topol" meaning "warm, hot", for there were hot springs in early medieval times.
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[edit] History
Founded in the 9th century, Topoľčany was a regional market centre during the Middle Ages located on the western bank of the Nitra River and on a crossroad of trade routes.
During the 12th century and 13th century, Topoľčany was owned by Csak family, its most famous member being Matthew Csak. In the 15th century, the town was conquered and held by the Hussites for few years.
During the 16th and 17th centuries there were a few large-scale fires that destroyed substantial parts of the city. Because the town was only 60 km north of the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy, Topoľčany was often raided by the Ottoman Turks during the Ottoman wars in Europe, notably in years 1599 and 1643, when many citizens were taken into slavery. The town's population stagnated as a result.
For most of its history Topoľčany's population was ethnically mixed. While the rural population was almost purely Slovak, the urban population consisted of Carpathian Germans, Jews, and Magyars. Jews immigrated to the town during the 16th-18th centuries. This ethnic mix came to an end in the first part of the 20th century, as industrialization attracted Slovaks from surrounding areas and the number of Magyars decreased after the creation of Czechoslovakia following World War I.
The Jewish (about 3,200 people) and German population substantially decreased during World War II. The 550 Jews from Topoľčany who survived the Holocaust and returned to their homes found themselves strangers in their native city, without property and in many cases without citizenship. Because most of the Jews in Topoľčany spoke Hungarian or German, they had declared their ethnicity in the last pre-war Czechoslovak census as Magyar or German instead of Jewish or Slovak. The Beneš decrees after World War II expelled Hungarian and German-speakers, both Jewish and Christian in religious creed. Also, most of Topoľčany's pre-war businesses were owned by Jews, but were taken over by Slovaks during the war. Jews that survived the war fled after a pogrom of 24 September 1945 that injured a few dozen people (some say it was because of a rumour that a Jewish doctor was injecting children with a poisonous serum, another version states that the Jews wanted to take over local monastery school). Because of these actions, all of the remaining Jewish population emigrated.
[edit] Population
Topoľčany is predominantly Slovak-inhabited, with small minorities of Roma and Magyars. From 2004-05 there were also numbers of Czechs and Poles, as the city was the host of a joint Slovak-Czech-Polish military operation meant to prepare Slovakia for joining NATO.
The majority of the population is Roman Catholic (there are two churches of this denomination including one on the central square), although there is also a minority of Protestants (one church). The historical synagogue was destroyed by fire during World War II.
Large army barracks are located in the city, as during the Communist era there were about 2,000 troops stationed in the town. The surrounding forests are full of unused bunkers.
[edit] Industry
There are four main industries in Topoľčany - Topvar brewery (SABMiller holding), kitchen furniture producer Decodom, cableware producer SEWS (owned by a Japanese company), and the clothing company Ozeta (producer of suits and jackets). The large "ZTS" factory , a heavy machinery producer in neighboring Tovarníky, is no longer a major employer.
[edit] Education
Educational infrastructure is made by kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools (both universal and specialised) and a branch of a Bratislava-based university. However, most youth from the city head to Nitra, Bratislava, or Trnava for higher education.
[edit] Famous residents
- Miroslav Šatan (born 1974), hockey player
- Ľubomir Višňovský (born 1976), hockey player
- Rudolf Vrba (1924-2006), professor and escapee of Auschwitz
[edit] External links
- Municipal website (Slovak)
- Topoľčany portal (Slovak)
- Topoľčany portal (Slovak)
- Topoľčany forum (Slovak)
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