Hungarians in Cieszyn
For long centuries Cieszyn Silesia was situated on the crossroads of a number of important roads and trade routes, it also shared borders with several countries, each of which represented a slightly different culture and civilisation. Each of them left their mark on the history of the region around the River Olza. One of the countries with which Cieszyn Silesia bordered for hundreds of years was the Kingdom of Hungary. In fact, although it concerns so-called Upper Hungary, today’s Slovakia, the common state border meant that the kingdom of the Piast dynasty on the Olza, from the Middle Ages onwards, was often dependent on events taking place on the Danube. Often these contacts were not positive; border raids in both directions, sometimes more aggressive attacks, for example the assault by the Hungarians on Jablunkov (in Polish: Jabłonków) in 1447 or on Bielsko in 1682. The apogee of Hungarian aggression occurred during the time of the Turkish wars and the insurrection of Bethlen Gabor and Bocskay. For this reason the southern border of the Cieszyn Duchy was fortified, the so-called Jabłonków entrenchments were built, and Prince Adam Wacław was appointed leader of the defence of Silesia against threats from the south.
It was not only war that came from the south. The Walachs, who started arriving from the 16th century onwards, along the ridges of the Carpathians ended up colonising the Beskid Mountains, up until then unsettled, which gave new impetus to the economic life of the region. The presence of the Walachs changed the ethnic make-up of the Silesian-Hungarian borderlands sparking off a long-lasting border conflict which was never resolved. It never went beyond legal considerations, however, since from the 17th century onward both countries formed part of one empire ruled by the Habsburgs. Nonetheless the only Hungarians that Cieszyn people most frequently came into contact with were officers visiting the town for various reasons.
This situation changed in the second half of the 19th century, even though in 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was transformed into the dualistic Austro-Hungarian state. The Hungarian Kingdom had nominally become an independent country with separate legislature, whose subjects in so-called Cis-Leithania were treated as the citizens of a foreign state. These were, in fact, only formal problems since there was just one army, while the increase in social mobility and improvements in transport meant that more and more contacts were possible both within the countries and between them.
In the second half of the 19th century, along with the introduction of the system of local government and modern social and economic conditions, the relations between different representatives of the nations in Cieszyn Silesia also began to change. These changes affected every aspect of life, and political and military considerations, which up to that time had been the most conspicuous, were replaced by economic and social issues, not least the use of leisure time by the increasingly affluent citizens of Cieszyn. The time of restaurants and cafés had come, where specialities of Hungarian cuisine were well represented. One of the first people in Cieszyn to promote the cuisine of the town’s southern neighbours was Josef Ardon, the leaseholder of the Hotel Pod złotym wołem. He opened the restaurant in 1885 after completely redecorating it. Hungarian wine, particularly Tokay, began to be imported to Cieszyn in large quantities (for example by the well known firm of Ferdinand Ziffer). Hungarian music was another non-material sign of the presence in Cieszyn of its southern neighbours. Even though in fashionable restaurants, cafés and hotels at that time Viennese music tended to predominate, the more lively rhythms of the Danube also found many admirers. The press of the time only reported some of the concerts, such as the performances of Benna Gyula’s gypsy band, the National Orchestra of Hungary in 1886 or Orpheumgesellschaft from Budapest in 1893. All of this deepened the interest of Cieszyn Silesia in its southern neighbour – a country at hand, but always somehow mysterious.
Cieszyn had other, more direct, ties with the Magyars at that time. These were caused by the Bohumin-Koąice railway line, whose construction was begun in 1867 starting in Bohumin. In the following year the Cieszyn railway station’s foundation stone was laid and in 1869 the first stretch of the track from Bohumin to Cieszyn was ready. Two years later the rest of the line from Cieszyn to the Hungarian border in Csacsa was ready. From then on more and more travellers from Hungary began to pass through Cieszyn, the majority of them going towards Bohumin and Hamburg, and from there onward to America. Cieszyn gained a direct connection with Budapest and other Hungarian cities via Koąice. For the Hungarians the railway had strategic importance; it offered the fastest link to Germany.
The Bohumin-Koąice line was owned by an Austro-Hungarian company in which an Anglo-Austrian Bank played the leading role. Taking advantage of the weakening of the Viennese authorities after the defeat in the war with the Prussians in 1866, the company acquired many concessions and a very privileged position even with respect to state governments. The Head Office was based in Budapest from 1869 onwards, since four fifths of the railway ran through the Hungarian Kingdom and only one fifth of it through land belonging to Austria, i.e. Cieszyn Silesia. It was this region, however, well populated and swiftly becoming industrialised, that brought most gains for the railway. The railway established a Rail Traffic Control based in Bohumin, which was transferred to Cieszyn in 1873, to run the Austrian section. It also carried out the function of an inspectorate and later superintendency for the Austrian section of the line.
The official language on the Hungarian section of the line was Hungarian and on the Austrian – German. The directors in Budapest much preferred to employ Hungarians in the Cieszyn inspectorate, than Austrian citizens on the stretch passing through the Hungarian Kingdom. The first inspector in Cieszyn, later the superintendent of rail traffic, Franz Illich, had a similar policy although he had been born in Vienna. For this reason large numbers of railway employees who were either Hungarian or had Hungarian citizenship began to appear in Cieszyn. Many of them took an active part in the life of the town, for example by joining associations which operated there. The railway’s management, owing to the importance of the railway for Cieszyn, made their presence felt in the government of the town. Franz Illich took part in Town Council meetings as the representative of the railway, and was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Cieszyn in 1893. At that time even the clock on the castle tower in Cieszyn was set to Budapest time.
In the 1880s employees on the Bohumin-Koąice railway and their families, along with officers stationed in the Cieszyn garrison formed a group of several dozen, distinguishable by their different uniform bearing the emblems of the Hungarian Monarchy. Their children attended the schools in Cieszyn, sometimes to the advantage of both sides. For example, Juliusz Kerékjárto, son of the senior engineer on the Bohumin-Koąice line and hailed as a violin virtuoso before the First World War, was a pupil of Cieszyn’s famous music school. Not only the Hungarians living in Cieszyn felt the need for community activities; the Czechs, who were not much more numerous than the Hungarians, had led the way, founding the Snaha literary and society club in the years 1882/1883.
There was also a man who, although a Hungarian, was linked to Cieszyn Silesia by genealogical ties. It was Baron Karl Kloch de Kornis et Bostvin, the descendant of the famous Cieszyn aristocratic family the Klochs of Kornice and Bestwina. At that time he worked for the Bohumin-Koąice railway in Cieszyn as a railway traffic controller. In the summer 1885, on his initiative, discussions began on the need to found an association for the Hungarian community. A plan for the statute was drawn up, and then a temporary steering group for the association was appointed. By August of the same year, Baron Kloch was elected as provisional president of the new association. According to its statute, the association was to steer clear of politics, emphasising social life and educational aspects, including knowledge about the culture and life of the Hungarian nation. It was to be open to everyone, not only Hungarians, which led the correspondent of the Silesia to predict, accurately as it turned out, that the activities of the Hungarian association would find many supporters among the various circles of the Cieszyn populace. At the moment the plan of the statute was approved, 45 people had already expressed a desire to join the association. The plan of the statute was sent to the Silesian National Government in Opava to be approved, which took place a year later in July 1886, after its contents had been thoroughly examined and various amendments had been made.
This permitted the convening of a constitutional meeting of the Hungarian Club in Cieszyn, known from then on as Tescheni magyar társadalmi kör (in German; Ungarische Geselligkeits-Club). It took place on 8 August 1886 in the saloon of the Hotel Pod brunatnym Jeleniem in Cieszyn and its main purpose was to elect the association’s constitutional officers. It will come as no surprise to learn that Baron Karl Kloch de Kornis et Bostvin was elected president, with the vice-president being Ferdinand Koniakowski, the inspector of the Bohumin-Koąice railway. Apart from them the Hungarian Club consisted of a cashier, controller, secretary and six committee members. Consistent with expectations and the association’s founding principles, there were many non-Hungarians among the 60 members who officially joined the association. Fascination with and encouragement for the activities of Tescheni magyar társadalmi kör grew with every passing day, one of the reasons for which was that Hungarians were beyond the daily rivalry which took place in Cieszyn and the whole of Cieszyn Silesia between Polish, German and Czech activists and their communities. The newspaper Gwiazda Cieszyńska, did not mention either the founding or activities of the new organisation, from which it ought to be concluded that the leaders of the Polish nationalist movement considered the Hungarians to be on too friendly terms with the German camp.
Observing the Hungarian Club’s beginnings one can conclude that the committee deliberately tried to create as positive an image of the Hungarian nation and state as possible among Cieszyn people. The organisational skill, exoticness of the customs and costumes, natural charm of Hungarian men (particularly army officers) towards women, attractions of Hungarian cuisine and the lively music all combined to fascinate the people of Cieszyn and for a long time animated the social life of the town. In November 1886 the Hungarian club organised a ladies’ night in the Hotel Pod brunatnym Jeleniem. The highlights of the evening were a virtuoso performance on the pipes of Pan by Johann Csillag, a successful artist who performed in Berlin and Munich; and dancing to a folk band from Liptos St. Miklos (now Liptovský Sv. Mikulaą). The guests danced well into the night to the tune of the Hungarian czardas and the success of the event won the Hungarian Club new friends and members.
Similar “evenings” were organised after that one. In the following years Tescheni magyar társadalmi kör organised special Hungarian Balls, unfailingly considered to be one of the greatest attractions of the Cieszyn carnival. The finest gypsy orchestras, brought specially from Budapest, played at them. Other events such as sleigh rides were organised. The first of them took place in 1887, when the invited guests went by sleigh to nearby Třinec, where they were warmly welcomed by the staff of the Třinec steelworks with Hungarian music played by the works’ orchestra. It was a marvellous opportunity for singing and dancing and the guests returned to Cieszyn in high spirits where they continued the party in the club’s rooms along with members of the Czech association SNAHA. Apart from that the Hungarian Club organised talks on the history and culture of Hungary, outings in the country, and occasionally parties just for the employees of the Bohumin-Koąice railway and their families. The club’s premises were first located in the Hotel Austria, later in Seemann’s house in Sachsenberg, and from 1 April 1894 in the newly opened house of the restaurateur Ladislaus Kuchejda on ul. Garncarska, and finally in the restaurant owned by Kuchejda in Aleje arcyksięcia Albrechta.
Midway through 1887, at the time of the statutory annual general meeting on 12 June, the Hungarian Club in Cieszyn boasted 146 members. Owing to Baron Kloch’s transfer to Bohumin and then to Žilina, railway traffic controller Augustin Palásthy was voted president of the association with Ludwig Barna as vice-president. The manager of rail traffic on the Cieszyn section of the Bohumin-Koąice railway and superintendent, Franz Illich, was voted honorary president. The next president of the Hungarian Club in Cieszyn was Emanuel Verbir, controller of rail traffic. Following the death of Franz Illich in 1893, Anton Kóri took over his position as manager of rail traffic and superintendent on the Cieszyn section of the Bohumin-Koąice railway. In the following year, during the statutory annual general meeting in March 1894, he was also elected president of the Hungarian Club. Baron Karl Kloch, who had returned for some time to Cieszyn as senior controller of rail traffic, was elected vice-president. For more than ten years Anton Kóri remained president, and the testimony of the importance played by the railway in the life of the countries in the monarchy at the turn of the 20th century is the fact that in his, to be honest, provincial position gained the honour of being an imperial advisor, was awarded many honours, and in addition the Prussian medal of the Red Eagle, the commander’s cross of the Bulgarian medal of Civil Service, the commandery of the Bulgarian medal of St. Alexander and the Royal Serbian King Takov’s order. After retiring in 1911, he was raised to the Hungarian nobility with the style “von Fenyöhazi”.
At the beginning of the 20th century the internal situation in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy underwent changes, and the position of Hungarians with respect to the authorities in Vienna weakened. This was also reflected in the management of the Bohumin-Koąice railway, whose importance for the government in Vienna in the face of imminent war had increased, and therefore explained the efforts of the Viennese board to re-impose more direct control. After the short “reigns” of senior inspector Gustav Willheim, the manager of rail traffic in Cieszyn gained wider powers, and subsequently the Tyrolean court advocate Dr Herrmann Tschiggfrey, formerly director of the state railway in Černiovce, Bukovina, was appointed director. He began to lay off Hungarian railway workers, and in their place employ people from Alpine countries. The result of this was the swift fall in the number of Hungarians living in Cieszyn and the decline of the Hungarian Club. After the departure of Anton Kóri there were problems with finding a successor to be president of the association, but the deciding incident was the liquidation of the management of rail traffic in Cieszyn and the transfer of Hungarian staff to Koąice. As a consequence the Hungarian Club was disbanded on 1 December 1913. In 1914 it was no longer to be found in the register of active associations in Cieszyn.
In this way, after almost thirty years of existence, the association founded by native Hungarians in Cieszyn disappeared. Of course it did not mark the end of Hungarian-Cieszyn contacts, whose history awaits further research.
This text is a shortened version of the article by the same author; Tescheni magyar társadalmi kör. Przyczynek do dziejów Węgrów w Cieszynie na przełomie XIX i XX wieku, „Watra” Bielsko-Biała – Cieszyn 1996, pp. 87-93.