ALAEDDİN KÜYÜK

After more than two months spent in Budapest, I was able to go outside of Hungary for the first time by going to Bratislava last month. After returning from Bratislava, I continued to explore Budapest and its surroundings.

It was time to explore other cities in Hungary. I chose Debrecen as the first city to go to. They said that Debrecen is a city not worth going to, or staying there for one day or two days would be enough even if you go. However, I did not think that way. After all, it is the second-largest city in Hungary and has an important place in Hungarian history. I hit the road as thinking that it contains many beauties worth exploring.

While taking a glance at information about the city before I go, I learned that the name of the city is derived from the Old Turkic word “debresin” which means “alive” or “movement”. Maybe it has something to do with the word “depreşmek” that we Turks use in daily life.

Debrecen is a city located on the eastern end of Hungary. Close to Oradea. You can reach Debrecen from Budapest in two and a half hours by train departing from Nyugati railway station. I recommend you choose InterCity trains, it arrives earlier. The journey was also very comfortable. The only downside was that the wi-fi connection was very bad.

My Debrecen adventure started a little unluckily. Since I thought Debrecen was the last stop, I didn’t get off when the train arrived in Debrecen because there were still passengers inside. When I looked at Google Maps and realized I was in Debrecen, it was too late. Then I got off at Nyíregyháza and got on an old compartment train to go back to Debrecen. Thank God, I didn’t miss the last train.

They say that Gypsies live intensely in eastern Hungary, especially after Nyíregyháza. The most populous minority in Hungary are Gypsies.

The first thing that caught my attention when I started touring Debrecen was the abundance of ugly Soviet blocks in the city. I encountered a similar situation in Bratislava. These concrete piles have collapsed on the city like a nightmare. Even though this empire of fear that has plagued humanity has mingled in the garbage of history, it has left behind these ugly memories that always keep people’s hatred alive. Beautiful Hungarian architecture and heinous Soviet buildings stand side by side. A quarter of Hungarians live in these blocks. A very high rate. I don’t think the people living in these buildings will have healthy psychology exactly. Fortunately, this era that was a shame for human history is over anymore.

I had argued with a friend o’ mine whether this ugliness belongs to the Russians or communism. He had argued that we could see beautiful architecture and splendid cities instead of this ugly architecture in the scenario of communism coming to power in the USA. I don’t agree with this opinion. Regardless of which nation is infected by this trouble, it will produce ugliness. People can’t be equal by nature. If you think that the only problem of humanity is the unequal sharing of income, you drag civilization towards such destruction.

It was not the right time to go to Debrecen. Because it was Christmas time, the city was completely like a ghost city. When the rain on the first day was added to this, I felt like I was in a car game without people and traffic. However, I came to Debrecen by thinking that it would be better than staying there as I didn’t have anything to do in Budapest.

During Christmas time, people living in cities celebrate Christmas by going to their homes in the countryside and spending time with their families. Christmas preparations start weeks ago. This period until Christmas is called “Advent”. Christians count the days until the anniversary of Jesus’ birth during this period. Christmas markets are set up in almost every city in Europe. The Christmas markets in Budapest and Bratislava were very beautiful. Besides these, the Christmas market in Debrecen is quite modest.

I pay attention to try the traditional dishes of the cities I visit. I tried “krumplilángos (csirkés mindenes)” at the Christmas market in Debrecen too. It was a very tasty dish that was quite suitable for Turkish taste. It has roughly the same ingredients and the same taste as a “tavuk dürüm”, but imagine they were content with folding the lavash in half in the shape of a half-moon instead of wrapping it. It’s not a very logical presentation, but Hungarians are happy with this.

The presentation of doner kebab in Hungary is also different. If you want to eat doner kebab, you have two options: pita and tortilla. Pita is a small, round, white bread. They fill the ingredients into it. It is very difficult to eat without spilling. Interestingly, everyone is happy with this. Something like our dürüm comes if you want tortilla but it’s more open again.

If your first stop in Hungary is not Debrecen, many place names that you are familiar with will naturally appear again: Kossuth tér, Rákóczi utca, Arany János tér, Kálvin tér… These are important characters in Hungarian history. It is necessary to say something about them.

Lajos Kossuth and Francis II Rákóczi are two of the Hungarians’ national heroes. Lajos Kossuth was one of the leaders of the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the war of independence of the Hungarians against the Austrian Empire ruled by the Habsburgs. The anniversary of the beginning of this revolution is celebrated as one of Hungary’s three national holidays. He took refuge in us after the revolution. The house he lived in Kütahya from 1850 to 1851 is now a museum. He has sculptures erected in his name in the most central places of Budapest and Debrecen.

Francis II Rákóczi is a historical character who is closely related to us too. His picture is on the 500 Forint banknote. He was exiled by the Habsburg Empire after the war that ended in 1711 while he was a nobleman who led the Hungarians who rebelled against the Habsburgs between 1703 and 1711. After living in various countries, he accepted the invitation of the Turkish Empire and settled in our lands. He lived in Tekirdağ for 20 years until he died in 1735. The house where he lived in Tekirdağ is a museum bearing his name today. Hungarians call Tekirdağ “Rodostó”. There are photographs of this house and Tekirdağ at Déri Museum in Debrecen. There is also a document that the Ottoman tughra attracts my attention but I could not understand because I could not read Ottoman Turkish. However, it may be the document that Sultan Ahmed III invited Francis II Rákóczi to live in our lands.

János Arany is a Hungarian poet who studied at the University of Debrecen, known as the “Shakespeare of Ballads”. His more than 102 ballads have been translated into many languages. He has translated Shakespeare and Aristophanes.

Hungarians write given names after surnames. So Kossuth, Rákóczi and Arany are surnames. And Lajos, Ferenc, and János —the Hungarian versions of Luis, Francis, and John— are given names. This is how we Turks used to write too. After the Surname Law in 1934, we started to write given names first.

Unlike these names, Jean Calvin is not Hungarian, but French. He is the leader of Calvinism founded around his ideas. He lived between 1509 and 1564. Understanding this sect is important for understanding Western civilization. One of the factors that enabled Western civilization to get rid of scholastic thoughts exposed by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages to dominate the world is the ideas that form the core of Calvinism.

What are these? Calvin opposed the traditional understanding of religion represented by the Catholic Church and argued that they should return to the essence of Christianity. Diligence and honesty are the most important principles of this sect. According to Calvin, luxury living was an unacceptable lifestyle. Before Calvin, it was argued that Christians should be poor people like dervishes in Islam. He opposed this idea and exhorted his followers to work constantly and thus earn money. He argued that lazy people are those whom God has cursed.

Today, the Protestant Church in Hungary has around 2,500,000 followers. There are also Lutherans but the majority of Protestants in Hungary are Calvinists. Catholics make up the largest religious group, with a rate close to 40 percent. However, this situation is different in Debrecen. So much so that two of the nicknames of the city are “Calvinist Rome” and “Geneva of Hungary”. Why they call Geneva is that Calvin was able to express his ideas and make them carried out there.

Roughly, a quarter of Debrecen is Calvinist while one-tenth is Catholic. After the Reformation, the city came under the rule of first Lutherans, then Calvinists. In 1551, the Calvinist government of the city banned Catholicism in Debrecen. Seven years later, we conquered the city. For 135 years, it remained under our sovereignty as a sanjak with the name “Debreçin” of respectively Budin, Eğri, and Varat eyalets.

After the city came under the rule of the Habsburg Empire, Catholics were allowed to build a church in the city and by this means St. Anne’s Cathedral, which I photographed, was built in 1715. In comparison with the Protestant churches in the city, the more magnificent architecture of St. Anne’s Cathedral stands out. This baroque church was built in 1721 and was dedicated to Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, in 1746.

This Catholic church has the typical Baroque architecture of many Hungarian churches, large or small. You can come across this architecture very often in Hungary. For example, you can observe this baroque architecture and its magnificent towers in Saint Anne Parish, Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the University Church in Budapest. I thought this architecture was unique to Catholic churches, but there is the same architectural style in St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Budapest.

The most important landmark of Debrecen is the Reformed Great Church. It is located in the middle of the city and overlooks Piac Street. The Christmas market is set up in the square in front of it. There is also Debrecen Eye and Lajos Kossuth Monument in the same area. This yellow church was built between 1805-1824 in Neoclassical style. As in many Protestant churches, the interior is painted white and unpretentious. I recommend you to visit the church and climb its tower. Inside the church, you will see models of some historical places and buildings: Jerusalem, the Tower of Babel, the Diana Temple in Ephesus… There are many pictures, along with informative texts that recount the history of the Middle East.

Debrecen became the capital of Hungary even though for a short time in 1849 after the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The Hungarian Revolutionary Government fled from Budapest to Debrecen in 1849, and Lajos Kossuth declared the independence of Hungary in April 1849 in this church by announcing the removal of the Habsburgs from the Hungarian throne. Of course, this could not happen because the revolution was suppressed.

The symbol of Debrecen is the phoenix. It symbolizes the rise of the city from its ashes every time although the city has been destroyed many times in history. You can see the phoenix at the top of the coat of arms of Debrecen.

After the loss of the war against the Russians, an ally of the Habsburg Empire, near the western part of the city during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the city gradually began to develop again. Subsequently, after the First World War, a significant part of Hungary was left to Romania with the Trianon Treaty, which was a complete disaster for the Hungarians, and the Romanian Army occupied the city for a short time in 1919. Finally, in the Second World War, the city was almost destroyed. During this battle, the total military casualties of both sides (Germans and Hungarians on one side, Russians and Romanians on the other) were more than 150,000.

As it can be seen, the history of Hungary is full of wars. You can easily understand this situation is inevitable when you look at the map. Since Hungary is located in the middle of three powerful nations, it has been a battleground throughout history: the Turks, the Russians, and the Germanic peoples (the Austrians and the Germans).

The Derí Museum I mentioned is very close to the Reformed Great Church and has a beautiful building. Many artifacts belong to the Neolithic, Japan, and Ancient Egypt in the museum. In another room, weapons of different nations are exhibited. Of course, there are Ottoman weapons too. It made me very happy to see the rifles and swords of our ancestors. They were all very charismatic weapons. Besides, you can also see German, Italian and Iranian weapons.

The most interesting part of the museum was the paintings. Many Hungarian painters’ paintings are exhibited here: Gyula Benczúr, János Jankó, Mihály Munkácsy, Miklós Barabás… The most impressive part was the realist painter Mihály Munkácsy’s large-scale trilogy: Christ in front of Pilate, Golgotha and Ecce Homo.

The first picture depicts Jesus coming in front of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. In the second picture, Ecce Homo, you see Pontius Pilate presenting Jesus who was beaten, tied and crowned with thorns to the angry crowd before he was crucified. Ecce Homo means “Behold the man!”. Pontius Pilate tells this to the angry crowd while he shows Jesus to them. Correggio and Rembrandt also have paintings depicting this moment. The third picture depicts the crucifixion of Jesus in Golgotha. Golgotha is the name of the hill where Jesus was crucified.

With Golgotha, which was bought by the Hungarian state for 9.3 million Euros in January this year, placed in the museum, these three paintings have now met within the borders of Hungary.

The population in Germany is generally proportionally distributed all over the country. Although the population density of the Ruhr region is higher, there is an important population all over the country. Berlin, being the most populous city, is not that different from other populous German cities. This is not the case for Turkey. Although Istanbul is not our capital, it is the leading city of our country in every respect. No other city of ours can be compared with Istanbul. Hungary looks like Turkey in this respect. Budapest is both the capital city of the country and its cultural, commercial, industrial, and export center. Neither Debrecen nor Szeged can be compared with Budapest. This is why Debrecen will not enchant you after seeing Budapest.

Debrecen is a city of students in its own right. Debrecen University, the largest university in the country, is here. It has 27,000 students. These students keep the economy of the city alive. If you are not a Hungarian or a student, there is not much reason to live in this city.

When I visit a city, after seeing the popular places, I always dive into the branch roads of the city indiscriminately and I go where my feelings take me. So I find the opportunity to get to know the city better. Besides, there is nothing like the pleasure of exploring a beautiful place. If I came across a nice place that does not exist on the internet or someone had not recommended me before, then no one is happier than me.

I came across such a place in Debrecen. It was a neglected house resembling a haunted mansion. It was standing alone, abandoned. Although it was not a very flamboyant mansion, it was obvious that it was created by an architect with a good sense of aesthetics. I had no chance to find out when and by whom this house was built. This beautiful house with countless memories is now standing there as abandoned. The age of beauty has long been over. Modernist architecture is now invading the whole world.

Csokonai Theater is one of the most important buildings in the city. It’s yellow like the Reformed Great Church and St. Anne’s Cathedral. It’s not too flashy, but it’s a pretty building. There are sculptures of various artists on its facade. The sculptures of Sándor Petőfi, Mihály Vörösmarty and Ferenc Kazinczy are on the right; the sculptures of Mihály Csokonai, Ferenc Kölcsey and Sándor Kisfaludy are on the left. Mihály Csokonai, who gave the theater its name, is a Hungarian poet who pioneered the resurgence of Hungarian literature in the Age of Enlightenment. The Paul Street Boys were on show at the theater, but I was not fortunate to watch it because the theater was closed for Christmas and I had to return to Budapest.

Debrecen hosts the Béla Bartók International Choir Competition. It is a cultural event that I am curious about. It takes its name from Hungarian composer and pianist Béla Bartók. Béla Bartók, who came to Turkey in 1936, noted some of our folk songs while traveling Anatolia. The competition will take place next July. Also, a flower festival is organized in the city every August. Good reasons for me to visit Debrecen again next summer.

26 December 2019

Debrecen