The History of District XII
If District V, the Inner City, is the heart of the capital, then District XII is its lung. This is so owing to the fact that, despite the intensified building developments, the biggest contiguous forests of Budapest can still be found here - on the ridges, slopes and valleys of the Hills of Buda. It calls itself “a hilly area” in no vain. Although the district was once called King Mathias’ City as well, this name, just like some other Hungarianised area names relating to the parts of the district from the year of the Naming of Fields (Hajnalos, Előmál, Bátoralja, Táboros, etc.), has not reached us. For today’s inhabitants, mentioning the district from spring to autumn means getting the hiking shoes ready, after the fall of the first snow it means producing the skis and the sledges. But everyone knows that the cogwheel and Children’s Railway are to be found here, and that the Chair Lift takes them to the Erzsébet Lookout Point on János Hill from here.
The parts of District XII are the following: Budakeszi Forest, Kútvölgy, Sváb Hill, Orbán Hill, Németvölgy, Kis Sváb Hill, Csillebérc, Farkasrét, Zugliget, Krisztinaváros, Magasút, Márton Hill, Isten Hill, Virányos, Széchenyi Hill, Farkasrét, János Hill.
The area of the district is twenty-seven thousand square kilometre, with a population of 70 000-75 000, the number of flats is nearly 33 000. A speciality of the district is that it only has 272 000 square metre of tended parks, but the “untended” forests and meadows cover approximately one third of the district.
The district is almost enclosed by the neighbouring districts, but this is the only district in Buda which has nothing to do with the Danube. In the north it borders on District II in Budakeszi út (Road) and Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor (Alley), whereas in the south the meandering boundary line of District XI, following hills and valleys, provides the boundaries of this district too. In the east District I (more or less Alkotás utca), in the west the boundary of the capital comprises the boundary of the district as well. On the other side of the western “green” borders, the houses of the neighbouring town, Budakeszi come into sight.
Accessibility has always been problematic due to the special geographical conditions; however this problem was overcome very early. It is not by chance that one of the first horse-tramways and tramways took hikers to Zugliget. Apart from tram No 59, climbing as far as Farkasrét, and the trams touching on the boundaries of the district, you can reach the farther points by bus, enduring the hilly ground better. The accessibility of Széchenyi Hill has been ensured by a cog-wheel railway, popular both in summer and in winter, since 24 July 1874. Along the route of the former tram to Zugliget, the lower station of the Chair Lift can be reached by bus today, which takes “Sunday” excursionists to the crest under János Hill. On top of the hill "among hills and among valleys" the Children’s Railway (former Pioneer’s railway) "clatters" to its terminus in Hűvösvölgy in the neighbouring District II.
The district can be reached from the direction of the central parts of the capital via a big and a smaller junction. The big one - and the biggest in Buda - is Moszkva tér (square), where numerous tram and bus lines have their terminus, and where the east-west (red) underground line also has a station. The other - the smaller one - is BAH Junction, at the intersection of Hegyalja út and Alkotás utca. Déli Railway Station, situated on the edge of District XII, but belonging to District I, does not only have a local significance for the district or the capital, but also for the whole country’s transportation.
The history of the district consists of the history of the smaller settlements, granges, forests and vineyards, situated in the vicinity of Buda, mostly living under its administration. Since 1873, the establishment of the capital, it has belonged to the capital with an unchanged area. The only exception is the Forest of Budakeszi, connected to the western slope of the Buda Hills, which was joined to the district and the capital by land acquisition in 1900. After the administrative changes of 1930, a smaller area was transferred from District I, but the changes made in 1950 hardly touched it.
Krisztinaváros formed in the valley formed by the Ördög-árok (Pit) between the Castle Hill or more exactly the City of Buda and the Buda Hills stretching from Pasarét to Tabán. The so-called “Glacis” at the western foot of the Castle Hill - in a bigger territory than today’s Vérmező - was a territory under the castle’s military governor’s rule in the 18th century, belonging to the defence zone of the castle, and building was strictly forbidden. This hindered the formation of an outer city here for a long time. Through the instrumentality of Crown Princess Christine, the wife of Prince Albert, Vice-Regent at that time, (Maria Therese’s daughter) parcelling out the land was started on one part of the area 1772. The area has been called Krisztinaváros since that year. Out of its five smaller territories, Városmajor belongs to District XII. The "Major", as locals call it was originally a meadow spreading on the flooding area of the Ördög-árok. Today’s park was founded by Joseph II in 1787, and it got the name Stadt-Meierhof (Városmajor) at that time, too.
The most significant stream in Buda, the Ördög-árok (Devil’s Pit) used to cross the park. In 1920 the pit was bolted, the trees were replaced, and on one part of the territory housing developments were permitted. The lower terminus of the cog-wheel rail is situated in the northern corner of the park.
The image of the northern part of the district is determined by Hunyad Ridge and the valleys running down to the north of it, most of which were owned by the Carmelites of Buda. Its name in the 18th-19th centuries was first Sauwinkel (Disznó-zug; Swine Nook), later Auwinkel (Liget-zug; Grove Nook). At the time of the 1847 Naming of Fields it was Gábor Döbrentei who named the northern narrower section of the valley Zugliget, the section widening towards Krisztinaváros as Virányos. The old cemetery of Víziváros (Water City) was situated in the southern corner of the latter where the members of the Martinovics Resurrection executed on Vérmező (Blood Field) were also buried.
The valley running on the southern side of Hunyad Ridge, the German Brunnthal (Brunnental) was also Hungarianised as Kútvölgy (Well Valley) at the time of Naming of Fields. The wilderness of the countryside still covered with thick forests in the 19th century was only broken by an orchard or a plough-land of a grange. Zugliget used to belong to King Matthias’ game park and was rich in wild boar, the German name probably derived from this feature, which is still living in the name of today’s Disznófő-forrás (Boar Head Spring).
This section of the city started to develop for housing in the second half of the 19th century, especially after the decay of vines. The majority of the countryside is still an undeveloped area for hiking, and this is where the Chair Lift has taken off up to the crest of János Hill since 1970.
Among the valleys and the hill ridges of Sváb Hill and Széchenyi Hill there are lower, more-or less built up hills and valleys (Isten Hill, Kis-Sváb Hill, Orbán Hill, Márton Hill). Royal hunting grounds, later the lands of the inhabitants of Buda were situated there. At the end of the 17th century, during the liberation of Buda they even made their way into the history of the city, since, due to their strategic positions, the Christian army had been stationed here. In the 19th century viticulture was significant in this area, and in the second half of the century - especially by the impact of Mór Jókai - a growing number of villas were built. The development for housing and its tourism was considerably promoted by the cog-wheel railway opened in 1874.
The most characteristic and known part of the district is, however, the wreath of the Hills of Buda. János Hill, Sváb Hill, Széchenyi Hill, Csillebérc and the Forest of Budakeszi are "priceless" natural treasures of the capital city. They are sources of fresh air and a huge recreational park at the same time, with varied walking, hiking and touring opportunities (on foot, by bike, on skis or sledge), with lookout points, a special atmosphere and valuable monuments and sights.
The highest peak of the Buda Landscape Protection Area belonging to the Duna-Ipoly National Park - and the whole of Budapest - is the János Hill, with its 528.16 m high cone, with the Erzsébet Lookout Point. Sváb Hill is the central dolomite mass of the Buda Mountain, reaching an average height of 480 m, which is connected to the János Hill on the north through a narrow crest. According the tradition, it was named Sváb Hill after the liberation of Buda from the rule of the Turks, referring to the Swabian (=German) artillery stationed here during the siege. It became a popular tourist destination in the 1850s, and after some time it became one of the most elegant villa districts of the city, after Rózsadomb.
The biggest hill of the Buda Mountain in terms of dimension is the south-western former Nyék Hill, which got its name used today after the death of Count István Széchenyi. In the place of the inhabitants’ popular tourist destinations only a few holiday homes could have been seen until the end of the 19th century, however the city has almost climbed as far up as the top of the hill by today. After World War II traffic on the Children’s Railway (earlier Pioneers’ Railway) began here. Behind the hill range towards the direction of Budakeszi, Csillebérc is situated with a Children’s and Youth Centre.
The southern slopes of the hilly area is intersected by several valleys (Németvölgy, Farkasvölgy, Irhás-árok), and the plateau named Farkasrét is situated here too, most of which is occupied by a cemetery with an identical name. The biggest section of the city here is Németvölgy, which got the name Deutschenthal at the end of the 17th century after the German troops stationed here to fight against Buda, occupied by the Turks. (It has had its name, as the translation of a German name since 1847 the Naming of Fields.)
The vineyards and plough-lands began to develop for housing in the second half of the 19th century. The Erzsébet Hospital of the Red Cross was opened in this part of the city in 1884 (today’s Sports Hospital). The predecessor of the since then closed down Hungarian Optical Works (MOM) settled in the capital at the turn of the centuries, at the site of which the most modern neighbourhood is now under development.
