Where I'm from

I grew up in Győrszentiván, a village in West-Hungary. This village was first mentioned in Hungarian royal documents in the 13th century on the names Villa Urunkang and Zent Iwan.

According to historical research, it was first destroyed during the Mongolian invasion in 1241-42. Then in 1594 the Ottoman army encamped here during the siege of the city Győr. The residents, escaped, and the settlement was left totally empty. After the „Saint Allience” (a league of Austria, Hungary, Prussia and Russia) liberated the country, in 1699 people from croatia settled in the Szentmárton abbey . During the centuries the croatian population totally lost its original identity, only the family names remind us their ancestries. In 1809, the only Napoleonic war in Hungary was fought in the suburbs of Győr, a few kilometers away from my birthplace. During 1945-1991 the years of the Soviet invasion, russian forces were settled in the nearby barracks.

In my childhood memories of watching Bud Spencer movies in the local cinema - the first rows were always full of soviet soldiers :). Though there was no chance for prosperity, life was calm and calculable that time. Then in 1991 the soviet army left and the collapse of Comecon market was followed by an economical crisis, both my parents lost their workplaces. But as the western market opened, the former barracks and abandoned factories turned to brown field investments. Now the largest employer in the region, the Audi Hungaria Zrt. is located on the adjacent lands of Győrszentiván giving work to thousands of local residents. Our new community center symbolises the strengthened economical positions of the region.

Very interesting