How much do you know about the historic floods of Hungary? – PHOTOS, VIDEOS

By now everyone has heard about that Hungary is the country of waters. We love our lakes, rivers and last but not least: our thermal baths. But what is beyond this love? Is this an entirely peaceful relationship?

Well, the answer is a bit difficult. Let’s say, water lets us take advantage of it for some time, but after a while it demands something in return. In what follows we will list some of the biggest floods in Hungarian history, which remind us that a coin always has another side.

Great Flood of Szeged in 1879

The great flood of Szeged in 1879 was the most dramatic tragedy the town had to suffer since the era of the Ottoman rule in the region. On March 12, 1879 the water of River Tisza suddenly covered almost the whole town leaving no time for the inhabitants to rescue their goods. The water was so strong it could get through every dikes controlling the river. Only the oldest part of Szeged managed to avoid the flood as it was located high enough. About 151 people died, 5458 houses collapsed and 60 thousand people became homeless. The huge destruction has been immortalized by some photographs, paintings and also literary works.

Franz Joseph I of Austria went to visit Szeged already on March 17, 1879. He promised to help the town. Indeed, Austria was the country that gave the biggest support, but offerings have arrived from several parts of the world. Germany, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, China, Japan, India and France were among the countries that supported Szeged. Donations have also arrived from America and Africa contributing to the reconstruction of the town. This unprecedented collaboration is represented by the Great Flood Memorial listing the capitals of the countries that offered their help.

The following video contains some records of the flood.

Icy flood of 1956

As napitortenelmiforras.blog.hu reports, the year 1956 did not lack disasters in Hungary. Although it immediately recalls the memories of the Revolution and the War of Independence in Hungary, a serious earthquake and a huge flood also happened in the very same year. Between January and March 1956, the weather showed some rapid changes and this led to the so-called icy flood of the Danube. The dikes were in very poor condition, thus, they could not stop the icy water. However, civilians, soldiers, police officers and members of the Soviet army (staying in Hungary temporarily) did their best to reduce the amount of destruction. Due to the flood, thousands of people became homeless, but the neighbouring towns and villages offered to house them in every case.