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Most of the Hungarian universities are public institutions, and students traditionally study without fee payment. The general requirement for university is the Matura. The Hungarian public higher education system includes universities and other higher education institutes, that provide both education curricula and related degrees up to doctoral degree and also contribute to research activities. Health insurance for students is free until the end of their studies. English and German language are important in Hungarian higher education, there are a number of degree programmes that are taught in these languages, which attracts thousands of exchange students every year. Hungary's higher education and training has been ranked 44 out of 148 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014. |
Hungary has a long tradition of higher education reflecting the existence of established knowledge economy. The established universities in Hungary include some of the oldest in the world, the first was the University of Pécs founded in 1367 which is still functioning, although, in the year 1276, the university of Veszprém was destroyed by the troops of Peter Csák, but it was never rebuilt. Sigismund established Óbuda University in 1395. Another, Universitas Istropolitana, was established 1465 in Pozsony by Mattias Corvinus. |
Nagyszombat University was founded in 1635 and moved to Buda in 1777 and it is called Eötvös Loránd University today. The world's first institute of technology was founded in Selmecbánya, the Kingdom of Hungary in 1735, its legal successor is the University of Miskolc. The Budapest University of Technology and Economics is considered the oldest institute of technology in the world with university rank and structure, its legal predecessor the Institutum Geometrico-Hydrotechnicum was founded in 1782 by Emperor Joseph II. |
Hungary ranks fourth (above neighbour Romania, and after China, the United States and Russia) in the all-time medal count at the International Mathematical Olympiad with 336 total medals, dating back to 1959. |
=== Health === |
Saint Stephen Hospital) at Üllői Avenue, Budapest. With Szent László Kórház (Saint Ladislaus Hospital) making the largest hospital complex in Hungary, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. |
Hungary maintains a universal health care system largely financed by government national health insurance. According to the OECD, 100% of the population is covered by universal health insurance, which is absolutely free for children, students, pensioners, people with low income, handicapped people, and church employees. Hungary spends 7.2% of GDP on healthcare, spending $2,045 per capita, of which $1,365 is provided by the government. |
Hungary is one of the main destinations of medical tourism in Europe, particularly in dental tourism, in which its share is 42% in Europe and 21% worldwide. Plastic surgery is also a key sector, with 30% of the clients coming from abroad. Hungary is well known for its spa culture and is home to numerous medicinal spas, which attract "spa tourism". |
In common with developed countries, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality, accounting for 49.4% (62,979) of all deaths in 2013. However, this number peaked in 1985 with 79,355 deaths, and has been declining continuously since the fall of Communism. The second leading cause of death is cancer with 33,274 (26.2%), which has been stagnant since the 1990s. Deaths from accidents dropped from 8,760 in 1990 to 3,654 in 2013; the number of suicides has declined precipitously from 4,911 in 1983 to 2,093 in 2013 (21.1 per 100,000 people), the lowest since 1956. There are considerable health disparities between the western and eastern parts of Hungary; heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and suicide is prevalent in the mostly agricultural and low-income Great Plain region in the east, but infrequent in the high-income, middle class areas of Western Transdanubia and Central Hungary. |
Smoking is a leading cause of death in the country, although it is in steep decline: The proportion of adult smokers declined to 19% in 2013 from 28% in 2012, owing to strict regulations such as a nationwide smoking ban in every indoor public place and the limiting of tobacco sales to state-controlled "National Tobacco Shops". |
Hungary ranks as the 17th safest country in the world, with a homicide rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people. |
== Culture == |
=== Architecture === |
Eszterháza Palace, the "Hungarian Versailles" in Fertőd, Győr-Moson-Sopron County |
Hungary is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Great Synagogue), built in 1859 in Moorish Revival style with a capacity of 3,000 people, the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath), completed in 1913 in Modern Renaissance Style and located in the Budapest city park, the biggest building in Hungary with its length (the Parliament building), one of the largest basilicas in Europe (Esztergom Basilica), the second-largest territorial abbey in the world (Pannonhalma Archabbey), and the largest early Christian necropolis outside Italy (Pécs). |
Romanesque Ják Abbey, Vas County, built between 1220 and 1256. |
Notable architectural styles in Hungary include Historicism and Art Nouveau, or rather several variants of Art Nouveau. In contrast to Historicism, Hungarian Art Nouveau is based on national architectural characteristics. Taking the eastern origins of the Hungarians into account, Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), the most important figure in Hungarian Art Nouveau was initially inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture, and later by traditional Hungarian decorative designs. In this way, he created an original synthesis of architectural styles. By applying them to three-dimensional architectural elements, he produced a version of Art Nouveau that was specific to Hungary. |
Turning away from the style of Lechner, yet taking inspiration from his approach, the group of "Young People" (''Fiatalok''), which included Károly Kós and Dezsö Zrumeczky, were to use the characteristic structures and forms of traditional Hungarian architecture to achieve the same end. |
Museum of Applied Arts, an Art Nouveau building designed by Ödön Lechner |
Besides the two principal styles, Budapest also displays local versions of trends originating from other European countries. The Sezession from Vienna, the German Jugendstil, Art Nouveau from Belgium and France, and the influence of English and Finnish architecture are all reflected in the buildings constructed at the turn of the 20th century. Béla Lajta initially adopted Lechner's style, subsequently drawing his inspiration from English and Finnish trends; after developing an interest in the Egyptian style, he finally arrived at modern architecture. Aladár Árkay took almost the same route. István Medgyaszay developed his own style, which differed from Lechner's, using stylised traditional motifs to create decorative designs in concrete. In the sphere of applied arts, those chiefly responsible for promoting the spread of Art Nouveau were the School and Museum of Decorative Arts, which opened in 1896. |
Foreigners have unexpectedly "discovered" that a significantly large portion of the citizens lives in old and architecturally valuable buildings. In the Budapest downtown area almost all the buildings are about one hundred years old, with thick walls, high ceilings, and motifs on the front wall. |
=== Music === |
Hungarian State Opera House on Andrássy út (UNESCO World Heritage Site) |
Hungarian music consists mainly of traditional Hungarian folk music and music by prominent composers such as Liszt and Bartók, considered to be among the greatest Hungarian composers. Other renowned composers are Dohnányi, Franz Schmidt, Zoltán Kodály, Gabriel von Wayditch, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, László Lajtha, Franz Lehár, Imre Kálmán, Sándor Veress and Rózsa. Hungarian traditional music tends to have a strong dactylic rhythm, as the language is invariably stressed on the first syllable of each word. |
Hungary has renowned composers of contemporary classical music, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kodály and Zoltán Jeney among them. One of the greatest Hungarian composers, Béla Bartók, was also among the most significant musicians of the 20th century. His music was invigorated by the themes, modes, and rhythmic patterns of the Hungarian and neighbouring folk music traditions he studied, which he synthesised with influences from his contemporaries into his own distinctive style. |
Ferenc (Franz) Liszt, one of the greatest pianists of all time; well-known composer and conductor |
Hungary has made many contributions to the fields of folk, popular and classical music. Hungarian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity and continues to play a major part in Hungarian music. Hungarian folk music has been significant in former country parts that belong – since the 1920 Treaty of Trianon – to neighbouring countries such as Romania, Slovakia, Poland and especially in southern Slovakia and Transylvania; both regions have significant numbers of Hungarians. |
After the establishment of a music academy led by Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt Hungary produced an important number of art musicians: |
* Pianists: Ernő von Dohnányi, Ervin Nyiregyházi, Andor Földes, Tamás Vásáry, György Sándor, Géza Anda, Annie Fischer, György Cziffra, Edward Kilényi, Bálint Vázsonyi, András Schiff, Zoltán Kocsis, Dezső Ránki, Jenő Jandó and others. |
* Violists: Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Jenő Hubay, Jelly d'Arányi, Joseph Szigeti, Sándor Végh, Emil Telmanyi, Ede Zathurecky, Zsigmondy, Franz von Vecsey, Zoltán Székely, Tibor Varga and newcomers Antal Szalai, Vilmos Szabadi, Kristóf Baráti (b. 79) and others. |
* Opera singers: Astrid Varnay, József Simándy, Júlia Várady, Júlia Hamari, Kolos Kováts (Bluebeard in Bartók's Bluebeard) |
* Conductors: Eugene Ormandy, George Szell, Antal Doráti, János Ferencsik, Fritz Reiner, sir Georg Solti, István Kertész, Ferenc Fricsay, Zoltán Rozsnyai, Sándor Végh, Árpád Joó, Ádám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kocsis, Tamás Vásáry, Gilbert Varga and others |
* String Quartets: Budapest Quartet, Hungarian Quartet, Végh Quartet, Takács Quartet, Kodály Quartet, Éder Quartet, Festetics Quartet, |
Béla Bartók, an influential composer from the early 20th century; one of the founders of ethnomusicology |
Broughton claims that Hungary's "infectious sound has been surprisingly influential on neighboring countries (thanks perhaps to the common Austro-Hungarian history) and it's not uncommon to hear Hungarian-sounding tunes in Romania, Slovakia and Poland".Refers to the country as "widely considered" to be a "home of music". It is also strong in the Szabolcs-Szatmár area and in the southwest part of Transdanubia, near the border with Croatia. The Busójárás carnival in Mohács is a major Hungarian folk music event, formerly featuring the long-established and well-regarded Bogyiszló orchestra. |
Hungarian classical music has long been an "experiment, made from Hungarian antecedents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious musical culture using the musical world of the folk song"."Every experiment, made from Hungarian antecedents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious musical culture (music written by composers, as different from folk music), had instinctively or consciously striven to develop widely and universally the musical world of the folk song. Folk poetry and folk music were deeply embedded in the collective Hungarian people's culture, and this unity did not cease to be effective even when it was given from and expression by individual creative artists, performers and poets." Although the Hungarian upper class has long had cultural and political connections with the rest of Europe, leading to an influx of European musical ideas, the rural peasants maintained their own traditions such that by the end of the 19th-century Hungarian composers could draw on rural peasant music to (re)create a Hungarian classical style. For example, Bartók collected folk songs from across Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania and Slovakia, while Kodály was more interested in creating a distinctively Hungarian musical style. |
During the era of communist rule in Hungary (1944–1989), a Song Committee scoured and censored popular music for traces of subversion and ideological impurity. Since then, however, the Hungarian music industry has begun to recover, producing successful performers in the fields of jazz such as trumpeter Rudolf Tomsits, pianist-composer Károly Binder and, in a modernised form of Hungarian folk, Ferenc Sebő and Márta Sebestyén. The three giants of Hungarian rock, Illés, Metró and Omega, remain very popular, especially Omega, which has followings in Germany and beyond as well as in Hungary. Older veteran underground bands such as Beatrice, from the 1980s, also remain popular. |
=== Literature === |
Székely-Hungarian Rovás script; the country switched to using the Latin alphabet under king Saint Stephen (reign: 1000–1038) |
In the earliest times, Hungarian language was written in a runic-like script (although it was not used for literature purposes in the modern interpretation). The country switched to the Latin alphabet after being Christianized under the reign of Stephen I of Hungary (1000–1038). |
The oldest remained written record in Hungarian language is a fragment in the Establishing charter of the abbey of Tihany (1055) which contains several Hungarian terms, among them the words ''feheruuaru rea meneh hodu utu rea'', "up the military road to Fehérvár" The rest of the document was written in Latin. |
Old Hungarian Laments of Mary (1190s) |
The oldest remaining complete text in Hungarian language is the Funeral Sermon and Prayer ''(Halotti beszéd és könyörgés)'' (1192–1195), a translation of a Latin sermon. |
The oldest remaining poem in Hungarian is the Old Hungarian Laments of Mary ''(Ómagyar Mária-siralom)'', also a (not very strict) translation from Latin, from the 13th century. It is also the oldest surviving Uralic poem. |
Among the first chronicles about Hungarian history were Gesta Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Hungarians") by the unknown author usually called ''Anonymus'', and Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Huns and the Hungarians") by Simon Kézai. Both are in Latin. These chronicles mix history with legends, so historically they are not always authentic. Another chronicle is the ''Képes krónika'' (Illustrated Chronicle), which was written for Louis the Great. |
Renaissance literature flourished under the reign of King Matthias (1458–1490). Janus Pannonius, although he wrote in Latin, counts as one of the most important persons in Hungarian literature, being the only significant Hungarian Humanist poet of the period. The first printing house was also founded during Matthias' reign, by András Hess, in Buda. The first book printed in Hungary was the Chronica Hungarorum. |
The most important poets of the period was Bálint Balassi (1554–1594) and Miklós Zrínyi (1620–1664). |
Balassi's poetry shows medieval influences, his poems can be divided into three sections: love poems, war poems and religious poems. Zrínyi's most significant work, the epic ''Szigeti veszedelem'' ("Peril of Sziget", written in 1648/49) is written in a fashion similar to the ''Iliad'', and recounts the heroic Battle of Szigetvár, where his great-grandfather died while defending the castle of Szigetvár. |
Among the religious literary works the most important is the Bible translation by Gáspár Károli (The second Hungarian Bible translation in the history), the Protestant pastor of Gönc, in 1590. The translation is called the ''Bible of Vizsoly'', after the town where it was first published. (See Bible translations into Hungarian for more details.) |
Sándor Petőfi, a Hungarian poet and revolutionary. |
Sándor Márai, Hungarian writer and journalist |
The Hungarian enlightenment took place about fifty years after the French Enlightenment. The first enlightened writers were Maria Theresia's bodyguards (György Bessenyei, János Batsányi and others). The greatest poets of the time were Mihály Csokonai Vitéz and Dániel Berzsenyi. |
The greatest figure of the language reform was Ferenc Kazinczy. The Hungarian language became feasible for all type of scientific explanations from this time, and furthermore, many new words were coined for describing new inventions. |
Hungarian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of Hungary (mostly through translations into German, French and English). Some modern Hungarian authors have become increasingly popular in Germany and Italy especially Sándor Márai, Péter Esterházy, Péter Nádas and Imre Kertész. The latter is a contemporary Jewish writer who survived the Holocaust and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2002. |
The older classics of Hungarian literature and Hungarian poetry have remained almost totally unknown outside Hungary. János Arany, a famous 19th-century Hungarian poet, is still much loved in Hungary (especially his collection of Ballads), among several other "true classics" like Sándor Petőfi, the poet of the Revolution of 1848, Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Dezső Kosztolányi, Attila József, Miklós Radnóti and János Pilinszky. Other well-known Hungarian authors are Mór Jókai. Frigyes Karinthy, László Krasznahorkai, Ferenc Móra, Géza Gárdonyi, Zsigmond Móricz, Ephraim Kishon, Géza Gárdonyi, Arthur Koestler, Ferenc Molnár, Elie Wiesel, Kálmán Mikszáth, Gyula Illyés, Miklós Szentkuthy, Magda Szabó and Stephen Vizinczey. |
=== Cuisine === |
Hortobágyi palacsinta in Sopron |
Dobos cake |
Traditional dishes such as the world-famous Goulash (''gulyás'' stew or ''gulyás'' soup) feature prominently in Hungarian cuisine. Dishes are often flavoured with paprika (ground red peppers), a Hungarian innovation. The paprika powder, obtained from a special type of pepper, is one of the most common spices used in typical Hungarian cuisine. Thick, heavy Hungarian sour cream called ''tejföl'' is often used to soften the dishes' flavour. The famous Hungarian hot river fish soup called Fisherman's soup or ''halászlé'' is usually a rich mixture of several kinds of poached fish. |
Other dishes are chicken paprikash, foie gras made of goose liver, ''pörkölt'' stew, ''vadas'', (game stew with vegetable gravy and dumplings), trout with almonds and salty and sweet dumplings, like ''túrós csusza'', (dumplings with fresh quark cheese and thick sour cream). Desserts include the iconic Dobos Cake, strudels (''rétes''), filled with apple, cherry, poppy seed or cheese, Gundel pancake, plum dumplings (''szilvás gombóc''), ''somlói'' dumplings, dessert soups like chilled sour cherry soup and sweet chestnut puree, ''gesztenyepüré'' (cooked chestnuts mashed with sugar and rum and split into crumbs, topped with whipped cream). ''Perec'' and ''kifli'' are widely popular pastries. |
The ''csárda'' is the most distinctive type of Hungarian inn, an old-style tavern offering traditional cuisine and beverages. ''Borozó'' usually denotes a cosy old-fashioned wine tavern, ''pince'' is a beer or wine cellar and a ''söröző'' is a pub offering draught beer and sometimes meals. The ''bisztró'' is an inexpensive restaurant often with self-service. The ''büfé'' is the cheapest place, although one may have to eat standing at a counter. Pastries, cakes and coffee are served at the confectionery called ''cukrászda'', while an ''eszpresszó'' is a café. |
The famous Tokaji wine. It was called "Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum" ("Wine of Kings, King of Wines") by Louis XIV of France |
Pálinka is a fruit brandy, distilled from fruit grown in the orchards situated on the Great Hungarian Plain. It is a spirit native to Hungary and comes in a variety of flavours including apricot (''barack'') and cherry (''cseresznye''). However, plum (''szilva'') is the most popular flavour. Beer goes well with many traditional Hungarian dishes. The five main Hungarian beer brands are: Borsodi, Soproni, Arany Ászok, Kõbányai, and Dreher. In Hungary, people traditionally do not clink their glasses or mugs when drinking beer. There is an urban legend in Hungarian culture that Austrian generals clinked their beer glasses to celebrate the execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad in 1849. Many people still follow the tradition, although younger people often disavow it, citing that the vow was only meant to last 150 years. |
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