Agria 37. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2001)

Gy. Gömöri Ilona: „Polgár-telep”, „Bankpince”. Szőlőuradalom a hevesi homokon

Ilona Gy. Gömöri "Polgár telep", "Bankpince" The Vineyards of the Heves Sand Beds The sandbeds on the northern and western borders of Heves County are unusually well suited for the cultivation of grapes. Following the destruction of the oaks, and then the acacias, which once thickly covered the terrain, larger and larger areas were planted with vines. From the 1880's, the period of the phylloxera epidemic when the grapes in the hillier regions were destroyed, the Heves sandbed's resistance to the disease gave the area a new importance. The new plantations on the borders of Heves County meant the area producing grapes increased four-fold in the period up to 1914. The biggest plantation came into existence in the area between the town of Heves and Jászszentandrás. At the end of the 19

lh century the Jewish landowner Gyula Pajzs established a 350 "hold" (c. 200 hectare) plantation there together with a large cellar. In the cellar the two с 500 hectolitre tile-walled barrels provided the public face of the concern. The Gyöngyösi Forgalmi Bank (The Gyöngyös Commercial Bank) bought the plantation in 1910. A firm founded in the name of the main shareholder was known as the "Polgár Sándor telep Fajszőlő Uradalom Heves" (Sándor Polgár Plantation Vineyard Estate). From 1935 the business was known as the "Polgár és Grüsner örökösök szőlőgazdasága" (The Heirs of Polgár and Grüsner Vineyard). The 500 "hold" (285 hectare) plantation developed according to plan, the employment of a winegrowing expert causing the enterprise to flourish. About 30 permanent employees worked on the estate, but during the harvest and at the other times when labour was required there was work for 100-300 daylabourers from Heves County and additional contracted labourers from further afield. The plantation was made up of three separate plots. Its cellar was connected to Heves railway station, which lay 8 km away, by a horse-drawn narrow-gauge industrial railway. The Polgár-telep and Gyöngyösi Forgalmi Bank disappeared in 1942, when the race laws forced the Polgárs and the Griissners to hand their lands over to the state. Between 1950 and 1994 the vineyard belonged to the Hevesi Állami Gazdaság (Heves State Farm). Following the folding of the farm the land was bought up by private individuals. At the present time the cellars are used for growing mushrooms. The estate buildings are no longer in existence. 385