A Historical and Archival Guide to Székesfehérvár (Székesfehérvár, 2003)

A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

considerably by grammar school education and civil societies. The Casino of Fejérvár and the Casino of Székes-Fejérvár were instrumental in this respect. The Casino of Fejérvár gathered mainly the liberal nobility of the country, while the Casino of Székes-Fejérvár grouped the middleclass and civil servants of the town. The Reader Society of Fejér county, founded on 31 May 1840, did great activity and set up the first circulating library in the town and in two villages of the county. The self-organisation of the society was also realised in other fields besides cultural life thanks to previous civil organisations. The Casino of Székes-Fejérvár initiated to set up the Society of Viticulture, Fruit Breeding, Tobacco Growing of Székes-Fejérvár Royal Free Borough. Its successor in right was the Agricultural Society of Fejér County founded on 4 December 1859. The Savings Bank of Székes-Fejérvár, which was highly influential in the town's economic life, was founded on 23 August 1845. The idea to set up a bank was raised in the early 1 840s following the foundation of the First National Savings Bank of Pest and the Commercial Bank of Pest. The bank started to prosper in the next decade. It had an outstanding significance in the town's economic life for decades, and it had a determinant role in the urban improvements in the first half of the 20

th century. The founding of the First Hungarian Mutual Life-Assurance Institution in 1846 can be counted among the fruits of the flourishing intellectual life of the Reform age and revolutionary movements of civil organisations. The Savings Bank of Székes-Fejérvár had a crucial role in setting up the first life-assurance company of the country. The company took foreign companies' policy as its basis, and just as the insurance company of Hanover it was created on the principle of mutuality. The institute worked effectively in the following years. Therefore agencies were launched in other country-towns and free boroughs. By March 1848 András Fáy joined in the organisation tasks; according to his concept the First Hungarian Savings Bank was to manage the financial affairs of the insurance company. Further improvements, however, could not be done, and its activity was suspended in the next decade. Parallel to the preparations of the Hungarian Language Bill debate, the electors of Székesfehérvár and other free boroughs turned to