Héjjas Pál - Horváth M. Ferenc: Régi képeslapok - Old postcards - Alte Ansichtskarten, 1896 - 1950 - Váci Történelmi Tár 2. (Vác, 2001)

Város a Duna partján - történeti áttekintés

Vác, this little town along the Danube is famous for many things. It is well known to those who live here, and a great many people from far and wide. Heard of it and experienced its countless characteristic features. Do the special Cathedral, the famous and at the same time infamous penitentiary, the baroque style Main Square, the Danube bank and the practically unrivalled Stone Gate signify our town to the outer world in the first place? Does our town contain just these sights? Is it enough to know, is it worthwhile to register that much about it? Or do we have to get better and more deeply acquainted with and let others know about it? We consider that Vác belongs to those small towns, where the past evoking interest has always been strong and endeavours to present history outrivals much bigger towns. The outstanding natural potentials, the impressive historical past the poignant aspect of the town at all times urged the citizens to present their past. Most of the time, the whole of the town, its institutions, its public organizations and its burghers strive to establish their settlements and dwelling places in a unique manner, to raise them from the average level and to show the world - here we are, this was and is our way! At the same time there were disagreeable phenomena as well, values were not appreciated, or squandered, progress was slower than expected and presently we might worry that our town is not that nice today as in the past, than it could be owing to its potentials. What was the Vác like which preserved its physiognomy almost unaltered from after the cessation of the Turkish rule and after the ravages of the 1731 fire until the end of the 19 century? Then, taking off its shabby slogs of the feudal world built houses with more adorned facades better befitting the provincial burgher fashion and adding stories to one level houses? And when the borders of the inner town proved to be tight, because it outgrew them, made use of new territories for new buildings and created new suburbs: first Deákvár, behind the railways, which today is more densely populated than the old suburb, the MAV colony, the Lajos colony, Máriaudvar and I could keep enumerating the lesser suburbs. In the 2

nd volume of the Treasury of Vác we present through picture postcards a relatively short period of town history, slightly more than half a century, from 1896-1950. During these few decades - apart from the church and public buildings built earlier and existing at the present - new buildings were erected with more comfort, superseding the feudal milieu, the streets were regulated, public places embellished and parklands created. That is, we can generally say that the outer appearance of the setting of urban coexistence has been modernised. Embellishment became a need, so practicality was no longer the sole aim. Changes were not so dramatic though not to let us recognise, based on our actual knowledge or after a little fretting, what the postcards represent. When it seems a head splitting task to work out why a tower, a granary, a specific building are in a place, where we least expect them to be, or there is no trace of them, we are here to help. We can let the town be seen with the power of words, but sometimes we can find more from a picture which present some INTRODUCTION things from the past that cannot be found in any written records (just remember the initial name of photography - "picture writing"). To describe an event, an object, or to register them at a given moment with particular means on a photograph are two completely different procedures. One cannot replace the other but they can complement each other brilliantly. Therefore photographs and picture postcards are historic resources too, because on the one hand they acquaint us with something that has happened once and has irrevocably gone by, and on the other hand they record something in such a way that cannot be detected from other sources. However, just in case of postcards "benignant" defrauding can be encountered - e.g. colouring of the cards, using the montage technique, when the photographer for instance conjures walking women on the Danube bank promenade nevertheless these photos present the town objectively. No doubt, they almost always present its most beautiful, most advantageous aspect, since this has to be shown to the world. They present those buildings - churches, commercial firms, plants, the Danube bank, streets, squares and more rarely persons and events which established and increased the "aura" of the town, which suggest the town's trademark and symbolic value. Think about the Stone Gate, the Cathedral or the City Hall! In this respect the photographers' resources were limited, consequently readers do not get a complete image about the place. Don't blame the photographers or the publishers for this! It would have hardly served the purpose to present the less attractive face of the town that would repulse interested persons. But it is worthwhile to spend more time thoroughly examining the photos, to observe the details - because they might have countless surprises in store - the iron balustrade on the Danube bank, the crafty street lamps, the inscriptions painted on the walls and facades of houses, vehicles and certainly passers-by. Photos record a moment, nevertheless, if we put pictures about the same subject matter from different periods of time side by side, we can catch the passing of time on the hop. With the help of these photos we can appraise the values of the town, which they considered worthwhile to show the world 50-100 years ago. Let's add, not all of them, because the dimensions of the book wouldn't allow a complete presentation, and on the other hand there were numerous holdings and suburbs of which photos weren't taken or have not remained records. All the same, posterity will be able to trace those changes that