Merk Zsuzsa - Bálint Attila: Baja is town for 300 years - A Bajai Türr István Múzeum kiadványai 27. (Baja, 1999)

by obtaining lands. His baroque castle, which had been built by the arch-bishop of Kalocsa but went down in history as the Crassalkovich Castle, stands in the central square of the city. Today it serves as the Town Hall of Baja.

The period brought an economic boom for the city of Baja. It was the center of the region's grain trading; ships loaded with crops embarked from the harbor of Baja and headed towards the farthest reaches of the empire. From the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the last century, 31 guilds were licensed. The inhabitants of the neighboring villages sold their crops in the markets of the city. At the end of the 18th century, the following words are said about Baja: "Baja is place of high renown in the county of Bácska. It has some 600 houses inhabited by magyars (Hungarians), rác (Serbs) and Germans. The landlord of the town is Prince Crassalkovich, who has an appealing, rectangularly built castle here, which surely cost over two hundred thousand forints. Famous fairs take place in the town, which is therefore oft referred to as Little Pest."

The lower reaches of the river Danube, especially from Paks to Mohács, range among the best fishing waters in the country, which made fishing into one of the most significant economic activities in the area. Fishermen first formed guilds, then, from the 70's of the last century, so-called "trade associations". Most of the fishing waters were actually owned by the arch-bishopric of Kalocsa and rented mostly by Baja fishermen up to 1904; after 1904, some of the fishermen came from Tolna county. Several Baja fishermen became wealthy fishmongers; fresh fish from Baja actually reached the markets of Hungary's capital city Pest.

Count Antal Grassalkovich's contracts with the city created a favorable environment for Baja's citizens. An interesting phenomenon worth mentioning is the city administration code devised by the count in 1755. Here the count stipulates that the office of the city judge should rotate annually between the various ethnic groups living in Baja, namely, Hungarians, Germans and rác, or Orthodox Serbs. Antal Grassalkovich's initiative, which is admirable even for the modern age scholar, probably was one of the reasons why Baja could develop into such a peaceful and flourishing city.

Before the Turkish rule, Baja belonged to the county of Bodrog. After the Ottomans were ousted from Hungary, Bács and Bodrog counties started a long dispute over the redrawing of the county borders. The unfortunate situation came to an end in 1802, when the national assembly declared that the two counties should be united under the name Bács-Bodrog.

On May 01, 1840, a tragic fire devastated the city, destroying 1282 residential houses, 812 farm buildings, five churches, the synagogue and the hospital, killing 46 people.

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